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"Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock..."
The soft sound of gurgling water echoed through the dark space.
One tail, two tails, three tails, four tails... nine tails.
Kurama counted his tails out of boredom.
He had transmigrated into the world of Naruto and seized control of the Nine Tails.
Now, both the consciousness and body of the Nine Tails belonged entirely to him.
Others who transmigrate into this world often end up as Uchiha with their Sharingan, Hyuga with their Byakugan, or, in some cases, descendants of the Senju Clan.
But he? He was different.
He had become the "nuclear weapon" that everyone in this world feared—the Tailed Beast.
And not just any Tailed Beast—the strongest of them all.
Kurama hadn't been in this world for long, and as the Nine Tails, he still didn't know who his Jinchūriki was.
Was it Uzumaki Mito?
Or Uzumaki Kushina?
Or perhaps even Uzumaki Naruto?
Kurama looked around and saw that he was surrounded by walls of metal and stone.
The only door remained tightly shut, with a large sealing kanji—(Seal)—engraved upon it.
As the Nine Tails, he understood this sealing technique very well. It was none other than the Uzumaki Clan's powerful Eight Trigrams Seal.
The seal was made up of two Four Symbols Seals, and the Uzumaki Clan's unique life force granted them the ability to suppress the Tailed Beasts.
Now that he had become the Nine Tails, Kurama couldn't help but feel like a pet locked in a cage.
A song came to mind—a tragic lament for himself:
> Iron doors, iron windows, iron chains
With my hand on the iron bars,
I look outside
Life beyond is so wonderful
When will I return to my Freedom?
Chains bind me tightly
When will I be free again?
Kurama sighed, swiping his tail to stir up a massive wave in the flooded space.
In the original timeline, the Nine Tails had never stopped trying to break free from his seal.
Since the moment he was sealed away, he had constantly sought ways to escape.
If his struggles were written down, it could fill an entire book titled Nine Tails' Prison Break.
But in the end, all his attempts had failed.
And finally, he had been talked into submission by none other than Naruto Uzumaki, the King of Talk-no-Jutsu, who had opened the cage that bound him.
The ground beneath him was damp and covered in stagnant water. Kurama bared his fangs, releasing a low growl as he exhaled sharply.
Just then, he heard hurried footsteps outside.
"Mito-sama, Uzushiogakure has fallen. The Third Hokage has brought a young girl from the ruins—she is from your clan and is highly suitable to become the next Jinchūriki of the Nine Tails."
Mito?
Uzushiogakure?
Uzumaki Mito—the first Jinchūriki of the Nine Tails!
Kurama finally understood where he was.
He was inside the body of the first Nine Tails Jinchūriki, the wife of the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama—Uzumaki Mito.
It had been Hashirama himself who had captured him, like an eagle snatching up its prey, all while delivering his signature Versailles-style speech.
With a serious expression, Hashirama had declared,
"Nine Tails, your power is too great. I cannot allow you to roam freely."
Seriously, look at how this guy talks!
Kurama occasionally overheard the voice of an elderly woman from outside.
"I truly appreciate the efforts of the Third Hokage. This way, the balance of Tailed Beasts among the villages will remain intact."
Uzumaki Mito's voice was slow and calm as she lay on her bed.
Once a Jinchūriki dies, the Tailed Beast inside them dissipates into chakra and takes time to reform. Naturally, Mito didn't want such an outcome.
Finding a successor from the Uzumaki Clan would be the best possible solution.
Through Uzumaki Mito's senses, Kurama caught a glimpse of the outside world.
It was a spacious and well-lit room, elegantly decorated yet simple.
Two maids attended to Mito, while two kneeling Anbu members delivered their report about the Jinchūriki selection.
These Anbu were directly under the Third Hokage's command.
From what Kurama knew of the original timeline, Uzumaki Mito was deeply respected by Konoha's villagers and shinobi alike.
First, as the wife of Senju Hashirama, her status was unquestionable.
Hashirama had ended the Warring States Period and earned the title God of Shinobi.
Second, as a powerful Uzumaki, Mito possessed immense chakra and the ability to suppress Tailed Beasts, further cementing her high regard in the village.
Uzumaki Kushina, however, had a different fate.
Unlike Mito, she was seen more as a vessel to seal the Nine Tails.
That being said, Kushina was still treated far better than her son, Naruto, in Konoha.
Very few people knew about Kushina's identity as the next Jinchūriki. Even the Sannin had been unaware at the time.
As a result, she was never shunned or treated like an outcast, unlike Naruto.
But none of this was Kurama's concern right now.
What mattered to him was how to escape from this seal.
In the original timeline, the Nine Tails had no way of breaking through the Uzumaki Clan's seal on his own.
All he could do was wait, bide his time, and weaken the seal little by little as the years passed.
But that didn't mean Kurama himself had no options.
Another problem was that he had always remained in his Nine Tails form.
If he wanted to take action, he had to find a way to return to his human form.
In the now-empty room, after the Anbu had left, only the two maids remained.
Uzumaki Mito slowly sat up in her bed, folding her hands in her lap.
"You two, please step aside. I wish to speak with the Nine Tails."
"Yes, Mito-sama!"
Inside the sealed space, the sound of water splashing echoed softly.
An old woman with warmth and wisdom etched into her features approached the massive gate sealing the Nine Tails.
"Nine Tails, it's been a long time."
"Hmph, what does a little girl like you want with me?" Kurama sneered, lying lazily on the wet ground. His nine tails swayed behind him.
The enormous shadows of his tails loomed across the space.
To him, Uzumaki Mito was nothing more than a child.
Though she was over eighty years old, compared to a being that had existed since the era of the Sage of Six Paths, she was still just a young girl.
In a world where the average lifespan barely reached thirty, Mito had already lived far longer than most.
But she didn't seem to mind being called a little girl.
"Nine Tails," she said softly, her voice calm and gentle.
"I don't have much time left in this world. Before I go, I want to have a proper conversation with you."
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