A trace of surprise flashed in Tōshirō's eyes, and he thought to himself—no wonder he possesses such explosive power.
Among the nine Tailed Beasts, each has its own unique traits. The ability of the Five-Tails is Boil Release.
By using Boil Release, one can raise their chakra to the boiling point and then unleash it in an instant, greatly enhancing both speed and strength.
Among all the jutsu, those that can enhance taijutsu are extremely rare.
As the Jinchūriki of the Five-Tails, Tōshirō had access to this ability.
Out of all the Tailed Beast abilities, the power of the Five-Tails aligned best with Tōshirō's.
And more importantly, Boil Release could be fused with Ice Release to form a Kekkei Tōta (Bloodline Elimination).
As he thought of all this, Tōshirō couldn't help but daydream about the moment he acquired Boil Release.
But as if something suddenly came to mind, the look of longing on his face was overshadowed by a gloomy expression.
It was too much of a coincidence—everything just fit too perfectly.
Where there's a strange cause, there must be a hidden motive.
Why was it the Five-Tails specifically, and not any other Tailed Beast? It was practically tailor-made for him.
He had his suspicions, but not enough evidence to prove anything.
The thought of being targeted by that guy made a chill run down Tōshirō's spine.
When exactly did he catch that guy's attention? And for what purpose?
Even though that guy is old now, dealing with Tōshirō would be all too easy. Tōshirō had no way to resist him—it wasn't even the same league.
The Five-Tails noticed the sudden cold sweat on Tōshirō's face and was confused. Was he scared of him?
But thinking it over, it didn't seem like that was the case.
"What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing…" Tōshirō brushed it off and went straight to the point: "Just now, you said that besides me, you encountered another person with the Sharingan, and that person actually succeeded in controlling you, right?"
The Five-Tails froze, confused why he was suddenly asking about this, and responded with a defiant attitude, "Yeah, so what?"
"What did that person look like? Was the pattern of their Sharingan clearly different from mine?"
Faced with the string of urgent questions, the Five-Tails grew annoyed: "Just a mere human, why should I tell you anything?"
That humiliating memory of being controlled in an instant was not something the Five-Tails wanted to bring up—it had no interest in exposing its own weakness.
This uncooperative attitude made Tōshirō lower his head slightly.
The Five-Tails saw Tōshirō go silent and felt a flicker of triumph in its eyes. Right now, the advantage was in its hands—it could act however it wanted.
After a moment, Tōshirō looked up and said lightly, "Oh~"
That completely nonchalant attitude suddenly made the Five-Tails uneasy. Based on its understanding of humans, wasn't Tōshirō supposed to be furious right now?
Wasn't this the moment he should be shouting things like "you ungrateful beast"?
Why was it not going according to plan?
As if he had seen right through the Five-Tails' thoughts, Tōshirō smiled faintly: "You're probably thinking right now that I should be angry and yelling something like 'how could you betray me,' right?"
Damn, he actually guessed right...
The Five-Tails snorted and lifted its head proudly, refusing to respond.
Tōshirō, however, remained magnanimous: "Well, your attitude is perfectly reasonable. I get it."
The Tailed Beast was stunned.
This Jinchūriki… understands me?
"In the end, your attitude toward me comes down to the difference in status between us right now," Tōshirō said calmly, tapping his fingernail. "To put it another way—would you care about the feelings of an ant you could crush underfoot at any moment?"
The Five-Tails laughed upon hearing that: "So you're comparing yourself to an ant now? At least you've got some self-awareness, human."
"That's right. To me, you're no different than an ant—insignificant and weak. I could squash you into paste with just one step."
Tōshirō shrugged casually and joked, "That's pretty harsh, you know."
"I'm just stating the facts."
Seeing the Five-Tails still acting so arrogant, Tōshirō knew that trying to win it over with kindness wouldn't work—he'd have to use "kindness" with a bit more edge.
The problem was… he couldn't beat this damn beast.
Thinking that, Tōshirō's eyes lit up with an idea. "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west—don't look down on a poor youth."
"???"
"People grow. Just because I can't beat you now doesn't mean I won't be able to in the future. Give me three… no, seven years, and I will beat you into the ground. Believe it or not."
At the last second, Tōshirō had wanted to act cool and say something about a three-year promise, but after thinking it over, he figured that might backfire. Better to play it safe and extend it to seven years. By then, his strength would likely be fully developed. Seven years from now, soloing the Five-Tails shouldn't be a problem.
Besides, for a Tailed Beast that had lived for so long, seven years would pass in the blink of an eye.
The Five-Tails scoffed. This little brat was barely old enough to count—seven years from now, he'd barely be an adult and already dreaming of beating him into the ground? Utterly delusional.
"Such arrogant talk. Want me to eat you right now?"
Tōshirō replied calmly, "If you kill me, you'll die too…"
The Five-Tails let out a cold snort.
Sure, Tailed Beasts are immortal, but that didn't mean it liked dying.
Besides, even if it revived, odds were high it'd just get captured by humans again, sealed into some other stranger's body, and then when that Jinchūriki failed, it would be transferred again—and so on, over and over.
Rather than going through all that again, it might as well stay in this Jinchūriki for a while and see what happens. At least this kid was kind of easy on the eyes… and said a lot of things that resonated.
"Hey, Little Five~ how about we make a bet?"
"A bet?"
"Yeah. You don't understand the word 'bet'?"
"Cut the crap. What do you want?"
"I'll keep it simple. No fancy talk. Straight-up strength-based rules. If I can defeat you within seven years, you'll cooperate with me. We live in peace. And when I need you, you help me. Deal?"
The Five-Tails narrowed its eyes. "And if you lose?"
"Do whatever you want with me."
The Five-Tails didn't seem interested in the offer. "That's useless to me."
"Well… that complicates things." Tōshirō lowered his head, rubbed his chin, then looked up. "Do you have a dream?"
The Five-Tails blinked in surprise. "Why are you asking that?"
In all its years, no one had ever asked what it wanted. Even the Sage of Six Paths never asked that—he just gave a few orders and then left it to roam on its own.
This little brat was the first to ever bring that up.
Tōshirō spoke as if it were the most obvious thing in the world: "Isn't it obvious? You don't seem to care much about me, so I'll just find something you care about and help you make it happen~"
The Five-Tails lowered its head and seriously thought about it for a moment. Then it looked up, its attitude less arrogant now, and with a softer tone said, "Alright, I'll agree. If you can beat me head-on, I'll help you."
Tōshirō nodded. "So, what's your dream?"
"I don't know yet. I'll let you know when I figure it out."
"In that case, let's consider it settled."
Tōshirō beamed with a bright, confident smile.
With that, the Five-Tails was basically hoodwinked—this was the first step to becoming a perfect Jinchūriki, and also the hardest step.
As long as he could one day defeat the Five-Tails head-on, becoming a perfect Jinchūriki would be guaranteed.
That guy might know everything about Tōshirō, but there was one thing he didn't know—Tōshirō would become the first perfect Jinchūriki in the world.
The Five-Tails asked, "Kid, what's your name?"
"Uchiha Tōshirō," Tōshirō said with a grin. "You've been inside me for days and you still don't know my name?"
"Who'd care about some measly human's name?"
"Then why do you care now?"
"I'm just giving you a tiny bit of respect for freeing me from that cage. Don't let it go to your head. Be grateful and cherish it."
"Ohhh~~~"
What a tsundere…
"Hey, what's with that look?"
"Nothing, heh heh…"
"..."
(End of Chapter)
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