Chapter 8: Unexpected Surprise
The two of them argued incessantly for three whole hours, but Altay did not take a single step inside the cage. Kurama, naturally, couldn't get out due to the seal. If Altay had enough strength right now, he definitely would have engaged in a fistfight with that giant fox. After this hours-long verbal war, both of them were completely out of breath. Even Kurama, a giant Bijuu thousands of years old, had entered such a long, uninterrupted bickering match for the first time in his life. Normally, he wouldn't deal with humans for this long; he would just crush them in a single move. Now, both his pointed ears were ringing, and his massive throat was burning fiercely.
"Hah... Hah... You... Hah... Despicable... Flea... Bag... Cough cough." "You ****! Cough cough... ****!"
Both of them were left breathless, looking at each other in exhaustion. Feeling his knees buckle, Altay sat on the ground, then made a 'T' sign with his hands like a referee and spoke.
"Time out!"
Right after saying this, he lay flat on his back. Kurama, deep down, was also very glad for this break. He had used up and exhausted almost his entire rich vocabulary, accumulated over his thousand-year-long life, against Altay in just these short two days. For the first time, he realized how inadequate the heavy insults he had prepared against names like Madara, Hashirama, Mito, Kushina, and Minato during his long years of imprisonment—and muttered to himself whenever he got angry—truly were! Apparently, he urgently needed to find new and much more creative words.
In truth, Kurama could have used a few minor tricks to harm Altay if he wanted to, but he didn't. He had been completely alone for over sixty years; he was bored to the point of madness, enraged, and harbored a deep disappointment toward humans. But ever since Altay fell into the seal space, he realized he was weirdly starting to have fun. Moreover, thanks to this insolent soldier, he had also learned a lot of critical information about the approaching future.
Besides this, Kurama had other plans in mind. He was thinking of making a deal with his jinchuriki, the little Naruto, through Altay. He hoped Altay would train Naruto with military discipline and make him a hardworking person. Because Kurama had seen from Altay's memories that Naruto had grown up with an utterly terrible, foundationless education, and had reached those levels almost entirely by relying on his physical endurance and Kurama's chakra. And despite all these shortcomings, he had still become terrifyingly powerful! So, how strong would a disciplined, hardworking, strategic, and intelligent Naruto become? Kurama's goal was actually very simple: A strong Naruto equals a safe and indestructible sanctuary!
Kurama let out a deep sigh with these thoughts, slightly tilted his giant head, and spoke.
"Since you insist so much, mortal... I, as the noble and supreme Nine-Tailed Fox, reluctantly grant you permission to use my name!"
Altay slowly lifted his head from where he was lying and glared back at Kurama.
"Well, I don't want to anymore! From now on, I'm going to call you 'tiny' or 'strawberry pudding'!"
Shocked and petrified by this unexpected answer, Kurama's eyebrows furrowed dangerously. He began to breathe hot steam from his nose in anger. He had turned into an enraged bull that had just seen a red cape.
"ARE YOU LOOKING FOR A FIGHT!?" "IF I HAD ENOUGH STRENGTH, I WOULD HAVE KICKED YOUR ARROGANT, FURRY ASS A LONG TIME AGO!" "HUMAN, DO NOT TEST MY PATIENCE!" "NO, YOU DON'T TEST MY PATIENCE! OR ELSE I WILL TELL ALL THE OTHER TAILED BEASTS, ONE BY ONE, ALL THAT DARK AND EMBARRASSING HISTORY ABOUT YOU! I'LL EVEN TELL THEM ALL THE DISGRACEFUL THINGS THE FANS IN MY WORLD DO WITH YOUR LIKENESS!"
The moment Kurama heard these words, he froze on the spot; the color beneath his crimson fur faded. For the first time in his life, he felt true fear down to his bones! The bizarre images he had seen in Altay's memories immediately rushed into his mind: Dog Kurama, cute Kurama, chibi Kurama, ballet-dancing Kurama, dancing Kurama, nurse-outfit Kurama, doctor Kurama, and many more...
"You wouldn't dare!"
Altay's gaze suddenly sharpened. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a toothpick from who knows where, and placed it in his mouth with a cocky attitude. He looked at Kurama with an extremely stern expression.
"Try me!"
Kurama swallowed hard. Naruto was going to face the other tailed beasts sooner or later in the future! Which meant Altay would definitely get the perfect opportunity to recount those embarrassments from the memories! The noble Nine-Tailed Fox, who was fonder of his pride than anything else, could never allow such character assassination!
"Even if you told them, they wouldn't believe you anyway!"
Altay chuckled wickedly.
"They'll look at my memories!"
Kurama smirked, thinking he had won this time.
"They can't just read your memories as they please without giving you their own chakra! Why would they give chakra to an ordinary human like you?"
Altay, in an extremely calm manner, raised his hand and pointed at Kurama.
"Because of you."
Kurama was dumbfounded.
"What do you mean?"
Altay chuckled again, the smirk on his face growing even wider.
"Kurama, for centuries, you bullied all the tailed beasts, beat them up, humiliated them, and mocked them! They all hate you. All I have to tell them is, 'I have top secret and highly embarrassing information about Kurama!' Believe me, they would do anything just to see you in that shameful, pathetic state. They will try it!"
Kurama stared blankly at Altay in bewilderment. After weighing this horrifying scenario in his head for a bit, he bitterly realized that this possibility was actually close to 100%. He cursed to himself over and over again. Why had he provoked and crushed the other Bijuu so much back in the day? At that moment, Kurama wanted to go back in time and punch his own arrogant face! Just then, a detail came to his mind that would save him. Placing a sneaky smirk on his face, he looked at Altay.
"If you don't starve to skin and bones and die here by then, of course you can try! HAHAHAHA~"
Altay was just about to glare back and say something when a blinding, pure white light flashed right next to him. Astonished by what was happening, Altay and Kurama reflexively shut their eyes tight.
"Kurama! What the hell are you doing!?"
"What the hell are you doing!? Turn off the light!"
A few seconds later, the intense light slowly faded. When Altay opened his eyes, he stared in astonishment at the sight that appeared in the corner of the dark seal space. A fully furnished studio apartment had materialized in the middle of the empty area! There was modern gym equipment, a comfortable seating arrangement, and a double bed. Right in the corner, inside an enclosed cabin, was a toilet, a shower, and a sink. On the other side, there was a small covered dining table, a refrigerator, and a cabinet lined with glasses. Kurama, just as shocked as Altay, stared at the sight, blinking his giant crimson eyes.
"WHAT DID YOU DO!? WHERE DID YOU PULL ALL THIS OUT FROM!?"
Altay couldn't make sense of what was happening either.
"I have absolutely no idea!"
As soon as Altay said this, a semi-transparent system notification appeared right before his eyes.
System: [Good day! We are the Dimensional Guardians. Our primary mission is to protect dimensions invaded by outside forces. Although we do various side quests, this is our main purpose of existence! As a result of a technical accident, we accidentally took you from your own dimension and sent you to a completely different dimension where you shouldn't have gone. We have finally been able to pinpoint your place and current location. We have prepared some special compensations for you for this unfortunate mistake! You will understand everything much more clearly once your personal system is fully active. For now, we have sent you the basic living supplies necessary for your survival. We will continue to regularly send you 3 hot meals a day and various snacks during the time it takes for your system to activate. Do you have any questions?]
Altay stared at the glowing notification in surprise. So, his arrival here wasn't planned; was it just a cosmic workplace accident?
'Actually... it makes a lot of sense when you think about it. Why would they specifically throw me into Naruto's sealed stomach next to a monster? In the vast universe, there are things far more valuable and much more powerful than Kurama.'
With these thoughts, Altay glared at Kurama. Kurama shuddered slightly under this gaze.
"You're thinking something bad about me again right now, aren't you!"
Altay spoke with a deadpan expression.
"You're just imagining things."
Kurama looked carefully into Altay's eyes. This time, he couldn't quite tell if the man was lying or not; truth and lies seemed to be mixed together. Kurama gave up and asked.
"Where did these items come from?"
After pausing for a brief moment, Altay decided to tell the truth.
"The people who caused me to be stuck in here with you right now sent them..."
Altay read the message sent by the system out loud to Kurama. While Kurama fell into deep thought over what he heard, Altay had already walked over to the newly arrived dining table. When he opened the cover, the sight that greeted him was enough to make a homesick soldier cry: Steaming strained lentil soup, beautifully roasted cağ kebab, crispy minced meat kol börek, syrupy tulumba dessert, and ice-cold frothy ayran. Alongside them were fresh lavash and piping hot pita bread. Having not had a single bite enter his stomach for almost two full days, Altay couldn't hide his joy. Just as he was about to sit at the table and dig in, he noticed Kurama looking at him from the side with quite curious, and perhaps slightly hungry, eyes. An idea immediately came to his mind, and he quickly typed a reply to the message from the system.
'As you know, I am currently in the ninja world, inside Naruto's dark seal space. The Nine-Tailed Kurama is with me, and we are getting along somewhat. I wonder if you could send him some of these items you sent me, adjusted to his size? Including 3 meals a day.Also, even though I'm trapped here, Kurama gave me some of his own chakra. Could you send me suitable equipment and ninja technique manuals so I can use this chakra and train? And most importantly, can you get me out of this sealed space?'
After confirming and sending the message, Altay closed the table cover again before starting his meal and began to wait. Kurama was looking at him with confused eyes.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm waiting... I sent them a message."
"A message? What did you write?"
"Be patient, my furry friend, you'll see with your own eyes in a bit."
Kurama was stunned by the form of address he heard.
"Friend? When did I become your friend, mortal!?"
"Hah! Your tails wagging joyfully behind you give you away."
"YOU-"
"Alright, man, don't drag it out! We just came out of a three-hour argument. My throat can't take another one!"
Kurama was just about to open his mouth and roar when a new notification appeared in front of Altay. Altay shouted rapidly.
"KURAMA! CLOSE YOUR EYES IMMEDIATELY!"
Altay shut his eyes tightly and crossed his arms over his face. Kurama had flinched from the previous blinding light, so at Altay's warning, he also reflexively covered his giant face with his arms. An explosion of light occurred, much larger, much brighter, and more massive than before. Even though their eyes were closed, both of them could feel the heat of that intense light. A few seconds later, the light completely vanished.
When they both cautiously opened their eyes, their vision blurred for a few seconds. After groaning and rubbing their eyes, they looked around and saw the massive additions inside the cage. Altay was quite pleased with the sight, while Kurama was utterly in shock.
Replicas of the items in Altay's studio were now inside the cage, but they had all been specially designed to fit Kurama's giant height and bulk. There was no toilet due to his massive size; the table was a gigantic floor table that Kurama could easily reach and eat from. The remaining bed, cushions, and everything else were exact matches tailored to Kurama's dimensions. Kurama was literally speechless, staring blankly at Altay, not knowing what to say.
However, Altay's attention at that moment wasn't on the surrounding items, but on the new system message that had appeared right in front of him.
Message: [Your request has been reviewed and accepted. Additionally, the basic training manuals you requested have been sent to the nightstand next to your bed. However, to continue your development, you must determine your direction: Choose the main path you will advance in, such as Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, or Taijutsu! For now, you will only be sent basic training methods belonging to your chosen path; for more advanced techniques and skills, you must wait for your own system to become fully active! When the system is active, your way out will open. Try to get stronger during this time.]