"Isn't the Nine-Tails supposed to be really big?" Uchiha Haru asked curiously from the side.
According to the records of the Uchiha clan, the Nine-Tails is enormous—nothing like what I look like right now.
"This is a part that split off from the Nine-Tails."
Yuki Seisui shook his head and explained, "This isn't the Nine-Tails people are familiar with."
"A split-off part of the Nine-Tails?" Jiraiya frowned. "So you're saying… there are two Nine-Tails inside you?"
"Yes."
Seisui nodded. "There are two Nine-Tails inside me—one big, one small. The smaller one is called Little Nine. It's a Nine-Tails that was only born not long ago."
"Its power is still relatively weak."
"In that case, does that mean I can beat up the Nine-Tails?" Minato asked excitedly from the side.
"I read in a book that the Nine-Tails is incredibly powerful," Minato continued eagerly. "I want to take advantage of it being weak and give it a beating. Is that okay?"
As he spoke, Minato looked at Seisui with hopeful eyes.
Seisui looked at Minato expressionlessly, as if he were staring at a clueless husky.
"Minato, did you forget my chakra cannon and Tailed Beast Bomb?"
"No matter how weak it is, it's still a tailed beast—not something ordinary ninja can compare to."
"One Tailed Beast Bomb, and an entire ninja army would be wiped out."
Hearing this, Minato recalled the terror of being dominated by the "chakra cannon."
The exaggerated range. The absurd destructive power. Even his Flying Raijin couldn't escape that massive blast of chakra.
Minato swallowed hard and gave an awkward laugh. "Then… let's forget it. You did say that before."
"We should respect the old and cherish the young. Little Nine is so cute—we shouldn't bully it."
"Heh." Seisui let out a cold laugh. "You can go bully it if you want."
"If Little Nine can't beat you, Kurama will be waiting for you."
"Kurama… that's the real Nine-Tails, right?" Jiraiya asked seriously.
Seisui nodded. "Mm."
"Tailed beasts are intelligent beings. Naturally, they have names."
"The Nine-Tails' name is Kurama."
"The little one is called Little Nine."
"So, Jiraiya-sensei, you understand what I mean, right?"
As he spoke, Seisui stood up and continued, "I don't agree with the First Hokage's approach."
"Rather than saying tailed beasts are incarnations of natural disasters, it's more accurate to say humans forced them to become that way."
Seeing that no one spoke, Seisui went on, "Think about it. If you lived freely in the wild—sleeping and moving as you pleased—"
"And someone came to hunt you, what would you do?"
"Of course we'd kill them all!" Uchiha Haru said, her tone tinged with killing intent.
Minato nodded from the side, clearly agreeing.
"That's exactly why people call them incarnations of disaster, the root of calamity."
"No one provoked them first, and they didn't provoke humans."
"Yet the First Hokage, without a word, decided their power was too great and needed to be restrained—so he captured and imprisoned them."
As he said this, Seisui couldn't help but click his tongue and shake his head.
"If that were me, I'd come out and destroy everything."
"They're clearly intelligent beings that can communicate, yet they're treated like mindless beasts and monsters. Ordinary people want to hunt them, and even someone as powerful as the First Hokage seals them away."
"So… you've already reconciled with the Nine-Tails?" Jiraiya asked, a trace of anticipation in his eyes.
A Jinchuriki who reconciles with a tailed beast is known in the ninja world as a Perfect Jinchuriki—an existence of terrifying power.
Hearing Jiraiya's question, Seisui nodded slowly. "Yes. We've reconciled."
"And Kurama and Little Nine have become my summoned beasts."
As he spoke, a smile appeared on his face. He extended one hand and clenched it tightly.
"And because I have two Nine-Tails inside me, I can summon one of them directly."
"Jiraiya-sensei, do you know what that means?" Seisui said with a smile, looking at him.
Seeing Seisui like this, Jiraiya felt momentarily dazed. Back when he first took him as a student, this kid had just been a brat. Now, his strength had already surpassed his own.
No… it has completely surpassed mine.
Jiraiya didn't believe for a second that Seisui had no other tricks up his sleeve.
Just Kurama alone was enough for Seisui to surpass him. Add in his other methods, and Seisui already possessed the power to fight an entire nation by himself.
Jiraiya thought this to himself, but answered without hesitation.
"It means you can summon the Nine-Tails and use it as a summoning beast."
Seisui: "…"
What I just said came right back around like a boomerang and smacked me in the face.
"Doesn't that mean you can summon the Nine-Tails onto the battlefield and wipe out all the Sand ninja?" Minato said, rubbing his chin.
"Sounds possible," Uchiha Haru nodded in agreement.
"Don't even think about it. You can't do that."
Jiraiya shook his head in refusal. "If the Nine-Tails shows up here first, the other battlefields won't hold back."
"They'll definitely deploy their tailed beasts too."
"The best option is to wait for the Sunagakure's One-Tail to appear first, and then summon the Nine-Tails. Otherwise, if the other villages use their tailed beasts right away, we won't be able to handle it."
"Tailed beasts are weapons of mutual destruction."
"Not everyone can make a tailed beast fight willingly."
As he said this, Jiraiya glanced at Seisui. He had no doubt about Seisui's words.
"Once a tailed beast appears on the battlefield, it doesn't distinguish friend from foe—everything is carpet-bombed."
"That's why tailed beasts aren't something you can use lightly."
"The old man must have told you this already, right?"
Seisui nodded. "Grandpa Third told me to stay in the main camp until the One-Tail appears. Once it does, I summon the Nine-Tails."
"Mm. That really is the best plan." Jiraiya nodded.
"But I don't plan on keeping you stuck in the main camp."
"I know your strength very well. The old man and the others think your power declined because your eyesight and ocular power weakened—but you're a freak."
"Even if you went blind, I'd still believe you'd recover."
Jiraiya said this while staring at Seisui seriously.
Hearing this, Seisui pushed up his glasses and gave an embarrassed smile. "My ocular power and eyesight recovered a long time ago."
"Tsunade checked it herself."
"So I'm actually at my peak right now."
Looking at the glasses Seisui was wearing, Jiraiya fell silent.
After a long while, he finally spoke.
"You little brat… you're really devious."
"You recovered and still wear glasses to pretend you haven't."
"Learned it from you, sensei," Seisui scratched his head.
Jiraiya waved his hands quickly. "No, no, I didn't teach you that."
"If the ninja world turns against you someday, don't drag me into it."
Jiraiya made it very clear he wanted no part of that responsibility.
At that moment, Tsunade lifted the tent flap and walked straight in. Seeing the four of them gathered around a table in discussion, she sat down beside Uchiha Haru without a word.
"What are you talking about?"
As she spoke, Tsunade looked at Jiraiya and raised her fist.
"Having a meeting without calling me?"
Seeing that fist, bigger than a sandbag, Jiraiya hurriedly said, "It's not a meeting! It's not a meeting!"
"I was just checking on their situation."
"What situation could they possibly have?" Tsunade scoffed. "Their strength is enough to sweep through the Sunagakure once."
"There aren't many people in the entire ninja world who can beat even one of them—let alone when the three of them act as a team."
As she spoke, Tsunade glanced at Seisui's glasses. "Especially this brat. He clearly recovered already, yet he's still wearing glasses to make the enemy underestimate him."
"In a way, you've inherited Jiraiya's habit of hiding in dark corners to peep on people."
"What kind of nonsense is that?!" Jiraiya protested indignantly.
"That's research—gathering material and inspiration!"
As he spoke, Jiraiya pulled a small booklet from his robe.
"This is my masterpiece!"
The Tale of the Persevering Ninja!
"It's already published! Soon I'll be a famous novelist!"
Jiraiya slammed his "magnum opus" onto the table.
"This is the opening chapter of The Tale of Jiraiya the Gallant!"
Tsunade picked up the booklet, flipped through a few pages casually, then scoffed again. "Hmph."
"This counts as a novel?"
She tossed the booklet back onto the table.
Jiraiya picked it up, stuffed it back into his robe, and then looked at Seisui and the other two.
"You just arrived—go get some rest first. The journey was rough."
"Come back tomorrow. I'll assign you missions then."
"Okay!" Seisui and the others nodded and left the tent.
After the three of them were gone, Tsunade frowned at Jiraiya. "You know the old man doesn't want Seisui carrying out missions, right?"
"I know." Jiraiya nodded, his expression turning serious. "Tsunade, you don't understand."
"Seisui's future is extremely important. Going on missions now is exactly where he belongs."
As he spoke, Jiraiya grew more animated.
The Great Toad Sage's prophecy echoed endlessly in his ears.
The disappearance of ninja. Ninjutsu being used in everyday life.
Endless fields of wheat stretching to the horizon.
That meant the peace Seisui spoke of had already arrived.
And as someone who knew the prophecy, Jiraiya naturally had to lend a hand.
First, become Hokage. Then, swallow all the nations.
That was Seisui's ambition. And if it could bring about peace, then Seisui's ambition was also Jiraiya's ambition.
As for the people who would die along the way—
Jiraiya was not a hesitant man.
On the contrary, having grown to his current strength, fought in the Second Shinobi World War, battled Hanzo of the Salamander, and now served as the commander of the Sand battlefield in the Third Shinobi World War—
There was already plenty of blood on Jiraiya's hands.
To him, death was something utterly commonplace.
Once you become a ninja, you must be prepared to die.
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