"It's really you, 'Fox'."
Facing Kurama's towering rage and oppressive pressure, Otsutsuki Urashiki merely brushed his sleeve, returning to his frivolous and condescending demeanor.
"Are you worried about that kid? Don't be so tense, relax. Don't worry, I won't take his life. Rather... right now, I hope he'survives' more than anyone else."
The Nine-Tailed's rage did not abate in the slightest. Ignoring Urashiki's nonsense, it let out another deafening roar.
"Cut the crap!"
"You just said—'This body is mine'?! What exactly does that mean?!"
The words contained extreme anxiety and icy killing intent. Naruto was currently on the brink of death outside, plunged into an unknown coma, and the culprit was right before them, even speaking wildly. Analyzing the words, could it be that... things were really heading toward the possibility the Nine-Tailed found most unacceptable?!
Urashiki seemed to enjoy the Nine-Tailed's state of angry helplessness and actually began to explain slowly.
"The literal meaning, Fox. Because—Uzumaki Naruto, he has now officially become my 'Vessel'."
"Yours?! Don't talk about Naruto like he's your Possession!!"
The Nine-Tailed had already guessed the general idea—this bastard used some sinister method unknown to them, forcing the core of his Soul or consciousness into Naruto's body at the last moment before his own body was destroyed! This wasn't just parasitism; judging by his tone, he clearly intended... Possession!
The moment it considered that possibility—that Naruto's consciousness, Soul, and everything he represented could be completely erased and overwritten by this arrogant alien monster before them... the hatred and fury in the Nine-Tailed's heart instantly soared to an unprecedented peak!
A terrifying emotional storm of violent self-reproach for its own "dereliction of duty," coupled with bone-deep killing intent toward Urashiki! This feeling made the Nine-Tailed want to tear itself apart, asking why it hadn't noticed, why it hadn't protected Naruto! But the greater, lava-like boiling fury was all directed at Urashiki—shredding him into ten thousand pieces and burning his Soul a billion times wouldn't even begin to quench it!
"It's regrettable, but this is the cold, cruel reality." Urashiki was completely unfazed by the Nine-Tailed's killing intent.
"We of the Ōtsutsuki Clan possess a unique secret technique. Its name is—[Karma]."
"The essence of this technique is to take the entirety of the caster's 'data'—that is, the Ōtsutsuki Clan member's personality, memories, knowledge, power, and even life form... performing a complete 'copy' and 'compression.' This is then imprinted onto the body of a carefully selected, suitable 'Vessel'—the host."
He continued, seemingly enjoying the Nine-Tailed's increasingly grim expression.
"Of course, to prevent the 'Vessel' from being too fragile and collapsing under the full power of the Ōtsutsuki all at once, the Ōtsutsuki power contained within the 'Karma' is usually'slowly thawed and released' during the 'Vessel's' adaptation process, until the body and Soul fully harmonize, finally completing 'Reincarnation'."
At this point, Urashiki's tone suddenly became extremely excited. "Therefore—this is truly a gift of fate! A miraculous coincidence! Haha!"
He spread his arms. "Throughout my long life... I have never encountered an opponent who required me to fight seriously!" A pathetic arrogance was evident in his words. "Therefore, I am not completely proficient in the 'life-saving' backup known as [Karma]; I only have a rough grasp of it. I barely managed to activate it just before being completely annihilated... I really thought I was finished this time!"
Arrogance—this was the fundamental reason Otsutsuki Urashiki was almost dragged into true perdition. He viewed himself as invincible, leading him to treat even the clan's most critical "resurrection insurance" with contempt, never having deeply studied and mastered its essentials.
"Do you know how minuscule the probability was that I successfully implanted 'Karma' into this kid just now?!" Urashiki's excitement was practically overflowing. "Because I couldn't slowly compress my own power into the 'Karma' like the clan elites... therefore, aside from beings who also possess the Ōtsutsuki Physique, no 'lower creature' could possibly withstand and 'absorb' this roughly injected power! The result of forced injection would only be the instantaneous collapse of the 'Vessel'!"
"But—this kid did it!! He!! He actually absorbed my power! My entire 'data' is absolutely present inside his body!"
"Therefore—" Urashiki slightly reined in his excitement. "This is why the kid is currently unconscious and his vital signs are abnormal. I couldn't compress and buffer the power, so now, the Ōtsutsuki power is being 'forcibly applied' to this body and Soul."
"However, once this body fully 'adapts'... the personality and will of 'me' stored within the 'Karma' will naturally awaken, take dominance, and overwrite everything that originally belonged to Uzumaki Naruto. And I shall be resurrected—within this perfect physical body!"
"Although I don't know why, this kid's body possesses the strange characteristic of being able to autonomously replenish life energy... Given this, even if my 'Karma' is an incomplete, defective product, I can still achieve a perfect Reincarnation!"
The truth, like the coldest venom, was laid bare by Urashiki in a nearly boastful manner.
"Then... what about Naruto?! What will happen to Naruto?!" The Nine-Tailed suppressed the urge to utterly explode and destroy everything, squeezing the words out through clenched teeth.
Urashiki immediately flashed an inhuman smile. "This kid's 'personality'... will naturally be completely erased by my data within the 'Karma'. It's like covering an old canvas entirely with new paint. This is the fate of the 'Vessel'."
"You can't save him. No one can."
"I'm going to tear you apart!!!!!"
The last thread of sanity snapped!
The Nine-Tailed's eyes were completely filled with raging blood-red! Nine massive red tails, like mountain ranges, wildly and chaotically swept, lashed, and coiled toward Urashiki's minuscule figure!
"Heh..."
Facing this world-destroying attack, Urashiki merely chuckled. The golden Rinnegan in his eyes suddenly lit up. Even as a consciousness entity, he still retained the power and techniques belonging to the Ōtsutsuki.
However—
"Pfft!"
The sound of a Sharp Weapon piercing some kind of "existence" rang out without warning from behind Urashiki!
The smile of absolute control on Urashiki's face instantly froze, and unbelievable shock flashed in his eyes. He looked down and saw the tip of a cold, gleaming Kunai cleanly piercing through from the position of his neck!
There was no blood, but the "feeling" of being pierced and the Soul-level sting were terrifyingly real!
"I won't let you harm my son."
A calm, deep voice, yet containing the same anger and killing intent as the Nine-Tailed, sounded right next to Urashiki's "ear."
Minato Namikaze's figure appeared behind Urashiki. He maintained the posture of having stabbed the flying thunder god kunai in, and his deep blue eyes, similar to Naruto's, now held none of his usual gentleness or tolerance, only a Soul-freezing coldness.
"Who... who are you?!" Urashiki was both startled and furious. He tried to turn his head, but his movement was sluggish because his "vital point" had been struck. "So... this kid's body doesn't just contain you, Fox?! But—"
The golden light flashed again in his eyes, and a reddish Chakra glow began to emanate from his body.
"—I told you! You can't do anyth—?!"
Before he finished speaking, the "body" pierced by the Kunai suddenly transformed into countless scarlet Chakra Paper Cranes, deftly scattering through the gaps between Minato's Kunai and the Nine-Tailed's attack.
In the next second, all the Paper Cranes reconvened nearby, and Urashiki's slightly dishevelled but unharmed figure materialized once more. However, the look he gave Minato was now full of apprehension and malice.
"Hmph... a little trick." He snorted coldly. "It seems that if I want to 'take over' this body smoothly, I first need to clear out some 'residual pests'."
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