"I'm going to kill you!!!"
Grief and rage almost drove the Waterfall Ninja Leader mad. He quickly formed hand signs, gathering streams of water around his body.
Water Release: Rapid Stream Shredding Blade!
Spiraling streams of water, similar to the Hard Vortex Water Blade, converged on his hands. The Waterfall Ninja Leader charged toward the Masked Man who had appeared beside the Jinchuriki's corpse.
"Die!!"
The Masked Man stood there as if stunned, allowing the Waterfall Ninja Leader to stab toward him without making any attempt to defend himself.
The water vortex pierced the opponent's body, but the Waterfall Ninja Leader felt only lightness in his hands, as if he had stabbed a mass of air. He stumbled forward a few steps due to momentum.
The next instant, the figure before him changed again; the one he had pierced had become the young Jinchuriki once more.
This time, he could even see blood flowing from the child's nose and mouth, the lifeless eyes staring at him, seemingly asking why.
The Waterfall Ninja Leader abruptly turned his head. The spot where earth spikes and weapons had intersected was empty, without a trace. That gruesome, bloody spectacle was like a phantom dream.
Was everything before fake?
Then this one now... is it real or not?!
He dispersed the Water Release. A warm, sticky sensation came from his hands; the rich, fresh scent of blood confirmed that this time was absolutely real.
So... he still killed the Jinchuriki with his own hands??
Even though he was battle-hardened, the Waterfall Ninja Leader couldn't withstand such repeated psychological assaults. With his mind severely shaken, his internal injuries flared up, causing him to cough up a mouthful of blood and his legs to give out, dropping him to his knees.
"Lord Leader!"
"Are you alright, sir?!"
"Where are the Medical Ninja!"
The subordinates were all greatly alarmed. Two guards came to support him, one on each side. One of them tried to take the body of the deceased Jinchuriki but discovered there was nothing there.
The Jinchuriki's corpse, the blood on the Waterfall Ninja Leader's hands, the sweet and pungent stench of blood... all vanished completely, as if they had never existed.
It was... Genjutsu again...?!
Clap, clap, clap... That wicked devil stood atop a giant rock, the small, sleeping Jinchuriki placed by his feet, slowly clapping his hands, applauding the excellent show he had witnessed.
His cloak's hood had slipped off unnoticed, fully exposing the mask that looked both crying and laughing. Coupled with the clapping, the gesture was full of mockery.
"...You bastard!!!"
The Waterfall Ninja Leader swallowed the sweet, metallic taste rising in his throat, shook off his subordinates' support, stepped forward two paces, and demanded.
"Why are you toying with us like this?! What do you want?!"
The Masked Man stopped clapping, answering with a proud and playful tone, like a superior granting favor to ants who had performed diligently beneath him.
"For no reason," he said. "Just a diversion when I'm bored."
The Waterfall Ninja Leader laughed out of extreme anger, but he hadn't completely lost his composure. He knew his subordinates should be closing in to surround the area. Once the formation was complete, even if this guy were possessed by the god of shinobi, it would take effort for him to escape.
Thus, he tried to stall for time through conversation: "Stealing a Jinchuriki—do you realize you will have no place left to stand in the entire Ninja World!!"
The night wind brushed past the Masked Man's unbound long hair, bringing his cold laughter down from above.
"No matter how much hatred ants hold, it has no weight."
Chakra fluctuations indicating the formation's completion spread from the surroundings; the encirclement was complete.
Just as the Waterfall Ninja Leader was about to order everyone to attack, the Masked Man's body began to crumble, disintegrating from bottom to top into tiny fragments, about to vanish into the wind along with the Jinchuriki.
"Seize him!!"
The Waterfall Ninja leaped up and lunged at the enemy, but they were still a step too late.
Before the attack arrived, the Masked Man had completely dissolved into nothingness... Along the way, Naraku had simply tossed Fu to the White Zetsu, showing no concern for her whatsoever. He quickly returned to the Mountain Prison and entered the underground space.
Madara glanced up at the results of the battle, then instructed Black Zetsu, who had just returned with him and hadn't yet caught his breath, to take the Jinchuriki to the Gedo Statue to absorb the Tailed Beast.
"If there is any news later, I will have Black Zetsu inform you. Now, get back."
"So heartless~ Am I just Lord Madara's little slave, summoned and dismissed at will?"
"If you can kill Uchiha Naraku, you can stay here permanently and won't need to return to Konoha." Madara seemed displeased, his tone containing a hint of probing he himself hadn't noticed: "What right does a foolish brat who can't even accomplish such a small thing have to complain?"
"That's only because your medicine woke him up, otherwise I wouldn't have had to find another opportunity... Wait a minute, Lord Madara."
Before he finished complaining, Naraku pretended to just realize something, asking dramatically, "Don't tell me I have to capture the other eight Tailed Beasts all by myself from now on?"
Black Zetsu was speechless: Isn't that obvious?
Does Uchiha Madara, an old man who is about to die of old age, look like he can go fight Tailed Beasts?
"So I really am the only laborer? Lord Madara, you're abusing child labor!"
When Madara heard the phrase "find another opportunity," he understood that "Uchiha Naraku" wouldn't disappear anytime soon, and his mood lightened considerably. He retorted with a faint sneer, "Who said you were alone? Didn't that Miscellaneous Bloodline Limit join your group before?"
"But that's still only two people! No way, hand her over!"
He took off the Masked Man mask, his body reverting to his youthful appearance. He took the small Jinchuriki from Black Zetsu's hands, shook her, and checked her over repeatedly.
His manner was so rough and casual that Black Zetsu couldn't help but reach out beneath the child to guard her, afraid Naraku might accidentally drop her and kill her.
If that happened, the Seven-Tails would have to be captured again, which would be very troublesome.
"Good, she's alive~ Instead of just extracting the Tailed Beast, I have a fun idea that won't waste anything."
Black Zetsu saw the hidden madness in "Jin's" eyes slowly rise to the surface, solidifying into tangible malice.
"How about turning her into our weapon? Using a Tailed Beast to catch Tailed Beasts—cannibalism among their kind. It sounds interesting no matter how you look at it."
To him, Tailed Beasts seemed no different from grasshoppers in a roadside bush; their greatest value in existence was their ability to bring him temporary amusement.
"I want to see which of the Nine Tailed Beasts is stronger Please, Lord Madara"
"We'd have to wait ten years for her to grow up enough to become a fighting force; that's too long," Black Zetsu tried to stop the unreliable idea. "If something goes wrong in the meantime, wouldn't today's effort be wasted?"
"Lord Madara himself gave the Rinnegan to the one named Nagato, waiting for him to grow up before using him. Why can't I do the same?"
"But what if the Jinchuriki betrays us later—"
Naraku sharply threw his Spear. Black Zetsu reacted incredibly fast, leaving only a small detached edge pinned to the ground before gradually sinking into the soil.
However, this attack was mostly a display of force, and Naraku hadn't used his full power, nor did he expect to seriously harm Black Zetsu.
"If someone we raise and brainwash from childhood can still betray us, just how useless are you, Black Zetsu~"
"Shut up!" Madara interrupted with an impatient wave of his hand. "Do it that way. It's only the Seven-Tails."
It wasn't just "Jin" who didn't take it seriously; Madara himself looked down on any Tailed Beast other than the Nine-Tailed. The Seven-Tails was useless except for its ability to fly; if they lost it, they could just capture it again.