Chapter 375: Ruins from the Age of Myths
Ōnoki swallowed hard and then said with uncertainty, "Two Tailed Beasts? Are these the Six-Tails and the Seven-Tails?"
Ōnoki's knowledge was quite impressive; he could even recognize Chōmei in its juvenile form.
Ishiro nodded and, pointing to the Gedo Statue fragment, said, "I've made a home for Little Saiken and Little Chōmei inside this thing. I can only use their power; I haven't become a Jinchuriki."
After understanding the situation, Ōnoki breathed a sigh of relief. Ishiro was still level-headed and hadn't blindly coveted the power of the Tailed Beasts.
"Little Saiken, right? Is Little Saiken a ninja of the village now?" Ōnoki had, of course, noticed the Iwagakure forehead protector on Little Saiken's head long ago.
"Mm," Little Saiken nodded and said, "This is my first mission, and it's an A-rank one, you know."
This was a fact. Ishiro and Little Saiken had teamed up to carry out the mission of obtaining the Seven-Tails' chakra. The mission had now been perfectly completed. As soon as they returned to the village and registered it, Little Saiken would have an A-rank mission on its record.
Ōnoki was taken aback. Logging a mission for a Tailed Beast? He figured this was also something Ishiro had cooked up. But, if Ishiro wasn't a Jinchuriki, how was he using the Tailed Beast's chakra?
Ishiro carefully explained the origins of Little Saiken and Little Chōmei to Ōnoki, as well as the matter of Han becoming a true perfect Jinchuriki.
Ōnoki was very excited. "That's great! Han is finally free from the danger of rampaging."
Ishiro understood Ōnoki's feelings. A hidden village's attitude towards its Tailed Beast was very complex; they both coveted its power and feared it going on a rampage. Iwagakure's Tailed Beast had also rampaged in the past, and the village had once paid a huge price to re-seal it.
In the decades before Ishiro and Ikura rose to prominence, Ōnoki was the only Kage-level shinobi in Iwagakure. One of the important reasons he didn't dare to leave the village was the fear that the Tailed Beast would suddenly go on a rampage in his absence. But now, things were better. Han, having become a perfect Jinchuriki, would not only not rampage, but could also help suppress a rampaging Tailed Beast. The threat of the Tailed Beasts to Iwagakure had been reduced by more than half in an instant.
"By the way, how is Senior Rōshi?" Ishiro remembered that the Four-Tails Jinchuriki, Rōshi, was with Ōnoki.
Hearing this, Ōnoki snorted coldly. "Don't mention him to me. I really don't understand why you sent him to me."
Ishiro rubbed his nose, feeling a little guilty. He quickly changed the subject. "Natsuki hasn't caused you any trouble, has she?"
Speaking of Natsuki, Ōnoki's expression became grave again. "Let's go down and talk."
Ishiro was puzzled. Judging by Ōnoki's expression, something had happened, but it didn't seem to be a bad thing.
The two humans and two Tailed Beasts quickly landed on the ground, where a group of people was waiting for them.
"Lord Tsuchikage."
"Master Ishiro."
"Brother."
Ishiro glanced at the crowd.
Kawakita, Kawakita's three disciples, Rōshi and the Anbu squad guarding him, Deidara and his two teammates, Kajiyama Ri, Natsuki, Takuhiro Uchiyama, and Akio Wada.
Mm, they're all here. Not one is missing.
Ishiro first nodded to Kajiyama Ri. "Congratulations, Kajiyama Ri, on finally becoming an elite jonin."
Kajiyama Ri said to Ishiro with an excited expression, "Master Ishiro, thank you for your guidance. Without you, I wouldn't have my current strength. It's just that I've disappointed you before."
As he spoke, Kajiyama Ri looked a little ashamed. He was considered below average among Ishiro's disciples. Ogura Saki, who was two years younger than him, had become an elite jonin long ago. Yuran Kawazoe, four years his junior, had also long been enjoying the treatment of an elite jonin due to her great contributions. And he, as Ishiro's earliest disciple, was still just a jonin, like the disciples from the other batches. Although he knew that as a traditional ninjutsu-type ninja, his growth was slower than others, he still felt that he had brought shame upon Ishiro. Especially after Kawakita became a Quasi-Kage, the pressure on him was unimaginable to others.
But Ishiro patted Kajiyama Ri's shoulder and said, "Don't overthink it. You are already very skilled. Your teacher is very satisfied with you."
Kajiyama Ri took a deep breath. Knowing that this was not the occasion to show too much emotion, he forcefully suppressed his excitement and stepped back.
Kawakita, at his side, also reached out and patted his shoulder. Kajiyama Ri gave him a grateful look. His ability to become an elite jonin was inseparable from Ōnoki's teachings during this period. But the main reason was the daily "sparring" and guidance from his teammate, Kawakita.
Ishiro nodded at Kawakita, then turned his gaze to Deidara, Akio Wada, and Takuhiro Uchiyama.
The others following Ōnoki were truly on a mission, and Ishiro didn't have high hopes for their strength improvement. But these three, Ishiro hoped they could improve like Kajiyama Ri.
Among the three, Deidara had the highest talent and already possessed strength that surpassed the vast majority of chunin, though he had not yet reached the level of a Quasi-Jonin. With Deidara's talent, this progress was actually a bit strange. But seeing the look of both love and hate in Ōnoki's eyes as he looked at Deidara, Ishiro understood a little. Ōnoki was probably deliberately suppressing Deidara to temper his character.
Next was Takuhiro Uchiyama. Ishiro could feel that he had improved, but the improvement was limited. Ishiro wasn't worried; he was four years younger than Kajiyama Ri. Spending more time building his foundation now was a good thing.
Finally, there was Akio Wada. Like Takuhiro, he was also still just a jonin, but the feeling he gave Ishiro was somewhat different.
"He's made considerable progress," Ishiro thought.
Then, Ishiro said to the little Saiken, who was sizing up Rōshi, "Little Saiken, come over here."
"Mm," Little Saiken replied, then came to Ishiro's side with Little Chōmei.
Ishiro placed his hand on Little Saiken's head, and in the next moment, he was enveloped in a layer of Six-Tails chakra.
Entering his Six-Tails Chakra Mode, Ishiro turned his gaze back to Akio Wada. However, unlike before, this time Ishiro's entire presence surged, pressing down directly on Akio.
Caught off guard, Akio was startled. He instinctively wanted to resist, but the pressure from Ishiro in his Six-Tails Chakra Mode was tangible; he couldn't move at all.
Ishiro slowly reached his hand towards Akio Wada's head.
In the eyes of the others, Ishiro's movement was very slow, giving Akio plenty of time to react. But in Akio's eyes, Ishiro's movement seemed very fast, as if he was about to be slapped to death in the next moment. He didn't have time to think about why Ishiro was attacking him; he only wanted to do his best to break free from the suppression of that presence.
Ishiro's hand got closer and closer to Akio Wada, and Akio became more and more anxious. Finally, just as Ishiro was about to touch him, Akio suddenly let out a great shout and moved. Forcibly breaking free from the pressure, he took a step back, avoiding the hand reaching for his head.
"Not bad, not bad," Ishiro retracted his aura, dispelled the Six-Tails Chakra Mode, and said to the still-shaken Akio Wada, "Akio, congratulations."
Akio was taken aback, then instantly reacted. Feeling the change in his body, he was overjoyed. He had also become an elite jonin.
"Thank you, Lord Tsuchikage," Akio said respectfully to Ishiro after quickly composing himself, seeing that everyone was looking at him.
Ishiro smiled faintly. "You were only a step away from becoming an elite jonin. I just gave you a catalyst. The ability to seize the opportunity and advance is your own effort."
This was the truth. Only a genius of this level had a hope of advancing by overcoming strong external pressure. To think, back when Ishiro was trying to get Takumi to become a Quasi-Jonin, pretending to be an enemy and launching a surprise attack, putting so much pressure on him, had been useless. Fortunately, a final bowl of "chicken soup for the soul" had achieved the goal.
Then, Ishiro turned his gaze to Natsuki, who was trying to hide from him. Ishiro had a headache. Natsuki's strength had barely changed. It was clear that during her time away from the village, she definitely had not been training properly.
Ishiro gave her a glare but said nothing.
Natsuki giggled, walked up to Ishiro, and then pointed at Little Saiken and Little Chōmei. "Brother, are these your ninja beasts?"
Ishiro didn't want to deal with her. He gave some encouragement to the other ninja, promoting a wave of the "Will of Stone." Ishiro didn't say anything of substance, but everyone listened very attentively. Because right before their eyes, Ishiro had easily turned a jonin into an elite jonin. They had only heard about Ishiro's skill in teaching disciples before, but this time they had seen it with their own eyes. The excitement and envy were unimaginable. So, even though Ishiro was talking about the Will of Stone and not giving them any pointers, they still listened very seriously.
Seeing that Ishiro was finished, Ōnoki finally spoke. "Ishiro, over there, we found an abandoned shrine."
Ishiro was taken aback. A shrine?
The ninja world had its myths, such as the legend of the Rabbit Goddess, Kaguya, and the legend of the Sage of Six Paths. Because Ishiro knew that the prototype of the Rabbit Goddess was Kaguya, who was real, he had always maintained an attitude of not provoking or bothering with these mythical figures. The only time he had come into close contact with a so-called "god" was when he met Natsuki. That time, it was an evil god. That time, Ishiro had been in great danger. Although the gains had been considerable, he had nearly been drained dry by a genjutsu.
Thinking of this, Ishiro looked at Natsuki. She was chatting with Little Saiken and Little Chōmei.
Ōnoki, seeing Ishiro look at Natsuki, nodded. "Natsuki sensed that something was not right with that shrine. But I studied it for a long time and didn't find anything special."
Ishiro's expression became a bit grave. "Let's go take a look together."
Where there were myths and gods, there would naturally be shrines. However, with the rise of the ninja, shrines had become increasingly rare. This was because many of the abilities of ninja were no different from those of gods in the eyes of ordinary people. The existence of ninja made it much less easy for the messengers of many gods to fool believers as they had before.
Unable to fool believers, shrines had become a very uncommon sight. However, any shrine that had managed to survive usually had something strange about it.
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