The Shopkeeper of Konoha

240. Dormammu, I have come to bargain



"Not everybody is the same," Aoto rebutted as he held onto Naruto, who was slowly recovering himself. Being a ninja, he was able to cope with it faster than anticipated. Kurama, in response, didn't reply but just looked at Aoto with hatred filled in his eyes.

"Look, I'm not here to argue about who is wrong or right, or if I'm some kind of saint forcing you to believe me. Only time and actions will give the answer. I just want you to stop blocking his chakra flow," Aoto said.

In response, bubbles started to form outside the prison. Aoto and Naruto had to move back, and soon the bubbles took the shape of Kurama. He appeared the same way when Sasuke and Naruto met each other in Shippuden, and Sasuke came to blast off Kurama while inside using his Sharingan.

"Kid... Who are you?" Kurama asked, looking at Aoto, who was standing up without fear in his eyes.

"Does it matter?" Aoto asked back.

"You have some guts to show up here with this little pipsqueak and demand things from me when you humans are responsible for whatever is happening," Kurama said.

"Don't generalize people. Not everybody is the same," Aoto said.

"Everybody? You humans are filled with greed, and you too are the same, coming and asking for something from me," Kurama replied.

"Let's stop pretending. You wouldn't be talking if you didn't want something from me," Aoto said.

"Really? What do I want then?" Kurama asked.

"The knowledge of the library, which you have seen Naruto accessing, and the others," Aoto replied with a smirk on his face. This made the smiling demon lose all colors.

"You are more intelligent than you look," Kurama said.

"No, I just can see the whole picture while you can't. You can have access to the library, and I will allow the library to grant you permission to read books. If you want to read any books, ask Naruto, and he will allow you to read through his eyes. In return, you won't block his chakra or consume it, ensuring that you take only the minimum required for your sealing," Aoto said. This left Kurama speechless, as he didn't expect this guy to be so direct.

Kurama had always been curious about the knowledge of the library, but no matter what he did, he was never able to read the books, which came as a surprise to him. He was frustrated because he got a glimpse of what the new knowledge was capable of, but he himself wasn't able to access it.

He was talking with Aoto because he knew that this guy was the manager and the owner of the library. And he wanted Aoto to negotiate, which he did without any nonsense. He was surprised by this but was glad that he didn't have to talk more.

"Kid... I like your boldness," Kurama said. Aoto smirked and didn't want to antagonize this monster anymore. "But I don't have full control over the chakra. The seal is.." Kurama continued but was stopped by Aoto. 

"I will let someone undo the severity of the seal so that you and his chakra doesn't mix up." Aoto said. 

"Hmph.. So you do know about the seal." Kurama said. 

"And in times of need when Naruto will need you chakra, you can't use it to control him." Aoto said and this time he had made hand signs in order to make sure that he didn't go back on his words. It was the same way Doctor Strange had negotiated with Dormammu and the reason why the realm lord couldn't go back on his words. 

Kurama seeing his hands move knew that if he didn't accept it, he wouldn't get access to the library either. But he was a prisoner at the end and didn't have much to say or negotiate. And he was glad that finally he was able to read those books. 

Controlling Naruto through his hatred was his pass time, and it wouldn't lead to anything as he didn't have the key to open the seal eye. It will only lead to death of humans and some chaos, which he reveled doing. But it wasn't his favorite pass time or anything. 

Getting to know new things would give him more pleasure and wanted to see what was special about this library. And there was another reason why Kurama didn't try hard to make the deal bad. This person knew his name somehow and his eyes didn't have hatred or fear. He could understand the fear as he was more intimidating, but Aoto's eyes were filled with a bit of pity for him. 

But never hatred. 

This stumped Kurama a bit and also the reason he accepted the offer. Naruto sighed in relief when Aoto made the deal. 

"Thank .. Thank you brother." Naruto hesitatingly said. 

"You are welcome. But Naruto, I will not be there with you always so whenever you feel lonely you can come here and talk." Aoto said. This made both Kurama and Naruto eyes wide with shock. 

"Kid.. What the hell are you talking about?" 

"Brother will that not be a good idea." 

Aoto just smiled and proceeded to take Naruto away from this place and was back in real world. Naruto wanted to ask about the last words of Aoto but he stopped himself because he knew that Aoto wanted him to find the answer himself. Aoto after coming out gave orders to the library that it could allow Kurama to read the books and treat Kurama as another entity. 

Naruto wanted to get out of library but orders came from Kurama to go and read some books. Naruto wanted to say no but then remembered the words of Aoto and thus followed his instructions.

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