Chapter 295: Accepting Defeat

The earth-shaking roars and explosions below gradually subsided, replaced by the large-scale "hissing" of rising steam and the "cracking" of cooling rocks.

The smoke and dust slowly dispersed, revealing a battlefield that had been ravaged beyond recognition.

Deep craters, scars of solidified lava, mud mixed with ice and water, and two massive figures were scattered everywhere.

Kurama flicked his massive golden tails as if he hadn’t had enough, golden light flowing across his body; clearly, this "warm-up" had left him quite satisfied.

He looked down at the slightly dispirited red-haired giant ape beside him, whose fur was scorched in several places and who was huffing and puffing for breath, and snorted two puffs of disdainful white steam from his nose.

Then, his massive body began to slowly dissipate into golden points of light, returning once more into Naruto’s body.

The full Tailed Beast transformation was difficult to maintain; the crimson Chakra receded like a tide, and the giant ape’s body rapidly shrank and transformed.

A moment later, Roshi’s somewhat disheveled figure reappeared on the chaotic ground.

His monk’s robes were torn in many places, his red beard and hair were messy, and his face bore the exhaustion of a fierce battle, but his eyes remained clear, even holding a sense of... relief?

He swayed as he walked, his steps a bit unsteady, yet he moved firmly toward Naruto’s direction.

Finally, he came to a stop not far below the platform, looking up with a complex gaze at Naruto and Hikari, who was draped in a white cloak, at the edge of the platform.

"Whew..."

Roshi let out a long breath of scorching air that smelled of sulfur, his voice somewhat raspy but carrying a knowing and slightly helpless smile:

"I didn’t expect it... you kid, not only are you Hidden Leaf Village’s Sixth Hokage, but you’re actually the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tailed as well."

He shook his head and lamented, "That fellow Son Goku didn’t sense the Nine-Tailed’s Chakra aura beforehand at all.

If the Nine-Tailed hadn’t jumped out on its own at the end, we would have thought you were just using Water Release and Ice Release until the moment we were frozen solid."

Inside him, Son Goku gave a muffled snort and sent a message: ’Hmph! It must be because you, old man, were roasting purple sweet potatoes with Lava Release during the day, and your Chakra fluctuations leaked out and were sensed by that insidious Nine-Tailed fellow passing by!’

The Four-Tails resolutely refused to admit his sensory abilities were inferior to the Nine-Tailed’s, shifting the blame to Roshi’s "daily cooking."

Roshi didn’t bother to pay attention to the Tailed Beast’s grumbling and blame-shifting inside him.

He looked up at Naruto, the exhaustion on his face gradually replaced by a sense of open-mindedness and even detachment.

He slowly raised his right fist.

"I lost."

Roshi’s voice was very calm, without much of the humiliation of defeat, but rather a magnanimity of one who accepts a loss after a bet.

He paused, his gaze becoming extremely serious, even carrying a hint of entrustment:

"Come and take it."

"The power of the Four-Tails."

Naruto stood up and clapped his hands.

Then, he took a step forward, stood before Roshi, and likewise raised his right fist, his fingers slowly tightening into a ball.

Their gazes met in the air. In Roshi’s eyes was detachment and entrustment; in Naruto’s eyes was promise and acceptance.

In the next moment, the two fists bumped steadily in the air.

At the instant of the fist bump, the Four-Tails actively sent his own Chakra into Naruto’s body.

This Chakra was scorching, violent, and filled with the heavy sensation of earth and fire, completely different from the original Nine-Tailed Chakra and his own Chakra within Naruto.

Meanwhile, within the Sealing Space inside Naruto’s body...

There was a relatively independent desert region made of fine yellow sand, looking as if it had been shrunk countless times.

In the center of this small desert, a round and chubby tanuki only the size of a doll, condensed from sand with dark circles around its eyes and a Sand Gourd on its back, was lying lazily on a sand dune resting.

It was exactly a portion of One tail Shukaku’s consciousness.

Suddenly, at the edge of this small desert, the space fluctuated slightly, and a new area, similar in size to Shukaku’s sandy ground, "squeezed" in out of thin air.

This new area was not a desert, but was composed of dark red, dry, and cracked lava ground and several miniature volcanic craters emitting wisps of green smoke, radiating a scorching heat.

Immediately after, a figure shaped like an ape with crimson fur all over its body and a tail, also only the size of a doll, condensed into form on this newly appeared lava ground.

It was the consciousness of the portion of Son Goku’s Chakra that had been separated.

Shukaku’s small sandy body suddenly sat up, his beady eyes within the dark circles widening as he stared straight at the "neighbor" who had suddenly appeared next door, especially that mini red-haired monkey.

After being stunned for two seconds, the corners of Shukaku’s mouth split into an extremely punchable curve, and he let out his signature "Jie jie jie" eccentric laugh filled with deep schadenfreude:

"Oh! Look who it is! Isn’t this the Four-Tails?"

Shukaku slapped the ground with his short hands made of sand, laughing so hard he was doubling over:

"Jie jie jie! Looking at your wilted state, it seems you lost to Kurama too!"

"Hahahahaha! Fantastic! Lord Shukaku isn’t the only unlucky one!"

He was absolutely ecstatic!

He finally had a "fellow sufferer."

The mini Son Goku who had just arrived here already had complex feelings, and hearing Shukaku’s unmasked ridicule, he immediately became so angry that smoke started coming out of his head.

He gave a cold snort, his small tail flicking impatiently as he retorted:

"Shut up, you stinking tanuki!"

"Looking at your own miserable state, you still couldn’t beat that bastard Kurama, which is why you were dragged in here, right?"

Shukaku’s laughter came to an abrupt halt, as if he had been choked by the neck.

He held it in for a long time before finally giving a resentful "Pah," turning his chubby body around to face the Four-Tails with his sandy backside, and muttering, "None of your business!"

The Four-Tails didn’t bother to bicker with this foul-mouthed tanuki anymore.

He looked around at his new territory; although it was a bit small, it was still quite comfortable.

Then, he glanced at Shukaku’s yellow sand ground next door, his eyes full of disdain.

But he didn’t say much, only using his small lava claws to make a symbolic scratch between his territory and Shukaku’s sand, marking a boundary.

As for the great grassland belonging to the Nine-Tailed outside, he would leave that alone.

Kurama was usually quite easy to talk to; he could probably go visit whenever he wanted, right?

"Hmph, stay away from me, stinking tanuki."

The Four-Tails threw out one last line before walking to a miniature volcanic crater in the center of his territory, lying down, and closing his eyes to rest.

Shukaku made a face at the Four-Tails’ back, then lay back down on his sand dune, but from time to time he would steal a glance next door and let out suppressed "hee-hee" snickers, clearly in an excellent mood.

In the real world, the fist bump ended.

Naruto slowly withdrew his fist, feeling the newly added scorching and heavy Chakra within his body, as well as the added "liveliness" in the Sealing Space. He looked at Roshi; the other man’s aura was clearly weaker, but his spirit seemed good.

"Thanks, old man."

Naruto thanked him sincerely.

Roshi waved his hand and said, "I accept my defeat. I hope... you can make good use of this power."

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