"Drip!"
A crisp sound of water dripping echoed in Ren's ears, making him feel a little confused.
Where did the sound of dripping water come from in the tent?
Feeling that something was wrong, Ren suddenly opened his eyes, and what met his gaze was complete darkness. He couldn't even see his own hand.
"This is..."
Ren immediately became vigilant. This was clearly not his tent, and from the looks of it, it might even be an enemy's genjutsu.
"Woof!"
Just then, a huge low growl came from ahead, echoing within this dark space.
"Hmm? This sound..."
Ren paused his movements, a hint of realization appearing in his eyes, and the corners of his mouth curved slightly upwards.
Goodness, so that's how it is!
Ren lifted his leg and walked forward. Before long, the surroundings gradually became brighter.
On both sides were dark yellow walls, and beneath his feet was a thin layer of water. Where Ren stepped, layers of ripple-like patterns spread out.
And in front of him was a giant red gate, approximately a hundred meters high and wide. Inside, it was pitch black.
"Tsk, you scared me. I thought someone was ambushing me."
Ren stopped about ten meters in front of the gate and shouted loudly into the gate.
"Hey! Is there a Tailed Beast at home?"
"Woof!!"
A familiar low growl came from within the gate. The next moment, a giant creature crawled out of the darkness.
Its entire body was covered in a hard shell, covered with countless sharp spikes, and a yellow pupil, half a person's height, stared intently at Ren.
"Yo, hello there, Three-Tails!"
Ren ignored the other party's cold gaze, raising his hand to greet them on his own.
"Human, leave here."
Three-Tails opened its mouth, and a low, heavy voice came out. It seemed very unwelcoming to Ren.
"Hey, hey, hey, are you kicking me out as soon as I arrive? What kind of hospitality is this?"
Ren rolled his eyes and complained.
But the next moment, a brilliant smile appeared on his face, and then he took two steps forward. This immediately caused Three-Tails extreme discomfort.
"Woof!"
Three-Tails let out a low growl, looking at Ren as he approached. Its Three-Tails behind it danced wildly, splashing countless water droplets.
"I'm not doing anything... Why are you so agitated?"
Ren's mouth twitched, but he didn't continue forward, standing in place and shouting at the other party.
"How about we make a deal?"
Three-Tails gradually calmed down after seeing Ren no longer approaching, but it showed no reaction to Ren's proposed deal, only looking at the latter with hostile eyes.
"You let me use your Chakra, and I'll help you rescue your other companions, how about that?"
"..."
Three-Tails was momentarily bewildered. Ren's words completely threw him off. But out of wariness and hatred towards humans, Three-Tails growled again.
"Damned human, don't think you can trick me!"
"I knew it."
Ren put one hand on his forehead, looking helplessly at the Three-Tails in front of him, and said slowly.
"Let me finish. We can set a time limit. If I don't rescue your companions within the stipulated time, you can just cut off the Chakra supply, right?"
Three-Tails looked at Ren suspiciously, as if the other party seemed serious. Although it was already starting to believe him, it still said forcefully on the surface.
"Why should I trust you cunning and hateful humans to abide by..."
"Three months, how about it?"
Ren didn't waste time, interrupting the other party directly and stating the number of days.
"This time should be about right. You'll know if what I say is true when the time comes. I want to use your power to improve my strength, and falling out with you won't benefit either of us. Right?"
After Ren finished speaking, he remained silent, standing in place and patiently waiting for the other party's reply.
Three-Tails also fell into deep thought. To be honest, Ren's proposal was very tempting to him.
The nine Tailed Beasts had been active in the Ninja World together since they were created by the Six Paths Sage.
Although conflicts occasionally occurred, the bond between them was still very deep.
Then, from ancient times until now, they had lived freely for thousands of years.
It wasn't until recent times, after the First Hokage Hashirama Senju established Konoha Village, that he captured all nine Tailed Beasts and sold them to various great nations to maintain the balance of the Ninja World.
He and Six-Tails were assigned to Hidden Mist Village and have been sealed there for decades now. During this time, Hidden Mist Village constantly tried to seal them inside humans, turning them into Jinchuriki.
But due to their immature Sealing Jutsu, the Jinchuriki would explode and die within two days. Then they would be sealed in containers and fall into slumber.
It wasn't until today that he was awakened by Minato during the process of transferring him. He only then realized that he had been sealed again.
He had originally intended to use his immense Chakra to assault the seal as before, causing the other party to explode and die. He hadn't expected this seal to be exceptionally sturdy, with not even a single crack appearing under his assault.
So he could only sulk, and then this human stumbled in here and proposed a reason he couldn't refuse.
Just as Ren said, at most he would lose a little Chakra, but if he could free his other companions, Chakra was irrelevant. After all, the Tailed Beasts had an endless supply of Chakra.
"I agree, human!"
As Three-Tails spoke, a look of joy instantly appeared on Ren's face. He was about to say something when the other party interrupted him.
"But if I find out you're lying to me, I will definitely kill you!"
Hearing the strong warning in the other party's tone, Ren put away his smile, his expression becoming serious, and he said in a deep voice.
"It's a deal! The three-month agreement is officially established.
During this period, you let me use your Chakra, and I will help you free one of your companions within three months, helping him regain his freedom."
Three-Tails gave Ren a deep look, then turned and crawled into the darkness. A low voice came from the darkness.
"I will be watching you, human."
"Then I'll be going now. See you next time."
Ren also turned around and ran towards the darkness, losing consciousness shortly after. When he opened his eyes again, what he saw was the tent ceiling.
"It seems it wasn't a dream."
Ren threw off the covers and quickly sat up.
Then he formed hand signs and began to draw the Chakra within his body to contact the Four Symbols Seal in his abdomen, stirring the Tailed Beast Chakra within it.
Three-Tails, upon sensing Ren's call, directly released the restrictions on its Chakra, allowing Ren to draw it out freely.
As a continuous flow of Chakra poured into his body, a powerful Chakra fluctuation rose around Ren. Just as it was about to spread outwards, Ren noticed it and quickly suppressed it, preventing it from triggering a full camp alert.
Feeling the massive amount of Chakra within him, which he could control at will, a look of wild ecstasy immediately appeared on Ren's face. He stood up and leaped into the air.
This time, he hit the jackpot!