Chapter 61: Controlling Kurama's Power
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Sakura was curious too, but she found it hard to believe. "You've got to be kidding. Naruto has more Chakra than Sasuke?"
In Sakura's eyes, Sasuke was very strong. Among their class, aside from Yoruha, Sasuke was the strongest.
In her understanding, Sasuke was far stronger than Naruto, which meant Sasuke should have far more Chakra than Naruto.
Yoruha nodded seriously. "There's no need to doubt that. Naruto has even more Chakra than Kakashi-sensei."
"That's one of the benefits of being a Nine-Tails jinchūriki."
"Naruto, your hand's healed already, right? There's not even a scar left."
Naruto didn't understand why Yoruha was asking that.
Still, he raised his hand and asked curiously, "Why are you asking?"
Sakura and Sasuke looked at Naruto's hand and saw that the injury from before had completely healed.
After all, only a few days had passed since the day Naruto stabbed through his own palm.
For such a serious wound to heal completely in just a few days, without leaving even the slightest scar, was incredible.
Naruto himself didn't find it strange, because ever since he was little, his injuries had always healed very quickly. He had assumed everyone was like that.
Yoruha said, "That's a physical change Kurama brought you. Your recovery is extremely strong."
"If a normal person suffered a wound that serious, it wouldn't heal in just a few months."
"And even after it healed, it would leave a scar."
"But look at your palm. Do you see any scar at all?"
Naruto looked at it and said, "Huh, you're right. There's really nothing there. Isn't everyone like this?"
Before Yoruha could answer, Sakura spoke first.
"Of course not. How could a wound that serious heal in just a few days, and without leaving a scar? I'm honestly jealous, Naruto."
Sakura meant that sincerely.
As a girl, she really was envious that even such a severe injury could heal without leaving a mark.
Girls all cared about their looks, especially a precocious girl like Sakura.
Sasuke's eyes were fixed tightly on Naruto's hand as well. He was shocked too.
He hadn't expected Naruto to have an ability like that.
"That idiot actually has something this powerful..."
Even Sasuke himself didn't possess such a terrifying ability.
It was an extremely frightening power, especially for a ninja, a profession that lived with death at the edge of a blade.
On the battlefield, it was almost like having several extra lives.
With Sakura and Sasuke both staring at him like that, Naruto started to feel proud too, and an inexplicable delight rose in him. "Really? Sakura's jealous of me too? Am I really that amazing? Hahaha!"
Seeing Naruto grinning foolishly, Sakura, who had been feeling envious a moment ago, suddenly let it go.
After all, this was clearly something traded for brains. She wasn't jealous anymore.
Yoruha could only shake his head, speechless.
"This guy's emotions really do change fast. He was so upset just a moment ago, and now he's already all cheerful again."
After laughing for a while, Naruto looked at Yoruha and asked, "Then how am I supposed to control the power of the Nine-Tails Fox?"
"If I control the Nine-Tails Fox, can I really become as strong as the Fourth Hokage?"
Sasuke and Sakura both looked toward Yoruha too.
They cared about that as well.
After all, Naruto had originally been the worst one on the team. Even though he was now a little stronger than Sakura,
he was still weaker than Sasuke.
And Sasuke absolutely didn't want to be surpassed by someone like Naruto.
Yoruha waved a hand. "How would I know? Don't get it wrong—I'm about the same as you guys. I just graduated from the Ninja Academy too."
"The reason I know this stuff is because Kakashi-sensei told me. As for how to control Kurama, even Kakashi-sensei doesn't know. If he did, the Third Hokage would have taught you a long time ago. Why would they wait until now?"
"But I heard the previous Nine-Tails jinchūriki controlled Kurama's power through Fūinjutsu."
"The previous Nine-Tails jinchūriki was the Fourth Hokage's wife."
"And just like you, she was from the Uzumaki Clan."
Naruto froze for a moment.
Then he seemed to think of something.
"I'm from the Uzumaki Clan?"
Although Naruto's surname was Uzumaki, he had never known there was such a thing as the Uzumaki Clan. He had always thought Uzumaki was just his last name.
Yoruha nodded. "That's right. The Uzumaki Clan used to be an ally of Konohagakure."
"But the Uzumaki Clan was wiped out long ago. If they hadn't been, they would still be extremely powerful."
Naruto went still again. "Then... the Uzumaki Clan isn't a clan from Konohagakure?"
Sakura and Sasuke were curious too.
At first, neither of them had known there was no Uzumaki Clan in Konohagakure.
Like Naruto, they had always assumed Uzumaki was simply Naruto's surname.
After hearing that the Uzumaki Clan had been destroyed, Sasuke even looked at Naruto with a bit of sympathy.
He thought Naruto was like him—the lone survivor of a fallen clan.
Naruto, meanwhile, had thought he finally had a clan, finally had somewhere he belonged.
But just as he started to feel that sense of belonging, Yoruha said the Uzumaki Clan had been destroyed—and that it wasn't even a clan from Konohagakure.
Yoruha thought for a moment, then said, "No. The Uzumaki Clan was a ninja clan from the Land of Whirlpools, and they were especially skilled at Fūinjutsu."
"They were particularly suited to serving as Tailed Beastjinchūriki. Because of that, several great nations joined forces against them, destroyed the Uzumaki Clan, and took their Fūinjutsu."
"And besides the ones who were slaughtered, some members of the Uzumaki Clan were scattered across the world."
"For example, Konohagakure has had people from the Uzumaki Clan."
"If I remember right, the First Hokage's wife was from the Uzumaki Clan, and the Fourth Hokage's wife was too."
"And both of them served as Nine-Tails jinchūriki."
Yoruha wasn't leaking any secrets by saying this.
All of that information was in the public library of Konohagakure.
People just normally didn't pay attention to it.
After all, what most people cared about was Konohagakure's Hokage. Who would bother paying attention to the wives of the Hokage?
But because they were important figures, they were also introduced in Konohagakure's history books.
Yoruha looked at Naruto and said, "So I think that if you can master the Uzumaki Clan's Fūinjutsu, you might be able to control the Kurama inside you the same way the previous Hokages' wives did."
Naruto was silent for a while, then asked, "But I don't know where to find the Uzumaki Clan's Fūinjutsu. You said it yourself, didn't you?"
"The Uzumaki Clan was wiped out. Where am I supposed to get Fūinjutsu from?"
"Then I can't help you there. After all, I'm not that much stronger than you."
"And I suspect Fūinjutsu is a village secret. Not something ordinary people can get access to."
"But I do think the Fūinjutsu the Fourth Hokage placed on you is already very powerful, and it's a huge help to you."
"You just need to become stronger and make good use of the Fourth Hokage's Fūinjutsu. Sooner or later, you'll definitely be able to control Kurama's power."
"You have to understand, Kurama is incredibly powerful. When Kurama rampaged, it caused enormous destruction to our village."
"But that also proves just how powerful Kurama's strength is. Once you gain control of it, it might instantly raise your power to the level of a Hokage."
"After all, Kurama was such a powerful monster that even the Fourth had to sacrifice his life to seal it. And just the Chakra leaking out from Kurama is enough to make your Chakra reserves greater than Kakashi-sensei's."
"Think about it—if you fully controlled Kurama's Chakra, then your Chakra reserves would probably be several times greater than even a Hokage's."
"And judging from the fact that the previous two Nine-Tails jinchūriki in Konohagakure were both from the Uzumaki Clan, your clan's constitution is probably especially well suited for being a Nine-Tails jinchūriki. You probably even have an innate power to suppress Tailed Beasts—it's just that you haven't mastered that power yet."
Naruto's eyes lit up.
Right now, all he wanted was to become stronger, defeat Yoruha, and earn Kakashi's acknowledgment.
So when he heard Yoruha say that if he mastered Kurama, he could gain power equal to—or even beyond—that of the Fourth Hokage, Naruto was moved.