After Naruto had defeated his negative self, both Inoiki and Naruto started walking deeper into the chamber hidden behind the waterfall. The steady roar of falling water echoed faintly behind them, damp air clinging to the stone walls as their footsteps carried forward.

As they walked, Inoiki glanced at Naruto and said, "I am very happy and proud that you were able to defeat your negative self, Naruto. You have grown a lot."

Naruto turned toward Inoiki, a cheeky smile spreading across his face. He placed both hands behind his head, elbows flaring out casually, and replied, "It was quite hard defeating my negative self, you know. My negative self was able to fight me on equal terms. All the moves that I can do, it was also able to do." He let out a short breath, his expression briefly serious. "Defeating it felt totally impossible."

He paused for a moment, eyes drifting ahead as if replaying the battle in his mind. "But then I remembered your words—the ones you said to me once. You told me that the love inside of me can defeat any hatred inside of others, and that I should never let go of the love inside my heart." Naruto’s smile softened. "So I did just that. I defeated my negative self not with strength, but with the power of love."

Inoiki smiled and nodded after hearing Naruto’s words. As they continued walking, he couldn’t help but think to himself, Although it was easy for me to say those words, it is only Naruto who could truly live by them. Only he could hold onto that much compassion and love toward others, even after suffering so much hatred from the villagers.

Finally, they crossed the section of the chamber where statues lined both sides, each posed in some form of prayer or meditation. Yet one strange detail was shared among them all—every single statue was missing its head. The stone figures loomed silently as they passed between them, their hollow necks rough and broken.

Looking at these statues, Naruto asked Inoiki in confusion, "Is there anything written about why there are no heads on these statues?"

Inoiki gave a small smile and replied, "Yes, there is a reason. We will know when we reach deeper into the chamber."

Not long after, they reached a location where a giant beast’s mouth was carved into the wall, its stone jaws stretched wide as if frozen mid-roar. Inoiki raised his hand and pointed toward the beast’s mouth. "Naruto, you have to place your head inside this statue of the beast’s mouth."

Naruto blinked, then looked back toward the headless statues they had just passed. Inoiki continued calmly, "You were asking why those statues had no heads. It was because they failed to defeat their negative self and were not able to pass the test. When they put their heads into the statue’s mouth, their heads were bitten off, and the person turned into a statue—a headless statue."

As soon as Naruto heard this, a creepy chill ran down his spine. His body stiffened for a moment.

Noticing his reaction, Inoiki said, "You are not feeling afraid, are you?"

Naruto swallowed, then forced a determined look onto his face, fear flickering beneath it. "No, I am not afraid."

Slowly, he stepped forward and placed his face into the beast’s stone mouth embedded in the wall. A few seconds passed. Then Naruto suddenly started trembling, his voice echoing through the chamber. "Help! Inoiki, help! I’m being sucked inside! I will die!"

The next instant, Inoiki burst out laughing. "You lying bastard!" he said, grabbing Naruto and immediately pulling him out of the statue’s mouth.

And when Naruto came out, his head was not there at first—then, suddenly, it popped back out from inside his shirt. Naruto burst into laughter, and Inoiki couldn’t help but laugh along with him.

As both of them were laughing, the chamber gate began to open, stone grinding against stone. The mechanism clicked into place—the switch had been hidden inside the statue’s head all along, and Naruto had pressed it.

After they were finished joking, both of them turned their attention toward the chamber gate that had fully opened. The space beyond it was almost pure white, an unnatural brightness spilling out into the darker chamber. Slowly, the laughter faded from both Naruto and Inoiki, and a serious atmosphere settled in its place.

Inoiki spoke, his tone firm. "This is a special chamber. Inside it, your connections with the outside world will be completely cut off, along with any interference of chakra from the outside." He paused, letting the weight of his words sink in. "Here, you will face the Nine-Tails itself. And while inside, you will first have to unlock the seal within you. Only then can you fight the Nine-Tails inside of you."

He glanced at Naruto and asked, "Lord Jiraiya must have already told you what kind of seal you have, right?"

Naruto nodded. "Yes. I have the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style, and inside it, the Nine-Tails is sealed."

Inoiki nodded in response. "Lord Jiraiya also told me that before coming here, he gave you the key to your seal, right?"

Naruto nodded again. "Yes, I have the key of the seal."

"Very well," Inoiki said, turning toward the glowing chamber. "Then let’s go inside and start your training to master the Nine-Tails’ chakra."

Naruto nodded and, along with Inoiki, stepped inside the Chakra Isolation Chamber. As soon as they entered, the world outside felt distant, muted, as if something unseen had been sealed away. Both Inoiki and Naruto sat down opposite each other on the chamber floor.

After they settled, Inoiki said calmly, "Stretch your fist."

Naruto did so. Inoiki extended his own fist and lightly touched it to Naruto’s. The contact was brief but steady. "Now focus," Inoiki said, his voice firm, "and go inside your sealing space."

Naruto closed his eyes and followed the instruction. His awareness shifted inward, and in the next moment, he found himself inside his sealing space. In front of him stood a massive cage, its bars towering high above him. Behind those bars, the Nine-Tails loomed, its enormous form coiled and its eyes fixed sharply on Naruto.

Then Inoiki’s voice echoed through the space. "Now, Naruto, unseal the Nine-Tails."

Naruto nodded. As he focused, intricate patterns began to appear on his hand—the unsealing key that Jiraiya had given him. He began the unsealing process, moving without hesitation. Naruto placed his five fingers against his stomach and rotated his hand over the seal. Instantly, the locking mechanism on the gate’s seal began to shift. The lock released, and the gate slowly creaked open.

The moment it did, the Nine-Tails let out a deafening roar. "What are you doing, brat?!" it shouted, its voice shaking the sealing space.

Inoiki’s voice came again, steady and clear. "Now focus on your chakra, Naruto. Use your chakra to take the chakra from the Nine-Tails."

And Naruto did so. Behind him, a phantom form made of chakra began to appear, its outline mirroring his own shape, flickering and unstable yet clearly connected to him. The air in the sealing space seemed to ripple around it.

Seeing Naruto’s actions, the Nine-Tails immediately understood and sneered. "So you want to borrow my chakra from me forcefully, is that it?" It roared in fury, "But that’s not gonna happen, you brat!"

In the next instant, the Nine-Tails lashed out, attacking with all nine of its massive tails at once. Naruto moved with everything he had, throwing his body aside again and again, narrowly dodging each sweeping strike as the tails slammed into the ground and bars behind him. The shockwaves tore through the sealing space, and Naruto barely managed to avoid being crushed.

Seeing one of its attacks finally land nearby, the Nine-Tails grew even more enraged. Its chakra swirled violently, condensing in front of its mouth as it formed a small Tailed Beast Bomb. With a furious snarl, it fired the attack straight toward Naruto.

But the Tailed Beast Ball had barely traveled a few meters before an invisible hand appeared within the spiritual space. It closed around the sphere and crushed it effortlessly. The resulting impact sent heavy tremors through the entire sealing space, the ground shaking beneath Naruto’s feet.

The Nine-Tails snarled, its eyes burning with anger. "So that brat Inoiki is helping you and giving you confidence, is it?"

----

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