"You are dead, you bastard!"
"Next time I see you, I'll give you a rebirth!"
"From now on, let's not say things here that are detrimental to unity."
The usually quiet Tailed Beast consciousness space suddenly became lively because Shukaku's words directly touched their wounds, reminding them of the time when they were powerless to resist.
A group of Tailed Beasts cursed Shukaku in the Tailed Beast consciousness space, giving him no answers, and some of them didn't even bother to pay him any attention.
The strongest of them all, Kurama, looked disdainful and only gave Shukaku a murderous glare, as if wishing to bite this foolish raccoon cat to death the next time they met.
"If you won't talk, then so be it. How petty…"
Shukaku left the Tailed Beast consciousness space with disdain.
With Shukaku's departure, the other Tailed Beasts also lost interest in sharing their experiences of being defeated in one move, and each left the space.
Most of these Tailed Beasts got along well with their Jinchuriki, except for Kurama and Shukaku, who were temperamental and never willing to compromise with the Jinchuriki who sealed them.
"Wood Release…"
"A detestable power…"
Kurama's eyes flashed with gloom.
If there were no surprises, the person Shukaku encountered must have been that Wood Release kid from Konoha, the one who has always taken care of his Jinchuriki, Uzumaki Naruto.
If it was that Wood Release kid, Shukaku would never be able to win against him no matter what. Just let Shukaku, that fool, learn his lesson the hard way. If given the chance, he would kill him for poking at his wounds today!
Inside the Sand Village.
In a ninja's home.
Sasori of the Red Sand was still creating his puppets.
The Sand Village was the place least lacking in puppet parts in the ninja world, where he was like a fish in water. The only trouble was the possibility of being discovered.
Of course.
Orochimaru was somewhat helpless.
Because this wasn't a place for human experimentation.
However, Sasori had been keeping an eye on him, making it impossible for Orochimaru to sneak away. He could only hide here studying forbidden jutsu while occasionally causing some trouble, so as not to let Jiraiya think he had already left.
Time quietly passed.
Until one day, no matter how Gaara tried to call Shukaku out, the usually berserk Shukaku would not come out at all.
"I'm not in a good mood!" was Shukaku's ridiculous reason.
The real reason.
Definitely couldn't be told to Gaara.
Shukaku was grumbling inside Gaara's stomach.
"Whether it's windy or raining!"
"No matter how early I get up or how late I go to bed!"
"I always have to be pinned to the ground and beaten by that damned brat. Was I brought into this world just to be beaten? Even that stinky fox Kurama never bullied me like this!"
Shukaku was becoming smarter.
Since he clearly knew he couldn't win now, why bother fighting? It's better to stay inside Gaara, waiting until he can figure out a way to defeat Akihara Kagura before coming out!
After all, this isn't a battle to the death!
If he went out, he was sure to be beaten!
The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, encountered such a situation for the first time and could only helplessly inform Akihara Kagura of the outcome, telling him he could rest for a day.
Rest?
Why rest?
Akihara Kagura's body, which houses the husk of the Ten-Tails, has absorbed the chakra of the One-Tail, Shukaku, hundreds of times. Now, his chakra level is quite abundant, even lighting up three eyes on the Ten-Tails' shell. This indicates that the revival progress has reached at least thirty percent. With two more years of fighting Shukaku, it might be possible to revive the Ten-Tails' shell.
At this time...
How could one stop to rest?
"This won't do."
Akihara Kagura, frowning, allowed Gaara to leave first, then said to Rasa: "Right now, Shukaku is just worried about coming out and getting beaten again. Once we leave, Shukaku might become uncontrollable..."
"What should we do then?"
The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, felt the situation might not be as severe.
However, Akihara Kagura's method of taming beasts wasn't bad, at least Shukaku wasn't rampaging in the village anymore. Rasa felt it was better to listen to the professional's advice.
"Deceive, ambush."
Akihara Kagura proposed a plan.
This plan was straightforward: deceive Shukaku by claiming that Akihara Kagura had left. When Shukaku starts rampaging, Akihara Kagura would suddenly reappear...
Fortunately, this plan was vetoed by Jiraiya.
Jiraiya knocked on his disciple's head, admonishing him: "You've vented enough, the rare trust established between the Jinchuriki and the Tailed Beast will be destroyed by such deceitful actions!"
"We are Konoha Ninja."
Akihara Kagura frowned, reminding his teacher, "Teacher Jiraiya, a trust crisis between the One-Tail, Shukaku, and its Jinchuriki in the Sand Village is, after all, a good thing for the Konoha, isn't it?"
...
The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, took a deep breath.
Initially grateful to Akihara Kagura for helping to tame the Sand Village's Tailed Beast, he then heard this damnable brat utter such words!
When you two Konoha Ninja are exchanging views, could you consider the opinion of this Kazekage of the Sand Village? There's another person standing here!
"I have other matters to attend to, I'll be handling official duties now."
The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, turned and left, not wanting to interact with them anymore, determined to send these two troublemakers away soon.
The Konoha and the Sand are ultimately two different villages.
Even as allies, absolute trust is not possible.
Especially since Akihara Kagura, that little troublemaker, had the audacity to suggest a plan and thought to dispose of the Sand Village's Jinchuriki right in front of him, daring to actually do it.
"Teacher Jiraiya."
Akihara Kagura glanced at Rasa's retreating figure, sharing his insight: "The Fourth Kazekage seemed to really dislike us. It seems ninjas can never truly understand each other, even when one speaks the truth, others will still hate him."
...
Jiraiya felt this example was quite inappropriate.
Because no matter which ninja from the Sand Village heard what Akihara Kagura had said, they would likely not accept the destruction of the trust between Jinchuriki and Tailed Beasts.
"We might have to leave."
Jiraiya patted Akihara Kagura on the head: "But your experiment was a success. At least the Jinchuriki and the Tailed Beast have a common enemy they both hate, which will unite them against the enemy, gradually deepening their bond..."
This is the correct approach.
Whether it's used in the cultivation of the relationship between Tailed Beasts and Jinchuriki, or between ninja and ninja, this method can be employed to foster relationships.
The only question is...
Where should this common enemy come from?
Jiraiya's thoughts began to wander. If the five great ninja villages had a common enemy, an enemy so powerful that all five villages had to join forces to confront it, it might bring these villages closer together...
But...
How could such a thing be possible?
Jiraiya had to suppress this naïve idea. How could there possibly be an enemy that required the combined forces of the five great ninja villages to confront?
Today's events clearly displeased Rasa.
The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, decided to use the excuse of Shukaku's unwillingness to appear to refuse any contact between Akihara Kagura and Gaara, to prevent any issues with his own jinchūriki.
Coincidentally.
Shukaku really did not want to come out.
Akihara Kagura immediately lost interest in staying in the Sand Village.
Jiraiya wanted to wait for Orochimaru in the Sand Village, but the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, made it clear that he wanted them gone. Reluctantly, Jiraiya had no choice but to tell him that the assassin was likely Konoha's S-ranked rogue ninja, Orochimaru.
However...
The Fourth Kazekage didn't care.
Fortunately, the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, heard that Jiraiya and Akihara Kagura were in the Sand Village and sent an envoy to visit the village, ordering Akihara Kagura to return to Konoha.
Jiraiya had to obey his teacher's command, taking Akihara Kagura back to Konoha, ending their training journey, which had lasted nearly two years.
Before leaving.
Akihara Kagura was discovered by Orochimaru.
Akihara Kagura had the opportunity to settle a mission.
[System Prompt]: [Allow Jiraiya to investigate the Akatsuki organization's information, to prevent Orochimaru's laboratory from being destroyed by Jiraiya again, mission completed, reward: Five Elements Seal!]
[Five Elements Seal (A type of sealing technique, concentrates chakra on the fingertips, using metal, wood, water, fire, earth to seal demons, can seal the chakra leakage of tailed beasts!)]
However,
Things went awry.
When Orochimaru saw Akihara Kagura, his smile became more and more sinister: "Going back to Konoha? Kagura, I can soon perform the Living Corpse Reincarnation..."
Yes.
Three years have passed.
Orochimaru could perform the next Living Corpse Reincarnation.
This was a topic that Akihara Kagura and Orochimaru could not avoid no matter what, because Orochimaru had always coveted Akihara Kagura's body.
As Akihara Kagura grew stronger, Orochimaru's desire for his body intensified, becoming almost impatient!
That was a powerful body that had inherited several Kekkei Genkai and had mastered techniques like the Flying Thunder God Technique, even a genius like Orochimaru could only dream of obtaining it!
"When does it start?"
Akihara Kagura frowned slightly, softly saying, "I want to go back and make some arrangements first, at least to see the others once..."
"I thought you would refuse!"
Orochimaru's smile deepened, nodding and saying, "No problem, that actually saves a lot of trouble. Once I have your body, once we merge into one, I'll take good care of Kabuto and Nono for you..."
This was a promise, but also a threat.
If Akihara Kagura refused to undergo the Living Corpse Reincarnation, not handing over his body to Orochimaru, Orochimaru would not mind using Kabuto and Nonou as threats.
"Then I'll be leaving first."
Just as Orochimaru was about to say something more, he caught sight of the shadow of the Sasori of the Red Sand, knowing that he had been under surveillance by him all along.
Now, the appearance of the Sasori of the Red Sand here seemed to be for the purpose of tracking him. Not wanting to reveal any weaknesses in his interaction with Akihara Kagura, he quickly concealed himself and disappeared from the spot.
After Orochimaru left, the Sasori of the Red Sand's Hiruko, slowly approached Akihara Kagura and asked, "Orochimaru must be a clever person, right?"
"Even clever people can be blinded by great interests."
Akihara Kagura shook his head and whispered, "Shura Path, find him something to do, so he stops thinking about taking over my body..."
The Sasori of the Red Sand nodded in agreement and reminded him, "Orochimaru has been researching a forbidden jutsu lately, which might pose a threat to you."
"If it can be investigated, do so."
Akihara Kagura was not concerned and continued, "He's probably going to leave the Akatsuki organization if he succeeds in his research. Find more trouble for him... I need to return to Konoha to make some arrangements, and prepare some surprises for him, so he doesn't always think he's so strong."
"Alright."
The Sasori of the Red Sand had no objections.
Outside the Sand Village.
Jiraiya and Akihara Kagura left the place.
The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, came forward to see them off, sparing these two the trouble of lingering in the Sand Village. Akihara Kagura had already helped him out, so there was no need for them to cause any more trouble in the village.
"Let's go."
Jiraiya put a wind-resistant hat on his disciple, feeling that his disciple had grown a lot taller than when they left Konoha: "Kagura, you've grown a lot..."
"It's alright."
Akihara Kagura adjusted his hat.
Since leaving Konoha with Jiraiya, Akihara Kagura had been training outside for nearly two years, and he was now thirteen years old.
This age wasn't very old.
In a time of peace, many children at this age would have only graduated from the Ninja Academy for a year and might not even pass the Chunin Exam.
However,
Some geniuses had already reached high positions.
For example, a genius of Akihara Kagura's age from the Uchiha clan, Uchiha Itachi, was also thirteen years old this year and was directly assigned by the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, and Shimura Danzo, the high-ranking officials of Konoha, to collect information on the Uchiha clan.
Late at night.
Uchiha Itachi left the Uchiha district.
This well-known genius of the Uchiha clan quietly stepped into the Hokage building, knelt on one knee in front of a group of Konoha's high-ranking officials, and reported in a low voice about the family's situation: "The Uchiha clan is organizing military weapons, gathering all Uchiha ninjas for assembly..."
"They want to revolt."
Shimura Danzo ominously characterized the Uchiha clan.
"It's not the final moment yet."
Sarutobi Hiruzen shook his head, not willing to directly label the Uchiha clan with this crime, and proactively said, "I've already sent someone to bring back Jiraiya and Kagura, the child. Once the Uchiha clan hears of Kagura's return, they should give up any other intentions..."
"..."
Uchiha Itachi bowed his head, unable to speak.
If he had to say, his father, Uchiha Fugaku, first harbored such thoughts because of his son offending the future high-ranking official of Konoha, Akihara Kagura...
Uchiha Fugaku had some political sensitivity, and upon learning that Akihara Kagura had been taken as a disciple by Jiraiya, he immediately understood the potential status Akihara Kagura could achieve in the future, gradually beginning to indulge the radicals within the clan...
"..."
Akihara Kagura's return...
Might even further exacerbate the conflict between Konoha and the Uchiha.
Uchiha Itachi, kneeling before these high-ranking officials of Konoha, bowed his head, not uttering these words because the officials might suspect him for it.
After all...
Akihara Kagura and Jiraiya were both high-end combat forces of Konoha.
If the Uchiha clan truly intended to rebel, these two would be the absolute main force in quelling the Uchiha clan's rebellion.
~~~
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