"So, there's still another issue with the Two-Tails' jinchuriki?" Xin mused. Compared to Konoha, other villages certainly had a rougher time managing their jinchuriki.
No wonder they'd been so eager to target the Uzumaki Clan-they'd clearly been spooked by the trouble caused by the tailed beasts.
Five days quickly passed.
During that time, Xin made no effort to contact Orochimaru, even though he knew where Orochimaru was hiding and what disguise he had taken on.
Similarly, Orochimaru made no move to seek out Xin, confident that the younger shinobi had successfully infiltrated the village and was keeping a low profile.
"Almost time," Orochimaru muttered, gazing at the last remaining drops of his concoction with a cold grin.
No one in the Hidden Cloud Village could have expected that their plan to abduct the Nine- Tails jinchūriki would backfire and lead to retaliation from Konoha.
From the Cloud's perspective, Konoha was far too busy fighting the Sand Village to even notice their schemes. Even if they did manage to kidnap Kushina, the Cloud believed that Konoha wouldn't be able to retaliate. The Leaf, weakened and war-torn, would have no choice but to negotiate and trade for the Nine-Tails and Kushina's return.
That's why the Hidden Cloud had dared to hatch such a plan in the first place.
What they didn't know was that their plot had been discovered before it even began-and thanks to Danzo's interference, a counterattack was already in motion.
Orochimaru wasn't stupid enough to try controlling a jinchuriki directly.
The Eight-Tails jinchuriki, though not a perfect host, was still strong. If he tapped into the Eight-Tails' chakra, combined with his own abilities, even Orochimaru would have trouble.
That's why Orochimaru had a different plan: drugs.
A special concoction designed to agitate a tailed beast, pushing it into a berserk rage and causing it to break through its seal.
Of course, this only worked on jinchuriki whose seals were unstable. If you tried this on someone like Kushina, she could probably drink the stuff like water and feel no effects. The Adamantine Sealing Chains would keep the Nine-Tails on a tight leash, completely under control.
The only way to weaken Kushina's control would be to severely exhaust her and have outside help to force the Nine-Tails to break free.
The Eight-Tails jinchuriki, though, was far from being a perfect host. Unpopular among the villagers and constantly mistreated, the jinchuriki had plenty of psychological stress-exactly the kind of instability Orochimaru needed to make his plan work.
"Xin, I'm sensing an unstable tailed beast chakra," Ophis's voice rang in Xin's mind.
"So Orochimaru has already succeeded?" Xin mused. It had only been a few days, and yet Orochimaru had managed to pull off his plan so quickly.
Of all the tailed beasts, the Eight-Tails was second only to the Nine-Tails in strength. With the jinchūriki lacking the Eight-Tails' full cooperation, and the seal weakened by the drug, there was no telling what kind of destruction was about to unfold.