"What a bunch of weaklings."
Ning Feng spat lightly.
The wounds he had sustained during his charge through the battlefield were already healing at a visible rate.
At the same time, the poison left behind by the puppet masters' attacks was being rapidly expelled from his body.
This was the strength of his physique.
Most poisons and attacks were nearly meaningless against him now.
His regeneration was comparable to Hashirama Senju's.
"Y-You're the Rain Shadow!"
Suddenly, one of the Sunagakure ninja recognized him.
His face changed dramatically as he shouted.
By now, the title of Rain Shadow had spread throughout the shinobi world.
Not only because of his ruthless methods, but also because of his strength, which stood at the pinnacle of the ninja world.
"Our Sunagakure has no grudge against you! Why are you trying to wipe us out?!"
The ninja shouted indignantly.
Ning Feng didn't bother replying.
He simply swung his sword.
Slash!
A head flew into the air.
For insignificant people who couldn't understand the situation, Ning Feng couldn't even be bothered to waste words.
"That's enough."
Looking at the defeated Sunagakure forces, a faint smile appeared on Ning Feng's lips.
Then he vanished with Flying Thunder God, leaving the battlefield behind.
At the same time, the Konoha forces who had witnessed what happened suddenly turned around and launched a counterattack against the retreating Sunagakure ninja.
Kumogakure – Valley of Clouds and Lightning
"So this is the Two-Tails jinchūriki?"
The area that should have been Killer B's place of confinement was now a complete ruin.
The ground was covered in scars left behind by countless ninjutsu.
Even the surrounding mountains had been flattened.
Sitting atop the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, Uchiha Madara calmly watched as the statue extracted chakra from an unconscious female shinobi.
She was Yugito Nii, the Two-Tails jinchūriki.
Madara had subdued her with almost no effort.
"Next are the One-Tails and Six-Tails..."
Madara muttered.
As he looked toward Kumogakure in the distance, where lightning flashed across the sky, an unreadable glint appeared in his eyes.
Because he possessed the Rinnegan and had summoned the Demonic Statue himself, the sealing process was incredibly fast.
In only a short time, one of the statue's closed eyes slowly opened.
"Why hasn't Black Zetsu reported back yet?"
After seeing the extraction completed, Madara stepped over Yugito's corpse and walked away.
Ning Feng currently possessed the One-Tails, Four-Tails, Five-Tails, Seven-Tails, Eight-Tails, and Nine-Tails.
Meanwhile, Madara had only just acquired the Two-Tails.
"Could he know something about the Sage of Six Paths as well?"
Madara couldn't help but suspect that Ning Feng knew about the Sage of Six Paths and the Ten-Tails.
Otherwise, why would he be collecting tailed beasts so aggressively?
However, Ning Feng hadn't formed a contract with the Demonic Statue, so he shouldn't be able to summon it.
And from appearances, he didn't seem to know how to seal tailed beasts either.
Then how exactly was he handling all those beasts he had gathered?
Normally, even becoming the jinchūriki of a single tailed beast was already the limit for a human body.
At this rate, Ning Feng was actually closer to the realm of the Sage of Six Paths than Madara himself.
Although Madara had no idea what Ning Feng was doing with the tailed beasts...
If Ning Feng were allowed to continue, Madara would never become the second Sage of Six Paths and complete the Eye of the Moon Plan.
"I'll head to Kirigakure's territory next."
Madara knew the Six-Tails jinchūriki should be somewhere near the Land of Water.
If he could obtain the remaining tailed beasts before Ning Feng...
Then all he would need to do was defeat Ning Feng and take the beasts from him.
At that point, he would become the second Sage of Six Paths.
Amegakure
"You're saying the Six-Tails jinchūriki has already been brought back?"
Inside the tower of Amegakure, Ning Feng looked somewhat surprised at the handsome young man standing before him.
The shinobi had long flowing hair, a calm expression, and wore a blue haori.
He was none other than Utakata, the Six-Tails jinchūriki.
Though his face appeared calm, Ning Feng could clearly see traces of nervousness in his eyes through his Sharingan.
"My lord, thanks to your foresight, I borrowed several Hyūga clan shinobi from Konoha and brought them along to search Kirigakure."
Beside him, Yahiko stepped forward with a smile.
Long ago, Ning Feng had instructed him to bring sensory ninja from Amegakure and Hyūga shinobi from Konoha.
The combination would greatly increase the efficiency of locating jinchūriki.
The sensory ninja could detect chakra signatures.
The Hyūga could pinpoint exact locations.
As a result, they found Utakata very quickly.
"You've carried the burden of being a jinchūriki and suffered enough condemnation."
Ning Feng slowly walked forward.
Though Utakata's expression remained calm, his hand unconsciously tightened around the blowpipe he carried.
His eyes also filled with caution.
Help him find relief?
Did that mean killing him or extracting the Six-Tails?
As a jinchūriki, he had spent his entire life being coveted by others.
He had also endured endless scorn from the people around him.
Only after Kirigakure's destruction had all of that finally ended.
Was the Rain Shadow after the Six-Tails inside him?
Thinking of that, Utakata instinctively took a step backward.
Though Ning Feng looked younger than he did...
The pressure emanating from him was more terrifying than any shinobi Utakata had ever met.
"Relax. It's not like I've only dealt with one or two tailed beasts."
Ning Feng glanced at him and said dismissively,
"If I weren't so merciful, I'd have ripped the Six-Tails out of you already."
"Just cooperate. Once I find a proper method, your life won't be in danger."
There was no explicit threat in his tone.
Yet Utakata felt chills run down his spine.
That pressure...
"Take him away and let him rest."
Seeing Utakata standing there in stunned silence, Ning Feng immediately lost interest.
He waved casually, and the nearby ANBU escorted him away.
In the original story, Utakata had been a relatively minor jinchūriki.
Even the Six-Tails itself had never been particularly remarkable.
Compared to the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails, the other tailed beasts often felt like afterthoughts.
"Yahiko, this turned out to be an unexpected gain."
Ning Feng nodded approvingly and patted Yahiko on the shoulder.
"How are things on Nagato's side?"
Only the Two-Tails remained before all nine tailed beasts would be gathered.
Once he sealed them all within himself, he should finally possess the qualifications necessary to become the Sage of Six Paths.
However...
To this day, he still hadn't sensed the existence of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
Any Rinnegan wielder should theoretically be capable of summoning it.
Yet he felt absolutely no connection to it.
"Could it be that Madara already summoned it and it became his contracted summon?"
The question had troubled Ning Feng for a long time.
Still, as long as he gathered all nine tailed beasts into himself, Madara would never be able to revive the Demonic Statue properly.
Against someone carrying all nine tailed beasts, Madara wouldn't stand a chance.
"As for Nagato..."
Yahiko hesitated before continuing.
"He said the Fourth Raikage returned to the village, so he temporarily withdrew."
"And after a massive chakra disturbance erupted at the Valley of Clouds and Lightning, he went to investigate once things settled down."
"When he arrived, all that remained was devastation."
"What?"
Ning Feng's expression immediately changed.
🌟 The story is already written… waiting to be unleashed.
Claim early access on Patreon: patreon.com/c/LuneWriter
🔓 You hold the keys to bonus chapters:
💬 10 reviews ignite 1 bonus chapter
🔷 200 Power Stones summon another
🔥 Your power determines how fast the tale unfolds.