Chapter-99

In the surveillance room, Recovery Girl managed the command center, where all screens displayed different scenarios for the upcoming confrontations. Inside the room, Naruto sat on the floor with crossed arms and legs, in a meditative position, head lowered, and eyes closed. In the same room were Deku and Ochako, the latter looking curiously at her best friend occasionally glancing at the shinobi.

"Something wrong between you and Uzumaki-san?" Ochako asked with curiosity and concern. Izuku smiled reassuringly and shook his head.

"It's nothing, we just had... a disagreement in a talk, that's all," the heir of One for All answered calmly. While they talked, the shinobi remained motionless, meditating and doing something he should have done a long time ago. Taking a deep breath, he entered his own mind.

Within his subconscious, Naruto found himself in his mental space, where his longtime prisoner was locked up. Walking along the ground covered in water in the darkness, he found her, sitting in the water. The imposing nine-tailed biju, seeming strangely serious, spoke mockingly, "It's rare that you come to this place. To what do I owe this honor?" as a dangerous smile formed on her lips.

"I'm just coming to see you," said Naruto seriously, approaching the biju behind the gigantic bars. "It's been a while since we last spoke in a civilized manner." Sighing, he sat down on the water to look directly at the redhead, who snorted.

"Now that the girl nun has broken a little of that cold shell that covers your heart, do you want to talk?" The nine-tailed fox asked sarcastically, making her tails wag back and forth lazily.

"When I tried when I was a child, you only attacked me. I consider this a good time to at least... talk," frowned the shinobi, watching as the biju released a laugh to smile menacingly.

"I underestimated that girl and her god. Did I evangelize you? Is that the right word? Evangelize?" The redhead lay down on the floor of her prison to yawn.

"She's made me realize how stupid I've been... just like you," the last thing said by the Uzumaki made the nine-tailed fox raise an eyebrow. "For better or worse, we're together for life, at least. We should talk less to each other, so we don't always have to listen to whispers of pure shit behind me."

"…" Taking a more serious face, Kitsume got up from the ground to walk and lean on one of the bars of the cage, "Talk to a human? As if we were? What? Friends?" Frowning, the biju walked between the bars without ever losing her serious gaze, focused directly on the cold eyes of her jinchiruki. "For millennia I have lived in the great continent or the elemental nations, as they call it now... since I was born and seen thousands of things that your little inferior mind would not understand. But do you know what was the thing that I learned the hard way?" he asked as he left the cage, losing his tails and dark circles on his head, reaching the blonde. He looked at him with deep hatred. "Humans can't be trusted…"

"Not all humans are the same," said Naruto calmly, remaining seated, watching the biju return inside the seal, recovering its tails and ears.

"They are all," stopping, the redhead with red eyes looked at the shinobi over her shoulder, "Humans are all the same. They want power and will use any means to obtain it. I also know that they will exterminate everything that is different from you... typical beings." Inferior, humans have a tendency to isolate everything that is different and superior to them. Why do you think that we bijus are sealed? Because we are superior to you and you fear us... or you only use us as if we were simple tools. Madara Uchiha, Hashirama Senju, Mito Uzumaki, Minato Namikaze, and your mother... you are all the same…"

"You can't let the bad deeds of the previous generations fall on the new ones."

"Fuck you and shove that philosophical phrase up your ass!" The tailed beast growled angrily, interrupting the teenager who only sighed to stand up. "All humans are the same garbage in my eyes... you are the ones to blame for us being locked up! As if we were just beasts without conscience! You only use us as tools for your filthy senseless wars, killing each other like savages! You will be responsible for your own self-destruction…"

"That may be true," standing, Naruto could only look at the Biju stubbornly crossing her arms, leaning on the bars of the cage. "But even among so much chaos, there will be calm. No matter how much I hate... I forgive you for attacking my home and forcing my father to use a suicide technique. I hope that you can forget that Kyubi hatred and at least give me a chance to form a pact of mutual peace."

"Long..." was the deep voice of the nine-tailed fox that changed shape to be a titanic nine-tailed fox with bright red eyes that only gave off fury. Seeing that this would lead nowhere, Naruto just disappeared from the mental space, leaving the nine-tailed fox alone, who little by little returned to her humanoid form to sit again in the darkness of the confinement.

….

Opening his eyes slowly, Naruto found Shiori sitting next to him. Soon her turn would come next to Yaoyorozu. With a deep breath, the Uzumaki continued in the same position but at least turned his head to look at the girl with white and red hair. "Are you coming to tell me something?" She asked calmly, looking at the teenager who only stroked a few strands of hair to put it behind her ear.

"You said that no son should see his father humiliated..." he began slowly as he lowered his head to look at his left hand. "But ever since I saw my father hit my mother... I dreamed of humiliating him at his own game, defeat him with my power and have him at my feet... defeated." He whispered with suppressed fury as he clenched his fists tightly, only to then sigh. "But I know how powerful he is, and if I face him, I will lose in just seconds..."

"..." In silence, the blonde saw the girl's right hand pass through his arm. For a moment, they both looked at each other in a comfortable silence, which was broken when the girl spoke again.

"That's why I only want you to do one thing... win." Saying that, Todoroki got up to walk to the door; her turn for the test had arrived. Meanwhile, Naruto just sat there watching as the battles continued one by one. Among the most relevant was the second one between Todoroki and Yaoyorozu vs. Aizawa. The fights continued, and the students occupied the surveillance room to continue watching the battles.

The shinobi stood up when he saw on the screens how Midoriya and Bakugo had their battle against All Might. Both did well. Katsuki had the courage to face the number one hero and go to the extreme of damaging his arms to achieve delaying the symbol of peace so that Deku could reach the goal, only to be rescued by the latter, who forgot his fanaticism for All Might to stand up to him. Result: a good battle.

"It's time..." Seeing that he was the last one who had not fought, the shinobi left the room to go to the place where he would have to fight. Being the center of the gaze of many, he went out the door to leave and face the second-best hero that this country could offer.