In the vast Sand Village, only Gaara was left with the strength to resist. For the shinobi of the Sand, the entire situation felt like a living nightmare.
Unfortunately, this was not a dream.
Gaara quickly realized a critical problem: with the entire village covered by the Deep Forest Emergence, he could no longer control the sand on the ground.
Naruto Uzumaki clapped his palms together, and two thick vines shot up from his feet, reaching for the red-haired boy hovering in the air. This time, he had come to the Sand Village not just to resolve their issues, but more importantly, to acquire the One-Tail, Shukaku, sealed inside Gaara.
Gaara skillfully manipulated the sand cushion under his feet to dodge the two vines. The sand gourd on his back instantly dissolved, forming a mass of flowing sand in front of him.
"Naruto Uzumaki, do you think I'm still the same person I used to be?"
The mass of sand before the red-haired boy split into countless sand needles. He moved his hand slightly, then swung it down fiercely. "Sand Drizzle!"
"...I know you better than you know yourself!"
A vortex of chakra floated in Naruto's hand. He raised it and effortlessly scattered the dense barrage of sand needles. At the same time, countless vines grew wildly from the ground, closing in on Gaara and leaving him almost no room to escape.
Helpless, Gaara recalled the flowing sand to his side, gathering it into a sphere, but it still couldn't stop the vines from piercing through. A single Wood Style ninjutsu had broken his Absolute Defense.
Naruto rushed forward, stepping on the vines. He thrust one hand through the sand defense and grabbed Gaara by the collar.
"Sand Prison!"
Countless grains of sand suddenly dispersed and swept fiercely towards Naruto, trying to envelop him completely and force him back.
Nine golden chakra tails burst from Naruto's back, scattering all the sand in the sky.
However, the sand gathered again, forming two giant hands that slammed together towards Naruto. "Desert Funeral!"
Unfortunately, it was all in vain.
In the forest that the Sand Village had become, Gaara had no hope of defeating Naruto. Naruto simply shouted in a low voice, "Wood Style: Hotei Technique!"
Two giant wooden hands grew out of the forest, blocking the two giant sand hands. However, the sand hands dispersed again, passed over the wooden hands, and reformed into loose sand that wrapped tightly around Naruto's body.
"Idiot, you fell for it!"
Half of Gaara's face suddenly contorted into Shukaku's, and a dual voice—a mix of the boy's and the Tailed Beast's—came from his mouth. At this moment, the two had put aside their past grievances and were cooperating.
No, strictly speaking, it was just a temporary loan of power. At least Shukaku knew very well that the Nine-Tails' jinchuriki would not let it go easily. If it didn't cooperate with Gaara, they would have no chance of defeating Naruto.
A huge, rune-covered arm emerged from Gaara's body, connected to his sand. It was the power of the One-Tail, Shukaku. The red-haired boy brought his fingers together, quickly forming hand seals, and shouted, "Desert Layered Imperial Funeral Seal!"
Endless sand covered Naruto's body, forming a desert pyramid centered on him, with curse marks quickly spreading across its surface. This was a seal composed of Shukaku's own curse marks and body.
Shukaku was very confident. This seal was so powerful that not even that damned Nine-Tails could easily break free. This would be enough time for them to kill the Nine-Tails' jinchuriki.
Gaara manipulated Shukaku's arm, twisting it as he squeezed the desert pyramid. "Die, Naruto Uzumaki!"
"Wood Style: Wood Human Technique!" a muffled voice called out from within the pyramid.
A tall wooden figure instantly shattered the pyramid, stretched out a huge hand, and tightly grasped Shukaku's revealed arm.
Naruto Uzumaki walked over step by step, placed his hand on the One-Tail's arm, and said in a low voice, "At a time like this, shouldn't I say, 'One-Tail capture complete'?"
"..."
Inside the sealing space, the Nine-Tails was at a loss for words for a moment. "Whatever makes you happy." Their original purpose was to capture the One-Tail, it was just that Naruto's actions were becoming more and more like the future Akatsuki...
"Ha, forget it."
Naruto's palm suddenly exerted force as he shouted, "Sealing Technique: Devouring!"
This was the first time he had devoured another Tailed Beast. In fact, this was the first proper use of the Devouring Seal, as Orochimaru's original purpose in developing this jutsu was to be able to devour the chakra of a Tailed Beast. Shukaku was just the first test.
As Naruto's Devouring Seal activated, the One-Tail inside Gaara immediately felt its chakra being gradually stripped away. That blond brat wasn't rescuing it, he was stealing its power!
"Hey, Gaara, attack quickly!" Shukaku roared madly inside Gaara's body. "If my chakra is stripped away, you won't survive either!"
"..."
A bitter, relieved smile appeared on the red-haired boy's face. He felt as if he could see his destiny finally being liberated. "Shukaku, even if you still had all your chakra, it would be difficult for us to defeat Naruto Uzumaki, right?"
Death was also a form of release.
Even if he became the Kazekage, he still couldn't change his fate. He would still suffer the strange looks from the Sand shinobi. Still, no one was willing to open their hearts and accept him. Sometimes, Gaara wished someone would just kill him. Of course, if they failed to kill him, he would kill them in return, as punishment for trying.
Anyway, he was born to be despised.
As the power of the Devouring Seal grew stronger, the Tailed Beast seal within Gaara was also absorbed and dissipated. Shukaku's chakra was reduced to half... yet the blond boy extracting its power seemed like a black hole, showing no negative side effects at all.
Shukaku gritted its teeth, staring at Naruto. "How can one person's body contain the chakra of two Tailed Beasts? Just who is that brat?"
On the other side, Naruto was also surprised. The Shukaku chakra extracted by the Devouring Seal had actually generated a new Shukaku inside his body. This Shukaku was like a newborn, growing continuously as more chakra was injected.
The Devouring Seal could actually allow his body to contain multiple Tailed Beasts. That guy Orochimaru is a true genius, Naruto thought. And this jutsu, much like how the Reaper Death Seal split the Nine-Tails, could split the One-Tail's chakra.
The biggest problem now was that soon he would have both the Nine-Tails and the One-Tail inside him. Wouldn't those two treat his sealing space like a battlefield and fight all day long?
A miscalculation. This wasn't good...
Sensing that Shukaku's resistance was getting weaker, to the point where its chakra was almost undetectable, Naruto stopped. The Shukaku inside Gaara was probably only about the size of a human head now and could likely only manage one or two jutsu before running out of chakra.
In contrast, the Shukaku in Naruto's sealing space had already become a behemoth. It slowly opened its eyes and regained consciousness. Its gaze instantly fell on the Nine-Tails. Its face immediately became ferocious, and it pounced with a sharp claw. "You damn fox!"
"Idiot, you want to fight me in here?" the Nine-Tails sneered disdainfully. It slapped Shukaku into the water of the sealing space and, with a flick of its claws, formed a seal, locking Shukaku inside a water prison.
He's so skilled at bullying Shukaku, Naruto thought. As expected of Kurama...
-----
Bonus:
Shukaku: Damn it... it's over!
Nine-Tails: Heh heh, welcome to being my roommate!
Shukaku: ...
Nine-Tails: From now on, for rent, you'll pay nine-tenths, I'll pay one-tenth. Any objections?
Shukaku: But you're the one with the most chakra...
Nine-Tails: I'm asking you, any objections?
Shukaku: Of course I have objections!
Nine-Tails: Oh, I see.
Shukaku: And then?
Nine-Tails: There is no 'and then.' You still have to pay your rent. Since you have an objection, I now have a reason to beat you up.
Shukaku: What if I don't have an objection?
Nine-Tails: Even if you don't have an objection, I'm still going to beat you up!
Shukaku: ...