Claws retracted.

A heavy shadow rushed in, and a huge face pressed close to the gate.

It had a triangular face, golden pupils, and was fluffy.

It was a fox.

Its face was larger than Naruto's height, a magnificent creature.

It grinned, revealing a mouth full of sharp teeth: "What did they say to you?"

"To make you have such an illusion."

Sarcasm, mockery, and a twisted tone.

Naruto frowned, slightly puzzled.

He didn’t like this... this bare, unmasked malice, but the teacher had once said that perhaps the Zanpakuto spirit expresses emotions in different ways, either friendly or fierce. Undoubtedly, these postures were an outward test of whether the wielder truly had the qualification to take it and fight.

The learned material flipped through his mind like pages in a book.

"You are the manifestation of my spiritual power," he replied, "the most important companion who will accompany me for life."

The Nine-Tails couldn’t help but laugh: "Spiritual power... companion..."

"How absurd."

"Have the people from Konoha fallen to such a naive extent?"

Naruto was stunned.

What did he just hear?

Konoha?

How could it be "Konoha"? How could this fox utter such a word?

"How could it possibly be related to Konoha?" he instinctively retorted.

The Nine-Tails chuckled mockingly, rebutting, "How could it not relate to Konoha..."

"I am already dead," Naruto interrupted him firmly, "no longer in Konoha."

The Nine-Tails narrowed its eyes, somewhat ruffled: "Dead?"

Not...

He didn’t even feel it; he just died inexplicably?

Such serious words coming from the mouth of such a little one sent chills down his spine.

Naruto sat cross-legged and began to recount the things he had experienced over the past three years.

Fresh terms like Soul Society, Shinigami, Central Spirit Academy, and Gotei 13 surged into the Nine-Tails' ears one after another.

"Underworld"... it had heard of it when it was just born, accompanying that old man "Hogoromo Otsutsuki." As for the Shinigami... it had seen it when the first Jinchuriki of Konoha, "Kushina Uzumaki," was pregnant.

But what Naruto said was completely different.

A lie fabricated by Konoha?

It didn’t seem like it.

Such a lie had no meaning and couldn’t deceive itself.

Moreover, with its own knowledge and experience, these things sounded seamless, unlike a fabrication.

This little brat's mind was also easy to understand; it didn’t seem like he was lying.

"That's how it is," Naruto concluded, "whether you were born in my heart while in Konoha or came to the Soul Society, from now on we are partners."

"Will you tell me your name?"

The Nine-Tails grinned, exhaling a heavy breath: "You speak convincingly, but it's hard for me to believe you."

"How about this."

"Brat, let me feel what you are talking about."

Naruto was puzzled: "Feel?"

"What do you want me to do?"

The Nine-Tails pondered, its gaze shifting away from the cursed seal on the gate: "Just treat it as a reward for pleasing me this time."

"You don’t need to resist my chakra anymore; I will control it well and use your senses to feel the world."

It wanted Naruto to uncover the cursed seal and release it.

But... the things he spoke of, though different from its perception of the "Underworld," sounded undeniably true.

Half of its body was still sealed within the soul of that Fourth Hokage guy.

Completing its body was more important than a momentary release.

"If it’s not Konoha, you would name it..." Naruto stubbornly focused on this question.

Clang—

A paw slammed hard on the gate, and the Nine-Tails grew impatient with the question: "I might consider it, brat!"

Its power swept through, driving Naruto away.

Everything went black.

He experienced that feeling of weightlessness and falling again.

Before he could open his eyes, an extremely strong foul odor forced its way into his nose, prying open his nasal hair.

What was rotting?

When Naruto opened his eyes—

It wasn’t that bright, spacious classroom; he was lying on a bed in a narrow, cramped room.

The room felt somewhat familiar.

It was... his residence in Konoha.

He sat up, dazed, and followed the smell.

Uncleared instant noodle cups, an open carton of milk, some fish and mushrooms that could still count as leftover side dishes...

Memories flashed in his mind.

Instant noodles had almost been his only staple food in recent years; not many people were willing to sell him things, so he could only hoard such cheap fast food.

The fish and mushrooms... were things he had gathered from the mountains, which were not easy to obtain.

But...

Hadn’t he already died?

How had he returned to Konoha, back to this place he had almost forgotten?

What about those not-so-easy but very happy days in the Soul Society and Central Spirit Academy?

"This doesn’t seem to be the Soul Society you mentioned, brat," the Nine-Tails' somewhat angry voice rang in Naruto's ears.

Naruto came back to his senses: "Can you see?"

"No," the Nine-Tails replied impatiently, "but didn’t I say that I can borrow your senses to feel this world?"

"So what?"

"Where is the evidence of the Soul Society?"

Naruto remained silent; he was also puzzled.

Could it be a dream?

But such a long, vivid dream...

He frowned and was about to climb out of bed, wanting to push the door open and take a look.

But a sharp pain in his waist stopped him; something hard poked him.

Naruto looked down.

It was a sword sheathed, the hilt pressed against his abdomen.

He perked up!

It was Shinta.

He reached out, grasped the hilt, and picked it up.

"Can you see this sword?" Naruto asked, his eyes blazing.

The Nine-Tails was confused: "Sword? What sword..."

Its voice stuttered: "Huh, strange, you really do have a weapon."

It had seen many styles of ninja weapons.

Whether it was ordinary kunai, shuriken, or the seven blades of the Mist that had strange effects, or even the banana fan and the Seven Star Sword in the hands of the Sage of Six Paths... they were all completely different from this sword it sensed.

No matter how special those weapons were, they existed in this world.

But this sword in Naruto's hand...

If not for the reminder, it would have been overlooked.

It existed in a state of nothingness, intertwined with Naruto's aura, almost as if it were part of his body.

"This is Shinta, as I told you," Naruto said excitedly, "although I don't know why we are back in Konoha, Shinta has come back with me, which proves that the Soul Society and Central Spirit Academy are not a dream!"

"They exist for real!"

The Nine-Tails let out a non-committal hum.

"Now you should tell me your name," Naruto said confidently.

The Nine-Tails grinned: "It’s just a weapon; that doesn’t prove anything."

It was also puzzled.

This weapon... was hard to say was forged by a ninja. In its long life, it had indeed seen some soul-related ninjutsu—like "Spirit Materialization" and "Soul Burial"—but even the Shinigami summoned by the latter didn’t have this feeling.

Its instincts told it that Naruto wasn’t lying; the Soul Society should exist.

But without witnessing it firsthand, it was hard to believe.

Naruto held back, not shouting.

He gripped Shinta, pondering why he had suddenly returned to Konoha.

Was it... entering the inner world?

He tried Zen again, re-entering that "sewer," but after being driven out by the Nine-Tails, he was still in his little room, not back in the Central Spirit Academy.

He tried other odd methods one by one.

But all were ineffective.

Couldn’t return?

Naruto looked through the window at the distant Hokage Rock, tightening his grip on Shinta.

No... there was still a chance!

In the Gotei 13, there was a Thirteenth Division responsible for "purification," which would send Shinigami to the living world.

Konoha was certainly no exception.

As long as he found that Shinigami, he could return to the Soul Society.

As for now...

He needed to figure out what changes had occurred in Konoha during his absence.

He just didn’t know how to explain to Konoha his sudden disappearance for three years and how he still looked like this upon return.

However, the setting of the room showed no changes, and it was neglected...

No one would care about him, right?

Naruto tidied up the room, throwing away the trash.

He rummaged through the drawer, finding just over a thousand in assets, and headed out to the nearest convenience store.

Just as he reached the door,

Inside the room, the old man in an apron rushed out, frantically waving a broom: "Get out, get out, you plague spirit!"

"I told you, don’t come near my store!"

Naruto looked up at him, surprised.

Not surprised by his attitude—

Konoha was full of such people, openly malicious toward him.

But rather, after spending more than three years in the Soul Society, the old man's appearance in this convenience store hadn’t changed at all.

He tiptoed to look at the electronic clock inside, which was completely different from the mechanical alarm clock he used, showing the time and date.

It wasn’t three years later.

It was still the first day he left Konoha for the Soul Society.

As if... time had stopped at the moment he left, only flowing again upon his return.

"You bastard, didn’t you hear what I said?" The convenience store owner didn’t care what Naruto was thinking; his unwavering attitude and scrutiny of his store only fueled his anger, raising the broom high and swinging it at Naruto.