Walking out of the Hokage building, Naruto glanced at the ninja beside him, who was wearing a green vest, feeling somewhat conflicted. "Thank you, Iruka-sensei."

"Don’t mention it," Iruka replied, giving him a thumbs up. "It's you, Naruto, who is truly impressive."

"Why would you do this, Iruka-sensei?" Naruto asked. "You think I made a mistake, don’t you?"

"And also..."

"Sensei, you know that rumor about me being the Nine-Tails."

Iruka's expression turned nostalgic. "The Nine-Tails, huh..."

"You know, we’re actually quite similar."

"I was also an orphan. When I was at the ninja academy, I often did exaggerated and foolish things to attract others' attention."

"But back then, I was very hurt. Every night in my empty room, I couldn’t help but cry."

As he spoke, he lowered his head and looked at Naruto.

"But Naruto, you must be suffering even more than I did."

"I was just ignored, but you have to endure so much scorn."

"It's because I didn't do well enough before. I experienced it myself but didn’t take care of your feelings."

Naruto turned his head, not wanting anyone to see his reddening eyes.

Iruka raised his hand and placed it on Naruto's head, his tone becoming passionate. "Speaking of which, you are much stronger than I was!"

"It was only after graduating, under the guidance of my seniors and Hokage-sama, that I learned how to become excellent."

"Naruto, you're already doing that."

"It's really terrible for me as your teacher to be surpassed by you."

Naruto grinned and chuckled.

"That's the right kind of smile," Iruka gently patted him. "You haven't smiled like this in a long time."

"You should keep smiling like this from now on."

He said solemnly, "Although they all say that, I don’t think that rumor is reliable."

"In my eyes, you are not the Nine-Tails."

"You are Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto."

"A student I recognize as exceptional will surely become a great ninja in the future."

"Just like..."

At this point, Iruka paused and turned to gaze at the distant mountains—the four Hokage heads carved into stone.

He continued speaking in a solemn and grave tone, as if he were expounding on an inevitable future or making a profound promise.

"Just like the Fourth Hokage, a great and exceptional ninja."

Uzumaki Naruto followed Iruka's gaze.

His great and exceptional father was up there on the mountain.

He began to dislike the words "great" and "exceptional."

After eating the Ichiraku ramen that Iruka-sensei treated him to, Naruto returned home.

He had no heart to practice the new "Shadow Clone Technique" for now.

Scenes from the day floated before his eyes.

His opinion of Sarutobi Hiruzen hadn’t changed, although... the Third Hokage wasn’t as bad as he had thought. His attitude toward him wasn’t entirely a facade. There was a part of his care that was genuine. But he was indeed concealing very important information from him.

Iruka-sensei's performance was quite unexpected.

It turned out...

There were indeed people in Konoha who genuinely cared for him.

This village didn’t seem so hateful anymore.

But he still wanted to return to the Soul Society.

There was only one "Iruka" in Konoha, but many at the Central Spirit Academy.

In these past few days, he still hadn’t encountered his longed-for Shinigami colleagues.

Tomorrow was the class division.

Maybe... after becoming a formal ninja, if he could be active in more areas, he would have greater opportunities.

For some reason, he felt a vague unease about the relationship between "Konoha" and the "Soul Society."

This restlessness urged Naruto to pick up the sword hanging on the wall.

He hadn’t brought it with him while studying; the school didn’t allow weapons other than kunai and shuriken. He would only do a brief kendo training session every morning after getting up.

Since he felt uneasy...

Then he would expend this inner restlessness through training.

This was Naruto’s usual way of dealing with his emotions.

But just as his hand touched the sword, it suddenly changed.

Its length did not alter; it remained a standard katana.

However, the blade turned a deep, ominous dark red.

At the end of the hilt, there was a long, fluffy red ribbon attached.

A surge of inexplicable knowledge flooded his mind—it was an incantation.

This sudden change stunned Naruto.

The name!

He had learned the name of the Nine-Tails.

Knowing its name, he grasped its power.

It turned out... he didn’t need the zanpakutō to tell him its name directly; knowing it from someone else’s mouth also allowed him to release and use its power.

He gripped the hilt.

The feeling was completely different from when he held "Shallow Hit."

His heartbeat, life, and flesh trembled.

This sword was a part of his chakra and soul extending outward.

Without a doubt, this was the "Shikai" transformation of the zanpakutō.

But...

Wasn't the Nine-Tails a monster sealed inside him? How could it become his "Shikai," his inner strength?

Naruto sat cross-legged.

He placed the sword on his knee.

In "Zan Zen" practice, he entered into the dark underground passage of his own heart.

"Kid, long time no see." The Nine-Tails squinted its eyes, looking at the unusually serious golden-haired boy, greeting him with a hint of delight in its tone. "You seem to be in a bad state?"

Since that day when he said, "You are the Fourth's son," Naruto had not come back.

It eagerly anticipated how much torment this news would bring to the brat.

"Your name is the Nine-Tails?" Naruto looked up and asked.

The Nine-Tails was not surprised. "So what? Are you still expecting some... zanpakutō tricks?"

It grinned cruelly, its eyes filled with malice.

"Nine-Tails" was indeed the name it used the most.

But apart from the other eight beasts, who would have thought that each tail beast had a family member who once gave it a formal name?

Maybe "zanpakutō" is real.

But the name "Nine-Tails" is not real.

The destruction of the boy's psychological support was a beautiful thing.

"The zanpakutō has released," Naruto stepped forward and examined it. "I've unlocked your bindings; you can feel it for yourself."

The Nine-Tails was taken aback.

Chakra spread outward to sense.

That "strange" sword had a completely different appearance, but this was just the smallest part of the change. Its composition was no longer just Naruto's breath of power; there was also a part that belonged to it.

It and Naruto forged this sword together.

"How interesting," it said, a unique light shining in its eyes. "It really is true. I didn’t feel my power being drawn out. What is the principle behind this?"

Naruto clenched his fists, speaking to himself.

"The Soul Society isn't fake."

"I really hate you, Nine-Tails."

"Because of you, I've been hated by so many people since I was little."

"Because of you, my dad sacrificed himself for the village."

"I still don't understand why you were sealed in my body."

"And I don't understand why you, who are sealed, would become my inner strength."

He raised his fists high, dispelling the fog in his mind named "confusion" at that moment.

"If I don’t understand, then I don’t understand!"

"I will make good use of your power."

"I'll find my dad, find my mom, and then everything will be clear."

The Nine-Tails flicked its tail, its golden pupils fixed on Naruto.

This guy's personality was nothing like Minato's; he was more like that red-haired little hothead.

"Really?" it sneered. "Then let me see what you can do."

The dark red chakra surged.

It didn’t care about its power being borrowed by Naruto.

Weren’t so many generations of "Jinchūriki" like that?

Compared to them, Naruto was even more interesting.

A new world...

A hero abandoned by the village...

The Nine-Tails had already begun to look forward to how the chaotic future would unfold.

Naruto said no more and withdrew from his inner world.

As he opened his eyes, the surrounding environment was not the tidy little room he managed himself.

It was in a classroom.

Before him was his familiar teacher.

He was back!

He had returned to the Soul Society.

The teacher immediately noticed that Naruto had opened his eyes and also observed the change in the sword on his knee.

"Naruto, did you hear the name of the zanpakutō?" He did not hide his surprise in the slightest.

Just entering "Zan Zen," he had already heard the name of the zanpakutō and mastered its Shikai.

A genius...

Is it like this?

Naruto didn’t answer immediately; he looked around in confusion.

After a glance around, nothing had changed in the classroom.

No one seemed puzzled by his "disappearance" or "reappearance."

His gaze eventually landed on the surprised face of his teacher—this surprise was merely in response to the change in his zanpakutō.

Like Konoha, time seemed to have stopped at the moment he left.

Why?

There was no time to think about this.

Naruto nodded and answered the earlier question: "Teacher, I think I've learned the Shikai."