This is the end...
Shutting his eyes in despair, Takeshi braced himself for his fate.
"Takeshi!"
Hm?
Someone was calling him—sounded familiar, too.
"Takeshi, are you okay? Takeshi! Takeshi!"
He felt himself being lifted up. Takeshi barely managed to open his eyes, only to see Obito's big, goofy face looming into view.
"Is this a hallucination? Why am I seeing this idiot right before I die..."
Oh well, let me get one last hit in before I go.
He raised his hand and lightly smacked Obito on the head.
"You idiot... fix that habit of always being late..."
With those final words, Takeshi lost consciousness completely.
...
Drip...
Drip...
When he opened his eyes again, Takeshi found himself standing in a corridor that seemed endless. Beneath his feet was ankle-deep water.
"Where is this..."
The scene before him felt oddly familiar. Takeshi started walking deeper into the corridor.
He didn't know how long he had walked before arriving at a more spacious area. That was when he stopped.
In front of him stood an enormous iron gate. Behind it loomed a massive shadow, and he could vaguely see a red glow shining through.
So this is my mental space...
If I made it here, that means my life isn't in immediate danger...
Summoning his courage, Takeshi took a few more steps forward and finally got a clear look at the shadow behind the gate.
The Three-Tails—Isobu.
A Tailed Beast with a form resembling that of a turtle.
Takeshi gulped and studied Isobu nervously. The beast, in turn, observed him with those crimson eyes.
"Hello, Isobu."
Seeing that the other party didn't go berserk like the Nine-Tails, Takeshi forced himself to greet the beast.
Isobu let out a deep, rumbling voice.
"I'm not doing well."
Takeshi had braced himself for an angry reaction, but what he got instead was... well, this.
Isobu shifted his enormous body and stepped forward.
Being here again meant that after so many years, he'd once more been sealed into a Jinchūriki.He had to say goodbye to his days of lazing around the ocean, swimming on his back, and occasionally chatting with cute little boys.
From now on, he'd be watching this brat grow up, get old, and eventually pass him on to the next host—or die before that from being worn out by him.
Boring.
Still... this little girl is kind of cute.
Wait a second.
Something feels off...
Isobu widened his eyes and looked at Takeshi more carefully. For the first time, there was a hint of emotion in his dull voice.
"You're... a boy?"
???
Excuse you?
Is this really how Tailed Beasts talk to their Jinchūriki?
Takeshi was dumbfounded. After a while, he nodded.
"Yep. 100% male, no mistake."
Well, if it's a boy, that's not too bad.
Isobu actually felt a bit relieved.
But then he suddenly remembered something. He lunged forward, slamming his head into the gate bars with a loud metallic clang, scaring the hell out of Takeshi. For a second, he thought the beast had gone berserk after finding out he was a guy.
But then he heard Isobu speak again and realized—this guy just has a slow reaction time.
"You know my name?!"
"Yeah, I know you're called Isobu. I also know the Nine-Tails is called... what was it, Kurama or Kurappa? And the Eight-Tails is Gyūki..."
Takeshi casually listed off a few names he could still remember.
Seeing that Isobu didn't react violently, he took the chance to introduce himself.
"My name's Shimura Takeshi. Barring any surprises, we'll be spending a long time together. I hope we can get along, and maybe even face the Ten-Tails and Kaguya Ōtsutsuki together..."
"How do you know my name?"
Isobu's expression turned serious. He wanted answers.
What should I say now?
That I'm from another world?
Or that it's all some divine prophecy from the Sage of Six Paths?
Knowing full well he couldn't let anything slip, Takeshi forced himself to stay calm and looked Isobu straight in the eye.
"Some strange old man told me in a dream. He said Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's followers have begun to move in the Shinobi World. He told me I must cooperate with the Tailed Beasts to prepare for the coming threat."
A strange old man...?
Could it be the Sage of Six Paths?
And Kaguya Ōtsutsuki... and the Ten-Tails...
Isobu was starting to believe Takeshi.
Not because he was gullible—far from it.
It was because the existence of the Ten-Tails and Kaguya Ōtsutsuki was a closely guarded secret, something a kid like this could never know under normal circumstances.
Could this be what the Sage meant...?
Wait, didn't he say the chosen one was supposed to have blond hair and blue eyes?
Did he dye his hair?
And those eyes are definitely not blue...
Isobu began to ponder.
Takeshi, on the other hand, nervously observed the beast's reaction.
He just hoped his lie didn't have any holes.
He was even ready to describe what the Sage of Six Paths looked like if Isobu asked.
...
Silence.
Long, dragging silence...
So long that Takeshi began to wonder if the big guy had dozed off.
"Just you and me won't be enough to stop the Ten-Tails."
Isobu suddenly spoke, startling Takeshi.
"Well... we'll just do the best we can. With the power of the two of us."
Seeing that Isobu didn't doubt him, Takeshi let out a sigh of relief and showed a confident smile.
When the final battle comes, all he needed to do was cling tightly to Naruto and Sasuke's thighs.
Until then, his job was to help foster a peaceful relationship between them—at the very least, the Uchiha Massacre absolutely could not be allowed to happen!
He reached a fist through the bars of the gate.
Besides, if he could gain full control over the Rinnegan and make sure no one revived old Madara, wouldn't that be enough to stop Black Zetsu?
Things might not be so bad after all.
Granted, Black Zetsu was likely immortal, but his sealing techniques weren't exactly weak either. Worst case, he could throw his old man into the mix—have him pull off a Four Symbols Seal or something. Sure, he might not become Hokage, but a heroic martyr wasn't a bad title either.
Isobu stared at the outstretched fist, thought for a moment, then slowly reached out with his... fingernail.
"Let's work well together, Isobu."
Feeling the beast's trust, Takeshi beamed with a bright smile.
"Takeshi, right?"
Isobu nodded, committing the name to memory.
"Go on. There are people waiting for you outside."