¿Chapter 401: Naruto and Kurama Join Forces
But now, the confidence that once supported Naruto's determination to follow through—Kurama knelt. He knelt before Li Yao, and that shattered the courage Naruto always had when facing any enemy.
His ninja way also broke in that moment.
"So, this is the reward for the sacrifice of those two little girls who died to save you? A Naruto who gives up struggling and waits for death?"
Kurama's tone was filled with biting sarcasm. Thinking of Hinata and Sakura's sacrifice, Naruto instantly flared up with anger.
"Then what should I do?!"
"You can't even face the enemy yourself, and now you ask me what to do?"
Naruto roared at Kurama in despair. If there were even the slightest hope of defeating Li Yao, he wouldn't be like this now. It was precisely because he saw no hope at all that he felt such despair and helplessness.
"Good. That's the attitude you need to keep."
Kurama nodded his huge head. He wasn't afraid of Naruto's anger—he was only afraid Naruto would lose all his fighting spirit. If that happened, Naruto wouldn't be able to control his chakra, let alone cooperate with him.
"Listen, I'll give you my chakra soon. Don't be affected by the emotions within it—hold on to your sense of self. Only then can you truly master my chakra, and only then can we defeat that guy from another world, Li Yao."
"Really…?"
Desperate Naruto suddenly heard Kurama say they could defeat Li Yao. He immediately leapt up from the ground, no longer slumped in defeat, and stared seriously at Kurama.
Same thing as before—if there were even a sliver of hope, he would never give up.
"Do as I say. If you can withstand the influence of the dark emotions within my chakra and fully control it, you'll be able to enter a special tailed beast mode that belongs only to me."
"In that mode, combining your Sage Mode with my support, there might be a chance to defeat Li Yao, the outsider."
Li Yao's strength didn't just come from his various space-time ninjutsu abilities—it was his monstrous neural reflex speed, no less terrifying than the Fourth Hokage's, that left Kurama feeling utterly helpless.
Especially when such incredible reflexes were combined with instantaneous spatial movement, the results were simply overpowered.
With the ability to teleport instantly to an enemy's side, and a one-hit kill black spatial devouring ninjutsu even more terrifying than the Fourth Hokage's Rasengan, any opponent who couldn't match Li Yao's speed and reactions would be killed in an instant.
So to defeat Li Yao, they had to first ensure they wouldn't be instantly killed—saving their lives was the first step, or everything else would be meaningless.
Only if Naruto could fully control his chakra and enter the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode would he gain the ability to sense malice and have extraordinarily fast reflexes.
With that, Naruto might finally have a chance to figure out how to defeat Li Yao.
That was Kurama's plan.
"You… why are you helping me?"
Naruto looked at Kurama, who was seriously discussing how to defeat Li Yao with him, and for the first time realized that Kurama had such a human side. He suddenly became curious—why was Kurama helping him now?
Before, Naruto had always thought of Kurama as a monster, a being with great power who was always trying to seize his body, a creature with no reason or humanity.
But now this "monster" was speaking to him like a fellow ninja.
What exactly caused Kurama to change like this? Naruto was deeply curious.
"No reason. Just accept my chakra quickly."
Kurama couldn't be bothered to explain. He directed his chakra to flood into Naruto's spiritual body. Naruto opened his mouth to speak, but Kurama frowned and reminded him:
"Naruto, even though time in the spiritual space flows much slower than in the outside world—days here are but an instant out there—the enemy can enter here at any time. Don't forget that."
Back in the Rōran world, wasn't it Li Yao who entered Naruto's spiritual seal and wiped out the spirit of his father, the Fourth Hokage?
If Li Yao were to enter this space now, Naruto would lose the chance to control his chakra forever—Li Yao would never allow it.
"I understand. Let's do it."
Naruto's expression hardened. Thinking of his father, mother, and all the loved ones and teachers who had died, he immediately focused his mind on Kurama's chakra.
"Ah… run, that monster is coming!"
"I heard there's a monster inside him that eats people! Let's go!"
"No, I'm not a monster! You're the monsters! Ah…"
Kurama's chakra carried intense negative emotions, capable of drawing out the darkness buried deep within a human heart.
For Naruto, that darkness was the isolation he faced as a child, and the gazes that saw him as nothing more than a monster. Those looks and words had left deep psychological scars in his childhood.
If not for Shikamaru, Choji, and others who never shunned him for who he was, and the warmth the Third Hokage occasionally showed him, Naruto might have fallen into darkness long ago.
Even so, Naruto still often had to express his emotions through rebellious actions, just to vent the negativity building up inside.
But that was the Naruto of the real world.
Now, with Kurama's chakra invading him, Naruto was overwhelmed only by the negative emotions from his childhood—there were no warm memories at all.
Under the intense assault of this darkness, Naruto's will began to collapse. In his mind, a voice echoed:
"Kill. Kill everyone who makes you unhappy."
"Everyone in Konoha deserves to die…"
"Run away. Konoha isn't worth saving…"
In his mental world, Dark Naruto continuously guided his mind deeper into the darkness.
Facing such a flood of negativity, Naruto had no way to resist. He gradually walked into the dark world.
"Naruto… you must hold on!"
Within the seal gate, Kurama watched as Naruto's spiritual body gradually took on his Nine-Tails form. He was incredibly anxious, but all he could do was wait.
This was something only Naruto himself could overcome—no one else could help.
The only thing Kurama could do was pray for him.
You must endure this!
Naruto!
Or my life will end today as well.
Kurama sighed in his heart.
Naruto had asked why he helped him?
Kurama hadn't answered, but in truth, it was because he was afraid of dying.
As a being made of chakra, even if Naruto died, Kurama would only temporarily disappear. He would eventually reform elsewhere in the ninja world—there was no fear of Naruto's death.
Kurama could've completely ignored Naruto, or even tried to seize control of his body and go wild against Li Yao. At worst, he'd be sealed again.
Kurama would never willingly let humans off the hook, much less help Naruto master and control his chakra.
But all of this changed because Kurama realized that Li Yao's black devouring space technique had the power to kill him.
Yes—kill!
Kurama trusted his own instincts. If he were devoured by Li Yao's black space, he would truly die—no rebirth elsewhere in the ninja world. He would vanish forever.
(END CHAPTER)
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