Nighttime, at the hospital.
"Well, I'll be going now. Good night."
After Tsunade left, the room became empty and quiet. Feeling bored, Tōshirō pulled the covers over himself and decisively chose to sleep.
According to the staff, he would be able to complete discharge procedures the next morning.
Tōshirō closed his eyes. Within moments, his nose began to move slightly with gentle breathing—under normal circumstances, this would've led straight into a dream. But this time, it didn't.
Uh… what's this?
The surroundings were dimly lit. As he took a step, ripples spread across the water surface beneath his feet.
Aside from that, in front of him stood a massive gate sealed with a charm bearing the word "Seal" (封). Through the gaps in the bars, a massive black silhouette could be seen. As he approached, the outline became clearer—it resembled a horse. It was the Five-Tails, Kokuō.
Tōshirō yawned and lazily said, "Kokuō, can't you let me get a decent night's sleep for once?"
Hearing his name called so casually, the Five-Tails' eyes widened in surprise. "How do you know my name?"
A faint smile played at Tōshirō's lips, eyes glinting with mystery. "Who knows…"
To gain the approval of a tailed beast—when you get right down to it—it's not that different from chasing after a girl.
The first step? Make it interested in you.
Clearly, Tōshirō calling him by name right off the bat succeeded in piquing the Five-Tails' interest. It opened its jagged mouth, revealing saw-like teeth. "Kid, you're very different from when we first met."
When they first met, Tōshirō had just learned that a tailed beast had been forcibly sealed inside him. At the time, he was questioning his entire life and obviously wasn't in the mood to talk.
Standing like this was hurting his back. Tōshirō glanced around. "Mind if I change my posture while we talk?"
"???"
"You didn't say no, so I'll take that as a yes."
Forming a hand seal, he pressed one hand to the water. With a burst of icy energy, the surface instantly froze into solid ice.
The Five-Tails was taken aback. He hadn't expected this jinchūriki to be a kekkei genkai user too.
With a grunt, Tōshirō lay down sideways on the ice, resting his cheek on a propped-up fist, elbows for support, legs together, and facing the Five-Tails in a completely relaxed pose. "Ahhh, that's better."
The Five-Tails felt thoroughly disrespected.
Come on now—he was a natural disaster-level beast! The Five-Tails!
Didn't this brat have any sense of propriety?
"You insolent little runt!" the Five-Tails roared, the gust of wind from his breath blowing Tōshirō's hair into disarray.
Tōshirō rubbed at his ear with his pinky, sighing in exasperation. "Didn't I just ask you nicely? You can't be unreasonable like this."
Five-Tails: …
In a thousand years, this was the first human like this he'd ever encountered.
The Five-Tails repeated his earlier question. "Why do you know my name, brat?"
"Well duh, someone told me, of course," Tōshirō replied, looking at him like he was an idiot. "How else would I know?"
Five-Tails: ???So annoying~Sure, that technically made sense… but it still felt weird.
Suddenly, as if something had occurred to him, Tōshirō sat up cross-legged on the ice with a serious expression.
"Lemme ask you something—are you male or female?"
Five-Tails: ???"Hey, I'm talking to you. You deaf or what?"
The Five-Tails gave him a strange look. "Why does that matter to you?"
"It's very important."
"The tailed beasts have no gender." The Five-Tails exhaled… and instantly regretted it.
This jinchūriki just asked a question, and he actually answered it—doesn't that make him look completely spineless?
Tōshirō touched his chest, looking like he'd just escaped a terrible fate. "That's a relief. Now I can flirt with Tsunade without any worries."
Five-Tails: …
So this jinchūriki was actually thinking about that kind of thing?
"Your voice sounds kind of feminine, so I'll just assume you're a girl. Little Five."
"What the hell is 'Little Five' supposed to mean?"
Flames of anger flared in the Five-Tails' eyes. In all its years, it had never felt so humiliated.
If not for this damn seal, it would've already stomped this brat to death with a single hoof.
Thinking back on its beastly life—either chasing or being chased—Five-Tails felt a deep and inexplicable sorrow.
"Kokuō sounds like a guy's name. Doesn't match your vibe at all," Tōshirō said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "So I custom-made a new name for you based on your characteristics."
Then he added, helpfully, "Mm-hmm, no need to thank me."
"Quit deciding things on your own, you damn brat!"
Clang! Clang!
That was the sound of the Five-Tails slamming into the iron gate.
"Stay behind the bars, okay…"
Taking advantage of the seal, Tōshirō stroked his chin, his eyes twinkling with amusement.
Clang.
The bars rattled.
Blood vessels spread across the Five-Tails' eyes as it glared menacingly. "You'd better hope I never get out…"
Tōshirō remained unconcerned. "Considering we might be stuck together for life, I think we'd better try getting along."
The Five-Tails let out a snort, its tone dripping with disdain. "Don't get cocky."
A mere human dares to think he's on equal footing with me? Utter ignorance.
Hearing that, Tōshirō snapped right back. "Yeah, yeah, I'm ignorant and reckless—but that's still better than being someone stuck in a cage their whole life."
With that, Tōshirō lay back down again, yawning as he hit peak mockery mode.
ROAR!The Five-Tails, provoked, launched a wild attack on the seal.
And yet—
The seal was abnormally sturdy. No matter how hard it tried, it couldn't break through even a fraction. All it could do was rage helplessly, panting with exertion.
"Damn it… to think I'm this powerless…"
"Cooled off yet?"
Tōshirō asked calmly, glancing at the seal. He thought to himself: Wow, that thing's stronger than I thought. For a second there, I really thought I messed up.
Trying to argue when someone's furious would only backfire—better to let them vent first.
"What do you really want?" the Five-Tails finally asked, coming to terms with reality. With its current strength, it was absolutely impossible to break the seal—at least for now.
If there was any hope of escape, it would have to come from targeting the jinchūriki directly. Disturb the host's mind, and the seal would weaken on its own. That tactic had worked many times before.
But this time, it seemed like he'd met a particularly tough opponent. Forget disturbing his mind—Five-Tails was struggling not to be the one thrown off balance.
"Well~ I know a little bit about you tailed beasts," Tōshirō said with a smile. "Given everything, it's understandable that you're pissed."
"Understand? Don't make me laugh—what the hell would you understand?!"
The Five-Tails' eyes were bloodshot with rage, and malevolent chakra poured from its body. "Don't pretend to be all sympathetic. You think this'll make me obey you? Keep dreaming. You humans are all the same—just after my power."
"Hmm, to a certain extent… you're not wrong. I do want your power."
The Five-Tails froze, momentarily speechless.
It had its whole angry monologue ready—only for Tōshirō to totally throw it off script. Like trying to punch cotton—no resistance at all.
"Tailed beasts have immense power—enough to shake mountains with a single move. Claiming I don't want that? That'd be treating you like a kid."
With Naruto and Killer Bee as shining examples, Tōshirō knew that to become a perfect jinchūriki, the most important thing was honesty.
(End of Chapter)
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