Chapter 123: Shine, Fox Hidden in the Mirror

Inside the waterfall, Red-Eyed Naruto emerged, speaking loudly in an arrogant tone.

"Time and time again, you refuse to learn your lesson."

"I am you; our powers are exactly the same."

"You cannot eliminate me."

His tone was filled with resentment, anger surging more fiercely than before.

This hatred wasn't just directed at his past experiences.

Now, he also harbored hatred towards Naruto himself.

Naruto looked at him and smiled slightly, "You're right."

Red-Eyed Naruto was taken aback.

"You are me," Naruto continued calmly. "So why should I be obsessed with destroying you?"

"No one can completely eliminate their negative emotions."

"The thoughts within us change in an instant; I've had the most terrifying ideas."

"That fleeting self is also a part of me."

At this point, he paused, drawing out the "Ashura" sword.

The golden blade was vibrant with life.

"To deny you is to deny myself," Naruto said, looking at the sword and feeling the power it contained.

Red-Eyed Naruto grinned, "But you don't seem to want to accept me, nor do you intend to do as I said."

"Is acknowledgment and acceptance necessarily the same thing?" Naruto asked in return.

"I acknowledge that within me, there are dark and evil thoughts."

"But does that mean I must act on those dark and evil thoughts?"

Red-Eyed Naruto reached out, trying to grasp the sword at his waist.

But...

His hand came up empty.

He looked down.

The "Nine-Tails" had disappeared without him noticing.

The "Ashura" sword in his hand scattered into tiny stars, drifting toward the blade in Naruto's hand.

Red-Eyed Naruto lifted his head, his tone tinged with confusion, "Why is this happening?"

He realized that his power was fading.

"Hatred cannot solve problems," Naruto's tone was gentle, as if stating an obvious truth. "Only love can nourish and give life to flesh and blood."

This was the understanding he gained after traversing between the "Ninja World" and the "Soul Society" multiple times.

What made him better were people like the convenience store owner, Dean Hakou, and the captains and vice-captains who cared for him.

What made Karin better was the familial love he received.

He raised the sword.

"Come back."

"We were never truly separated."

"It's just that this waterfall showed me the shadow beneath the light, making me mistakenly think you had split from me as an independent entity."

Red-Eyed Naruto stood there.

His body began to rapidly disintegrate, just like the "Ashura" sword had earlier, and drifted toward the blade in Naruto's hand.

Within his inner world...

In the warm and powerful "Ashura Force," a new power began to emerge.

After absorbing this "nourishment," it was like spring arriving, and a seed that had accumulated strength throughout the entire winter broke through the "Ashura Force," sprouted, and grew.

It greedily absorbed the remaining "Ashura" power and continued to grow.

It still needed to mature.

To bloom and bear fruit.

Naruto gazed at it tenderly for a moment, then sheathed his sword.

At the same time, in another part of the consciousness space...

The two Nine-Tails were battling fiercely with the Black Nine-Tails.

Fur flew wildly, and Chakra rippled.

"You foolish fox who never learns!" the Black Nine-Tails growled angrily. "How many times have we fought during this period?"

"I am your inner self."

"We are the same, completely equal."

"You can't kill me!"

The Yang Nine-Tails clicked its tongue, "Naruto told us that where there is light, there is a shadow."

"So..."

"He believes that the best way to deal with your trouble is to accept it."

"And then use his own light to suppress this darkness."

The Yin Nine-Tails swished its tail. "But no matter how many times we look at you, your ugly form really can't convince us that you're a part of us."

"Utterly disgusting."

"Just seeing your face makes us immediately lose the desire to do what Naruto suggested."

As it spoke, it raised its fist.

The Yang Nine-Tails also raised its fist, lightly bumping it against the other.

"So..." The two Nine-Tails spoke in unison, "That move, then?"

"During this time, besides thinking about how to beat you..."

"We've also been pondering another thing, which is how to merge and become one whole."

They paused.

The Yang Nine-Tails grinned and let out a sinister laugh. "Although we haven't completely merged yet, we can at least temporarily combine into one."

"And you?" The Yin Nine-Tails mocked. "Can you use such power with just one body?"

Their arms were enveloped in chakra, surging like waves, clashing against each other, and then merging.

Yin and Yang intertwined, forming a circle.

The forces of Yin and Yang coalesced, gradually forming a new body.

A complete Nine-Tails.

The Black Nine-Tails sneered, "I thought you might have something up your sleeve."

"Is this all?"

"Don't forget, I already possess all of your power."

"Even if you merge into one, you're still just equal to me."

The Nine-Tails ignored it, lunging forward to engage in battle once more. But, just as the Black Nine-Tails had said, they remained evenly matched, with no clear victor.

"Why are you so eager to deny me?" the Black Nine-Tails murmured. "Haven't you already admitted that you still harbor resentment towards the ninja?"

"Didn't that kid also tell you to accept my existence?"

"But—"

The Nine-Tails spat at it, cutting off its words forcefully. "How could I ever acknowledge an ugly thing like you?"

"Besides, being branded as a natural disaster, a symbol of hatred, a demon..."

"Those are just labels those ninjas placed on me."

In its ears, the sound of a voice calling out grew stronger and clearer.

Suddenly, the Nine-Tails burst into wild laughter.

"I know what you really are, you ugly thing." Its blood-red eyes fixed on the Black Nine-Tails. "You're not the darkness within me."

"I have never denied myself!"

"Hate is just hate!"

"I could even openly admit to Naruto that I caused the deaths of Namikaze Minato and Kushina."

"So why would I have any problem admitting to having a dark side?"

The Black Nine-Tails sneered mockingly. "If I'm not you, then what am I?"

The Nine-Tails stepped back, placing its paw on its stomach.

"Naruto once described us Tailed Beasts."

"He said..."

"We're like a mirror."

"The way you treat us will reflect how we treat you."

"At the time, I didn't take those words to heart."

"Until—"

It lowered its head, sensing within itself that complete and unbroken power, that intact consciousness, and the things that had started to brew within them.

"I just obtained all of my other self's memories," the Nine-Tails continued, "and realized something."

"Naruto isn't an exception."

"Namikaze Minato was the same."

"The attitude we reflected back at them perfectly corresponded with Naruto's words."

"So..."

"You, ugly thing, are the hatred of those ninjas! They don't understand my power or the significance of my existence." The Nine-Tails clenched its paw, gripping the slowly solidifying power. "With their shallow and weak understanding, they labeled me as a natural disaster, as hatred."

"You are the embodiment of their consciousness."

"You're not a part of me!"

The Black Nine-Tails fell silent.

The Nine-Tails gripped the handle of a blade tightly. "And there's one more thing Naruto got wrong."

"The reason I couldn't hear that name until now."

"It wasn't because I was denying you, nor because I blocked my own ears."

"It was because I had never tried to merge into one until now."

"Now that I'm complete, I can finally hear it."

"Can you, ugly thing, wield such power?"

Chakra surged, overwhelming and intense.

The Nine-Tails raised its voice, calling out its name: "Shine, Fox Hidden in the Mirror!"

With a powerful grip, it drew out a long, slender blade from its body. The blade was colorless, nearly transparent.

"This is my Zanpakutō!" The Nine-Tails grinned. "Now, I will cut you down."

It slashed its blade, the forceful wind howling.

The Black Nine-Tails countered, trying to draw something from its own body, but... nothing happened. It couldn't draw out anything.

A few strikes later.

The Black Nine-Tails was drenched in blood, its wounds gaping, with black mist seeping out.

Even the blade in the Nine-Tails' hand seemed to be tainted by the black mist, darkening in color.

The Black Nine-Tails bared its fangs, its expression growing impatient to the extreme. It opened its mouth, quickly forming a Tailed Beast Ball and firing it out.

The Nine-Tails, however, didn't counterattack in the same way.

It raised its blade, slashing at the Tailed Beast Ball.

Within its body, chakra surged violently, consuming an amount equal to what was needed to release the Tailed Beast Ball.

And that Tailed Beast Ball, like an ordinary sphere, was distorted and reshaped before being completely absorbed by the transparent blade.

In that moment, most of the blade was dyed black.

"My blade can absorb attacks," the Nine-Tails lifted the blade high. "Then compress them and unleash them again."

"Let your own hatred destroy you."

"You ugly thing."

It swung forcefully.

Energy poured out in that instant, and a small, highly compressed sphere shot out from the blade's tip.

It struck the Black Nine-Tails.

Tearing its massive body apart.

Along with the real world.

Under the impact of that uncontrolled, suddenly unleashed immense force.

The river roiled, splashing violently.

The Nine-Tails opened its eyes, looking to the side, where Naruto had spread his chakra, forming a barrier on the platform, with the river falling like rain but not soaking them.

To the left and right, there were still two foxes.

"So, how was it?" Naruto asked them with a cheerful smile. "Did your souls strengthen just now? Have you mastered your Shikai?"

The Yang Nine-Tails grinned, nodding in affirmation. "That's right, I've mastered Shikai."

"And I killed that ugly, filthy thing."

But...

Naruto leaned in, looking over the two foxes, but didn't see any trace of the Zanpakutō around them.

~~~

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