Chapter 97: Demon

Shikamaru's greed for glasses simply did not allow them to be spent on things that he was able to study on his own. He even had the opportunity to get five thousand points for a special task, in which he only had to get a B-rank technique from the taijutsu category. But even having the opportunity, and although the technique was relatively cheap, he still did not spend it, leaving the expectations at the Eight Heavenly Gates. Now, he could finally make up for the problems with Fuinjutsu, which were almost irreparable even thanks to Hiruzen, and this could very well open up access to new tasks, he was sure of it. The system adjusted to the situation, so this option was quite possible.

The place where he ended up turned out to be almost an entire library. There were hundreds of collected scrolls and records of Mito Uzumaki. It was her personal collection and some of which were Jutsu created by her personally. It was not difficult to understand that this place belonged to her. Yet most of the scrolls bore her name. Although some parts, Shikamaru still could not open them, they were sealed. But it didn't really matter, Shikamaru saved them for the future. They were among the first to be sealed in a scroll.

The place he got to was small. A simple room, no bigger than a living room, with only three wardrobes filled with scrolls and rare books. The shelves were in perfect order, and the room itself was very unlike an underground room. The walls were light wood, and a couple of square wooden structures hung from the ceiling, covered with fuin seals. These items gave off such good lighting that it was a bit like sunlight. When Shikamaru entered, they automatically activated and opened a view of this treasury of knowledge.

In the middle of the room was a small writing table with neatly folded scrolls, most of which were empty and unrecorded. Other than that, there were writing materials and a few packs of old parchment, a set of brushes, and a few frozen fuin inks. The shelves of scrolls lined the walls, so the room felt a little empty, but quite cozy, especially with a series of photographs right in front of the table.

Most of those in the photographs were strangers to Shikamaru. There was a gray-haired old man, just a couple of photographs where his face flashed. Several red-haired people, Mito herself in her youth, in old age, as well as a few more people, but with already dark hair. Some were alone, some surrounded by young Mito and Hashirama. There were children and many more different people ... Apparently, most of those depicted here were her family or close friends. You could say that a part of her life in the Leaf Village was depicted on the wall. Shikamaru was even lucky to see the Hokage Rock of those times.

He did not look around for long.

Prior to this, the order in the area quickly turned into a mess after Shikamaru appeared. He didn't waste time studying photographs or looking at shelving. Although he noticed that half of one of them was empty, he did not attach any importance to this, but zealously began to memorize everything that only caught his eye.

Shikamaru buried himself in the scrolls and ran his eyes over them with incredible speed, trying to remember all the information. Naturally, he did not even try to understand even a drop of what was written. All he could now was simply to write information into his mind using the unique capabilities of the Sharingan. Only in the future will he be able to sort everything out and use it correctly. Naturally, he was also going to grab some useful scrolls and leave the rest for the future. But he simply had to spend this hour studying. Still, it was pointless to take everything from here and could only cause unnecessary problems. Therefore, while studying, Shikamaru tried, albeit not very successfully, to sort the information and choose the most acceptable for several years in advance for study.

A meter away from Shikamaru, six of his clones performed a similar action, insanely quickly scanning the text with their eyes. Standing in the direction of Naruto at that moment, was truly amazed. He never thought to find something like that. But, he was rather amazed at another. Just a few minutes ago, Shikamaru told him a lot, about his life, about the past ... It was all difficult to digest.

Thoughtfully examining the photographs, the guy once again turned over the words of his friend in his head.

Earlier.

When Shikamaru arrived at the hidden library and looked around. He immediately began to study, even forgetting about Naruto.

Just at that moment, the young jinchūriki and one of Shikamaru's clones finally reached the right place. Shikamaru immediately sensed their approach and his eyes returned to their usual dark color. He already knew that the moment of conversation had come. Could show that the time was not right. But, Shikamaru could no longer pull. Hiruzen was there, and he received all this knowledge thanks to one person. Therefore, despite his greed, he had to fulfill his promise. Not everything, but he has to tell a few things to the guy. Anyway, all of this, Naruto would have known in a few years.

Standing up and nodding to the four clones, Shikamaru approached Naruto, took a pack of seals from the clone and pointed to the shelves with scrolls, he understood everything without a word.

Naruto looked around in amazement, but at that moment Shikamaru's hand interrupted his curious thoughts and questions, landing on his shoulder. Naruto was immediately distracted and his gaze met Shikamaru's serious gaze. This immediately made him nervous.

Shikamaru pulled Naruto away from the clones using the power of the eyes, and then asked:

- Are you ready?

Naruto blinked in surprise.

- What?

Shikamaru glanced at the photographs on the far wall and sighed.

- To the truth, of course ... You wanted this? You went with me for a reason.

Naruto understood immediately and nodded gravely.

- I'm ready!

`` Okay. '' After checking for the presence of his chakra in Naruto's body, Shikamaru said:

"Don't you dare talk about it. The Hokage will definitely not approve of our conversations with you. What I'm going to tell you is a secret village. "Leaning on the wall, Shikamaru continued," Although it's strange to hide such a thing ... Well, I'll tell you the basics. This is about the reason why everyone looks at you that way.

Noticing the interested gaze of the jinchūriki, Shikamaru said:

- The story is pretty simple buddy, you are hated because of the so-called demon sealed in your body.

- D-demon? Naruto turned a little pale. "Inside me ?!"

- Why are you so alarmed? Shikamaru chuckled, "People call him a demon." Nobody knows his real name ... Maybe these fools didn't even think to ask him. Still, when in front of you is a huge creature the size of a mountain, it's somehow not up to chatter, right? Shaking his head, Shikamaru sighed. "You can call him the Nine-Tails if you like." Now he is your neighbor for a long time, I am sure you have yet to meet.

Naruto was silent. He could not believe what he was hearing. Was there a demon hidden in it ? Nine-Tails? How is this possible ...

At the same moment, deep in the jinchūriki's body, behind a huge steel cage, the ancient slumbering beast opened a pair of its bloody eyes and squinted:

"Hmm?" - Everything that Shikamaru said did not hide from the Fox. He continued to listen with displeasure ...