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NAJ Chapter 114: The Seal and the Fox
🕑 Added 2025-08-02 21:47:24 +0000 UTC“I believe your seat isn’t here, Sasuke-kun—unless I’m misremembering?”
Iruka, holding a stack of teaching materials as he stepped into the classroom, paused when he saw Sasuke sitting to Naruto’s left. He couldn’t help but comment.
If memory served him right, Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke weren’t exactly… close.
Covered in a few bandages and showing faint bruises on his skin, Sasuke replied flatly, “It is now.”
Putting on a cool little expression, he continued, “I switched seats with someone else. They agreed.”
Iruka: “…”
Wasn’t seat changing something the teacher was supposed to approve?
Still, the top student of the class always got special treatment.
Iruka thought it over, then ultimately chose not to press the matter.
“…You’re such a bad liar,” Naruto muttered under his breath.
He still remembered this stuck-up guy nearly crying last night when Keizumi-sensei “rejected” him.
Naruto looked around, only to realize that several sharp glares were locked onto him—most of them coming from the girls in class.
Damn it!
Why the hell was this arrogant bastard so popular with the girls?!
Muttering with obvious jealousy, Naruto couldn’t help but ask, “Seriously though, why are you so dead set on sitting next to me?”
Sasuke crossed his arms and let out a small “hmph,” offering no reply.
Feeling awkward after getting ignored, Naruto yawned. Still, this was the first time someone had taken the initiative to sit next to him, and that felt… oddly refreshing.
He couldn’t help but switch topics.
“So, is your brother really gonna wipe out the whole clan?”
Sasuke’s face visibly darkened.
He stared down at the desk, hands quietly clenching into fists beneath it.
“…That’s what Sensei—Keizumi-sensei said,” he muttered. “It’s what he called my brother Uchiha Itachi’s ‘future evil.’ I won’t let it happen. I’ll prove that what he’s doing is wrong.”
But…
Just thinking about the overwhelming gap between him and Itachi instantly deflated his spirit.
Sasuke was sure of one thing: as long as he followed [Absolute Justice], he could obtain great power.
Uchiha Keizumi was living proof of that.
The only problem was…
How long would it take?
And once he did gain that strength…
Would it really be enough to stop Uchiha Itachi?
“Don’t worry about it!”
Naruto threw his arms behind his head with a grin.
“[Justice] is never alone! Even if you can’t beat Uchiha Itachi on your own, I’ll help you! The two of us together—no way we can lose to that guy!”
“…Heh.”
Sasuke thought Naruto was being ridiculously naïve.
He had no idea how powerful the Uchiha really were.
And yet…
Something in Sasuke’s heart stirred.
[Clack—]
Suddenly, a piece of chalk hit the ground. The abrupt sound snapped Sasuke’s gaze forward—just in time to see Iruka-sensei standing frozen at the podium, his face locked in a blank, vacant expression.
His whole body seemed to have seized up, like he’d glitched.
Sasuke’s eyes widened in shock as a single white feather drifted lazily down from the ceiling, brushing past Iruka’s nose.
And right then and there—
Iruka fell asleep. Standing upright.
Because Sasuke clearly heard him start to snore… even with his eyes still closed.
[Bang—]
Another sudden noise echoed through the room. Sasuke turned around in alarm and saw that one of the students behind him had collapsed onto their desk, fast asleep.
No—
It wasn’t just one!
The moment those white feathers began drifting down from the air like snow, Sasuke’s eyes widened in disbelief.
To his shock, he realized that everyone in class—everyone except him—had fallen asleep!
“What the hell is going on?!”
Startled, Sasuke shot to his feet and turned toward Naruto beside him.
“…He’s asleep too?!”
Now he was truly stunned.
[Clack… Clack…]
Just then, slow footsteps echoed through the room.
Sasuke’s gaze instantly snapped toward the classroom entrance. His pupils visibly contracted.
“B-Brother…”
Uchiha Itachi walked in openly and slowly, his face utterly expressionless. His cold voice rang out: “Sasuke, you’ve made the wrong choice.
You shouldn’t have chosen this path that leads to an uncertain future.”
...
“Where… am I?”
Naruto looked around in confusion, disoriented.
He seemed to be standing in a strange place.
The damp, dark air made him frown. On either side of him stood rows of strange doors.
He realized he was in the middle of a long, narrow corridor.
“But I was just in the Ninja Academy…”
He muttered, still trying to make sense of things.
Suddenly, a terrifying roar made him jump.
Whipping around, Naruto froze on the spot.
Behind him stood two towering iron-barred gates, the kind used to lock away something monstrous.
And whatever was inside… felt terrifying.
“Heheh… You look unusually delicious, brat. Come a little closer—let me devour you!”
A deep, guttural voice rang out from behind the bars.
Naruto looked up, shocked.
“…W-Whoa. That’s a huge… fox…”
Then it suddenly hit him. He gasped, his jaw dropping.
“You’re the Nine-Tails Demon Fox—sealed inside me by the Fourth Hokage?!”
The Nine-Tails—Kurama—grinned menacingly, its massive face pressing lower behind the bars.
“Thanks to your emotional outburst the other day, the seal the Fourth left behind got a little loose.”
“Otherwise, it’d be damn hard for me to even see you, kid!”
Naruto snapped back to awareness and asked, “So… you’re the one who brought me here?”
Kurama narrowed its eyes with a sinister smile.
“Brat, look up.”
Naruto blinked, then glanced above—and gasped.
Overhead, a translucent image of the Ninja Academy classroom appeared.
He could clearly see Sasuke.
And standing there… was a ninja who looked to be around the same age as Keizumi.
“That companion of yours… is pretty dangerous,” Kurama said with a persuasive growl. “The one who cast that illusion and knocked everyone out—he’s your friend’s older brother.”
“Are you really going to just let this happen?
Sleep through it all while your friend faces death alone?”
“He… that’s Uchiha Itachi?!”
Naruto’s eyes widened even more in shock.
“See that seal on the gate?” Kurama said slowly. “Rip it off—and I’ll grant you power. Power strong enough to shatter his illusion.”
“In fact, with just one hand, I’ll give you the strength to defeat him.”
“You see this chakra?”
Suddenly, a terrifying wave of chakra surged from Kurama.
An overwhelming red energy—visible to the naked eye—burst through the space, flooding the sealed chamber.
Kurama continued, “Tear it off—all of this will be yours!”
“I really don’t want that stuck-up bastard getting hurt by Uchiha Itachi. Even if I don’t particularly like him… Still, he’s just like me now—he’s chosen to follow Keizumi-sensei’s [Absolute Justice].”
“But…”
Naruto clenched both fists and looked straight up at Kurama. He declared, “You were the one who caused the Nine-Tails Night disaster. You’re the embodiment of evil! If the only way to help that jerk is by using evil power, then I refuse!”
“Because I don’t believe you’re doing this out of the goodness of your heart! You definitely have your own agenda. You’re trying to use me. And if I let you, it’ll only lead to something terrible.”
“If I accept your power, I’ll probably end up hurting everyone in the village… I’m right about that, aren’t I? Nine-Tails Demon Fox!”
His words made the savage look on Kurama’s face visibly shift—a flicker of disbelief appeared in its eyes.
Followed immediately by rage and shame—the kind that comes when a seven-year-old brat sees right through your plan.
“You little shit!!!”
Kurama thrust a massive claw toward Naruto.
But the powerful seal barred it from touching even a hair on him.
Naruto took a step back and said, “I don’t want your power—not even a little. Because as long as I follow [Absolute Justice], [Absolute Justice] will give me strength in return.”
“Brat! When I offer you power, you don’t get to say no!”
Kurama bared its fangs, each one massive—just a single canine looked large enough to swallow Naruto whole.
Raging waves of crimson chakra began to pour from behind the iron gate.
“Feel my power, brat! You’ll get addicted to it! It’s a hundred times stronger than that so-called justice crap you’ve never even seen!”
The overwhelming chakra rushed toward the young Naruto.
The seal tag on the gate began to tremble violently, as if battered by invisible gales of wind.
Naruto: “!!!”
