Chapter 44.6- One Thousand Hands

“Human” his voice was a deep baritone that made my bones shake.

“Tailed Beast” I returned with confidence I didn’t really feel. If there was one thing I was thankful for, it was the fact that my mouth worked faster than my brain could comprehend.

“So this body is to be my prison” He said looking around the cavern. He seemed calm, but I was not going to fall for that. Foxes were known for being tricky for a reason, and this one was the greatest fox of them all.

“It need not be a prison” I said.

“And then what else could it be” Dare I say, he sounded intrigued.

“It could be a home. A place where—“ I had barely begun, turning my head to the side before he suddenly jumped into motion, covering the distance between us in seconds and then reaching with his claws to rend me in pieces. The seal took effect immediately he tried to attack me and he was sent hurling back into the cavern’s wall. That had taken a chunk of my chakra, I realised. Fuck. This seal was going to be even more crippling than I expected. I needed to work with him. I needed to create some measure of camaraderie here, and against my better judgement, there was only one idea that came to mind.

“You know ninshu right?” I called, but he had gone to sulking against the wall. What a big baby.

“Kurama!” I called out to him.

His head snapped to mine. Good I had his attention.

“How do you know that name?” He growled. And his anger as well, it seemed.

I just pointed my fist right up at him.

“Do you want to know, Kurama, eldest son of Hagoromo Otsutsuki? Then bump fists with me, and find out” I said. He stalked forwards, moving with grace that belied his massive size. I could see that he was clearly torn about something. Of course he was. Ninshu was a two-way street. Once we bumped fists like this, then there was no going back for either of us. He would understand everything there was to know about me, and I would understand all that he was. There would be no lying to each other after today. My Grandfather had studied Ninshu as a way of realising his dream of peace, but the second he had found out that side effect, Granduncle Tobirama had taken one look at his work and told him to pack it up.

He was right to do so. The only reason I was even willing to do this was that Kurama was safely within my seal. No one would be getting to him easily, and if they did, then I had much bigger problems to think about. He must have thought the same because he smashed his fist into mine.

The seal forced his arm to slow as it approached me, turning what had been a deadly punch into a gentle fist bump. Our chakras connected, and just like Grandfather said, everything changed.

A/N: Got the inspiration for ninshu with Kurama from another piece of fan fiction- Pushing Through the limit by Kir C