Chapter 132: A Kekkei Genkai Data Bonanza!
"It looks... a bit like a spider."
The Five-Tails, Kokuō, stared at the Flying Thunder God marker now emblazoned on its right leg, giving its honest assessment.
"A little," Keisuke admitted, releasing his hand and asking, "Kokuō, how long can you maintain this state?"
"Not long. Han's body cannot withstand this much of my chakra," Kokuō replied, lowering its leg and gazing at Keisuke. "If I continue, Han's life will be eroded by my chakra. The life of a Jinchuriki and their Tailed Beast are inextricably linked."
"Well, that's a shame..."
Keisuke had originally planned to fight Kokuō in this state. Missions aside, his main goal was to completely win over this "great white deer." The Five-Tails was not the Nine-Tails; with his full arsenal, Keisuke was highly confident he could defeat it. But if Kokuō couldn't maintain its form for long, he would have to wait. In any case, his own strength would only continue to grow, making his eventual victory that much more certain.
There was just one last problem...
"Kokuō, I will find a way to free you from this Jinchuriki's body as soon as I can."
"Understood." Having a calm, rational discussion with a human was a novel experience for Kokuō. "Then, until we meet again, Nara Keisuke."
With those words, Kokuō was enveloped in a brilliant white light. Its massive form shrank, reverting to its human shape. The battered and broken armor of Han, the Five-Tails Jinchuriki, collapsed exhaustedly to the ground, his consciousness lost. It was clear that when Orochimaru had attacked with the Mutually Multiplying Exploding Tags, Han had not been able to react in time and had been severely injured.
A notification appeared on Keisuke's panel.
[You have defeated the A-Rank Ninja Battle Mission target!]
[You have obtained one A-Rank [Shinobi Secret Scroll]!]
"I never thought 'defeating' a Jinchuriki would happen this way..." Keisuke mused, rubbing his chin as he looked at the unconscious Han. "If I meet him on the battlefield again, I'll just use Shadow Manipulation to take his consciousness offline and then let Kokuō take over. Once Kokuō has exhausted the Jinchuriki's body, I'll just have it go back inside... Why does that scene feel so weird?"
Shaking his head, he threw the strange mental image from his mind. He glanced at Han's arm; the spider-like Flying Thunder God marker was still there. "This location is way too obvious..."
While the recipient of the mark couldn't remove or move it, the caster certainly could. Keisuke shifted the mark, hiding it on Han's... lower back... ensuring it would be extremely difficult for anyone to find. Only then did he ride his Shadow Creature away.
A short time later, Han's consciousness returned from the darkness. He struggled to sit up, looked around at the unfamiliar territory, and saw that he was completely alone.
"Where am I? Was I saved?" Han slowly pieced his thoughts together, his expression turning ugly. "Was that... the Five-Tails rampaging just now?"
As a Jinchuriki, Han knew more about Tailed Beasts than the average ninja, but only a little more. Not being a Perfect Jinchuriki, he was completely unable to communicate with Kokuō, and thus had no idea what had just transpired.
"Looks like I have to go back to the village and have the sealing team check on the Five-Tails' seal."
Iwagakure's sealing techniques are nothing compared to Konoha's, Kokuō thought, lying lazily within the seal as it listened to Han's muttering. The difference between ninja and ninja is just too vast...
After confirming that the Jinchuriki was conscious and could take care of himself, Keisuke rode his Shadow Creature through the night, racing back toward the Konoha camp. Along the way, he called up his panel to inspect his new reward.
"A Jinchuriki's scroll. It would be great if this gave me the sealing formula..."
He knew how to extract a Tailed Beast, but most methods were beyond his reach. The Akatsuki's method, for example, required the Gedo Mazō as a receptacle. The only methods he could realistically count on were finding the reverse of Iwagakure's sealing formula, or finding the legendary Uzumaki [Tailed Beast Unsealing Method].
"Well, let's see what's in this scroll first." He mentally opened the A-rank reward.
[Opening...]
[Contents of this A-Rank Shinobi Secret Scroll: Technique]
[A-Rank Kekkei Genkai Technique: Boil Release: Peerless Monstrous Strength]
[Description: A Kekkei Genkai Nin-Taijutsu! Boiling Power!]
[Effect: Converts one's chakra into "Boil" nature via nature transformation. Instantly raises the Boil Release chakra to its boiling point, causing an immediate boost in physical strength and imbuing all attacks with a terrifying, scalding-hot effect.]
[Evaluation: Behold my cataclysmic power!]
"Boil Release? And it's a Nin-Taijutsu?!" Keisuke blinked, stunned. He had been so mesmerized by Kokuō's form that he had completely forgotten about the inconvenient man it was sealed inside. He, too, was a rare elemental Kekkei Genkai user.
"But, as I recall, Han's Boil Release was developed based on Kokuō's power..." Keisuke rubbed his chin, suppressing the urge to fly back and find Han. "In other words, once I sign a summoning contract with Kokuō, I can easily learn the fusion method for Boil Release directly from it. This... is a huge profit!"
Just like the other Kekkei Genkai techniques he had acquired, this one was unusable for now. And since he had already learned the A-rank [Monstrous Strength] from Tsunade's scroll, this technique was somewhat redundant. But considering it was linked to Kokuō... "Who complains about free bikes!"
Keisuke urged his Shadow Creature on. The other reason he wasn't too disappointed was that Orochimaru still owed him his "payment."
Orochimaru was not surprised by Keisuke's return. As a ninja with the ability to fly, retreating was always an option. So what if the opponent was a Jinchuriki? It wasn't like it was the flying Seven-Tails. The Five-Tails was a ground-based melee fighter; it was no threat to an aerial combatant. But for Keisuke to return and immediately seek him out...
Orochimaru remembered the conversation they'd had just before the Jinchuriki attacked.
"Nara-kun," Orochimaru summoned a small snake, which spat out a damp, red scroll. "This is your reward for joining hands against the Five-Tails Jinchuriki."
A shadow tentacle shot out from beneath Keisuke, deftly catching the scroll.
"Orochimaru-sama," Keisuke said, his voice respectful, but his words were not. "This... isn't right, is it?" They were in Orochimaru's private tent, not the main command center. He saw no need to be polite. "Let's keep our accounts straight." He had the tentacle wipe the snake slime off the scroll. "The Explosion Release ninja was our previous, agreed-upon deal. This fight against the Five-Tails Jinchuriki was a separate mission. You can't use the payment from the first job to cover the second, can you?"
Orochimaru licked his lips. "Then what do you want, Nara-kun?"
"First," Keisuke had the tentacle hold up the red scroll. "Is the information in this scroll guaranteed to be authentic?"
"I do not stoop to such tricks," Orochimaru said coldly.
"Good." Keisuke put the scroll down and pressed his advantage. "That other thing you were researching... those First Hokage cells..."
Orochimaru let out a cold laugh. "Why don't you just ask for the Fourth Hokage's position while you're at it?"
"Fine, I'm not that interested in the First's cells anyway," Keisuke said with a shrug, his tone casual but his words pointed. "However, Orochimaru-sama... I heard that you had a rather deep... 'cooperation' with the Iburi clan? That you were their great benefactor?"
Orochimaru's golden eyes narrowed to slits. His relationship with the Iburi clan was known to almost no one in Konoha. Besides the clan members themselves, almost no one knew what "contributions" he had made. The Iburi would never reveal their secret. How in the world did this brat find out?
"Nara-kun," Orochimaru's voice was a low hiss. "Why do you bring up the Iburi clan?"
"You've researched their unique smoke-transformation ability as well, haven't you, Orochimaru-sama?" Keisuke asked with utter sincerity. "Since you were willing to share the research data on an Explosion Release ninja, surely you wouldn't be stingy with your data on their smoke ability, would you?"
His voice turned cold. "Nara-kun, am I to understand that you are threatening me?"
"Orochimaru-sama,唉..." Keisuke stared at him for a long moment, then sighed, his face a mask of pity. "If Lord Third were to find out you were secretly conducting human experiments on your own village comrades..."
Orochimaru: "...You!"
"If Lady Tsunade were to find out you were secretly researching the cells of her grandfather..."
Orochimaru: "I—"
"If the entire village were to find out what one of the legendary Sannin was really up to..."
Orochimaru produced a white scroll from somewhere and threw it at him. "This is the Iburi clan's data!"