Tap. Tap. Tap.
Bathed in flickering lightning, Kaede casually walked toward the Three-Tails.
Watching Kaede approach step by step, the Three-Tails could no longer hold back. A fierce gleam flashed in its massive eyes, and its three tails suddenly lashed out.
Each tail was brimming with turbulent chakra, packing enough piercing power to shred steel and shatter mountains. In an instant, they swept through the air and slammed into Kaede.
Crash!!
Kaede didn't dodge. He allowed the attack to land squarely on his chakra-formed body. For a moment, his form was nearly hollowed out, with only a small part remaining, but within the blink of an eye, a surge of chakra converged and reconstituted his form completely, as if nothing had happened.
The Three-Tails was stunned.
Noticing the indifferent look in Kaede's eyes, as if he didn't care about its power at all, it couldn't help but grow enraged. It let out a thunderous roar at Kaede.
Massive chakra began to gather rapidly in front of its head, forming a dense sphere of unimaginable weight and destructive power.
Tailed Beast Bomb!
"You dare underestimate me… Human! Take this!!"
The Three-Tails bellowed and launched the Tailed Beast Bomb. It flew like a streak of light, instantly reaching Kaede.
Kaede didn't move.
Rin was standing directly behind him, and besides, there was no need to dodge.
He simply reached out a hand and pressed it forward.
BOOM!!!
A cataclysmic explosion erupted.
From Kaede's palm, an almost endless torrent of chakra surged forth. Under the Three-Tails' disbelieving gaze, his chakra swallowed the Tailed Beast Bomb whole, crushing it with sheer force!
"That amount of chakra… Impossible!!"
The Three-Tails stared in disbelief, its eyes wide.
The chakra Kaede had released at that moment completely eclipsed the Three-Tails' own. And this was a Tailed Beast, an entity born from the Sage of Six Paths, a being of pure chakra!
Rin was equally stunned.
She too could feel that overwhelming chakra, flooding the entire space and even smothering the Three-Tails. In sheer volume, Kaede had already surpassed the beast!
Gradually,
The aftershocks of the Tailed Beast Bomb faded.
At the center of the explosion, Kaede's figure reappeared. Still holding the same outstretched hand, he calmly lowered it and looked at the Three-Tails.
"Looks like Hagoromo didn't divide the chakra very evenly. Yours seems far from a full ninth of the whole, Isobu."
Rin was puzzled by the comment, but for the Three-Tails, Isobu, it was like thunder exploding in its mind.
That single sentence shocked it more than anything it had experienced in the past thousand years!
Its true name, almost no humans knew it, only the other Tailed Beasts. Yet Kaede not only called it by name… he mentioned another name as well:
Hagoromo!
It had been an eternity since Isobu had heard that name, but it still knew who it belonged to: the Sage of Six Paths, Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo!
"Who are you?!"
The Three-Tails stared at Kaede in horror.
Its earlier rage and ferocity had completely vanished, replaced by fear and uncertainty. Among all the Tailed Beasts, Isobu was always the most timid and passive.
"I'm someone who doesn't exist…"
Kaede gazed deeply at the Three-Tails. In the next instant, he flickered and appeared atop its massive shell. Instinctively, Isobu recoiled, shrinking its head back into its shell like a frightened turtle.
It could feel Kaede's weight.
In this world, weight came from chakra. And when Kaede landed on its back, it felt as though the full burden of his chakra crashed down on its body, far surpassing its own, and still steadily growing.
Kaede squatted down and gently patted Isobu's shell.
"Hagoromo said the time hasn't come yet. So please behave for now. Oh, and over there, that's my little sister. Be good and get along with her."
That line made Isobu nearly certain:
This boy wasn't just any ordinary ninja.
He had to be someone connected to that ancient era, perhaps even someone from the time of the Sage of Six Paths himself!
Hamura?
No… the chakra didn't match Hamura's.
Isobu couldn't figure out who Kaede truly was. It had been separated from the Sage of Six Paths during the old man's twilight years, and didn't know much about his earlier companions.
"You and the Sage…"
Isobu cautiously poked its head out and stared at Kaede with its enormous eyes.
But Kaede interrupted it, saying, "Let's not talk about the past. I've got nothing to do with him. My sister doesn't know any of this either, so don't mention it to her."
Like hell you've got nothing to do with him… Isobu grumbled inwardly.
Even though it was a bit slow-witted, it had already imagined a dozen possible scenarios, Kaede might have been Hagoromo's friend, or maybe even an old rival. Either way, he was clearly not someone Isobu could handle… and thankfully, it didn't seem like he meant harm.
"…Understood."
Isobu nodded gingerly.
Kaede smiled and gave its shell a final pat before flickering back to Rin's side.
"Alright, go say hi. Oh, and his name is Isobu."
"H-Huh?!"
Rin stood frozen, unable to process what was happening.
Before she could react, Kaede had already pulled her over to the Three-Tails, raised her hand, and extended it toward the massive beast.
Isobu cautiously reached out its claw.
Kaede helped Rin form a small fist and bumped it against Isobu's massive claw.
"From today on, you're partners. Get to know each other."
Seeing Rin's terrified expression, Kaede smiled and said, "Don't be scared. Tailed Beasts are just like humans, living beings with power. From now on, just treat him like your summon partner."
Rin: "..."
Isobu: "..."
Both stood awkwardly frozen in place.
Kaede sighed internally.
Being the adult here is exhausting.
He let go of Rin's hand and said, "I'll leave you two alone for a while. Get to know each other."
A vast wave of chakra slowly dispersed.
Kaede's figure vanished.
Rin and the Three-Tails stared at each other in silence.
After several seconds, Rin finally spoke timidly: "U-Um… I'm Nohara Rin. Nice to meet you."
"…I'm Isobu."
The Three-Tails responded in a dull tone.
Truthfully, it was a rather lazy Tailed Beast. The reason it had gone berserk earlier was because someone had forcibly sealed it into Rin using a jutsu, no wonder it was in a foul mood.
Now, though, its anger had faded.
Rin looked completely different from the jinchūriki it had encountered before. Her shy, nervous demeanor… was oddly kind of cute.
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