As long as a hunter kills enough prey in the same place, the lingering scent of blood will make the rest afraid to approach.
"This is all for the sake of the Hyuga Clan," Hizashi Hyuga murmured.
The next day, at dusk in Konoha.
The setting sun hung like a massive copper disk, slowly sinking toward the western horizon.
Golden-red light spilled across the rippling river, dyeing the flowing water like a ribbon, while the trees along the banks were coated in warm orange hues.
By the riverside, far from the noise of the village center, a small figure was busy at work.
Fingers searched through damp moss and fallen leaves, and soon several round, plump mushrooms were carefully picked and placed into a small basket woven from vines at his waist.
But if anyone heard what he was muttering, they would feel puzzled.
"This mushroom looks pretty."
He looked at a mushroom whose cap glowed with a faint green light, but the delight on his face quickly faded into disappointment. "Oh, can't eat this one either?"
"What about this?"
"Ah, poisonous too? It looks so tasty..."
"Teacher, you know so much. You're way better than the big fox."
Without question, the mushroom picker was Naruto Uzumaki.
At this moment, inside his Sealing Space, the Nine-Tails lay sprawled on the ground with its head on its arms, snoring as if asleep.
But after hearing Naruto Uzumaki's words, its large furry ear twitched, and the vein on its forehead pulsed.
As Naruto Uzumaki continued muttering, it finally opened its eyes and glanced upward.
"Hey," Nine-Tails said impatiently. "Can you control that noisy little brat and let this old..."
Thump.
Before it could finish speaking, its huge head was hammered straight into the sand, its sharp fox snout biting a mouthful of dirt.
"I told you,"
The man sitting cross-legged on its head withdrew his hand after the light strike, his eyes closed and his tone calm. "Do not call yourself old in front of me."
"Puh."
Nine-Tails lifted its head and spat out sand, looking aggrieved but not daring to argue.
There was no helping it. Whether in terms of seniority or age, it had no right to call itself old in front of this person.
Though he looked like a human in his twenties, who knew how many thousands of years he had lived.
More importantly, whenever this old monster was displeased, he would whip it with those strange thorny vines.
After being beaten until it howled a few times, it no longer dared to talk back.
It still cared about its pride.
"Hey, old monster," Nine-Tails muttered with its head resting on its arms. "You turned this place into this. You're not really planning to live here long term, are you?"
The "old monster" it referred to was Yunchuan Hyuga disguised as "Yunshiki Otsutsuki".
He had not told Nine-Tails his real name, only his surname.
Relying on his understanding of the Sage of Six Paths and ancient history from the story, it was more than enough to intimidate this fox who had spent centuries either eating or sleeping.
Moreover, the abilities he displayed were completely unheard of to Nine-Tails.
"Fox," Yunshiki Otsutsuki said softly as he opened his eyes. "How long I stay here depends on that child. Changing this place was just something I did along the way."
Just something he did along the way.
Nine-Tails's eye twitched as it looked at the current Sealing Space.
The Sealing Space had completely changed, no longer dark and damp, but transformed into what seemed like an endless beach by the sea.
Clear water lapped against the shore with soothing sounds, a faint salty breeze drifted through the air, and sky and sea merged together.
Bright sunlight hung overhead, and there was even a wooden cabin standing by the shore.
Who knew how this old monster had turned the Sealing Space into this.
"Are all people from the Otsutsuki Clan this good at enjoying life?" Nine-Tails asked, pretending to be dismissive as it probed.
Back when the old man was alive, he often told stories to the nine Tailed Beasts, including tales of the Otsutsuki Clan, whom he called Outsiders.
The solemn caution in his tone back then was something Nine-Tails still remembered clearly.
It was hard to imagine what kind of power a being feared even by the old man possessed.
Yet it never expected to actually encounter one.
That made it curious about what the Otsutsuki Clan truly were.
"Did Hagoromo not tell you that curiosity can get a fox killed?"
Yunshiki Otsutsuki glanced at it. "If I were on good terms with those idiots in my clan, you would still be inside the Ten-Tails. Hagoromo would not have become any kind of Ten-Tails Jinchuriki."
"Oh, no. If I had been ruthless back then, you would have gone into my stomach along with all life in the Ninja World."
As he spoke, Nine-Tails's head sank lower and lower, and its body honestly shut its mouth.
It understood.
"This old monster is from the same era as the Moon Goddess the old man spoke of," Nine-Tails thought in fear.
It had heard some things about the divine tree, the Ten-Tails, and the Moon Goddess from the Sage of Six Paths back then.
Though it did not know why this old monster was in such a state now, it could sense that he truly could turn it into Chakra and swallow it whole.
The Yin Release aura within that soul was far too pure, far more overwhelming than what Madara Uchiha had once given it, and that seemed to be only a fragment of the other's soul.
Formed from nothing.
To let a soul exist independently without fading over time was something it had only ever seen the old man accomplish.
Even without knowing his mastery of Yang Release, this level of Yin Release had already reached the realm of Yin-Yang Release.
That was the main reason Nine-Tails backed down.
If this old monster wished, he could strip away its soul and turn it into pure Chakra.
So having such a being sit on its head did not feel humiliating at all.
The only thing that puzzled Nine-Tails was why someone like him would pay attention to this human child.
"He doesn't seem to be here for me," Nine-Tails thought. "If even I can't catch his eye, could Minato Namikaze's son have something special?"
With that thought, Nine-Tails looked up at the sky.
There was a round mirror there, reflecting Naruto Uzumaki's view.
Even while inside the Sealing Space, it and Yunshiki could see everything Naruto Uzumaki saw outside.
"Teacher, can I eat this mushroom?"
Naruto Uzumaki's voice reached the Sealing Space, and Yunshiki Otsutsuki replied calmly with his eyes closed, "With your constitution, you can eat it."
He had never asked Naruto Uzumaki to call him teacher.
After seeing him beat up the Nine-Tails, and sensing that he had no ill intent, the boy boldly asked to learn Ninjutsu.
In Naruto Uzumaki's simple understanding, as long as he became strong, as strong as the Hokage, he would be acknowledged like the Hokage.
Yunshiki agreed, and Naruto Uzumaki immediately changed how he addressed him.
Naruto Uzumaki was not actually stupid. He had simply grown used to hiding his distance from others with silly talk, pretending not to notice their rejection.
His thinking might be extreme, but unlike those who were truly foolish, he chose to act foolish on purpose.
"Hehe, this one's edible!"