The memory came rushing in—vivid, clear, raw.
Naruto saw a younger version of himself sitting beside Yota under the shade of a tree, legs crossed, laughing.
"Why do you cry so much, Yota?" young Naruto asked, grinning.
Yota wiped his nose with a sleeve and smiled brightly through the tears.
"Because crying shows you're alive, Naruto!"
Naruto blinked, confused. "That's weird."
Yota giggled. "Then I'll cry double to live twice as much!"
They both burst into laughter.
But that laughter didn't last forever.
Naruto remembered the day clearly—when they were rescuing Yota from the ANBU but got swept away in the river.
Later, Yota had saved Naruto from drowning, pushing him to the shore with the last of his strength.
Naruto screamed for help—but none came in time.
"Naruto… I'm happy. Thank you… for being with me," Yota had said with a faint smile, his hand reaching out… and falling still.
Before passing, Yota had sealed away all their memories—his final jutsu.
To protect Naruto and the others from the ANBU Black Ops that were chasing him.
Now, the seal had finally broken, and the memories returned like a storm—both a treasure and a wound.
Naruto sat in silence.
The wind carried his whistle across the village once again, soft and slow.
"Thank you, Yota," he whispered. "For crying so much… and for making me laugh."
And for the first time in a long while, Naruto cried not from pain… but from remembering someone who had once made his world brighter.
It took a lot of time for him to get sober after recalling these memories.
"Yota, I wish there's one day I can meet you again," Naruto thought while recalling his memories with Yota.
Now that he had regained his memories with Yota, he vowed to never forget him again. It was an emotional day for Naruto.
Inside the Eight Trigrams Seal
"NARUTO! DON'T LET ME OUT OR I'LL RIP YOU TO SHREDS, YOU BASTARD!!"
Kurama, the Nine-Tailed Fox, was having a rough day.
Normally, he did as he pleased—napping when he wanted, watching Naruto's life from the shadows.
Though he couldn't directly observe Naruto all the time, he could still feel his host's emotions or occasionally peek into the outside world through the seal.
But ever since those damn chains appeared, everything changed.
First, they severed his connection to Naruto. Even their chakra flow was forcefully split, cutting off any lingering sense of unity.
But that wasn't the worst part.
The real nightmare started the day Naruto awakened the Uzumaki Physique.
Kurama had been sleeping peacefully in his cage when—out of nowhere—Adamantine Chains burst in and whooped his ass for no reason.
"…"
He had tried to resist. But that was a bad idea.
The chains just tightened and beat him even harder.
After thoroughly smacking Kurama around, the chains simply released him and retreated from the cage—like nothing had happened.
"Naruto, you brat! Come here! Fight me one-on-one, if you've got guts!"
"…"
Didn't know what Kurama was thinking, but the Adamantine Chains once again entered the cage.
╯°□°）╯
Damn.
And the Adamantine Chains beat him again. Even more thoroughly this time.
Kurama, feeling utterly wronged, could only curse internally—he was too scared to fight back now, lest the chains go even harder on him.
"Wuwuwu… what did I do to deserve this?! This is all Naruto's fault! Just wait till he comes into this space… I'll show him what the Nine Tails really is!!"
The moment the chains first attacked, Kurama assumed it was Naruto controlling them.
But it wasn't.
The chains moved on their own.
Today, it happened again—poor, innocent Kurama got beaten once more, with no explanation.
But being the old fox he was, Kurama decided to investigate.
This time, he was going to test a theory—see if his guess about the chains' behavior was correct.
"Shhh, shhh… Brother Chains, are you there?" Kurama whispered discreetly, leaning closer to the gates of his cage.
As soon as the words left his mouth, the chains reappeared, slithering their way into the cage.
"..."
How many times do I have to get beaten…?
Brother, please chill for a bit.
"Brother Chains, relax! I didn't mean to offend you. I was just asking a few questions, that's all."
To his surprise, the chains stopped moving closer.
Kurama let out a slow breath of relief, wiping nonexistent sweat from his forehead.
"Thank goodness it stopped. I really wasn't in the mood to get whooped again… So it does have a will of its own after all."
As he asked whether it was sentient, the chains gave a faint shake—confirming Kurama's suspicion.
Alright, think fast.
If I want to live, I need to play nice.
Kurama cleared his throat and stood as tall as he could.
"Brother Chains," he began, voice full of fake sincerity, "you don't need to beat me. I'm a kind and virtuous tailed beast. Truly. My noble deeds are known throughout the ninja world. I'm famous for my gentle character."
He even threw in a hint of shyness, as if humbled by his own fake modesty.
Adamantine Chains: "..."
Even the chains paused.
They were speechless.
Too stunned to respond to Kurama's shameless performance, they slowly slithered back out of the cage without saying a word—or doing more damage.
As they exited, Kurama slumped down and exhaled again.
"Whew… That was close. If anyone saw that, my reputation would've been finished."
If it weren't for the fact that those chains were absurdly powerful, he never would've stooped so low.
But what choice did he have?
For a better future… sometimes a little self-respect had to be sacrificed.
Still, Kurama knew—if today's incident ever got out, the other tailed beasts would never let him hear the end of it.
'Strongest tailed beast,' puff!
Can't even handle some Uzumaki chains. Surrendered immediately.
Kurama: Why don't you try these chains, brother?
Other tailed beast: Just say that you're weak.
"…"
And most importantly, Shukaku would be thrilled.
Given their long-standing rivalry, Kurama was sure that if the One-Tail ever found out about this, he'd laugh himself to death—and still bring it up every chance he got.
Sigh… thank God no one else was here.