Inside the sealing space, silence lingered for a long time.
The Nine-Tails gradually suppressed its anger.
For the first time ever, it didn't rage or lash out. Instead, it lay down inside the cage, resting its massive fox head on its paws.
It looked… resigned.
Yes, it could look down on Naruto Uzumaki.
Yes, it could believe that one day it would find a chance to break free.
But so what?
As long as that boy—Orion—existed…
Even if it escaped, what would be the point?
If it got captured and sealed again like before… it would be utterly humiliating.
The Nine-Tails sighed.
"Old man of the Six Paths… ever since you left, this world has become very unpleasant."
"I finally got the weakest jinchūriki of the three…"
"And now this brat shows up. Are you cursing me from the afterlife?"
It had given up resisting.
Originally, it thought Naruto was the weakest host it had ever had.
It planned to slowly erode the seal and escape.
But Orion's appearance changed everything.
Even if it broke free—
Orion could just seal it again.
Right now, Orion wasn't strong enough to defeat it.
But the Nine-Tails was extremely sensitive to power.
It could tell—
Orion would soon grow strong enough to suppress it.
Maybe even reach the level of Hashirama Senju.
Just thinking about being suppressed like that again made it uncomfortable.
Yet—
From Orion, it saw the shadow of Hashirama.
Perhaps even greater potential.
Because at Orion's age—
Hashirama definitely wasn't this strong.
Orion, on the other hand, was slightly puzzled.
"This fox… stopped resisting?"
"That's strange…"
He thought the Nine-Tails was preparing something big.
He didn't realize—
It had simply given up.
Because of Orion, the Nine-Tails had completely lost the desire to escape.
Why bother escaping—
Only to get sealed again?
Even so, Orion remained cautious.
He continued reinforcing the seal while keeping a close watch.
After about an hour—
He finally finished strengthening the seal inside Naruto.
The Nine-Tails clearly felt it.
The Eight Trigrams Seal reinforced by Orion—
Was far stronger than the one left by Minato Namikaze.
This only deepened its suspicion.
That mysterious power inside Orion…
Was real.
Previously, it could slowly corrode Minato's seal by leaking chakra.
But now—
It realized something terrifying.
It could no longer corrode the new seal Orion had added.
That's right.
Orion didn't just reinforce the original seal—
He added another Eight Trigrams Seal.
The original seal (reinforced): still could be worn down slowlyOrion's new seal: completely immune
No matter how much chakra it leaked—
It couldn't break it.
Not by its own power.
Only Orion—or Naruto himself—could undo it.
The Nine-Tails narrowed its eyes, staring at Orion.
"Brat… you added another seal."
"Aren't you afraid of exhausting your chakra?"
Orion's face was pale.
"You're right."
"My chakra was almost drained."
"Sealing techniques really consume a lot… seems my chakra is still lacking."
The Nine-Tails twitched.
It almost cursed out loud.
This guy—
Risked draining himself dry—
Just to add another seal on it?!
And worse—
This new seal was over ten times stronger than Minato's.
Completely unbreakable.
But then—
Something even more shocking happened.
Ten minutes later—
Orion's chakra fully recovered.
The Nine-Tails was stunned.
"Y-you… your chakra is already restored?!"
Orion's complexion returned to normal.
He stood up casually.
"Running out of chakra really feels terrible…"
"Anyway, I should get going."
"See you next time, Nine-Tails."
He turned to leave.
"Wait!"
The Nine-Tails suddenly called out.
Orion paused, then turned back.
"What is it?"
The Nine-Tails hesitated for a long time before asking:
"What exactly is Naruto to you?"
"Why would you go this far for him?"
Orion was slightly surprised.
Then he smiled.
"I'm just doing what I think is right."
"He's my friend… I guess."
"And he's very important to Konoha."
"He can't be allowed to fall."
He continued calmly:
"I'm doing this so that one day, he can control your power."
"And I believe he can."
"But until then…"
"I don't want you causing him trouble."
He added lightly:
"Besides… if you break out right now, I'd be in trouble too."
"I'm not your opponent yet."
"And if you get out now…"
"There's probably no one in Konoha who can seal you again."
His tone was calm.
If anyone else had said this—
The Nine-Tails would've blasted them with a Tailed Beast Bomb.
But Orion…
Was different.
The Nine-Tails only acknowledged a few people capable of saying such words:
Hagoromo Otsutsuki (Six Paths Sage)Indra OtsutsukiAsura OtsutsukiMadara UchihaHashirama Senju
Even Mito Uzumaki and Kushina Uzumaki—who sealed it for decades—didn't earn that level of recognition.
But Orion…
Did.
The Nine-Tails didn't doubt him.
Not even a little.
What it didn't understand was—
Why Orion would go this far.
Because it remembered clearly—
Naruto and Orion weren't even that close.
Naruto had even treated him as a rival before.
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