The Nine-Tails let out a long sigh. "Those two clans have been fighting for over a thousand years, but in the end, it's really just the chakra of those two brothers refusing to let the feud die."
"But you're different. Your body is tougher than Asura's ever was, your chakra reserves are bigger than mine, and you've mastered both Wood Style and Lightning Style."
"Shame, really. You're only missing one pair of eyes."
The two of them kept talking in the mindscape for quite a while, drifting from ancient gossip to the origins of the ninja world, pulling apart the family history of both the Uchiha and the Senju along the way.
Eventually, Akira steered the conversation back to the present.
"If the Akatsuki really do manage to bring back the Ten-Tails, do you think the ninja world has any chance at all?"
The Nine-Tails fell silent for a moment before answering in a low voice. "Hard to say. The Ten-Tails is a disaster on a level beyond reason. If it really comes back, then unless the Sage of Six Paths returns too, I don't see much hope."
It gave Akira a long, searching look. "But I've got a feeling you're still hiding something. Your Yang Release is already at an absurd level. So how far have you taken Yin Release?"
"If things really get that bad, then I honestly think the only person in the entire ninja world who might stand against the Ten-Tails is you."
Akira smiled without answering directly. "Maybe Naruto could manage it too. Assuming he ever learns to fully control your power."
The Nine-Tails snorted in contempt. "Don't make me laugh. Even a perfect jinchuriki tops out somewhere above Kage class. Put that against the Ten-Tails and it's just handing over a free meal."
"To even touch that level, you'd need total mastery of Yin, Yang, and the five basic chakra natures. In other words... Truth-Seeking Orbs."
Akira blinked innocently. "You mean these?"
The moment the words left his mouth, the space behind him rippled.
Nine black spheres, darker than midnight, appeared out of nowhere and began to drift in a slow circle behind him, radiating an emptiness so profound it made the air feel thin.
At the same time, an ancient black staff materialized in his hand.
The entire seal space went completely silent.
The Nine-Tails' huge beast eyes shrank to pinpoints, and its jaw nearly hit the floor.
"You... you... how did you do that?!"
"That's Six Paths power! That's the peak of Yin-Yang Release! You actually mastered this too?!"
Akira dismissed the Truth-Seeking Orbs with a casual flick and waved the matter away. "Nothing special. No need to be so dramatic. You can tell it's still a little unstable, though. I'm not at the finished version yet."
The Nine-Tails was completely numb.
Nothing special?
This was the realm of gods.
It didn't require hand seals. It didn't require the Rinnegan. He had just created Truth-Seeking Orbs through his own understanding.
What exactly was this monster?
It took a long while before the Nine-Tails recovered enough to speak again. And when it did, the way it looked at Akira had changed completely. It was no longer just caution. It was reverence, the kind offered to someone on the same level... no, to someone even higher.
"Akira, I take back what I said before. If the Ten-Tails really appears, you could probably beat it into the dirt."
"I don't know how you managed any of this, but you... you're a living myth."
Akira only smiled. He didn't look the slightest bit smug at the fox's praise.
His real goal had never been the Ten-Tails alone. He was looking far beyond that, toward the deeper stars and the greater threat waiting there in the Otsutsuki main family.
"All right. Enough small talk."
Akira brushed off his clothes and rose to his feet, his consciousness already beginning to withdraw. "The show outside still has to go on."
In the real world, only an instant had passed.
Akira's hand rested lightly on Naruto's shoulder, and a gentle but undeniable force rushed straight through Naruto's chakra pathways.
Naruto jerked his head up, blue eyes wide with surprise.
In that instant, the Nine-Tails' chakra inside him, normally violent and boiling with hatred, suddenly felt as docile as a lamb.
Sakura, Kakashi, and the others all watched in confusion. On the surface, nothing had happened, and yet the air around them carried an oppressive, unfamiliar tension.
Akira took his hand away, sat back down, and looked at Naruto, who still seemed lost. "Don't just sit there. Try drawing on the power."
Naruto hesitated. "But... that fox is usually vicious..."
Tsunade, who had been silent until now, narrowed her eyes sharply at Akira. "Don't tell me you..."
Akira ignored her and kept his gaze on Naruto. "Don't get greedy. Pull out a small amount first and see how it feels."
Naruto took a deep breath and reached inward toward that enormous gate inside him.
A hum filled the room.
This time there was no resistance at all.
A flood of golden chakra burst out of him in an instant, blazing around his whole body like living fire.
It wasn't like before, when borrowing the Nine-Tails' chakra felt like his skin was being scorched off.
Instead, it felt warm. Powerful. Natural.
Naruto stared at his glowing hands, completely dumbfounded. "This... this is the Nine-Tails' chakra? Why does it feel so obedient? Akira, what did you do to it?"
Sakura, Yamato, and Sai looked just as stunned.
That was it?
One touch on the shoulder, and the rampage problem that had haunted a jinchuriki for over a decade was suddenly under control?
What kind of human being even did that?
Tsunade looked at Naruto surrounded by golden light and let a knowing smile curve across her lips. "If you could do this, why didn't you do it sooner?"
Akira poured cold water on Naruto's excitement immediately. "Don't get ahead of yourself. This is just a temporary trial version."
"I made a deal with that big fox inside you. It agreed to lend you its power, but only on the condition that you become strong enough to bear it."
"Right now your body is too weak. You can't handle its full strength at all. So for the next month, you're going to train like your life depends on it."
"This is your one real chance to catch up to Sasuke. If you can master this power, then the spot of second-strongest in Konoha is yours."
Hearing that, Naruto nodded so hard it looked like his neck might snap, then asked curiously, "A deal? That fox actually listened to reason?"
The last time he remembered Akira dealing with the Nine-Tails, brute force had very much been involved.
Akira answered lightly, "When reason doesn't work, physics usually helps. But this time I explained the situation."
"The Akatsuki are after it. If they pull the Tailed Beast out, you die. And once you die, it's finished too. So if it wants to survive, it doesn't really have a choice."
"Look at Killer B in Kumogakure. That's what a perfect jinchuriki looks like. If you want to reach that point, you've still got a very long road ahead of you."
Naruto let the golden chakra fade and clenched his fists hard, his eyes burning with a level of determination the others had never seen before.
For the first time, that overwhelming sense of power running through his body made him truly believe he might one day catch up to Sasuke.
But this time the feeling was entirely different.
The chakra flowing through his pathways felt smooth and warm, almost like soaking in water at the perfect temperature.
Before, using the Nine-Tails' chakra had always felt like torture, like someone was pouring boiling water straight into his veins. Every time he used it, his whole body felt scorched from the inside out.