Chapter 487: And They Lived Happily Ever After... Probably
Amidst the swirling dust and smoke, Tsunade charged toward Madara Uchiha like an arrow.
Ino controlled the Blood and Bone Buddhas, simultaneously grabbing the four arms of the Perfect Susanoo.
The Wood Golem's body acted like a battering ram, leaping up and crashing its head against the Susanoo's.
Madara had been waiting to see their panicked expressions under the meteor and hadn't anticipated this kind of surprise attack. His reaction was half a beat too slow.
The wings on the Susanoo's back lit up, batting away the Blood Buddha and freeing two of its hands to repel the Bone Buddha. By the time he had gathered his strength and sent the Wood Golem flying with a punch, Tsunade had already closed in.
Unlike the Wood Golem, which was a solid entity made of plants, the Susanoo was an energy construct. The flow and shaping of its energy took time, often making it seem "brittle." The Wood Golem had smashed a hole in the Susanoo's head, and just as Madara sent it flying, he hadn't had time to repair the damage. Compared to the hundred-meter-tall Susanoo, Tsunade was like a tiny insect that slipped right inside.
Tsunade was also a Kage-level master, with most of her skills focused on close combat.
Madara was now fighting a war on two fronts: using his chakra to maintain the Susanoo against Ino on the outside, while battling Tsunade on the inside. His situation had become dire.
He was also decisive. Seeing that the situation was hopeless, he didn't care about his pride anymore. He immediately dispelled the Susanoo and turned to flee.
His control over his body was absolute, and Kabuto had no choice but to retreat along with him.
The battle had been bizarre from start to finish. Ino sensed that they were completely gone before finally retracting her Buddha of Three Lives and dispelling the Wood Golem technique.
She had used up nearly sixty percent of her chakra and was in no condition to fight further. She sat down on the spot to rest and recover her chakra.
Tsunade left Shizune to look after Ino while she gave chase.
Half an hour later, she returned empty-handed, cursing angrily, "Damn it, how did that Kabuto find Madara's body?"
Ino shook her head, saying she didn't know, though she suspected Zetsu had leaked the location of Madara's hidden body. Besides Zetsu, no one else could have found it.
As for why Zetsu would do such a thing, it was likely to make the situation even more chaotic.
Madara Uchiha thought he was the mastermind, but in Zetsu's eyes, he was just another trump card to be played at any time.
Their positions were fundamentally different.
With Kabuto and Madara gone, Ino and the others returned to the Tsuchigumo clan's village, only to be met by the girl named Hotaru. The Six-Tails jinchuriki, Utakata, had disappeared.
"Damn it!" Tsunade slammed her fist into a nearby earthen wall, causing half of the half-meter-thick wall to collapse.
Ino's expression was also grim. It was obvious: a diversion.
First, they threw Madara at them to draw their attention. Then, while Ino was fighting Madara and Tsunade was rushing to her disciple's aid, the Akatsuki members—either by luring, threatening, or simply waiting for Utakata to leave the village on his own—had made their move and abducted him.
"Let's look around. Maybe there's still hope?" Shizune suggested.
Tsunade and Ino both thought it was unlikely, but they had no better ideas. They split up to search.
Thirty minutes later, southeast of the Tsuchigumo village, they found a battlefield pockmarked as if it had been carpet-bombed by cruise missiles. Traces of the Six-Tails' acidic chakra remained. It was clear that Utakata had put up a fierce fight before being captured.
Judging by the traces on the battlefield, his enemy seemed to be the Six Paths of Pain, wielding the Rinnegan. This time it wasn't just the Tendo Path; all six had appeared and had cleanly taken down Utakata with overwhelming force.
Ino collected the remaining Six-Tails chakra from the scene. The amount was pitifully small; she wasn't sure if it would be enough for her little fox to snack on.
She had been able to track Yugito last time because she had fought her often on the battlefield, occasionally leaving marks on her arms and legs. Her chakra was familiar, and at the time, Kakuzu and Hidan hadn't expected to be pursued.
This time was different. She wasn't familiar with Utakata at all, and the Six Paths of Pain who had abducted him were experienced. They had left no traceable clues. Ino even suspected they had used a Reverse Summoning to return, so how was she supposed to find them?
After searching the vicinity for three days with no news, they could only add Utakata, along with Han and Rōshi, to the list of "missing" ninja.
Hotaru cried her eyes out, clinging to Ino's leg and refusing to let go, begging her to think of a way to save Utakata.
"There's really nothing I can do. A person's power has its limits. We really can't find Utakata."
No matter how Ino explained, Hotaru wouldn't let go, her sobs shaking the heavens. Ino was at her wit's end. "Stop crying, just stop crying! You just want Utakata, right? You just wait!"
You just want an Utakata to be with you, right? It doesn't matter if this Utakata is a jinchuriki, a ninja, or something else, does it?
It's not his physical body you need, but him as a person.
A person is generally defined as someone with a heart, liver, spleen, lungs, a brain, and flowing blood. Does something without these things still count as a person? In the usual sense, no, but Ino thought it did.
She didn't want to do anything too shocking, but to get Hotaru off her back, she made a special trip to the underworld.
Those whose wishes were fulfilled went to the Pure Land; those with lingering regrets went to Yomi. Utakata still had some unwillingness to let go. Ino waited at the entrance to Yomi, and when she saw the soul wearing a blue haori floating by, she grabbed him.
"You have regrets, don't you? Good that you do. Come on, you're coming back with me!"
And just like that, less than fifteen minutes after his death—the Utakata whose body was probably still warm in the Gedo Statue's grasp—a freshly minted soul Utakata was bewilderedly dragged back to the world of the living by Ino.
Facing a horrified Hotaru, Ino looked smug. Didn't expect that, did you? I still have my ways.
She cleared her throat. "I really don't know where Utakata's body is, but I've fished out his soul for you. No need to thank me."
Hotaru: "...???"
Soul Utakata: "...???"
Tsunade had grown accustomed to some of her disciple's antics. She whispered, "Is he really dead? That was fast..."
Ino nodded lightly. "Akatsuki probably sped up the Tailed Beast extraction process. In any case, he's definitely dead. He had just died on that end when I pulled him back on this end."
Utakata had been a jinchuriki in life, after all, and his natural chakra reserves were much larger than an ordinary person's, so his mind wasn't too affected. This experience of going from life to death, and then being forcibly dragged back as a ghost, was a bit bizarre, but after pondering it for a while, he slowly came to accept his new reality.
It wasn't like he had a choice. With the Tailed Beast extracted, the life force in his body had completely dried up. He was well and truly dead.
"Revisiting his old haunts" now, he felt a bit wistful.
Three days ago, he had been wandering here. Now, seeing Hotaru again, he was filled with a mix of emotions.
In a daze, he felt a bit like an employee who had quit their stable job, only to return two days later as a security guard. It was awkward.
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