Later that night, still in Taki territory, the group was sitting near a campfire roasting fish.
Utakata was sleeping, or rather, pretending to be sleeping, but unfortunately for him, Jugo could feel his soul vibrating. He smiled slightly as he looked at the bound man leaning against a fallen tree trunk.
His head was bowed, his hair covering his eyes, the chains binding him were adamantine sealing chains, connected to Jugo.
The clone couldn't regenerate chakra, but it could absorb chakra, so the chains were constantly absorbing Utakata's and the Six-Tail's chakra, allowing them to last longer.
-Hey, man, I know you're awake.- Jugo said lightly, drawing the attention of the three around him.
Utakata didn't move, Jugo sighed and began to tighten the chains, a soft moan was heard as he gave up pretending and lifted his head.
He first looked at Kimimaro, then at Jugo, observing how the group behaved, Jugo was clearly the leader.
-Who are you?- Utakata finally asked in a weak voice.
-Jugo, leader of Otogakure. - Jugo spoke lightly.
Utakata's lips trembled as he felt his chakra steadily draining, it was weak, but persistent.
-What do you want from me?- Utakata asked again, feeling that he wouldn't be able to escape these chains, even his connection to the six tails couldn't be felt.
-Didn't Kimimaro tell you? I came to recruit you.- Jugo replied nonchalantly.
-Is this how you recruit?- Utakata asked, slightly indignant.
-Well, not always, but you're an exception, you know that.- Jugo gave a slight smile, looking at the fish still roasting on the fire, unfortunately, he couldn't eat it like a clone.
Utakata remained silent for a moment, his head bowing slightly.
-You'd better kill me, I have no interest in joining your village.- He raised his head, his eyes fierce but resolute.
Jugo had no doubt, one thing the Hidden Mist has in abundance is ninjas with convictions so firm that they would rather die than give them up.
You can reason with them, but force them? Sorry, they'd rather commit suicide.
Among the five great villages, because of the "blood mist", the Hidden Mist Village has the ninjas with the weakest sense of identity, they are like blades without handles.
Jugo didn't care about Utakata's refusal, instead, he became thoughtful.
Should I turn him into a werewolf?
This was a difficult decision, on one hand, Utakata hadn't done anything to him, and on the other, as a ninja from the Blood Mist period, his hands were hardly clean.
It was a matter of morality again, he had hoped to bring Utakata willingly, but when the time came, it was difficult to think of a valid reason.
Utakata currently has no relatives or friends and has no connection to Jugo or the Hidden Sound Village.
So the difficulty of bringing him inside is tremendous, Jugo could corrupt him with energy from the Tenebrous World, but that was no different from turning him into a werewolf, using brainwashing to make him loyal.
Instead, Jugo began to consider another possibility: extracting the Six-Tails from within Utakata.
Jugo began to think of ways to do this without killing him and soon he remembered the only Jinchuuriki who died and returned, Gaara. How did he do it? With Chiyo's technique.
Donating vitality, that's a good technique. If Jugo finds some villains and transforms them into werewolves, then makes them learn this technique and voluntarily donate their lives... wouldn't he have endless vital donation machines?
The eternal life that Orochimaru craved was easily achieved through this method, but Jugo didn't need it, he could become immortal simply by advancing his sequence. Even so, it would be useful for his subordinates.
Lost in thought, he ignored Utakata while he pondered what to do.
Utakata narrowed his eyes but said nothing, he didn't know that his fate was constantly hanging by a thread while Jugo was thinking.
Jugo's clone accompanied the four on the way back to keep Utakata imprisoned, constantly thinking about what to do with the man. The journey took only two days, and when they arrived, Jugo took Utakata directly to his real body.
Jugo had been operating within the village during those days, causing many people to get scared, which improved his progress, but it was still slow. Jugo had not yet been able to find the key point for the Wraith potion, so he could only rely on the bare minimum.
As soon as the clone with Utakata informed the clone in the central tower of what had happened, it dissolved and the original body quickly returned upon receiving the clone's memories.
He looked at the weak Utakata, who could barely sit on the wooden floor of his office. Utakata had been constantly drained during these past few days, leaving him extremely weak now.
The amount of chakra Jugo recovered when the clone dissipated almost caused him to lose control for a moment. It had been a long time since the curse of this body had affected him and he had almost forgotten about it, but when the massive amount of Saiken's chakra entered him, his curse nearly made him lose control.
Jugo took a few moments to compose himself with a heavy sigh.
Note to self: "Don't absorb all of a Biju's chakra at once."
Utakata looked at Jugo, feeling confused. Was the one carrying him a clone all this time? He found it strange that the man wasn't eating, but he figured he was relying on soldier pills or dry rations.
Sighing, he had already seen the village when he was being dragged by the clone, no one questioned why Jugo had captured him, but everyone looked at Jugo with a look of reverence.
He sensed that his future was bleak, it was likely they would extract the six tails and kill him in the process.
Jugo was thinking exactly that, but he didn't really want to kill Utakata. He felt the guy didn't deserve to die, he just wanted to live in peace. Killing him would leave a bad taste in Jugo's mouth.
Sighing, he considered the clone plan, for that, he needed Chiyo's Jutsu. How could he obtain it? He thought about sending Kimimaro again, but that could trigger a war with Suna.
No, he needed to be much more stealthy, like a Wraith, he'd have to do it alone this time.
Jugo shook his head and approached Utakata, he opened his Yukata, over the man's irritated but helpless eyes, and began to quickly seal it, finally sinking his fingers into Utakata's stomach.
Utakata screamed in pain as a cluster of symbols rapidly formed on his stomach. Jugo was tightening the seal on the Six-Tails, he didn't want it to appear and destroy the village he had worked so hard to build.
-Guren. - Jugo called softly, and the woman jumped out of the shadows.
Suigetsu went after Kiba, and Kimimaro went to find his squad. Only Guren was with him, the woman knelt with one knee in front of him and awaited his orders.
-Put him under house arrest, have those four idiots take turns keeping an eye on him, give him a vacant house in the center of the village, as long as he doesn't try to escape, there's no need to restrain him.- Jugo spoke lightly. Utakata's seal not only tightened Saiken's grip but also affected his chakra circulation, now, even a Chunin could handle him.
Utakata was already unconscious at that point, so he didn't hear the order, otherwise, he would have been surprised.
-Yes.- Guren agreed, put Utakata on her shoulder and jumped away.
Jugo looked out the window at the village full of houses and activity that he had built. Whenever he stayed here, he felt fulfilled. He didn't quite understand why, but he liked what he saw.
Perhaps that was the feeling of the creators of each village.
Watch what you've built thrive.
The village's economy no longer depends on the Daimyo, instead, the funds sent by the Daimyo are used for Orochimaru's research. Jugo, instead, used the Wood Release to boost the village's agriculture, not producing rice to steal the country's business, but focusing on the sweet aspect.
Fruits are transformed into all kinds of products, mainly dried fruits, which have a long shelf life and are a favorite of merchants.
The land of fire used to be the largest exporter of fruits and vegetables, but now it's on track to steal that title.
Sure, this led to an increase in the infiltration rate in the country, but Jugo still kept clones keeping an eye on it.
Shaking his head, he looked away from the village and transformed into Wraith, disappearing from the room. Only Jugo's clone, responsible for political affairs, remained at the table, his lips trembling with irritation, but he sighed and began to read yet another report.