Inside the underground base of "Kagenami," that slug had already eaten its fill—not just a little full, but completely stuffed.
If another slug of the same size were placed nearby for comparison, it would be easy to notice how different this one's aura appeared after absorbing tailed beast chakra. It stood out like a piece of fine prosciutto among a pile of cheap hot dogs—truly a cut above the rest.
However, to ensure the tailed beast's chakra could be stored safely, the Uzumaki applied their sealing technique to the slug that was temporarily acting as a vessel. To avoid damaging the seal's structure, this slug couldn't casually split or fuse with others until it consumed the stored chakra.
By now, the extraction of Two-Tails' chakra had stopped—it was no longer necessary to keep drawing more.
To calm Cloud's anxious yet restless heart following the finalized deal, Konoha needed to return the Two-Tails to Kumo as soon as possible. The envoy group from Kumo had already departed ahead toward the Land of Lightning to prepare the funds. Just one day later, Konoha's escort team also needed to set off.
Normally speaking, this "escort" mission wouldn't involve any combat. Even if trouble came up, Konoha wasn't expected to fight to the death—just retreat quickly if needed. Therefore, the composition of the escort squad remained minimal, including only four members altogether.
The Two-Tails handover squad consisted of three Jonin and one Chunin: Haseo, the two still-unreturned members of the Hyuga clan, and Sakumo Hatake.
Among them, Sakumo alone held the rank of Chunin—an unfortunate circumstance indeed. Despite clearly possessing the capability, he hadn't been promoted yet. Compared to Haseo himself aside, even considering those two noble-born Hyuga Jonin, these days Sakumo could definitely defeat them without effort.
At this moment, his mood could best be described as: "Why do I look so good but lose my hair, while you two still have yours despite looking like grumpy old owls?"
Fortunately, the restriction placed on Sakumo by Haseo had been lifted. At least, Sakumo could participate in the upcoming Jonin promotion exam for this year. Under normal circumstances, there was absolutely no reason why he should fail that exam.
So his current Chunin status was merely temporary—Jonin was where he truly belonged.
The Uzumaki resealed the "hotpot" carefully before handing the scroll over to Haseo.
This mission didn't require the presence of Uzumaki ninja because the Two-Tails' seal wouldn't cause issues. After having its chakra drawn for such an extended period, the confined beast had grown very tired and lacked the strength to struggle or break free from its prison.
The Two-Tails was practically bald by now; it clearly needed some time to recover.
Once they transported the tailed beast along, the squad left Konoha, exited through the north of the Land of Fire, crossed the Land of Rice Fields and other minor countries without obtaining transit visas, entered the Land of Lightning, and quickly approached their prearranged coordinates with Kumo.
"Haseo-sama, there's no sign of anything unusual around here, and no residual chakra or barrier reactions... While we can't completely rule out the possibility of a momentarily activated barrier, at least for now, Kumo ninja haven't shown themselves."
Before heading to the designated meeting point, of course Haseo had the Hyūga ninja carefully scout the area. He'd already been captured by Kumo before — certain situations simply didn't need to be experienced a second time.
The first time had been chaotic and completely out of the blue, so it was understandable. But if he got trapped again by Kumo's barrier techniques, then Haseo would really be too careless.
Moreover, this time the scout ninjas accompanying him were far more reliable than the one from his previous team. Could Kumo have even managed to turn one of their scout ninjas into a spy?
And if one Byakugan wasn't enough, now they had two on the team.
Haseo nodded. It seemed like Kumo had become smarter this time — using underhanded tricks when they weren't necessary was just stupidity, and thankfully Kumo hadn't done that this time.
When the agreed exchange time arrived, Kumo nin finally showed up. This time, they had five people in total, each carrying an extremely oversized suitcase.
Haseo tilted his head slightly and asked the Hyūga ninja, "Tell me, are those suitcases filled with money? Is the amount sufficient? Are the bills genuine? And most importantly, do the cases have any self-destruct mechanisms?"
Haseo must've been watching too many action movies lately, and those memories had lingered quite persistently in his mind. When it came to handling this exchange, he considered every possible angle — far more meticulously than anything Kumo might attempt.
The reason why he brought along the Hyūga ninja was twofold: one was to verify whether Kumo had set any traps at the exchange location, and the other was to use their Byakugan almost like long-range counterfeit detectors... Surprisingly, the Byakugan really could serve such a purpose — though admittedly, no one had ever used them for such a task before.
Today, these Hyūga ninjas were definitely discovering new ways to use the Byakugan.
"Haseo-sama... Those are just ordinary suitcases containing regular currency. There are no hidden mechanisms, and nothing seems particularly suspicious about the bills themselves. As for the quantity... it appears sufficient."
The two Hyūga scanned the suitcases carried by Kumo's representatives until the veins across their temples swelled visibly. Of course, what they could accomplish was limited — even with the immense observational power of the Byakugan, there was no way they could count all 550 million ryo within such a short time.
Not only were the Hyūga incapable of completing such a task, even Kaguya otsutsuki herself wouldn't have managed it either.
"Getting about seventy to eighty percent certainty is good enough. Third Hokage is being overly cautious — shouldn't something like this just be handled through bank transfers instead? Why insist on physical payment?"
As he spoke, Haseo performed the Shadow Clone Jutsu. He left one clone behind after handing it the scroll containing the imprisoned tailed beast.
"You stay here and guard this place. I'll go alone to meet with them."
Haseo strode openly toward the Kumo squad that had already halted ahead. The more straightforward he acted at this moment, the better. After all, wouldn't anyone acting covertly only prove they were plotting something?
The leader of the Kumo squad saw Haseo approaching from Konoha, and his expression involuntarily turned much more serious. Regardless of how famous or infamous Haseo was in Konoha, his reputation in Kumo hadn't faded over time—in fact, it had only grown stronger.
Any ninja in Kumo who had reached a certain level of strength or status knew about Haseo, the Jonin from Konoha.
How had such a phenomenon occurred? It was truly strange.
Fortunately, the Kumo captain sent here for the handover wasn't the one previously involved in the struggle over the Tailed Beast. Otherwise, the current scene definitely wouldn't have been so "peaceful."
"Where's Two-Tails?" the captain asked directly.
Haseo casually jerked his thumb backward toward a direction and replied, "Back there."
Konoha would naturally bring Scout Ninjas for this kind of exchange, and as long as Kumo had basic common sense, they'd do the same. So right now, their Scout Ninjas could easily pinpoint where the remaining Konoha members were located.
"What about the money?" Haseo asked next.
"It's all here, not a single coin missing. You can take it after the handover is complete," the captain responded. "However… we don't trust you. Send someone else to deliver the Tailed Beast."
The captain naturally knew quite a bit about Haseo, including intelligence indicating he possessed special means of controlling the Tailed Beasts. Therefore, to prevent the Two-Tails from being re-controlled by Haseo immediately after the handover, he believed Haseo shouldn't remain at the front line during the exchange.
"..."
Was that really necessary?
Well, Haseo remained silent without reply. It seemed that his reputation in Kumo wasn't just low—it was flat-out negative.
What could he do if they didn't trust him? He gave them a helpless, frustrated look, then suddenly vanished on the spot. From Kumo's perspective, it appeared as though that deceitful outsider had merely sent a clone to test things out—but in reality, that wasn't the case at all.
Haseo had indeed come in person, but just now he used [Flying Thunder God] to switch places with a [Shadow Clone] left behind, and after dispelling that technique, it created the illusion of an instant disappearance.
"Sakumo, you go instead. They're simply too wary of me."
After returning to his starting position, Haseo handed Sakumo Hatake the scroll left behind by his clone.
Sakumo Hatake accepted the sealing scroll containing the Tailed Beast and nodded slightly. Just in case, he had already learned how to remove this seal back in Konoha.
Then, carrying the scroll alone, Sakumo Hatake approached the Kumo group. He unsealed the container holding the Two-Tails. Once the Kumo side confirmed the presence of the Two-Tails, Sakumo collected the payment and then released it.
Of course, the "Two-Tails" couldn't be handed over together—it was sealed with Uzumaki Secret Arts; how could they freely allow another village access for research?
Returning the Tailed Beast naturally meant freeing it at the site, leaving it for Kumo to recapture themselves… After all, they were already within the Land of Lightning.
Konoha had practically done most of the hard work capturing Nibi for them already. That's what allies are for—they'll definitely help when they can.
Seeing Sakumo Hatake ready to release the Tailed Beast without hesitation, the Kumo ninja didn't even have time to stop him before the massive form of the beast appeared around them.
Do Konoha ninja always slack off like this? Just as the Cloud ninja stood on edge, preparing to face the beast's attack, they were shocked to see Nibi simply lying limp on the ground, as if it had fallen asleep.
"Nibi... What did you do to the Tailed Beast?"
After a moment of awkward silence, the squad leader finally asked Sakumo Hatake.
Sakumo merely glanced at him. By now he had already packed away his "hotpot," along with all the money chests.
"This is Nibi, right?"
"..."
The Kumo shinobi exchanged uneasy glances before nodding slowly.
"Then that's settled. The deal's done. Just a heads-up—it won't stay unconscious for long. If you're planning to reseal it, better hurry up."
A Tailed Beast worth its name should be sleeping soundly.
With that, Sakumo turned and walked away, and the Kumo ninja made no move to stop him—the real Nibi lay before them, though it looked weaker than expected.
Overall, the whole exchange happened incredibly fast. A deal worth hundreds of millions was done in an instant—faster than a shut-in buying a cheap outfit at the mall.
PS:
Been tortured by wisdom teeth lately, couldn't fall asleep.
It's not just painful—it's actually pushing against my gums.
I wanted to pull this tooth out two years ago already. So why is it still here?
Just because I'm a total coward.
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