When it comes to understanding the Nine-Tails, aside from Konoha, no ninja village knows it better than Kumogakure.
Back in the day, the infamous Gold and Silver Brothers, known as the "Two Lights in the Clouds," once battled the Nine-Tails fiercely. They were even swallowed whole, yet somehow survived by devouring the Nine-Tails' flesh from within—absolutely terrifying strength. (Though their performance after Edo Tensei was rather disappointing.)
What kind of people were the Gold and Silver Brothers? They were the ultimate villains who killed the Second Hokage and Second Raikage—Kumogakure's most vicious wanted criminals in history. Calling them top-tier Kage-level powerhouses wouldn't be an overstatement.
But this also highlighted the Nine-Tails' incredible power. If it had chewed them up before swallowing instead of gulping them down whole, the history of the ninja world might have changed completely.
The Gold and Silver Brothers have turned to dust, but the Nine-Tails remains. Among everyone in this tent, probably only the Third Raikage Ai, who witnessed its power in his youth, truly understood what they were dealing with.
"Violent, cruel, evil, bloodthirsty—its claws can tear through steel, its strength can move mountains, and most terrifying of all is its endless chakra."
The Third Raikage seriously recalled those horrifying memories.
"Compared to that, the Eight-Tails is much easier to handle. Put it this way—if Konoha released the Nine-Tails in our camp right now for a couple of laps, this war would be over."
"Then why hasn't Konoha..."
Kamizuru Kurotō started to ask.
"Because Konoha doesn't know we don't have a single Tailed Beast left."
Jinghang explained.
Speaking of which, they had to thank the First Hokage Hashirama Senju's Tailed Beast distribution for creating this "nuclear deterrent" balance.
The other Tailed Beasts certainly weren't as powerful as the Nine-Tails.
But so what?
What's the difference between a 10-megaton and 20-megaton nuclear bomb hitting a city the size of a ninja village?
Aside from a deeper crater, there's virtually no difference.
If Monk Bunpuku could release Shukaku to frolic in Konoha Village, Konoha would be finished just the same.
Moreover, on paper, Sunagakure and Kumogakure together have four Tailed Beasts. If they surrounded Konoha for a few rounds of mahjong, they could plow the village several times over.
Wars between ninja villages work like this—whoever uses Tailed Beasts first opens Pandora's Box. If you can avoid it, you don't use them.
But given Konoha's current situation, they'll probably have to use them eventually—it's just a matter of time.
Jinghang wanted to use this window to formulate tactical strategies specifically for the Nine-Tails.
"How many steps does it take to put an elephant in a refrigerator?"
Jinghang suddenly asked.
The Sunagakure and Kumogakure commanders looked at each other, completely baffled.
Jinghang smiled and explained.
"To deal with the Nine-Tails, we still need to use traditional methods—sealing. But the Nine-Tails is different from ordinary Tailed Beasts. Sealing it is like putting an elephant in a refrigerator—though the process is complex, the specific steps are roughly the same."
Jinghang gestured as he spoke.
"Step one: open the refrigerator door. Step two: put the elephant inside. Step three: close the refrigerator door."
His humorous explanation drew hearty laughter from the commanders.
When everyone had laughed enough, Jinghang gestured for quiet.
"Don't laugh—the principle is similar, but actual execution is more complex.
Once it reaches the point of deploying Tailed Beasts, Konoha will definitely launch a massive assault. Setting aside the Nine-Tails, someone needs to hold off Konoha's forces."
Jinghang looked around.
"Excluding the five Kumogakure ninja dealing with the Three-Tails and Tsukigami Kōichi tying up Minato Namikaze, we need at least ten more to hold off Konoha's main army. Plus someone to tie up Hiruzen Sarutobi."
"My Alphabet Squad still has five members. Jinghang, give me five Earthly Branches and I'll personally deal with Hiruzen Sarutobi."
The Third Raikage said.
But Jinghang shook his head.
"Old friend, you can't."
"What?! You think I can't take down that old monkey Hiruzen Sarutobi?!"
"No, no."
Jinghang quickly explained.
"You need to come with me—to deal with the Nine-Tails."
This stunned the Third Raikage.
With this troop deployment, they seemed short on manpower.
"We don't need to defeat them, but we need to tie up Konoha for one to two days."
Jinghang held up three fingers.
"You, me, and him. Our battlefield isn't here."
Jinghang pointed at the Third Raikage, then at Sasori operating the projector.
"Then where?"
The Third Raikage was confused.
"Sigh, words can't explain it clearly. How about you come with me for a trip? You'll understand everything once you see it."
Jinghang said.
"Alright."
The Third Raikage nodded—he trusted Jinghang completely.
"Then Tsukigami, Sasori, you two handle camp affairs. We'll be right back."
After speaking, Jinghang placed one hand on the Third Raikage's shoulder and formed hand seals with the other.
With a "poof," both vanished in white smoke from the camp.
...
"Yo, you're here."
Rasa stood to greet the arriving Jinghang and Third Raikage.
"This place is...?"
The Third Raikage looked around.
This was a very large cavern. Though dimly lit, you could still make out figures—some familiar, some not, sitting or standing throughout the cave.
"Minister Yamashita Tetsu, Lord Rasa—oh, isn't this Lady Chiyo? Even you've come out of retirement!"
"Third Raikage-sama, you're too kind."
Chiyo and Rasa bowed to the Third Raikage.
"This is the refrigerator I specially designed for the Nine-Tails."
Jinghang smiled.
The Third Raikage looked around and immediately spotted the massive Gedo Statue in the cavern's center.
"Isn't this... that thing?"
For a moment, the Third Raikage couldn't recall its name.
"Right, that thing."
Jinghang laughed.
"This is called the Gedo Statue—all Tailed Beasts were separated from it."
Yamashita Tetsu said.
"What we need to do is put the Nine-Tails back inside. Here."
Jinghang tossed a scroll to the Third Raikage.
The Third Raikage caught it and quickly opened it.
Using light filtering down from above, the Third Raikage read the text.
"Phantom Dragon Nine Seals! This is a sealing technique!"
"Exactly—a sealing technique specifically for Tailed Beasts. No rush studying it; we can learn it slowly after returning."
Jinghang smiled.
"But with the Nine-Tails' explosive nature, it won't just sit there waiting to be sealed, right?"
The Third Raikage reacted quickly, immediately grasping the key issue.
Jinghang smiled.
"Naturally not. So we need to beat it down first, then it'll behave for sealing."
"You mean subdue the Nine-Tails by force!"
"Exactly."
"That might be quite difficult."
"It is difficult, but not impossible. Didn't you once fight the Eight-Tails one-on-one?"
Jinghang smiled.
"The Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails still have some gap between them."
"That's why I brought you here to discuss this. Combining the power of all ten people here, sealing the Nine-Tails is completely possible—and our success rate is very high."
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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