Chapter 140: My Name is Uchiha Daisuke
Heavy footsteps crunched against the gravel of the courtyard. Blue B rose from his seat, his massive frame casting a long shadow across the tatami mats. Through the sliding paper doors, he spotted the imposing figure of the Third Raikage approaching under the moonlight.
He turned back to the blind girl sitting quietly at the table. A gentle hand rested on Ye's frail shoulder, offering a silent reassurance. He scooped an extra portion of warm rice onto her plate, making sure she had enough, before stepping out into the cool night air to greet his leader.
"Lord Raikage," Blue B greeted, bowing his head respectfully.
The Third Raikage peered past him, his sharp gaze fixing on the small, fragile figure eating inside the dimly lit room. "How has she been lately?" he asked, his voice a low rumble.
Blue B considered his words carefully, keeping his tone perfectly measured. "Quite well. She has completely adapted to her life here. She is incredibly well-behaved and never once makes a fuss about wanting to go outside. Haven't the medical teams prepared the surgery on your end? When exactly will we give her the eyes?"
The Third Raikage crossed his thick, muscular arms. He knew his subordinate cared deeply for the girl, and it went far beyond her immense value as a Wood Release user. "Are you absolutely certain she can be trusted now?"
"I am certain." Blue B did not hesitate. He had never encountered a child so docile and eager to please. She was entirely different from the rowdy, ambitious peers he had grown up with in the village. Her sheer obedience was so deep it actively made his heart ache for whatever she had endured before arriving in Kumogakure.
"She has been here long enough," the Third Raikage conceded, his stern expression softening just a fraction. "Since you vouch for her so strongly, I will arrange for the medical corps to perform the transplant surgery tomorrow morning. However, the Anbu monitoring her perimeter cannot be withdrawn. It serves as both surveillance and protection. You understand the necessity."
A flicker of deep dissatisfaction crossed Blue B's features. He hated the idea of keeping the girl locked in a gilded cage. Yet, he was a shinobi of Kumogakure first, and he knew the Raikage was acting in the absolute best interests of the village. Swallowing his frustration, he nodded in silent endurance. At the very least, after holding out for so long, he had finally secured the chance to restore her sight.
Stepping back inside, he found the table exactly as he had left it. Ye had not taken a single bite. Instead, she sat perfectly still, her sightless face turned toward the door, obediently waiting for him to return before she resumed her meal.
Once dinner concluded, Ye immediately took the initiative to clean up. She washed the dishes, wiped down the low wooden table, and even wandered into the courtyard by memory to pluck a fresh bouquet of wildflowers. She arranged them neatly in a ceramic vase, keeping her small hands busy without a single moment of pause.
Finally, she stepped into the center of the yard. Clasping her hands together, she channeled a gentle surge of chakra. A thick, vibrant sapling burst from the soil, rapidly growing into a towering, leafy tree under the moonlight. Since she knew she would be leaving this place tonight, she considered this creation her final parting gift.
Wood Release possessed the unique property of suppressing Tailed Beasts. This newly grown tree radiated a calming, natural aura. With Blue B living in this house, the lingering energy would help keep the massive chakra of the Eight-Tails resting inside him far more submissive and peaceful.
Deep night eventually swallowed the village. It was the perfect hour for travel, murder, and plunder.
The shadows in the corner of Ye's bedroom rippled like dark water. Black Zetsu slowly emerged from the floorboards, bringing the cloaked figure of Uchiha Kou alongside him. On the futon, Ye was already fast asleep, her breathing slow and even, completely unaware of the lethal danger hovering right above her bed.
Kou reached out, her single hand extending toward the sleeping girl's fragile neck.
Just as her fingertips brushed against Ye's skin, the front door of the house exploded inward with a deafening crash. Blue B tore into the room like a literal force of nature. Crackling arcs of blue electricity wreathed his massive body. Under the full activation of the Lightning Release Chakra Mode, his physical speed was pushed to an absolute limit, allowing him to cross the distance in the blink of an eye.
In the pitch-black room, Kou only registered a blinding flash of azure lightning streaking through the confined space. A split second later, the towering Jinchuriki materialized directly in front of her, his massive, calloused hand already lunging forward to snatch Ye away from danger.
Unfortunately for him, Kou possessed reflexes honed through countless life-or-death battles. Her hand clamped down on Ye's collar. With a sharp tug, she hoisted the blind girl off the futon and thrust her forward, using her small body as a living shield. Kou kicked off the floorboards, retreating toward the window with a sharp rush of wind.
She had picked up this incredibly shameless hostage tactic from Mie's memories, and she had to admit, it was a spectacularly useful trick for stalling overpowered meatheads.
Terrified that his lightning armor would scorch the girl, Blue B violently aborted his forward momentum. His boots gouged deep grooves into the wooden floor as he skidded to a halt, forcing a safe distance between them. His facial muscles locked into a grim, murderous scowl. He never expected an assassin to brazenly infiltrate the heavily guarded heart of Kumogakure. His furious gaze swept over the intruder, taking in the distinct details.
"A missing arm. A black cloak," Blue B rumbled, his voice dripping with hostility. "You are Konoha's S-Rank Rogue Ninja. Uchiha Kou."
Kou sighed internally. It truly was a classic case of fame bringing nothing but trouble. Her carefully crafted villainous identity had been completely exposed within a single second of her grand appearance.
"Wrong answer," Kou replied smoothly, her tone dripping with dry amusement. "I am actually Uchiha Daisuke."
Before the Jinchuriki could process the blatantly fake name, Kou's dark eyes flooded with blood-red light. The scarlet Mangekyo Sharingan flared to life, complex pinwheel patterns spinning wildly within her pupils.
The timeline was currently perched before the outbreak of the Second Great Ninja War. Because of this era's limited intelligence network, shinobi from the other hidden villages possessed absolutely zero information regarding the Mangekyo Sharingan's terrifying ability to dominate Tailed Beasts.
Decades ago, when Uchiha Madara had forcibly summoned the Nine-Tails to wage his devastating battle against Mie, the sheer scale of destruction had been apocalyptic. Onlookers had been completely caught in the crossfire, desperately trying to survive the shockwaves, leaving no one alive who actually understood the exact mechanics of what had transpired.
Therefore, Blue B did not back down. More, he did not avert his gaze. In his confident view, combining his own formidable physical strength with the vast, chaotic chakra reserves of a Jinchuriki meant he had absolutely no reason to fear a crippled rogue ninja missing an arm.
Naturally, that arrogance was his immediate downfall. The moment their eyes met, the overwhelming ocular power of Kou's Mangekyo slammed into his mind. The absolute suppression bypassed his physical defenses entirely, crashing down upon both the human host and the colossal Eight-Tails resting inside his belly.
The crackling lightning armor instantly vanished. Blue B's entire massive frame went completely dull, his eyes glazing over as he stood frozen in the center of the ruined bedroom, entirely unable to move a single muscle.
Ye had been jolted fully awake by the commotion. Feeling the cold, unfamiliar grip of a stranger clutching her collar, panic flooded her senses. She thrashed her small body in absolute terror. "Who are you? Let me go!"
"Ye. Have you been having a lot of fun playing house in Kumogakure?" Black Zetsu's raspy, echoing voice drifted in from the shadows near the windowsill.
That horribly familiar voice carried a cold, bone-deep dread that pierced straight through the girl's heart without a shred of warning. Ye's entire body seized up, violently shaking as her voice dissolved into a pathetic tremble. "Pitch-black... no... Lord Black Zetsu..."
Hearing her initial slip of the tongue, the shadowy entity let out a low, chilling laugh. Brainwashed by the warmth of Kumogakure so quickly? What an utterly useless tool.
Black Zetsu harbored absolutely no special feelings or empathy for the blind girl. However, the distinct sensation of his own personal toy being influenced and snatched away by someone else while he was still actively using it caused a dark, possessive anger to flare up in his chest. It left him feeling incredibly frustrated and spiteful.
With a flick of his wrist, he tossed a sharp kunai directly at Ye's feet. The blade embedded itself into the floorboards with a heavy thud. He pointed a dark, shapeless finger toward the paralyzed Jinchuriki and issued a cruel command. "Pick it up. Kill him, and then come back with me."
Ye froze, completely stunned by the order.
A few feet away, Uchiha Kou was equally stunned.
Black Zetsu had to be completely out of his mind. This man was the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki. If the host was assassinated right now, the Tailed Beast sealed inside him would also temporarily die, dissipating into pure chakra. God only knew how many years it would take for the beast to naturally reform in the wild. Wasn't this ancient mastermind terrified that delaying the Eight-Tails' rebirth would severely bottleneck his grand, centuries-long resurrection plans?
"No... I can't kill him..." Ye shook her head violently, her pale hair whipping back and forth. Even without seeing her eyes, the sheer desperation and resistance radiating from her trembling body language was overwhelming.
She desperately stumbled backward, her bare feet scraping against the wood. It was as if she believed that simply putting enough physical distance between herself and the shadowy monster would somehow allow her to escape this terrifying, suffocating nightmare.
"You dare disobey me?" Black Zetsu hissed. This broken tool, who had always been perfectly obedient to his every whim, actually dared to say no. His dark rage boiled over into pure malice. Without a single second of hesitation, he formed a hand seal and activated the Cursed Seal branded onto Ye's flesh.
An irresistible, agonizing pain instantly erupted from the center of her heart. The torment traveled outward like venom, flooding into her limbs and sinking deep into her bones. It felt as though her very blood and soul were being scorched by invisible hellfire. Every muscle fiber and every single cell in her fragile body screamed and roared in absolute agony.
Ye collapsed, letting out a shrill, bloodcurdling scream that tore through the silent night. She curled into a tight ball on the floor, violently convulsing as the torture overwhelmed her nervous system.
Across the room, Blue B remained trapped within the Mangekyo's illusion. Yet, the sheer volume of that agonizing scream seemed to pierce through the mental suppression, violently jolting his dormant consciousness awake. Deep within his mind, the Jinchuriki began to struggle incessantly against the invisible chains binding him.
His free will was actively being overridden. The caster's overwhelming ocular prowess easily dominated his physical motor functions and hijacked his brain, forcing his massive body to stand completely motionless like a wooden puppet on a stage.
But the sound of that little girl screaming in pure agony caused his internal resolve to harden into steel. Who was doing this? Why were they torturing Ye?
Sensing the Jinchuriki's immense willpower violently pushing back against her control, Kou gritted her teeth. She ruthlessly increased the chakra output of her Sharingan, flooding his mind with even heavier ocular power to bind him to the spot once more. The strain was immense. A single, dark drop of blood leaked from the corner of her spinning eye, tracing a warm path down her pale cheek.
'He is struggling so intensely,'Kou thought, maintaining her calm, detached facade despite the physical toll.'Luckily, my visual prowess is just strong enough to keep this monster on a leash.'
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