The mont he heard himself called a beast, the Nine-Tails completely snapped.
"You insolent brat! What nonsense are you spouting? You think you can lay claim to my power? Dream on!"
Akira ignored the Nine-Tails' roaring completely and kept speaking to Naruto.
"It's locked down by the Eight Trigrams Seal right now. It's just a tiger with no teeth. If you want its power, then take it. Why be polite?"
"If it fights back, hit it. Keep hitting it until it learns its place."
Naruto stared at him in disbelief, while the Nine-Tails inside the cage laughed from sheer rage.
"Hahahaha! Arrogant little brat! Co in here and try it! If I don't tear you to pieces, then I'm not the Nine-Tails!"
As it spoke, its enormous claw slamd madly against the iron bars, shaking the entire space.
Naruto's mouth twitched. Every ti he saw the Nine-Tails, his legs practically turned to jelly. There was no way he was about to start punching it.
Akira frowned, dug at one ear in irritation, then shot the Nine-Tails a cold glance.
"You're too loud. You're just a fox with nine tails. Do you really think no one can put you in line?"
The instant those words fell, the entire seal-space changed.
Countless strands of golden lightning appeared out of nowhere, twisting into more than a dozen thick thunder-whips that slithered through the cage like living serpents.
Crack—!!!
RAAAAGH—!!!
The sharp sound of the lashes, mixed with the Nine-Tails' howl of pain, rang through the whole space.
That kind of attack couldn't kill a Tailed Beast, of course. But the agony and numbness brought by the lightning were absolutely real.
The Nine-Tails had lived for ages, but this was the first ti it had ever been whipped like livestock by so teenage human brat. The humiliation was almost enough to drive it insane.
And the more it cursed, the harder the lightning lashes fell.
Akira patted Naruto on the shoulder and pointed toward the Nine-Tails, which was now ducking and thrashing inside the cage.
"See that? That's how you deal with a disobedient wild animal. Be harsher than it is. Make it rember pain, and next ti it won't dare bare its teeth at you."
If Killer B, the only jinchuriki to truly befriend his beast, had heard that speech, his jaw probably would have hit the floor.
Everyone else tried to build trust with their Tailed Beasts through understanding and mutual respect.
Akira, on the other hand, was going with that?
Then again, knowing Akira, if he'd had a Tailed Beast sealed inside him, he probably would have trained it into perfect obedience long ago.
In his mind, a Tailed Beast was basically a living battery and a walking weapon. Why waste ti arguing with it?
Efficient, yes.
Also just a little bit villainous.
Naruto quickly grabbed Akira's arm and said in a rush, "Akira, stop! I know I still can't control its power properly, but I believe soday I'll earn its trust. Power taken by force will never be sincere!"
Smiling, Akira withdrew the lightning and shrugged.
"I figured you'd say that. Fine, have it your way. You're the jinchuriki. However you want to handle it is your business."
Before leaving, he gave the Nine-Tails one long look, his voice turning cold enough to freeze the air.
"Nine-Tails, I don't care how much you hate humans, but in front of , keep your little sches to yourself. If I catch you trying to erode Naruto's mind again, a few lashes will be the least of your worries."
The Nine-Tails lay there in the cage, its body still twitching faintly from the lightning. Its eyes were still filled with hatred, but for once, it didn't dare utter a single sound.
It had genuinely been shaken.
This human was a demon.
When Akira's consciousness returned to reality, only an instant had passed outside.
The Tailed Beast cloak wrapped around Naruto instantly vanished. He still looked a little weak, but the clarity had returned to his eyes.
Kakashi let out a breath of relief. He had no idea what exactly had happened just now, but it was obvious Akira had helped suppress the Nine-Tails.
Naruto threw Akira a grateful look. "Akira, thanks."
Akira waved it off and shifted his gaze past the others until it landed on Deidara.
"Deidara. Iwagakure's genius demolition expert. Direct disciple of the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki. I've always been curious. As the old man's one true successor, the man everyone expected to beco the Fourth Tsuchikage one day, why walk away from all that just to beco a missing-nin?"
Onoki might have been stubborn, and he might have been harsh with his student, but that harshness ca from wanting him to survive.
Back in the day, the Second Tsuchikage, Mū, had raised Onoki in much the sa way.
In Iwagakure, with its so-called Will of Stone, successors were forged by clawing their way out of hell.
At twelve, Deidara had already possessed terrifying power. If he'd stayed in Iwagakure and continued his training, he would absolutely have beco a shinobi whose na shook the world by now.
The mont Akira brought up the old man who always gave him headaches, Deidara curled his lip with open disdain.
"That old fossil? Hah. His taste in art was trash. Make Tsuchikage? Don't make laugh."
When it ca to Onoki, Deidara felt both resentnt and fear.
But Akira clearly had no intention of letting the subject drop.
"In Iwagakure, you didn't even have real competition. Onoki poured every resource he had into you. Harsh? He was trying to make sure you lived long enough to matter. Did you think a Kekkei Tōta like Dust Release was sothing just anyone could learn?"
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