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A triangular face, golden pupils, and covered in fur.

It was a fox.

Its face alone was taller than Naruto, a fox of grand stature.

It grinned, revealing sharp, menacing teeth: "What did they tell you?"

"What made you have such an illusion."

Mocking, sneering, and with a strange tone.

Naruto frowned, slightly puzzled.

He disliked this blatant malice, but his teacher had said that perhaps the way a Zanpakutō spirit expressed emotions varied—sometimes friendly, sometimes fierce. These attitudes were tests to see if the wielder was truly qualified to fight with it.

The lessons he learned flashed through his mind like flipping pages of a book.

"You are the manifestation of my inner strength," he responded. "You will be my most important companion for life."

The Nine-Tails couldn\'t help but laugh: "Inner strength... companion..."

"How ridiculous."

"Has the group in Konoha fallen to such naivety?"

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 have anything to do with Konoha?" he instinctively retorted.

The Nine-Tails sneered, mocking in return: "How could it not have anything to do with Konoha..."

"I am already dead." Naruto interrupted, speaking earnestly, "No longer in Konoha."

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

No...

He didn\'t even feel it, suddenly dead?

Such serious words coming from this short guy sent shivers down one\'s spine.

Naruto sat cross-legged, recounting his experiences over the past three years.

The terms Soul Society, Shinigami, Shin\'o Academy, Gotei 13, one after another, entered the Nine-Tails\' ears.

"The Pureland"... It had heard of this when it was first born, accompanying the "Sage of Six Paths," Otsutsuki Hagoromo. As for the Shinigami... it had seen it when it was in the belly of the first jinchūriki of Konoha, Uzumaki Mito.

But what Naruto said was completely different.

Lies made up by Konoha?

Unlikely.

Such lies were meaningless and couldn\'t deceive it.

And with its knowledge and experience, these things sounded seamless, not fake.

This kid\'s thoughts were easy to understand, not like lying.

"So that\'s the situation," Naruto concluded. "Whether you were born in my heart in Konoha or here in the Soul Society, we are now partners."

"Would you tell me your name?"

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

"How about this."

"Kid, let me feel those things you mentioned."

Naruto was puzzled: "Feel?"

"What do you want me to do?"

The Nine-Tails pondered, its gaze moving away from the seals on the gate: "Consider it your reward for entertaining me this time."

"Stop resisting my chakra, I will control it well and use your senses to feel the world."

It wanted Naruto to remove the seal and release it.

But... the things he said, though different from its understanding of the "Underworld," sounded true.

Its body was still half sealed in the soul of that Fourth Hokage guy.

Compared to temporary freedom, restoring its body was more important.

"If it\'s not related to Konoha, will you tell me your name..." Naruto stubbornly clung to the question.

Bang—

A paw slammed against the gate, and the Nine-Tails, impatient with the question, retorted: "I might consider it, kid!"

Its power surged, driving Naruto out.

Darkness overcame him.

He felt that weightless falling sensation again.

Before opening his eyes.

An extremely strong stench invaded his nostrils.

Something was rotting.

Naruto opened his eyes and looked around—

It was not the bright and spacious classroom; instead, he found himself lying on a bed in a narrow and cramped room.

The room seemed somewhat familiar.

It was... his place in Konoha.

He sat up and looked around in a daze, following the familiar smells.

Uncleared instant noodle cups, an open milk carton, some half-eaten fish and mushrooms that could barely be considered side dishes...

Memories flashed through his mind.

Instant noodles had been almost his only staple food in the past few years. Not many people were willing to sell him anything, so he could only stockpile this cheap instant food.

Fish and mushrooms... he had gotten those from the mountains, which wasn\'t easy.

But...

Wasn\'t he already dead?

How did he return to Konoha, to this nearly forgotten residence of his?

What about the not-so-easy, yet joyful days in the Soul Society, in the Shin\'o Academy?

"This doesn\'t seem to be the Soul Society you mentioned, kid." Nine-Tails\' slightly angry voice sounded in Naruto\'s ear.

Naruto snapped back to reality, "Can you see?"

"No," Nine-Tails replied impatiently. "But I told you before, I can sense the world through your senses."

"So?"

"Where is the evidence of the Soul Society?"

Naruto didn\'t speak; he was puzzled too.

Was it all just a dream?

But such a long and vivid dream...

He frowned, about to get up from the bed to check outside.

But a sharp pain in his waist made him feel something hard poking him.

Naruto looked down.

It was a sheathed sword, its guard pressing against his abdomen.

His spirits lifted!

It was an Asauchi.

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

"Can you see this sword?" Naruto asked, his eyes burning with excitement.

Nine-Tails was puzzled, "A sword? What sword..."

Its voice halted abruptly, "Huh, that\'s strange, you actually have a weapon in your hand."

It had seen many types of ninja weapons.

Whether ordinary kunai, shuriken, or the seven bizarre swords of the Mist, even the Bashōsen and the (Shichiseiken) Seven Star Sword of the Sage of Six Paths... all of them were different from the sword it sensed now.

No matter how unique those weapons were, they existed tangibly 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 near non-existence, connected to Naruto\'s aura, almost as if it were part of his body.

"This is the Asauchi I told you about." Naruto\'s voice was filled with excitement, "Although I\'m not sure why we\'re back in Konoha, the Asauchi came back with me. This means the Soul Society and the Shin\'o Academy were not a dream!"

"They really exist!"

Nine-Tails snorted dismissively.

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

Nine-Tails sneered, "Just a weapon, that doesn\'t prove anything."

It was also puzzled.

Such a weapon... it was hard to say it was forged by ninjas. In its long lifespan, it had indeed seen some ninjutsu related to souls—such as the "Spirit Transformation Technique" and the "Reaper Death Seal"... but even the Shinigami summoned by the latter didn\'t have a weapon with this feel.

Instinctively, it felt 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 the Asauchi, pondering why he suddenly returned to Konoha.

Because... entering the inner world?

He tried Zanpakuto meditation again, returning to that "sewer" and, after being chased out by Nine-Tails, still found himself in his small room, not back in the Shin\'o Academy.

He tried various other strange methods.

But none worked.

Couldn\'t go back?

Naruto looked through the window at the Hokage Rock in the distance, clenching the Asauchi in his hand.

No...

There\'s still a chance!

In the Gotei 13, there was the Thirteenth Squad responsible for "Purification," which would dispatch Shinigami to the living world.

Konoha would certainly be no exception.

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

For now...

First, figure out what has changed in Konoha during his absence.

But it was unclear how to explain his three-year disappearance and his unchanged appearance.

However, the unchanged state of his house and the lack of attention...

No one would care about him, right?

Naruto tidied up his room, threw away the trash.

He found a little over a thousand assets from the drawer and headed to the nearest convenience store.

Just at the door.

An old man in an apron rushed out with a broom in panic, "Get out, you jinx!"

"I told you, you\'re not allowed near my store!"

Naruto looked up at him, surprised.

Not surprised by his attitude—

Konoha was full of such people, who didn\'t hide their malice towards him.

But that after three years in the Soul Society, the convenience store owner\'s appearance had not changed at all.

He then tiptoed to look at the electronic clock inside the store, completely different from his mechanical alarm clock, showing the time and date.

It wasn\'t three years later.

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

As if... time had stopped when he left, only resuming upon his return.

"You scoundrel, didn\'t you hear what I said?" The store owner didn\'t care what Naruto was thinking, his defiant attitude and scrutinizing gaze inflaming his anger further. He raised the broom high and struck at Naruto.