The corner of Nine-Tails' mouth twitched all of a sudden, as if it recalled once more the fear of being dominated by the Sharingan just now. It snorted coldly, and withdrew its sharp claws.
How long had it been? Nine-Tails no longer remembered how long since anyone dared ignore it and bully it like this. It vaguely recalled, the last one was that man… Uchiha Madara!
"Brat of the Uchiha clan, you've got guts. You're the first one who dares talk to your grandpa like this." Nine-Tails looked down at Roy from on high, its massive body like a mountain, its shadow falling and directly wrapping Roy inside.
Compared to it, Roy—now going by the alias Uchiha Jin—really was insignificant in size. But even so, he stood with his hands behind his back, expression calm as he looked lightly at Nine-Tails. For a moment it was hard to tell which of them was actually that deep, towering mountain!
"Squeak—"
Flesh buds squirmed, branches stretched out, and another wave of "Life Energy" poured continuously into Roy's body.
[Hint: "Life Energy" +0.8 +0.8 +0.8...…]
The boy's jet-black hair drifted without wind. He cast Nine-Tails a sidelong glance and said, "Oh yeah?"
"What, you don't believe me?"
Roy didn't answer. He just calmly spat out a name: "Uchiha Madara."
Nine-Tails folded its arms across its chest and snorted. "He counts as one too."
"And the Thousand-Handed Hashira who beat you up?"
Nine-Tails rolled its eyes. "He counts too."
Roy let out a mocking laugh and dug at his ear. "You stupid fox, no wonder when I met with Hagoromo the other day, I didn't hear him mention you."
"He counts… what?!" Nine-Tails' eyes suddenly bulged. Its two claws grabbed the cage in a flash, staring fixedly at Roy. "Who did you say?!"
Hagoromo… Hagoromo… Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo… "Is there a second Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo in this world?" Roy stood with his hands behind his back, thinking of that day he discussed the Dao with the Sage of Six Paths across the Nether River. Scenes from the past seemed vivid before his eyes. Even though that had only been their first meeting, looking back now, it felt like an old friendship…
"Jiji (old man)..." Nine-Tails' jaw trembled as it opened its mouth. Its Emotions were too stirred; they leaked from its crown and showed as a flush of excited crimson!
It murmured in a daze, "Impossible… that's impossible. He's long dead, long dead. You're lying to me!"
"Roar!" Its fox jaws opened, baring razor-sharp fangs so huge they dwarfed any Human. Nine-Tails glared viciously at Roy and suddenly roared, "You're not an Uchiha. Talk. Who the hell are you?!"
Roy gave Nine-Tails a surprised look. He hadn't expected… this always arrogant fox to have such a rare sensitive and perceptive side. He slowly shook his head and said, "You're wrong. I am Uchiha, a genuine Uchiha, of course,"
"It's also true that I know the Sage of Six Paths."
[In][欺诈]! As he spoke, Roy activated his transformation. Drawing on his memory of the Sage of Six Paths, he instantly used Nen to transform into his appearance…
"Pfh—" Nen surged; along with a puff of white smoke dissipating,
An elderly man with prominent horns, draped in a long robe, bearing tomoe and vortices on his back, and holding a staff, stepped out.
Nine-Tails' mouth fell open in shock. The instant it saw the old man, its eyes reddened against its will… "Jiji..."
"Clang clang clang clang..." The cage trembled, and the seal once again showed faint signs of instability…
Holding the Sage's staff, Roy just gently uttered one word toward Nine-Tails: "Silence."
The old, hoarse voice imitated from the Sage of Six Paths seemed to possess some kind of magic. In just an instant, it calmed the wildly agitated Nine-Tails…
The mountain-sized demon fox sat down obediently, just like when it was a child, together with One-Tail, Two-Tails, Three-Tails, Four-Tails and the rest of its siblings, gathered around the Sage of Six Paths, quietly listening to his teachings. Nine-Tails pretended to tilt its head up so Roy wouldn't see the tears overflowing at the corner of its eyes. It took a deep breath, looked seriously at Roy and said, "You're right. You're definitely not him."
Even if the appearance was the same, a person's bearing, soul, chakra—no matter how you imitate them, you can't reach the original's level. That had nothing to do with anything else, only with… you and me, namely the distinction between the[primary individual]…
"I never said I was him. I am me." Roy's face was calm. With a wave of his hand, he dispelled[欺诈]and directly returned to his original appearance. He looked deeply at Nine-Tails and said, "But I can let you see him."
In the unseen, Roy peered along the[line of causality]connecting himself and Nine-Tails. Behind Nine-Tails, he could faintly hear the roar of the Nether River surging over countless bones. That place was both where the Sage of Six Paths dwelled and the far shore of life and death…
Nine-Tails lowered its head.
Roy calmly met its gaze.
Separated by a single cage, Human and fox silently stared at each other for quite a while.
It seemed to be thinking, and also seemed to be getting to know the other all over again, until after a long moment, Nine-Tails asked in a deep voice, "What does your grandpa have to pay?"
The phrase "Uchiha are born evil" wasn't baseless nonsense. As a victim, Nine-Tails had personally experienced the fear of being controlled… The demon fox fixed its amber eyes on Roy. It hadn't expected… that the boy would wave his sleeve so briskly, brushing it off with a light laugh. "I've already received the payment I wanted. Of course, if possible,"
"Do me a favor and don't make things hard for Kushina Uzumaki, alright?"
"That I can't do." Nine-Tails snorted. "If it were you, would you be willing to be locked up for life?"
Fair enough… Roy nodded in sincere agreement. "How about this: I promise to let you out. Before that, you… need to behave yourself…"
"And why should I trust you?"
"No reason." Roy stood with his hands behind his back, looking straight into Nine-Tails' eyes. "Whether you believe me or not is your business. Whether I do it or not is mine."
Nine-Tails: "..."
What an arrogant little brat!
"You're even more full of yourself than your grandpa!" Nine-Tails let out a pissed-off laugh. Its two eyes, large as bronze bells, suddenly narrowed as it snorted, "If you want your grandpa to trust you, let me see Jiji first. Otherwise, no deal."