"Are you messing with me?"
Two-Tails roared furiously at Itsuki.
What did he just say? Stand up? Next, is he going to ask me to take a couple of steps?
Does your family's cat walk on two legs?
Is there such a cat?
Two-Tails was so angry that her nostrils flared with fire.
Even if I'm not exactly a normal cat, you can't just mess with me like this!
Itsuki, however, looked at her with disdain and said, "You can't even walk upright?"
"Uchiha Itsuki, you've gone too far!"
Two-Tails yelled in frustration, "Come on, go find me a cat that walks on two legs! If you can't, I'm done with you today."
"Follow me!"
Itsuki grabbed Two-Tails and led her into a nearby room.
After fiddling around for a bit, Itsuki clapped his hands and made a hand sign.
A puff of white smoke rose.
"What do you want, kid?"
A voice came from within the smoke. An old lady with black cat ears stepped out.
She had an intimidating presence and a somewhat stern face. She looked at Itsuki indifferently.
Oh, and she was smoking.
But then—
When she saw Two-Tails, her eyes widened, and she immediately threw her pipe away.
"Uchiha, you rascal!"
*Boom!*
The white smoke rose again, and the old lady vanished.
"Granny Cat, wait!"
Itsuki quickly called out.
"Wait for your grandpa!"
The Granny Cat's curses echoed in the air.
What a rascal!
Two-Tails?! That's a Tailed Beast!
Seriously, who uses a Tailed Beast as a greeter?
That would scare anyone!
Two-Tails looked at Itsuki suspiciously and asked, "Was that a cat?"
"Of course!"
Itsuki confidently said, "She's the Uchiha family's weapons dealer. Didn't you see her ears?"
"It didn't really feel like a cat... except for the ears!"
Two-Tails remained doubtful, her heterochromatic eyes full of suspicion.
"What? Not convinced? Is that all a Tailed Beast can handle?"
"You..."
Two-Tails growled angrily, "Fine, tell me what you want."
"Hmph, now we're getting somewhere!"
Itsuki snorted and said, "First, you need to learn how to pee standing up... uh, I mean, walk on two legs!"
Two-Tails, holding a Tailed Beast Bomb in her mouth, glared coldly at Itsuki.
"Straight punch!"
"Sweeping kick!"
"Whip kick!"
"Uppercut!"
After demonstrating a set of moves, Itsuki looked at Two-Tails and asked, "Got it?"
Two-Tails remained silent.
"You... want me, a Tailed Beast, to learn this?"
"Once you learn it, you'll be able to beat Nine-Tails!"
"Really?"
Two-Tails perked up a bit, opening her large mouth to swallow the Tailed Beast Bomb.
Of course, as she didn't activate the Bomb, the chakra within it slowly dissipated.
"Of course!"
Itsuki nodded emphatically, giving a thumbs-up with a bright smile. "I never lie to a Tailed Beast."
Sure, she could probably hit Nine-Tails.
But whether she could beat him? That's another story.
Most likely, Nine-Tails would just teach her a painful lesson.
When Sage of Six Paths split the Ten-Tails' chakra back in the day, it wasn't exactly evenly distributed.
The method was more like...
One-Tails gets one portion of chakra!
Nine-Tails gets another portion!
Two-Tails gets one portion!
Nine-Tails gets another portion!
Three-Tails gets one portion!
Nine-Tails gets another portion!
...
And at the end, there were two portions left, so he gave them to Eight-Tails, just to keep things balanced.
So, out of all the Tailed Beasts, only Nine-Tails had almost reached Sage-level power.
Eight-Tails was just one of the stronger Hokage-level creatures.
As Two-Tails was practicing her punches, Itachi walked over.
"Is this really going to work, Itsuki?"
He looked at the big blue cat practicing strange moves, trying not to laugh.
"Do you believe it?"
"Now that you put it that way, I don't."
"Good, because who in their right mind would believe a cat could fight with fists and feet? Sarutobi's monkey probably has a better chance."
Itsuki waved dismissively, "Anyway, have you gathered everyone?"
"They're all here, but Itsuki, what are you planning?"
"Follow me!"
Itsuki waved his hand grandly.
This time, Itsuki had summoned all the Jonin in Fire Shadow Village.
There were quite a few.
The Uchiha Clan alone had fifteen members present.
It wasn't that there were only fifteen members left, but that only fifteen were currently available.
Itsuki still had over a thousand people out there bullying the nobles.
Aside from the Uchiha, members of the Hyuga Clan and others were present too, including Kurenai. All the Jonin were gathered.
"Everyone, use the Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Itsuki shouted.
At the same time, a group of Chunin carried over several large boxes.
When opened, they revealed that they were filled with explosive tags.
Everyone remained calm.
When it came to explosive tags, they all considered themselves seasoned veterans.
They pondered for a moment and asked, "Lord Hokage, are you planning to..."
"Exactly!"
Itsuki grinned slyly. "We'll use Shadow Clones, strap on the explosive tags, and charge into the Leaf Village's forces to blow them up. What do you think?"
Everyone was speechless.
But they had to admit, it was a solid plan.
Kunai with explosive tags could easily be deflected by the enemy.
But Shadow Clones? Those were a whole different story—they're a combat technique.
"Let's go!"
*Boom!*
Hundreds of Shadow Clones appeared in front of the group.
"Lord Hokage, after using Shadow Clone Jutsu, a ninja's chakra is split in half. Jonin won't have much power left," Itachi said seriously. "If the Leaf Village attacks us right after this, what will we do?"
Itsuki shot back, "In the last battle, how much did the Jonin actually contribute?"
Itachi fell silent.
The last battle?
As long as someone had chakra, they could keep detonating explosive tags, making it impossible for the Leaf ninjas to get close.
Jonin?
In the last round, they didn't have much of a role at all.
Realizing this, Itachi suddenly felt uneasy.
Why did it seem like the importance of Jonin was diminishing?
"Everyone!"
Itsuki stood on a platform and shouted, "For the new village, charge!"
Covered in explosive tags, he led the charge.
The target: the Leaf Village army!
Behind him, the Jonin followed, faces filled with resignation.
Sure enough, with Itsuki, you'd experience anything.
Suicide mission?
Unbelievable!
They too were covered in explosive tags as they charged out of Fire Shadow Village toward the Leaf Village army.
But then, halfway through their charge, they were ambushed.
Countless Leaf ninjas appeared, launching coordinated attacks and wiping out Fire Shadow Village's Jonin one by one.
"We've been ambushed!"
The ninjas of Fire Shadow Village felt a chill in their hearts.
"Don't stop!" Itsuki shouted again.
"I'm coming!"
The Fire Shadow Village ninjas resumed their charge.
"Perfect!"
Danzo sneered as he watched the Fire Shadow Village Jonin march to their deaths.
Once these Jonin and their Shadow Clones were eliminated, the enemy's strength would be greatly diminished. This would be the perfect time to attack Fire Shadow Village.
But then—
A loud explosion rocked the battlefield.
A massive force struck Danzo, sending him flying, causing him to crash face-first into the ground.
(End of chapter)