"Still, you've got some guts, kid. You actually snatched the Three-Tails just like that. Don't you know how terrifying a Tailed Beast is?"
Tsunade's finger twitched slightly as she recalled witnessing Kushina nearly lose control. The might of the Nine-Tails—even she wouldn't dare face it head-on.
And this brat in front of her had actually volunteered to become a Jinchūriki...
Well, it was too late now. There was no way he could be separated from it anymore. A Jinchūriki would die if the Tailed Beast was extracted—Tsunade knew this all too well.
"I just thought it'd be rude not to reciprocate. Since the Kirigakure made a move, I couldn't just sit back and do nothing, right?"
Of course, Takeshi couldn't outright say he was confident in bluffing—no, persuading—is the better word. Persuading Isobu through logic and emotion.
"Show me the seal."
Even though Takeshi kept patting his chest, swearing up and down that his sealing technique was solid, Tsunade still placed her hand on his stomach, carefully sensing the strength of the seal.
"Four Symbols Seal. Your dad really gave you some good stuff."
Injecting chakra into the seal, Tsunade sensed the structure of the jutsu and eased her brows slightly—only to furrow them again moments later.
"What's wrong?"
Startled by Tsunade's expression, Takeshi gulped and mustered the courage to ask.
"Hmph. Your technique is crude and half-baked."
Sensing the jutsu's feedback becoming inconsistent, Tsunade increased her chakra output. The scorching heat on his stomach made Takeshi nearly scream out.
"Hold it in, kid!"
Suddenly letting go and then pressing down hard, Tsunade reinforced the unstable parts of the jutsu for him.
Inside Takeshi, Isobu, who had been peacefully snoozing, was suddenly awakened by a rumbling noise. Opening his eyes, he found that his once spacious quarters had become noticeably more cramped.
What is the Jinchūriki doing?
Before Isobu could make sense of it, Tsunade had finished her work and withdrawn her hand.
The sealing space fell quiet again.
Isobu: ...Forget it, back to sleep.
Feeling that his movements weren't restricted at all, Isobu closed his eyes again. But then, as if remembering something, he opened them and tried channeling chakra—only to find it flowing far more smoothly than before.
Ah, so that's it. The sealing jutsu has been improved.
"Alright, I won't stay any longer. There's a Root operative waiting outside to see you."
Dusting off her hands, Tsunade stood up from Takeshi's bedside, rolled her wrist, and strode out of the tent without giving him any time to say goodbye.
"Takeshi-sama."
Everything happened so quickly that by the time Takeshi realized what Tsunade had done, the person standing before him had already changed into a masked Root ninja.
"I deeply apologize. This happened due to my negligence."
The first thing Raku, the Root squad leader for the Kirigakure front, did was apologize for his failure.
"You don't need to apologize to me. Right now, I'm just an ordinary Konoha shinobi, no longer part of Root's official roster."
Takeshi shook his head, signaling for him not to worry. After all, he had realized it was a trap even before he left, and things had escalated mostly because of his own overconfidence.
"Tell me everything—what exactly happened?"
Raising his hand slightly to allow the other man to rise, Takeshi began asking about what occurred while he was unconscious.
"Who saved me in the end? And where's Kurosuki Raiga?"
He still couldn't locate Uchiha Madara's proxy, but Kurosuki Raiga couldn't have gotten far. Once he recovered, he'd show that bastard what it meant to be the 'Kidney-Snatcher of Konoha!'
Grinding his teeth as he pictured Raiga writhing in pain with his kidneys gouged out, Takeshi's expression looked particularly vicious to Raku.
"Yes. The incident began when Uchiha Wada left the village without permission..."
Not daring to hold anything back, Raku laid out the entire sequence of events.
"Uchiha Wada..."
Takeshi repeated the name, mulling it over.
That guy… was likely the corpse he hadn't recognized.
Then again, there was also the possibility that he was Madara's proxy.
"Were there any corpses of Uchiha Wada at the scene?"
Takeshi asked the key question.
"No. Apart from Yamanaka Akira and Shimura Ikku we found no other bodies."
Raku's answer didn't surprise Takeshi.
So Obito surviving had already altered the story. Madara had found a new proxy, and Takeshi didn't even know the man's name or abilities.
His advantage as a transmigrator—his knowledge—was quickly slipping away.
"Did Uchiha Wada have any family?"
"A son, a daughter-in-law, and a grandson. All have perished."
From Raku, Takeshi learned that Wada's son and daughter-in-law had died on the Iwagakure front, and his grandson, Uchiha Yōwan, had fallen on the Kirigakure front.
Uchiha Yōwan?
Why does that name sound familiar?
"From Yamanaka Akira and Shimura Ikku's corpses, we found traces of genjutsu. Combined with Uchiha Wada's defection, Danzo-sama suspects a potential Uchiha rebellion. A large force has already been dispatched from Konoha to limit the activities of Uchiha's hawkish faction."
While Takeshi was lost in thought, Raku dropped another bombshell.
"Danzo-sama himself is also on his way. He plans to relieve Mitokado Homura of command and take over. He should arrive by noon."
"No. We're still in wartime. If this triggers conflict between the Uchiha and the village, it could lead to civil unrest—and that would only benefit Kirigakure!"
Takeshi immediately objected, but realizing the man before him was only following orders, he softened his tone:
"Hold your position for now. Once my father arrives, I'll speak with him directly."
Hearing this, Raku's expression shifted slightly beneath his mask.
Danzo-sama's orders were absolute, but the young master's words couldn't be ignored either.
Now that the two were at odds, no matter which side he chose, he would inevitably offend the other.
Seeing the man hesitate, Takeshi softened further and began to lay out the situation:
"My father will arrive by noon, right? That gives you time to prepare. This is wartime—Homura-sama is still the acting commander here. Even if you plan to act, you'll need his authorization."
"The matter with Uchiha Wada hasn't been fully settled yet. There's intel I need to share with my father too. If he insists on the order after that, I won't stop him."