After a long while, Ōtsutsuki Toneri felt the lingering warmth within the Rinnegan in his palm slowly fade away.
A faint smile curved his lips.
He could sense it.
Very soon—
the first evolution was about to arrive.
"Once again, my thanks, Nine-Tails," Toneri said sincerely, his mood exceptionally light at the moment.
So much so that, in his eyes, even the Nine-Tails' enormous and ferocious form somehow looked… kind of adorable.
That thought sparked a bold idea in his mind.
"You're not a bad kid," Kurama said, its nine massive tails swaying slightly as it hesitated.
"Speaking of which… kid…"
It had an idea.
But its naturally arrogant and unrestrained temperament made it difficult to voice it outright.
"What is it?" Toneri asked with a light chuckle.
"You helped me greatly—if there's something you want, you can say it."
His expression grew subtly strange, as if he had already guessed what Kurama was about to ask.
After all, tailed beasts had no human ambitions, no thirst for power or conquest.
What Kurama desired most at this moment was nothing more than—
"Kid," Kurama finally said, struggle flashing in its fox-like eyes,
"Since you possess the Rinnegan… you should be able to undo this seal, right? Help me—just once."
Yes.
It wanted Toneri to release it.
The Dead Demon Consuming Seal was an extraordinarily powerful sealing technique. Kurama couldn't break free on its own unless Naruto willingly released it—or unless it slowly eroded Naruto's body with its chakra over time.
But it couldn't wait anymore.
It was the Nine-Tails.
The strongest of all tailed beasts!
It yearned for freedom.
It refused to remain a beast locked inside a dark, suffocating cage.
"Release the seal…"
Toneri murmured, his expression growing even more conflicted.
"It's not impossible… but…"
But if Naruto lost the Nine-Tails—
would he still be Prince Naruto?
At present, Kurama hadn't yet formed a bond with Naruto. Its desire for freedom was entirely natural.
"But what?" Kurama roared, slamming into the massive gate once more.
"As long as you let me out, I'll agree to anything!"
It despised humans.
They never cared about the will of tailed beasts—sealing them away in cramped, pitch-black spaces without a shred of consideration.
If it ever got the chance to escape, it would never forgive them.
"Let's do this, Nine-Tails," Toneri said after long contemplation, smiling seriously at it.
"Wait ten years. If, after ten years, you still feel the same way—I'll help you leave Naruto."
Toneri understood this very clearly.
Naruto could not live without the Nine-Tails.
And Kurama's role in Naruto's growth was irreplaceable. Without it, Naruto would have died long ago.
Still… what a pity.
Toneri cast a slightly heated glance at the Nine-Tails.
The bold thought that had crossed his mind earlier was, quite simply—
raising a Nine-Tails as a pet.
But this Yang Nine-Tails was an indispensable pillar for Naruto.
Which meant
He would have to aim for the other half.
The Yin Nine-Tails.
And Toneri remembered this clearly:
that half resided within the soul of the already-deceased Namikaze Minato.
Back then, Minato had sacrificed himself using the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, splitting Kurama's vast chakra in two.
One half was sealed into the newborn Naruto.
The other half—
was sealed into Minato's own soul.
"If I want that Yin Nine-Tails…" Toneri thought calmly,
"then I'll have to meet Orochimaru."
Toneri himself couldn't perform Edo Tensei. And Minato's soul was still trapped inside the belly of the so-called Death God.
Only that mad—borderline twisted—scientist of the shinobi world, Orochimaru, might have a way to release it.
"Ten years… forget it," Kurama snorted, glaring fiercely at Toneri.
"In ten years, I might've broken out on my own already."
Ten years?
Yeah right.
Even though tailed beasts were effectively immortal and time meant little to them, being sealed away for another ten years was still unbearable.
"I truly apologize, Nine-Tails," Toneri said apologetically, offering no further explanation.
He had always looked forward to his ultimate battle with Naruto and Sasuke at their peaks.
And as Naruto's greatest source of growth, Kurama was something he absolutely could not release early.
His objective was crystal clear:
To conquer Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.
And among his personal wishes, one stood above the rest—
A decisive battle against Naruto and Sasuke at their absolute strongest.
He believed, unwaveringly, in his own invincibility.
As for Kaguya's seal, he already had a direction in mind.
The original method—reviving the Ten-Tails, amassing chakra, and forcibly drawing out Kaguya's chakra—
He couldn't even be bothered to look at it.
That would only resurrect Kaguya's chakra.
Her true body would still remain sealed on the moon.
To Toneri, that method was fundamentally flawed.
What he wanted—
Was to free Ōtsutsuki Kaguya in her entirety.
Of course, this plan was still only a rough framework.
It would require meticulous preparation.