A special thank you to my patrons:
—Jacob Mooe, kevin Williams, Jose Sierra, Pasang Sherpa, Acedia, kurtis newman, Nhoxious, sediaz, Targaryen, King Scales.
You can read 30 chapters ahead of everyone on p@treon.
P@TREON - [email protected]/lessaservantofcosmos
(just replace the "@" with "a")
ps: Please support me on P@treon. I can really use your help!
-------------------------------------------------------------
In the end, Kagaya still resorted to using chakra to fix the door. After all, this door was truly quite large, standing eight or nine meters tall. By the standards of Kagaya's previous life, that was practically the height of an entire house.
Fortunately, this door was usually kept open; otherwise, even entering would have been a struggle for Kagaya.
******
Somewhere in a forest.
A swirling vortex materialized. A hand reached out from within and instantly seized a crow flying past this location. Then, the owner of the hand slowly emerged from the vortex.
With a forceful squeeze—
Splat!
The crow burst apart and vanished. It had been a summon beast.
Obito was neither surprised nor disappointed. He had never intended to kill this summon beast in the first place. What he wanted to do was simply prevent this summon beast from delivering its message. Yes, that was all.
After all, he had absolutely no desire for that man to get involved in this matter.
The vortex appeared once more, spiraling Obito away until he gradually disappeared.
The Sealing Technique: Phantom Dragons Nine Consuming Seals.
This was a technique that used the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path as a medium to seal Tailed Beasts. It was extraordinarily powerful. No matter how secure a Jinchuriki's seal on their Tailed Beast was, it was utterly useless before this technique called the Phantom Dragons Nine Consuming Seals. This technique could forcibly seal a Tailed Beast into the body of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
Furthermore, if the Demonic Statue absorbed enough Tailed Beast power, or if an exceptionally powerful shinobi operated it, the Phantom Dragons Nine Consuming Seals could even be advanced and specialized into another ability—spewing massive white chains from its mouth, dragging the Tailed Beast into its body without the slightest chance of resistance.
Of course, the current Demonic Statue of the Outer Path had neither absorbed sufficient Tailed Beast power nor did it have an extraordinarily powerful shinobi operating it. It couldn't use that ability yet and could only execute the lower-grade Phantom Dragons Nine Consuming Seals.
Since it was lower-grade, it naturally had certain flaws. The Phantom Dragons Nine Consuming Seals required several Kage-level experts to jointly perform it, and it needed to be sustained for several consecutive days before it could be fully completed.
Bzzz... Bzzz...
Projections materialized one after another within the Five-Seal Barrier.
Though it was called the Five-Seal Barrier, this place was actually just an ordinary stone cavern. The reason it was called the Five-Seal Barrier was that when Pain sealed the Tailed Beasts, he had set up a technique named the Five-Seal Barrier around the perimeter. Thus, later on, when Naruto and the others came to rescue Gaara in the original story, they called this place the Five-Seal Barrier.
It was simply named after Pain's technique.
This location itself wasn't any kind of "barrier," nor did it possess any special abilities. It was just an ordinary stone cavern. The only thing extraordinary about it was the individuals present within.
—The entire Akatsuki.
Though they were merely projections, every single member of the Akatsuki was indeed fully assembled—except for Tobi.
At the very least, all the official combat members were present (Tobi was not an official member).
And the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path had long since been waiting here.
The Demonic Statue wasn't originally here, but Nagato, possessing the Rinnegan, could summon it from any location. Of course, this also consumed a certain amount of Nagato's life force. But Nagato didn't mind. All he wanted was to achieve peace. For that, his own life meant nothing to him.
Pain glanced at Gaara, whom Kakuzu had tossed onto the ground.
"Mm. It is indeed the One-Tail Jinchuriki. Let us begin."
Once they confirmed the target was the Jinchuriki, there was no need for further words.
Before Nagato and Obito began capturing the Tailed Beasts, it was impossible that they had simply slapped their thighs, shouted, "Let's start capturing Tailed Beasts!" and then sprung into action.
Before commencing their operations, Nagato and Obito had made meticulous preparations. Although the members of the Akatsuki were sealing a Tailed Beast for the first time, Pain had already taught them the relevant knowledge many times over.
Each took their designated position—upon the fingers of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
Then, each formed the hand seals they needed to form. Immediately after, immense, colossal chakra surged into the Demonic Statue. From the Statue's enormous mouth, nine dragon-shaped masses of chakra burst forth and shot toward Gaara on the ground. They enveloped Gaara and slowly lifted him into midair, beginning to absorb the Tailed Beast chakra within his body.
At the same time, several beams of light lit up on the Demonic Statue's fingers, each inscribed with a different character. From the right hand to the left, they read: "Zero," "Blue," "White," "Vermilion," "Boar," "South," "North," "Three," and "Jewel."
Each corresponded to the rings worn by the members of the Akatsuki. Between "Boar" and "South," one character was missing—the one still worn on Kagaya's finger to this very day: "Azure."
But regardless of whether it was missing or not... the sealing of the Tailed Beast had already begun.
Several days had passed since Gaara was captured. Naruto and his group had also arrived at the Hidden Sand Village.
Just as in the original story, Granny Chiyo mistook Kakashi for the White Fang, leading to some slightly unpleasant interactions.
Incidentally, Granny Chiyo's son—Sasori's father—had been killed by the White Fang. Sasori's mother had also been killed at the same time.
Also, this time, since it wasn't Sasori and Deidara who had captured Gaara, Sakura didn't need to help detoxify Kankuro.
Thus, Naruto's group didn't delay long in the Hidden Sand Village. After gathering their full team, they swiftly set out!
Kakuzu and Hidan had fought directly on the ground within the Hidden Sand Village, so there were many remnants carrying their scent. Conveniently, Kakashi's ninja hounds excelled at tracking scents.
Therefore, locating the Five-Seal Barrier didn't cost Kakashi and the others too much effort.
After making thorough preparations, Naruto's group set out together with Granny Chiyo.
******
The Leaf Village.
Jiraiya entered the Hokage's office.
"Tsunade... to be honest, isn't it far too dangerous to send only Naruto and the others?"
Tsunade replied. "I've also dispatched Team Guy, who just finished their mission and are on their way back, to provide backup. Kakashi should have already received the message by now."
Jiraiya sighed.
"Fine. But... the enemy is the Akatsuki, after all... the Akatsuki, huh... Sigh. Just what is their objective? I have absolutely no clue. Since they've chosen to capture the Tailed Beasts... could it be that they're planning to use them to ignite a massive war?"
Tsunade kept her head lowered, reading the documents in her hand as she spoke.
"That, I don't know. There's no way to even guess. All I know is that our current objective is to rescue the Sand's Kazekage. No matter what they plan to do with the Tailed Beasts, as long as we prevent them from obtaining the Tailed Beasts, their plans will surely be hindered."
Jiraiya paused for a moment, then smiled a carefree, unburdened smile. "You're right, Tsunade. Whatever that Akatsuki organization plans to do with the Tailed Beasts... as long as we don't let them have the Tailed Beasts, they can't do it. I hope Naruto and the others can succeed."
Tsunade lifted her head slightly to glance at Jiraiya, then lowered it again to continue handling documents.
"If you have nothing else, then leave. I'm very busy here. I don't have time to keep chatting idly with you."
Jiraiya's expression grew serious.
"No... I do indeed have another matter I wanted to discuss with you. And it concerns a rather... particular individual."
Tsunade continued processing the documents in her hands. "Is it very important?"
Jiraiya answered. "As of now... it is."
Tsunade paused for a moment, then set down the documents in her hands. She lifted her head and looked at Jiraiya with a serious, solemn expression.
"Speak, then. I'm all ears."
Jiraiya drew a deep breath, then spoke. "I want... to inform that Uchiha Kagaya about the Akatsuki capturing the One-Tail!"
As his words fell, what followed was silence. Jiraiya stared at Tsunade, and Tsunade stared back at Jiraiya. Neither spoke first.
This small office, in that very moment, was instantly filled with an immensely heavy, oppressive atmosphere.
By now, whenever that person was mentioned, no one could afford to take it lightly any longer. No one dared to underestimate that man anymore.
No... or rather, that man had, at this point, practically become a sort of taboo. At the very least, within the Leaf Village, this was the case. Besides the Nine-Tails, the thing Leaf shinobi were most taboo about discussing... was one of the survivors of the Uchiha clan—Uchiha Kagaya.
At this moment, Jiraiya suddenly bringing up this person was bound to inevitably cause the atmosphere to grow heavy and tense.
Tsunade spoke without any expression. "Your reasoning?"
Jiraiya explained.
"The members of the Akatsuki are all very powerful. You and I both know this. And Naruto's personality—we both know that too. He's extremely easy to provoke. I'm worried that during this operation, with a single slip, Naruto might completely lose control and go berserk. If that happens... it would be a catastrophe. And in my recollection, the only one who can currently suppress the Nine-Tails' rampage without any effort... seems to be that Golden Divine Bones."
Golden Divine Bones—a title that had spread from the mouth of the Hidden Cloud's Raikage, eventually becoming known to the majority of the shinobi world's powerful figures. A title that represented those words: Uchiha Kagaya.
Also, the reason it was said "the majority of powerful figures knew" was because those who were not powerful—shinobi below Jonin, and even some Jonin—didn't know this title. Even if they had heard it, they didn't know who it represented. Within the Leaf Village, this situation was even more pronounced.
Since the five words "Uchiha Kagaya" had become a taboo, very few people ever brought them up. Gradually, over the span of several years, the number of people who knew those five words had dwindled more and more. Basically, aside from those who had been in the same cohort as Kagaya back then, the vast majority of Chunin and Genin were completely unaware.
In contrast to the Genin and Chunin's utter ignorance, among Jonin and Kage-level shinobi, this name had become an unknown and immensely powerful title. Many had never directly witnessed that man's power, but those who knew of him were all aware of his battle records. Whether it was the Darkness of the Shinobi World or the Fourth Raikage... both had fallen at his hands.
Tsunade pondered for a moment, then spoke. "Even you can't suppress him?"
Jiraiya shook his head.
"If the Nine-Tails goes on a rampage, tails will emerge behind Naruto. The closer the number of tails gets to nine, the closer the power approaches the full might of the Nine-Tails. If Naruto loses control... I can suppress him up to four tails. Five tails... perhaps if I stake my life on it. As for anything beyond that... I've never seen it, nor do I dare to see it, and I certainly don't want to see it."
Tsunade nodded. "I see. So four tails is already your limit?"
Five tails—the degree requiring him to stake his life—was naturally excluded by Tsunade from the category of "able to suppress."
Tsunade continued. "But... do you trust Naruto that little? Perhaps he can keep it in check."
Jiraiya couldn't help but laugh.
"No. It's precisely because I trust that child far too much! Uzumaki Naruto—he is absolutely a disciple whom I, Jiraiya, trust without reservation and am immensely proud of. I am truly fortunate to have taken on such a disciple. I trust him deeply. In order to save his comrade, he will definitely spare no effort whatsoever. That's why I didn't stop him from going to rescue Gaara. Therefore, I dare to assert: Naruto will certainly use the Nine-Tails' power. The degree to which he uses it may be impossible to determine, but the fact that Naruto will use the Nine-Tails' power... that I can assert with certainty! In two years, Naruto has grown extremely fast. But compared to the members of the Akatsuki... I'm afraid he's still somewhat lacking. At the very least, over half a year ago, when Naruto faced that former Akatsuki member, Uchiha Kagaya... he was utterly helpless and couldn't fight back at all. Even when he went berserk, he was suppressed with absolute ease. Of course, that man is certainly far, far stronger than the other Akatsuki members. But still... I believe Naruto is no match for the other Akatsuki members.
Tell me... if Naruto can't defeat the Akatsuki members, at that time, would he choose to give up on rescuing Gaara? Or would he disregard everything and save Gaara no matter the cost? The answer to this question... actually requires no thought at all."
Tsunade pressed her lips together. The answer to that kind of question—did it even need thinking? There was no need to think at all! Naruto would definitely choose to disregard everything and rescue Gaara. When that time came, he would certainly, consciously or unconsciously, borrow the Nine-Tails' power.
"So... is this the reason you didn't accompany Naruto? To go and notify that man?"
Jiraiya shook his head, then nodded.
"Yes... and no. Overall, the main reason is still that I want Naruto to gain some experience for himself. He must eventually spread his wings and soar. He can't stay in a safe place forever, like a fledgling bird. But going to notify that man... can also be considered one of the reasons I didn't go along. After all, it would be useless for me to go with him. Facing one Akatsuki member... I might be able to win. But against two... that's hard to say. And if, during this process, Naruto also goes berserk... then it would truly be a complete disaster. So I need to find someone who can suppress absolutely everything."
Tsunade was silent for a moment, then spoke.
"I understand your reasoning. But... everything before this makes perfect sense now. The current question is: why do you think that man would help you? In other words... what makes you think he would help you?"
Jiraiya scratched his head.
"Before this, I brought Naruto along and saved his comrades. Perhaps I can use that matter to get him to help me just this once."
Tsunade spoke coldly. "That's naive!"
Jiraiya let out a hearty laugh.
"That's true enough. Trying to use something like that to get him to help me... is indeed somewhat naive. If he doesn't agree, there's nothing I can do about it."
Tsunade sighed. "Fine. Then how do you plan to find him?"
Jiraiya smiled.
"That's precisely why I came to find you. I wanted to borrow a few Anbu members from you—ones capable of rapid movement and reconnaissance."
Tsunade pressed a hand to her forehead.
"I knew it!"
********
In the vicinity of Ryuchi Cave.
A faint, subtle flash of light flickered and quickly vanished.
But it was still caught by Kagaya. He looked at the ring on his left pinky. Just now, the character "Azure" on the ring had flickered for an instant.
"Is it broken?"
Kagaya spoke with puzzlement. He didn't know what this meant. This damn ring had just absorbed a tiny wisp of his chakra, and then used it... as a light? Just to flash once?
Hm?
Bizarre ring behavior?
Kagaya had no idea that at this very same moment, in a certain place called the Five-Seal Barrier, nine characters had lit up on the fingers of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. Among them, the only one missing... was his single character, "Azure."