This Naruto Is a Player!

"Where is this?"

Water reached his calves on the ground, the light was dim, and the air was damp. Naruto didn't like this place.

He turned around and saw a giant iron gate with bars thicker than a person. Looking further in, wasn't that the Nine-Tails from earlier today, frolicking like a goofy dog?

Naruto smiled, already understanding what was happening. But, haha... why was it—no, why was this fox, alone and confined here?

Seeming to sense Naruto's emotions, the Nine-Tails stirred, making some noise to remind Naruto it was still there. This made Naruto laugh even louder.

He was laughing because the Nine-Tails in the training ground seemed completely different from the one before him. That little Nine-Tails in the training ground was like a goofy dog, mouth agape, tongue lolling out, eyes wide, running and rolling around madly, overturning who knew how many flowers and plants.

And now?

Did the Nine-Tails think he was too busy training to notice? Now it was trying to act serious in front of him.

"Not talking? Playing hard to get? Well, I'm leaving then!"

Without waiting for a response, Naruto turned to walk away.

"Brat."

Sure enough, the Nine-Tails called out to him.

It couldn't help it; the Nine-Tails was just too desperate for freedom! Any veteran inmate who'd been locked up for decades would certainly understand and empathize with this feeling. What's more, there was human interaction in prison, but this was solitary confinement, far worse than a prison.

After experiencing those two hours of frolicking, the Nine-Tails craved freedom even more. If not for those two hours, it wouldn't have cared, having been like this for decades; it was used to it.

But now, it just wanted "one more hit."

"Brat, that place from earlier today, can you still go there?"

"Yes," Naruto replied.

"Then... then..."

The Nine-Tails felt like it couldn't open its mouth. To think it, the Nine-Tails, a tough guy who had lived a free and uninhibited life, had ever begged someone so meekly.

"I like to make friends, you see. So, when I go there again, I can take you with me," Naruto offered, speaking for it. "But, it's only for one hour a day."

"No, five!" The Nine-Tails extended a claw, haggling.

Naruto stated unequivocally, "One hour, at most."

"If you haggle any more, I'm leaving. And let me tell you, if I leave now, there'll be no more chances to negotiate later." Seeing it still wanted to cut the price, Naruto threatened.

"Hmph!" The Nine-Tails snorted heavily, signifying its agreement.

"Since that's settled, I'm off then."

"Wait, brat." The Nine-Tails suddenly called out to him, asking, "How long is one hour?"

Huh?

Naruto was speechless. You don't know how long an hour is, so what were you just arguing with me about?

'This Nine-Tails is a bit lacking in common sense.'

Muttering to himself, Naruto explained, "It's about half the length of today's session."

"Only half?" The Nine-Tails sprang to its feet.

"And you're complaining about something free? It's only because we're friends that I'm giving you that much time. Are you trying to threaten me? Then there's nothing more to discuss; I'm leaving."

"You—"

The Nine-Tails forcefully restrained itself and finally squatted back down.

Something was better than nothing.

"Brat." The Nine-Tails tried to speak again but was interrupted by Naruto.

"Don't call me brat. My name is Uzumaki Naruto; you can call me Naruto."

Naruto introduced himself, then asked it, "What's your name? What do you call yourself?"

Hearing this, the Nine-Tails stared intently at him but didn't answer.

'It's just a name; is it that hard to answer?'

Thinking this, Naruto threatened again, "Not talking? Then I'm leaving. If I leave now, all our previous talks will have been for nothing."

Naruto turned to go.

"Wait."

If this brat left, it wouldn't be able to go to that place again. Seeing this, the Nine-Tails gritted its teeth and threw caution to the wind, saying, "Kurama."

"Kurama, is that your name? Then we're friends from now on."

'Friends?' Kurama merely mumbled the word and dismissed it. Hmph, wants to be friends with me, the Nine-Tails? You? Far from it.

Naruto thought for a moment and decided he should offer a little incentive.

He said, "As a testament to our friendship, tomorrow I'll let you go in and play for two hours."

Two hours? The same as today?

Kurama was somewhat surprised, seemingly a little "PUA'd."

"You also shouldn't complain about it being short. You should know that maintaining a place like that costs a lot of effort, and even I can't stay for long every day."

Kurama believed this; it certainly required immense effort to maintain such a place. After realizing this, it didn't resent the little brat as much. In fact, it even wanted to ask what help it could offer to extend the daily time, so it could have more free time.

But it held back.

It was the Nine-Tails, a tough guy, not a dog.

"Since we've settled it, I'm leaving. Oh, wait, how do I leave?"

"Huh?" At this, the Nine-Tails nearly died of exasperation.

You don't even know how to leave, and you were threatening me like that?

"Haha, just kidding, see ya." With that, he vanished.

Seeing this, the Nine-Tails was momentarily stunned.

"That brat."

After a helpless sigh, seeing the brat had left and no one could see it, Kurama's eyes narrowed happily.

Tomorrow, it could run around happily again.

Though the time was a bit short.

Suddenly remembering something, Kurama immediately retracted all its overflowing red chakra, then converted it into pure chakra and released it again. Its Nine-Tails chakra energy, when uncontrolled, was difficult for a child to absorb and had side effects, but this pure chakra was different. If this brat absorbed it, he could increase his chakra significantly every day.

While refining pure chakra took some effort, this kid—no, it—was worth it.

Naruto getting stronger = more free time. The Nine-Tails understood math too.

Besides, it had a lot of chakra; outputting it daily was no big deal. Doing this was definitely not to help Naruto, but for itself.

Yes, that's right.

Thinking about Naruto's mention of "friends," Kurama closed its eyes. Hmph, a human brat actually deludes himself into thinking he can be my friend.

The next day, Naruto woke up early.

His living allowance used to just appear on his table when he woke up, so Naruto planned to go back early to get it, to avoid any complications.

Before leaving, Naruto suddenly remembered something.

In broad daylight, walking all the way there, he'd be subjected to so many hostile glares from others. Naruto was afraid he wouldn't be able to resist hitting them.

So, he decided to transform into someone else.

Thinking this, he opened his status panel and glanced at his chakra.

He was going to learn advanced skills today, so his chakra needed to be boosted.

But that one glance froze him.

Chakra: 2172/2172 (C)

(Increase 20 (Juvenile) x (1 + 200% + 5000%) x 2 = 2120/day)

(Recovery 1% (Juvenile) x (1 + 200% + 2000%) x 2 = 46%/hour)

How did it just double?

He checked the more detailed messages and records and finally understood.

"So it was the Nine-Tails."

Couldn't tell, that guy was quite reasonable, knew how to pay rent.

Taking the opportunity, Naruto quickly scanned his panel again.

Not many changes.

Hand Seal Speed +20, Chakra Control +10.

His SSSSSS talent was still working its magic.

At this moment, Naruto had a deeper understanding of this unique SSSSSS talent.

This ability was passive; it wouldn't manifest all at once but would slowly accrue.

Though the manifestation was gradual, an increase of 20 or 10 points per day was still terrifying, considering a normal person's max level was 100 points.

Naruto knew that such a significant increase in stats wouldn't last forever.

The game had detailed explanations:

Below 70 points: 1:171-80 points: 2:181-90 points: 5:191-95 points: 10:196-100 points: 20:1101-500 points: 50:1

This meant that after reaching 100 points, every 1 point increase in attribute value was equivalent to a 50-point increase when below 70 points. The 2-point difference between 101-103 was equivalent to the difference between 0-82 points.

However, this wasn't Naruto's primary concern right now; his task was to get his living allowance.

Ram → Boar → Ox → Dog → Tiger

Transformation Jutsu.

Poof!

After the smoke cleared, an old man stood in his place.

It was the same old man he'd seen just a few days ago.

This old man was ordinary and a widower, so he definitely wouldn't attract attention. Transforming into him to go home was perfectly fine.

Naruto looked himself up and down; it was quite accurate. His max-level Transformation Jutsu was no joke.

Seeing that it was about time, Naruto set off for home, in the guise of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.