In the dark, sealed space, Uzumaki Kushina used her chakra to write words midair.
Not far away, inside a large cage, two enormous eyes stared unblinkingly.
At first, the Nine-Tails didn't want to look.
You can't just tell me to look, and I do it. What about my dignity as the strongest tailed beast?
But loneliness eventually got the better of it.
After months of Kushina's persistence, the Nine-Tails finally gave in and was hooked. There was no turning back.
Fine, it's actually pretty good!
After a year of coexisting, the Nine-Tails begrudgingly acknowledged Kushina. She may not have accomplished much, but her perseverance earned some respect.
At that moment, a knocking sound broke the silence.
Kushina's eyes lit up. "Big Fox, we'll stop here for today. I need to get the door."
With that, her consciousness exited the sealed space.
"Hey! Wait a minute!"
The Nine-Tails growled in frustration. "Damn it! I hate nothing more than being left hanging!"
"Lady Tsunade? Hanekawa?"
Kushina opened the door and was delighted to see them. "Come in!"
"Minato's not home again?" Tsunade glanced around but didn't spot Minato Namikaze.
"He's on a mission," Kushina explained. "Ever since he learned the Flying Thunder God Technique, his workload has doubled."
"Flying Thunder God is certainly convenient," Tsunade nodded slightly, then asked, "How's the Nine-Tails been lately?"
"Oh, we're getting along great!" Kushina beamed. "The Nine-Tails isn't as scary as I thought—it's just like a dog!"
Tsunade's expression turned strange.
Comparing a tailed beast to a dog? Kushina might be the first person to do so.
Even her grandpa Hashirama had described the Nine-Tails as too dangerous to leave unsealed.
Suddenly, an overwhelming aura erupted in the room.
Kushina was now clad in a blood-red cloak of tailed-beast chakra, with two tails lashing wildly.
Tsunade immediately tensed, clenching her fists as she asked in a grave tone.
"It's fine, it's fine."
Kushina waved her hand dismissively. "I called it a dog, and it got upset. It's just protesting."
Tsunade was speechless.
This was far from the so-called embodiment of evil everyone feared.
"Today's the first day of school. Hanekawa, how do you have time to come here?" Kushina retracted her tails and asked.
By now, she could easily control her tails and even partially enter a tailed-beast transformation.
"He found the Hokage's speech too long-winded and didn't want to listen," Tsunade explained with a smile.
"I thought the same thing!" Kushina exclaimed, finding a kindred spirit.
Hanekawa remembered something.
Kushina wasn't exactly the obedient type. She was just as headstrong as Tsunade and prone to violence, though she hid it well in front of them.
"It's still too early for dinner. How about a card game?"
After some small talk, Tsunade finally revealed her true intentions.
Hanekawa shook his head helplessly.
Of course, it's always about gambling.
Kushina suddenly looked surprised. "The Nine-Tails says it wants to join the card game too."
Tsunade was stunned for a moment, then became intrigued.
Playing cards with the Nine-Tails? That sounded like fun.
"But the Nine-Tails is in the sealed space. How's it going to play cards?"
Tsunade raised a valid question.
The next second, two tails emerged again. Under the Nine-Tails' control, they transformed into ten finger-like appendages.
Tsunade flexed her wrists. "I've never beaten a tailed beast before."
And so, three people and one fox sat down at the table to play.
"What kind of card game?"
Kushina Uzumaki held a deck of cards and said, "It should be something simple so the Nine-Tails can quickly understand the rules."
"I am incredibly smart! I can understand any rules!"
The Nine-Tails roared, and the two tails it extended outside the seal swayed indignantly.
"I have a new game idea," Hanekawa raised his hand and said. "It's called Demon Card Battle."
He initially wanted to suggest Landlord's Game (a Chinese card game), but realizing it would be hard to explain, he improvised.
"Then explain the rules," Kushina said, shuffling the cards.
Hanekawa explained the rules, which were essentially those of Landlord's Game with slight alterations.
"Doesn't that require one more person?" Kushina asked after listening.
"I won't play," Hanekawa replied, shaking his head.
"Fair enough," Kushina agreed. "Kids really shouldn't gamble."
"Sit next to me," Tsunade said suddenly.
At Kushina's house, whenever cards were involved, Tsunade rarely won if Hanekawa participated. But now that he wasn't playing, she saw an opportunity to use him as her "helper."
Hanekawa immediately understood her intentions and sat beside her.
"Move closer," Tsunade ordered with a glance.
Hanekawa shifted his seat until their bodies were touching. Even through their clothes, he could feel her soft skin and, notably, her plump thighs.
"You two really have a great teacher-student relationship," Kushina remarked, watching the scene unfold with a smile.
The Demon Card Battle began.
"Big Fox! Stop playing recklessly! We're on the same team!"
"You're terrible at this game!"
"Shut up, you stupid fox!"
Kushina's furious shouts echoed continuously.
Meanwhile, Tsunade, benefiting from Hanekawa's presence, seemed to neutralize her usual bad luck. But with the Nine-Tails as Kushina's unreliable partner, she ended up losing more often than winning.
Hanekawa poured Kushina a cup of coffee to ease her frustration.
"What Nine-Tails? It's nothing special!" Kushina declared after a sip.
The two tails beside her twitched slightly, but Kushina shot them a fierce glare, causing them to droop dejectedly. They looked utterly defeated.
Hanekawa tried to stifle a laugh but didn't dare let it slip. ᴛhis chapter is ᴜpdated by novel⁂fire.net
In the original storyline, once Naruto and the Nine-Tails became friends, its true personality was revealed—a bit tsundere, with a touch of husky-like behavior.
[E-rank Talent Effect 'Benevolent Tongue' has upgraded.]
[Hand seal speed increased by an additional 30%.]
Hanekawa let out a small sound of surprise.
Was this upgrade due to the Nine-Tails?
Regardless, it was a good thing. Hand seal speed was crucial for a ninja.
After lunch, Hanekawa and Tsunade left Kushina's house.
"Afternoon training?" Hanekawa asked on their way home. "I want to learn the Body Flicker Technique."
The Body Flicker Technique wasn't particularly difficult. Hanekawa had postponed learning it to wait for his C-rank talent, Medic Chūnin, to complete. With this technique, he could now merge it into the C-rank talent Swift as Wind, and eventually into the B-rank talent Seal-less Healing.
"Fine," Tsunade agreed, though a bit reluctantly. She had initially planned to visit a casino but set it aside to teach him.
Once they returned home, they stayed outside rather than going inside.
Tsunade began explaining the technique.
The Body Flicker Technique, in essence, is a rapid movement skill.
It comes in various forms.
The basic Body Flicker is a D-rank technique and relatively simple.
Advanced versions incorporate chakra nature transformations, such as Water Flicker, Mist Flicker, or Lightning Flicker.
The highest level involves space-time ninjutsu, like the Flying Thunder God Technique.
For now, Hanekawa was learning the simplest, standard version of the Body Flicker Technique.