Chapter 221: What is the New Cursed Seal?
After making his decision, the Raikage immediately assigned tasks to his subordinates: they were to head to the major hidden villages to deliver the covenant for mutual development.
The internal redistribution of interests within the Land of Lightning through reforms was nearing its end. What they needed now was no longer to divide the cake, but to make the cake bigger.
These missions were naturally handed over to Killer Bee's team and Yugito. With four of them, it worked out perfectly for each person to visit one hidden village.
As for the key minor village, Amegakure, the Raikage didn't assign it specifically. He let the four of them decide among themselves; whoever went to Iwagakure or Sunagakure would stop by Amegakure on the way back, as it was nearby.
Killer Bee, of course, stayed in the village. This wasn't because the Raikage didn't trust Bee's strength, but because he didn't trust Bee's mouth or his personality to successfully complete a diplomatic mission.
As for Jinchuriki going out on missions? Wasn't that standard operating procedure for every village?
In truth, the only one who had ever been protected like a "precious treasure" was Killer Bee during his time locked away in the The Valley of Clouds and Lightning. Even then, it was because of his status as the Raikage's brother rather than purely because he was a Jinchuriki.
As for the idea that they needed to be extra careful now because someone was hunting Tailed Beasts?
It wasn't as if people hadn't been trying to kidnap Tailed Beasts and Jinchuriki before.
Kumogakure itself was historically the most eager to kidnap other villages' Jinchuriki. They hadn't seen Konoha lock the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki in the village like a "land-bound spirit," had they? He was still out there performing all sorts of missions.
Besides, Yugito was a Jinchuriki who could freely control her Tailed Beast transformation, an existence second only to a Perfect Jinchuriki. If anyone dared to try something during a diplomatic meeting, the combined rampage of the Two-Tails and Yugito would be more than enough to give any village a massive headache.
In the end, the four of them split the diplomatic duties.
Omoi was assigned the furthest destination, Kirigakure in the Land of Water, along with some smaller nations along the way, such as the Land of Waves. If intelligence suggested they had already joined the alliance, he would need to formalize the ties.
Karui would head to the Land of Fire, Yugito to the Land of Earth, and Samui to the Land of Wind.
Yugito had volunteered for the Land of Earth on purpose. As mentioned, if someone harbored ill intentions during diplomacy, a Tailed Beast rampaging inside their village would be no small matter. A Tailed Beast can attack recklessly, but can a Kage responsible for protecting the village do the same?
By going to Iwagakure, Yugito wanted to test whether the village with the current worst relations with Kumogakure could actually finalize an alliance. If even Iwagakure could set aside their grudges, it would mean the credibility of the information she'd received would rise to another level. And if Iwagakure did try something... well, she had been suppressed for quite a while at Hozuki Castle and was looking for an excuse to cut loose.
As for Amegakure, which seemingly played a decisive, leading role in the alliance, or rather, as for Shiromo: Yugito (going to Iwagakure) and Samui (going to Sunagakure) decided to meet up and head there together after finishing their respective missions. After all, the Land of Rain was sandwiched right in the middle.
---
Shiromo's group crossed the ocean and returned to the mainland.
The road back to Amegakure shared the same path as Ryuzetsu's return to Kusagakure, so Shiromo's party traveled together with Ryuzetsu and the prisoner Mui, whose chakra was sealed.
As they passed through the Land of Grass, Tsunade, in her capacity as Hokage, handed Mui over to Kusagakure for imprisonment and briefly recounted the events at Hozuki Castle. The people of Kusagakure didn't seem to mind; after all, they had sent Ryuzetsu specifically to stop Mui. They were well aware of Mui's intentions.
"As for Ryuzetsu..."
When it came to Ryuzetsu at the end, Tsunade wore a difficult expression.
"Hokage-sama, there is no need to say more. I understand. We all understand." the Kusagakure representative said with a look of knowing.
After a few more words of idle chatter, Tsunade bid them farewell and returned to the group.
Ryuzetsu remained with the team. That's right, she didn't plan on returning to Kusagakure.
After Uchiha Hikari had questioned her about Karin's situation, Ryuzetsu had a realization. She had stopped Mui for the sake of the entire Shinobi World, not for Kusagakure. The greedy, unrestrained ninjas of Kusagakure had drained the life out of Karin's mother; they would surely do the same to a second person.
Once the people of Kusagakure learned of her Dragon Life Resurrection, she would be turned into nothing more than a total tool, a living med-kit. Furthermore, her technique wasn't even a Kekkei Genkai. If some ambitious person forced her to teach the move to others, and then forced those people to transfer their life force and chakra to himself...
So, Ryuzetsu had told Shiromo on the road that she wanted to leave Kusagakure. Joining Amegakure was a perfectly fine option for her.
Coincidentally, when the Kusagakure ninjas saw Tsunade's troubled expression, someone immediately guessed wrong, assuming Ryuzetsu had died completing her mission. After all, looking at Ryuzetsu's strength, she wasn't particularly powerful. Sending her to deal with the Box of Ultimate Bliss and Mui, who commanded the entire force of Hozuki Castle, was roughly equivalent to Takigakure sending Kakuzu to assassinate the First Hokage.
"Thank you. I feel much lighter now that I've left that place," Ryuzetsu said, stretching her arms and thanking Shiromo after they crossed the border of the Land of Grass.
Actually, Ryuzetsu had initially tried to talk to Uchiha Hikari on the road, but Hikari stubbornly ignored her entirely. It was a complete 180 from the "warm-hearted" way she had rescued Yugito. With no other choice, Ryuzetsu turned her attention to Shiromo.
As for Tsunade? People from small villages rarely had good feelings toward the Great Shinobi Villages, even if Tsunade's abilities and personality fit Ryuzetsu's expectations.
By contrast, the rumors about Amegakure among the smaller villages had been very positive lately. Located in the center, if a village is weak, it becomes a battlefield for the Four Great Nations where residents suffer through endless war. But if it is strong, then all roads lead to Rome, it becomes the heart of the world.
---
Upon returning to Amegakure, Shiromo's first priority was to confirm whether the chakra collected from these two waves was sufficient. After receiving a positive answer, Shiromo knew the plan could finally commence.
As for Kurama Yakumo's physical condition, after the injection of life force from Tsunade and a bit of light exercise, she was already able to move normally. To maximize her ability to turn "illusion into reality," Uchiha Hikari and Shiromo simply needed to use their enhancement abilities simultaneously.
However, the main issue now was gathering everyone to ensure nothing could go wrong. The "everyone" here did not include those out on missions, those coordinating the economy in the village, or those serving as security in the Land of Waves.
The most important one was...
"Where did Orochimaru run off to?"
"Konoha?"
Upon hearing from Yakushi Kabuto that Orochimaru had gone to Konoha, Shiromo wondered for a moment if Orochimaru had suffered a relapse of his "old illness" and wanted to destroy Konoha while Tsunade was away. Otherwise, why go to Konoha for no reason?
To go grave robbing?
"Orochimaru-sama developed a new Cursed Seal and wanted to find someone to test it on..." Yakushi Kabuto's expression was extremely strange as he answered Shiromo's question.
"A Cursed Seal? Well, that's a good thing," Shiromo said, surprised.
He hadn't expected Orochimaru to develop another Cursed Seal beyond the Cursed Seal of Heaven and Earth. It seemed the original plot had truly restricted Orochimaru's scientific development.
(End of this chapter)