"Ugh, where is this..."
In a luxurious room, Naruto's consciousness gradually cleared, but his eyes were still confused. Shouldn't he be with the great fox?
"You're awake?"
Toneri retracted his hands with a hint of regret, sighing, "Your physical body is quite good, very sturdy."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
As Naruto pondered, he felt a chill on his body. His face flushed visibly, and he immediately pulled the covers tighter.
"You! Why did you take my clothes off?!"
Toneri shrugged and said, "To check your body. Don't worry, you have no illnesses."
"Is this about whether or not I'm ill?!"
Naruto quickly peeked under the covers and roared, "Why were my pants also removed!"
"Rest assured!"
Toneri pointed to his eyes and said, "I am blind, I can't see anything!"
"Huh?"
Naruto leaned closer and saw that Toneri truly had no eyes. He breathed a sigh of relief and said sheepishly, "I'm sorry, I was a bit rash."
"It's alright, can we continue our examination now?"
"Still continuing?!"
Toneri pointed to Gaara, whose face was flushed red beside them, and said, "Trust me, I have some knowledge of human anatomy."
Naruto felt that the red hue on the face of this "fellow sufferer" next to him was a bit abnormal. Although they were both guys, such things were still quite embarrassing.
"Don't be so reserved. Just think of it like a large bathhouse. What's so shy about men looking at men."
Naruto thought it made sense, but he really didn't think there was anything wrong with his body, so he politely declined, "Perhaps not. I don't think there's anything wrong with me."
At this moment, Naruto thought of Sasuke and resolutely refused Toneri.
Then he turned to the red-haired boy beside him. He was quite handsome, but not as handsome as he, Naruto Uzumaki!
"Is that so? What a pity."
Toneri showed a look of regret, then took off his robe, neatly placed it aside, and invited Naruto, "Would you like to go soak in the hot springs?"
"There are hot springs here?"
Toneri nodded, "Artificial, but very effective."
Naruto hesitated only slightly before agreeing. He felt like he had something unclean on him and needed to wash it off.
Naruto grabbed the quilt from Gaara, laid him straight on the bed, and then followed Toneri out of the room.
"Otsutsuki Toneri, that is my name."
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki, the man who will one day tame Sasuke!"
"Sasuke?"
"Someone who is only slightly inferior to me!"
"Is that so..." Toneri stroked his chin, pondering if this Sasuke had the potential to become his male companion.
"Right!"
Naruto suddenly asked in confusion, "Toneri, you can't see, how do you know where the hot springs are? And you walk so... so smoothly!"
Toneri showed no surprise and calmly replied, "My perception is much more useful than my eyes."
"..."
Naruto was stunned for a moment, then abruptly covered his lower half and screamed, "Ah!!!!"
Sasuke, I'm sorry, I'm not clean anymore!
...
On the training grounds, the battle between the fox and the tanuki was nearing its end, with Kurama as the victor, of course.
Shukaku, with its bulging belly, collapsed on the grass, its voice sharp, "Damn it! If we were in the desert, you stinking fox would never have beaten me!"
"You trash!"
Kurama sneered, but it was inwardly quite pleased. For some reason, after beating Shukaku, its whole fox life felt brighter.
"Damn it, damn it! I'm not convinced!"
Shukaku pounded the ground in frustration. It had just been unsealed and was already thrashed by the fox it hated the most. What a disgrace for a tanuki!
"Alright Shukaku, if you keep pounding, I'm afraid you'll sell yourself to pay for it."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
Shukaku turned its head, its attention shifting to the small human below. Its eyes darted around, as if it recognized him.
"It's you! That little brat from back then!"
Shukaku immediately leaped up, its eyes flashing with the flames of revenge.
"Good! Both old and new grudges have arrived, take this! Tailed Beast Bomb!"
*Slam!*
As soon as Shukaku opened its mouth, it was slapped hard, and the Tailed Beast Bomb was extinguished.
Lin Yu shook his hand and said coldly, "I am your creditor now. You dare to resist?"
The sand on Shukaku's face fell off. Just as it was about to resist, it saw the crimson light in Lin Yu's eyes.
Sharingan, Mangekyo, Rinnegan...
Shukaku fell silent. It likely couldn't defeat this human, but what was this about being a creditor?
"Um, when did I owe you money?" Shukaku sat up on the ground, looking rather comical.
Lin Yu retracted his aura and pointed at the devastated training ground, lamenting, "Look at what a mess you've made! How can my subordinates train here in the future?"
Shukaku looked around. It was indeed quite tragic, and a lot of its sand had fallen off.
"So... how much do I have to pay?" Shukaku just wanted to leave quickly. The world was vast, and once it was out of here, paying back money? Impossible!
"Foundation construction, turf laying, equipment repair, labor costs, emotional damages..."
Lin Yu estimated and held up a finger, "Let's say a rough estimate of ten billion!"
"Absolutely no problem... What! Ten billion!"
Shukaku was stunned. It hadn't expected that just a fight would cost ten billion. Wasn't this clearly ripping it off?
Shukaku shrieked, "Do you think I don't understand human knowledge? The cost to build this place is at most one million Ryo, no more!"
"My territory, my rules!"
Kurama chuckled nearby, thinking that this silly tanuki was really unlucky to have provoked the stingy Lin Yu!
Shukaku puffed out its cheeks. Although it looked foolish, it wasn't a pushover.
"Fine! Ten billion it is. Then I'll go out and earn some money!"
Shukaku shuffled its body, trying to escape this place of misfortune. It wanted to find a deep sand pit and sleep for decades. Paying back debt was impossible, not even worth thinking about!
"Wait!"
A white and blue flame appeared in Lin Yu's hand, and he flicked it into Shukaku's body, smiling, "Alright, you can go now. Remember to earn one hundred million within a month, or I will come looking for you."
"What is this?"
Shukaku didn't have time to examine its body before an extremely comfortable sensation spread from within, causing it to involuntarily cry out.
"Timoji! Sukoi!"
Large amounts of sand fell from Shukaku's body. Shukaku walked away with a swagger it had never felt before. It had never felt so good.
It felt as if its millennia of loneliness had been expelled in an instant.
Kurama looked disdainfully at the dancing Shukaku and snorted.
That Shukaku! It had completely disgraced them, the Tailed Beasts! To cry out such vulgar words in front of a human!
Shameless!