After learning the truth, Uzumaki Naruto was so furious he almost spat blood.
Damn it.
What kind of test was that supposed to be?
Testing his mind?
Tempering his will?
What nonsense.
As the person who had lived through all of it, Naruto truly wanted to tear Hiruzen Sarutobi apart.
After all, Hiruzen was already old.
Even that would not feel like enough.
At least then, Naruto might feel he had taken back something for all the suffering he endured as a child.
More importantly—
he was the son of the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, and the previous Nine-Tails jinchūriki, Uzumaki Kushina.
And yet?
That shameless old bastard Hiruzen Sarutobi had called him an orphan.
Worse, he had allowed Naruto to be treated as the culprit behind the Nine-Tails' attack.
Now that Naruto knew the truth, rage almost swallowed his reason.
He was the son of a Hokage.
But in Konoha, he had lived worse than a stray dog.
All of it was because of Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Because of that, the resentment in Naruto's heart became harder and harder to suppress.
Without realizing it, his mind began to loosen.
And the Nine-Tails gradually seized control of his body.
"Roar!"
A few seconds later, Naruto, already wrapped in a cloak of tailed beast chakra, suddenly released a furious roar.
Then, under Sasuke and Sakura's shocked gazes, his body began to swell and distort.
In the blink of an eye, Naruto transformed into a gigantic Nine-Tailed Fox.
Violent tailed beast chakra swept outward.
The moment the Nine-Tails appeared in Konoha, the entire village trembled.
One after another, figures flashed through the air.
Konoha's ANBU reacted first, rushing toward the Uchiha district where Sasuke and Sakura were located.
"Move!"
"Let's get away from Naruto first!"
Facing Naruto's sudden transformation, both Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura were stunned.
By the time they recovered, they could only retreat quickly to avoid being caught in the blast.
Sasuke was especially confused.
Weren't they just venting their grievances?
Why had Naruto suddenly transformed?
And into the Nine-Tails, no less.
This was too terrifying.
The usual Naruto was not like this at all.
"What happened?"
"Why did the Nine-Tails jinchūriki lose control?"
"The Fifth Hokage has ordered us not to act rashly. Just observe for now."
Dozens of ANBU soon arrived at the scene.
However, none of them attacked.
Instead, they looked at Naruto, now fully transformed into the Nine-Tails, with curiosity in their eyes.
As for hatred?
That was impossible.
After Naruto's identity as the son of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina was revealed, his status in Konoha had risen dramatically.
Many villagers had realized that he was not some demon fox.
He was the son of heroes.
Because of that, the current Naruto was treated with the respect a hero's child deserved.
"Foolish Konoha…"
"Roar!"
Looking at the ANBU standing ahead, the Nine-Tails roared furiously.
Its mouth opened wide.
Then, in one breath, it spat out three Tailed Beast Bombs.
The three spheres tore through the air, carrying enough force to make the atmosphere tremble.
They flew toward Konoha with terrifying speed, as if they intended to erase the village from the map.
And yet—
what left the Nine-Tails speechless was the ANBU's reaction.
Faced with its destructive attack, the ANBU showed no fear.
Some even revealed faint smiles.
It was almost as if they were mocking it for overestimating itself.
That was intolerable.
Especially for the legendary Nine-Tails.
In an instant, its fury surged.
For years, it had waited inside the seal, searching for a chance to break free and rampage again.
Unfortunately, Naruto might have seemed careless and loud on the surface, but his mental resilience had always been strangely strong. The Nine-Tails had never been able to fully break him.
Now that Naruto's heart had finally cracked, the Nine-Tails had found its opportunity.
Of course it would seize it.
Of course it would show the world its power.
Unfortunately—
the Nine-Tails was both foolish and unlucky.
All these years, after being sealed, it had either slept or brooded in isolation. It knew almost nothing about what had happened outside.
Because of that, it had no idea how much the world had changed.
What did one Nine-Tails count for now?
Aside from the Four-Tails, almost every other tailed beast was already in Konoha.
To put it bluntly—
if the Nine-Tails wanted to show off in today's Konoha, it had chosen the wrong era.
"How is this possible?"
The Nine-Tails froze.
In the past, every time it broke free, it caused massive panic.
Countless civilians and shinobi looked at it as if they had seen a demon.
Fear.
Despair.
Chaos.
That was the reaction it expected.
But this time?
Something felt wrong.
The villagers of Konoha were not afraid.
They were not even running.
Some had already brought out stools and snacks, as though preparing to watch a performance.
As for Konoha's shinobi, they also showed no intention of attacking immediately.
This left the Nine-Tails deeply confused.
Had it been sealed for so long that the shinobi world had forgotten its terror?
For a moment, the Nine-Tails began to doubt its entire existence.
But it had finally escaped.
It would not submit so easily.
This had to be an illusion.
Yes.
It had to be.
It was the Nine-Tails.
The strongest of the tailed beasts.
There was no way it had fallen so far.
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