Chapter 360: Drawing Water with a Bamboo Basket
To Ishiro's satisfaction, upon witnessing his closest master die right before his eyes, the Six-Tails within Utakata erupted for the first time.
The three ninja who had been applying a conventional seal on him didn't even have time to retreat before they were sent flying by the rampaging Tailed Beast chakra. However, the three were lucky; the amount of Tailed Beast chakra Utakata initially mobilized was not large. So, while they were in a sorry state after being thrown, they at least managed to keep their lives.
As Utakata mobilized more and more Tailed Beast chakra, Minazuki Gyō's expression grew increasingly grim. He prepared himself for a hard fight. Ishiro, on the other hand, was all smiles, ready to watch a great show.
However, Utakata's next actions caused the plans of both Ishiro and Minazuki Gyō's group to fall completely flat.
Perhaps because his master's last words were urging him to escape, or perhaps because of his own nature, the rampaging Utakata did not attack the Minazuki party but chose to flee instead.
Empowered by the Six-Tails' chakra, Utakata's speed was incredible. Only one ninja, who happened to be standing in his escape path, had time to interfere slightly. But in the next second, that ninja's protective suit was torn apart by Utakata's brute force, and his entire body was killed by the intensely corrosive Six-Tails' chakra amidst a bloodcurdling scream. This was the only ninja to die in battle today.
By the time the others wanted to use combat-oriented sealing jutsu on Utakata, the boy had long since vanished.
Of everyone present, Ishiro reacted the fastest. The moment Utakata left, he used the Light/Heavy Boulder Technique at full power to give chase. Since Utakata hadn't killed people as he had anticipated, he couldn't let the Six-Tails get away so easily.
"Damn it! After him! Utakata is still a child; he can't maintain the Tailed Beast transformation for long! Terumī Chiaki, rendezvous with Clan Head Chigaya and follow," Minazuki Gyō commanded, then led several ninja skilled in speed along the trail left by the transformed Utakata.
After gathering his men, Terumī Chiaki arranged for three to stay behind to care for the wounded, then led the others in pursuit.
Knowing that someone was secretly causing trouble and that this person might be tracking Utakata just as they were, Minazuki Gyō was very decisive. He took five ninja and pursued in the direction Utakata had fled at top speed.
Ishiro, running ahead, glanced back with a slight smile and then created a shadow clone.
Utakata was too young, and his Tailed Beast transformation did not last long before it was interrupted. By the time Ishiro caught up, he was already unconscious.
Ishiro hastily applied a seal to Utakata, then picked him up and flew away using the Light/Heavy Boulder Technique.
At that moment, Minazuki Gyō and his elites had just burst out of a thick fog.
"Damn it," Minazuki Gyō gritted his teeth.
Just now, they had encountered their own village's signature jutsu, the Hidden Mist Technique. Fearing an assassination, they had no choice but to slow down. In the end, they passed through the foggy area completely unharmed without encountering a single person.
Realizing he had fallen for the enemy's delaying tactic, Minazuki Gyō continued to rush to the place where Utakata had fainted at top speed, only to let out a long sigh.
"Let's go back. With the methods of the person in the shadows, now that the Six-Tails has fallen into their hands, we will definitely not be able to get it back," Minazuki Gyō announced the mission's failure with resignation after a brief search of the surroundings yielded no useful clues.
Back in Kirigakure, Minazuki Gyō and the other clan heads gathered once again.
Terumī Chiaki said, "The Hidden Mist Jutsu that person used was very powerful and lasted for a long time. Their strength is definitely not weak. Is there such a figure in the village?"
"Could it be someone from another village, deliberately using the Hidden Mist Jutsu to confuse us?" asked Hōzuki Hotaru.
Minazuki Gyō shook his head. "That's unlikely. If that person hadn't interfered today, capturing the Six-Tails wouldn't have been a big deal. If that person was an outside ninja, there would have been no need to inform us of the intelligence. They could have just captured the Six-Tails directly without taking any risks. What could be more valuable than a Tailed Beast? You know that Konoha is still holding onto the Seven-Tails and hasn't returned it."
Terumī Chiaki said, "I suspect the other party's goal was to weaken our strength. Think about it, if Utakata had chosen to stay and fight us after his rampage instead of running away, wouldn't we have lost quite a few people?"
Minazuki Gyō said, "That's right, I thought the same. This person must be a village ninja, but it can't be someone from the Fourth's side. Otherwise, if the Fourth had coordinated with the Six-Tails, I'm afraid we would have all been finished today."
"That old fox Genshi has his methods, but he's not skilled in scheming. I suspect it was the work of that 'Sei' from the west."
The others were taken aback. Terumī Chiaki asked in confusion, "Isn't he neutral? Why would he want to weaken our strength?"
Minazuki Gyō sneered. "This person appeared too suddenly. I'm afraid he just wants to use the power of the neutral faction to achieve his own ambitions. Haven't you noticed that since this person arrived, many ninja have gathered on his side?"
After speaking, he summoned the clansman who had been in charge of intelligence before and asked, "Has there been any movement from that 'Sei' in the west recently?"
The man hesitated for a moment and said, "Clan Head, during the days you were away, there was a rumor in the village that 'Sei' can use the Hydrification Technique and is a member of the Hōzuki clan."
"Impossible! If our Hōzuki clan had such an expert, how could I not know? Are you suspecting our Hōzuki clan?" Hōzuki Hotaru immediately denied it.
Minazuki Gyō thought for a moment and said, "Clan Head Hōzuki, don't get excited. Your clan was also one of the main forces in capturing the Six-Tails today. From that person's performance, even if he is from your Hōzuki clan, I'm afraid he doesn't plan on showing you any mercy."
With one sentence, Minazuki Gyō both cleared the Hōzuki clan of suspicion, preventing internal division, and also planted a seed in their hearts, preventing any future collusion between Sei and the Hōzuki clan. From this, it was clear that this Minazuki Gyō's ability to become the leader of so many bloodline and secret jutsu clans was not solely due to the strength of his own clan.
"In any case, from now on, we must strengthen our intelligence gathering on that 'Sei'. Didn't he kill Ezaki Shinichi? This is a good opportunity to provoke his relationship with Genshi's side. It would be best if we could get them to fight another battle," Minazuki Gyō said.
The others all nodded in agreement.
"Utakata's master said at the end that there was something in the room. What was it?" Minazuki Gyō asked.
Terumī Chiaki took out a scroll and said, "This guy was researching a method to extract a Tailed Beast without harming the Jinchuriki."
Hearing this, the others instantly lost interest. They had no thoughts on such a thing. Matters on the level of Tailed Beasts were not something they could get too involved in. Minazuki Gyō also had no interest in such "chicken rib" research.
On the other side, Ishiro had brought the unconscious Utakata to a deserted mountain peak.
This was the second time Ishiro had been in such close contact with another village's Jinchuriki, the first being the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki from Takigakure. At that time, however, Ishiro had been waiting for Obito Uchiha's move near Konoha, so he hadn't done anything to the Seven-Tails. But this time was different. The interior of Kirigakure was in chaos, and no one would be paying attention to this place, so Ishiro had ample time to deal with the Six-Tails.
Ishiro took out some materials and created a gourd-shaped sealing container about the height of a kunai, then set up a chakra extraction seal.
He placed the unconscious Utakata in the center of the seal and first undid the original Tailed Beast seal on his body. After that, Ishiro added an A-rank seal of his own.
After doing all this, Ishiro began to activate the external chakra extraction seal.
This seal was the result of research from Iwagakure, research that had actually started a long time ago. When Ishiro was very young, he had proposed a plan to split the Tailed Beasts. But by the time the village had a preliminary plan, the Five-Tails had already been sealed into its new Jinchuriki, Han. So, this seal had never been tested. This was a rare opportunity, and Ishiro planned to try it.
Ishiro did not have Minato Namikaze's level of Yin-Yang Release, so he couldn't separate the Tailed Beast into its yin and yang halves. What Ishiro wanted to do was to directly split the Tailed Beast.
After the seal was activated, chains of runes extended into Utakata's body, establishing a connection with the Six-Tails within him. Then, before the Six-Tails could react, Ishiro violently pulled the rune chains outward.
Instantly, a massive amount of Tailed Beast chakra rushed out along the rune chains, then flowed through the pre-arranged channels into the gourd-shaped sealing container.
At this moment, the unconscious Utakata let out a piercing scream. At the same time, Ishiro seemed to hear a tremendous roar in his ears.
All at once, the Tailed Beast chakra that had been rushing out stopped and even showed signs of retracting.
Ishiro let out a great shout, mobilized the maximum amount of chakra he could, and pulled with all his might. At the same time, he directly activated the runes within the rune chains.
Stimulated by these runes, the Six-Tails' resistance vanished in an instant. A large portion of its chakra was once again extracted by Ishiro. This time, it lasted much longer than the last. By the time the Six-Tails recovered and began to control its chakra again, Ishiro had already collected a large amount of Tailed Beast chakra.
But this was as far as it could go. The sealing runes were depleted, and Ishiro could no longer extract chakra from the Six-Tails.
Ishiro deactivated the extraction seal, then activated the Tailed Beast chakra seal he had placed on Utakata's body.
The process did not last long, but wrestling with a Tailed Beast had taken a huge toll on Ishiro.
He sat to the side and silently recovered his chakra for a while before he began to observe the Six-Tails' chakra in the gourd. As the Tsuchikage, Ishiro was one of the few people in the entire ninja world who was relatively familiar with the Tailed Beasts. He had been in contact with a complete, independent Tailed Beast, a Tailed Beast inside a Jinchuriki, and even the scattered chakra of a Tailed Beast. The feeling of these different forms of Tailed Beast chakra was different for Ishiro.
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