NOVEL WEB Chapter 46: Whisper
"Freedom?" The Nine-Tails snorted from its nostrils, mocking, "Compared to me, you've already enjoyed more than enough freedom. How would you feel if you stayed locked up in this dark, endless cage?"
"Nine-Tails, don't you understand yet?"
Naruto extended his hand, and suddenly, several red wooden tendrils surged from the ground, intertwining to form a flat surface. As the tendrils slowly rose, Naruto levitated in midair, meeting the Nine-Tails' gaze equally.
"I'm going to release you, as long as I don't die."
"You're going to release me?" The Nine-Tails' eyes widened with disbelief as it stared at Naruto, "Human, why…?"
"I know your power is immense, Nine-Tails." Naruto spoke calmly. "The village needs your power, but I don't care about that. I want freedom, to live the life I want."
"The moment you became the Jinchuriki, not only were you imprisoned, but so was I."
"I don't want to sacrifice my life for this decaying village, becoming a slave to it."
"Then why not just destroy the village?" The Nine-Tails snarled, "Damn Konoha! They've imprisoned me for over a hundred years!"
"Human, why don't we team up and completely destroy this village?"
"No," Naruto rejected flatly.
"Why?" The Nine-Tails was confused. "Don't you hate that village?"
"No, I don't." Naruto shook his head.
Of course, he didn't hate it. He had only crossed over a few days ago. He could only say he was dissatisfied with the village, but not to the extent of hatred. As for the matters of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki, what did they have to do with him? He had figured it out—so long as he remained the Jinchuriki, freedom was forever out of his reach.
The village was still the same village. As long as he wasn't the Jinchuriki, he didn't care who else became it.
"I've said it, I want freedom, but I don't want to be a slave to freedom." Naruto shook his head and continued, "In the end, people become slaves to something because of their obsessions."
"But I already have so much money, and my strength isn't weak. I'd rather indulge in beauty and fine wine, live as I please, than be some kind of savior."
The Nine-Tails froze. It looked at Naruto, puzzled, and asked,
"Human, don't you desire power?"
"Nine-Tails, your power is too weak." Naruto said bluntly.
"What did you say?"
"I don't care."
"Do you even realize what you're saying?" The Nine-Tails seemed to lose confidence. "Kid, all the tailed beasts combined in the ninja world aren't enough for me to fight alone. You say I'm weak?"
"Stop wasting time on such trivial matters." Naruto said impatiently. "Nine-Tails, I'll ask you, do you want to get out?"
"Of course."
"That's good. When the time comes, I'll come find you."
Naruto snapped his fingers, and the cell returned to its original spacious state.
"What does 'when the time comes' mean?" the Nine-Tails asked.
However, Naruto did not answer. His consciousness turned into a shadow and directly left.
The next day.
The sound of an alarm clock rang, and Naruto sat up groggily from bed, dragging his still-sleepy body to wash up. He wiped the fog off the mirror and barely managed a smile.
As he stepped out the door and just reached the alley, a mist ninja wearing a straw hat suddenly appeared, shouting loudly,
"Kid! Die!"
The person shouted and rushed toward Naruto.
"Wait!" Naruto immediately stopped the person.
"What?"
The person actually stopped, forcing a laugh and saying,
"What? Kid, begging for mercy won't work!"
Naruto yawned, not at all concerned, and said,
"Uncle, I'm the top graduate of the ninja academy this year. Your transformation technique is way too obvious."
"What are you talking about, kid?" The mist ninja broke out in a cold sweat.
"I remember, even a Chunin doesn't make that much money unless they take on dangerous missions, right? Don't hide it from me, I've killed a Mist Jonin before, and they even bled all over me. If you get hurt by me, it'll just delay your work, it's not worth it."
Naruto waved his hand dismissively, unconcerned, and walked straight toward the mist ninja disguised as a Konoha Chunin. He continued walking and said,
"Uncle, how much do you make a month? What's the point of risking your life?"
"Ah, time's up, I'm leaving."
Naruto brushed past the mist ninja, who didn't make a move and just let Naruto leave, still sweating coldly.
After Naruto's footsteps faded, the mist ninja finally deactivated his transformation technique, revealing himself as a Konoha Chunin. He looked back nervously and muttered,
"What kind of monster are the Genins nowadays?"
At the ninja academy, after a long while, Team 7 finally gathered.
Sasuke and Sakura looked unchanged, and Sakura waved at Naruto with a smile.
"This way, Naruto."
"Sakura, I'm not late, am I?" Naruto smiled and said.
Sakura shook her head and replied,
"I just arrived as well. I had a little trouble on the way."
"Was it a mist ninja?"
"Eh? Naruto, did you run into one too?" Sakura's eyes widened in surprise.
She then looked at Sasuke, who glanced at both her and Naruto, said nothing, but nodded, acknowledging that he had encountered one too.
"It's probably another strange test set up by the village. It's totally boring." Naruto complained.
"Are you both okay, no injuries?" Sakura asked worriedly.
"No," Sasuke replied briefly.
"No fight," Naruto said.
"Really?" Sakura asked, surprised. "No fight? The mist ninja didn't attack you, Naruto?"
At the mention of this, Sasuke also turned to look at Naruto.
"No, I asked him how much he earned a month, and he stopped talking," Naruto said.
Sakura: "..."
Sasuke: "..."
Truly, Galen's Whisper, silent but piercing, it's like killing someone and going for their heart!
A while later, other classes began to arrive at the ninja academy.
The Ino-Shika-Cho trio looked a bit lethargic. Naruto happened to look at Hinata, who blushed and looked down. Ino looked at Naruto, and Naruto's gaze met hers. He decided to approach the three and start talking.
All of this was noticed by Sakura, who couldn't help but wonder,
"Since when did Naruto and Ino get along so well?"
Sasuke didn't care about such trivial things. Since it wasn't yet time to hand in the Chunin exam admission form, he simply closed his eyes and rested.
"I say, Naruto, you were just pulled in to participate in the Chunin exam, right?" Shikamaru lazily asked. "I heard Lord Hokage didn't let you join before, what's up with that?"
"Is that true?" Chouji, munching on chips, looked surprised.
"It's nothing," Naruto waved his hand. "I'm just here to run alongside everyone. I never planned on actually advancing to Chunin."
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