After leaving the Raikage's office, A finally let out a sigh of relief. But in the very next moment, a surge of intense resentment and anger welled up in his heart.
Some things didn't hit you immediately, but the more you thought about them afterward, the more infuriating they became.
Shin… Tsunade… don't think this matter is over just like that.
From now on, I will train even harder, keep pushing myself to become stronger and stronger.
The moment I find an opportunity…
As he was thinking this, he had already returned home.
After changing his shoes and stepping into the living room, a chill suddenly ran down his spine, as if he had fallen into an ice cellar. Because at that moment, someone was sitting at his living room table, casually eating side dishes and sipping on liquor.
And that person… was the very last person he wanted to see.
Shin.
"Back already?" Shin said in a warm tone, as if greeting an old friend. "Don't be shy, have a seat."
Sit?
This is my house, for crying out loud!
At this point, A was shaking like a leaf.
He actually wasn't afraid for himself. The moment he saw Shin, he knew he probably wouldn't make it out alive, so he had already resigned himself to it.
But the fact that the other party had appeared in his home so boldly, did that mean he wasn't planning to spare Kumo either? Just thinking that he might drag the entire village into disaster because of his actions made him feel like a criminal.
No… it hadn't reached that point yet.
Even if it costs me my life, I have to get this intel, that Shin is in the village!
In a flash, A activated his Lightning Release Chakra Mode and burst out with unprecedented speed, charging toward the door.
But in the next instant, a loud crash sounded as he slammed into an invisible energy barrier and was bounced back violently. If not for his strong body, that impact alone would have killed him.
As he lay stunned, Shin suddenly appeared right in front of him, his right hand already pressed against A's chest.
Instantly, lines of glowing seals began to crawl across A's body, eventually forming chain-like markings that locked him in place, rendering him completely immobile.
"You're actually quite lucky," Shin said gently, looking down at the collapsed A. "After all, in the entire shinobi world, you're the first to experience this new sealing technique of mine."
At this point, the only part of A's body he could still move was his mouth. He gritted his teeth and growled, "What the hell are you trying to do?"
"Just giving your Kumo a little lesson," Shin chuckled lightly.
"Have you thought about the consequences?" A still hadn't given up and tried to threaten him. "If you kill me and stir up trouble, it will inevitably lead to a war between our two villages!"
"That's a strange thing to say," Shin replied, confused. "If I wanted to kill you, why didn't I do it back in Konoha? Why not ambush you on the road? Why wait until you got back to Kumo? That doesn't make any sense. So your death has nothing to do with me."
A was on the verge of losing it. So what, he was going to die for nothing?
"And could you please not think so poorly of me?" Shin gave a bright smile and continued, "I'm not going to kill you. I find you quite interesting. It'd be a waste not to use you for research."
With that, he quickly formed hand seals. The ground beneath them lit up with runes, arranged in a specific pattern.
In the next second, A vanished from the spot, only to reappear inside a hidden underground lab in Konoha.
Orochimaru, who had been waiting there for some time, licked the corner of his lips excitedly when he saw A finally arrive. His eyes gleamed with delight.
Materials were easy to come by, but a specimen like A was not so easily found.
"O... Orochimaru?" Suddenly finding himself in an unfamiliar place and seeing Orochimaru's twisted expression, A was overwhelmed with despair.
"We meet again!" Orochimaru walked toward the helpless A with a disturbingly gentle smile, one even more unsettling than Shin's.
"What are you trying to do? Stay away from me… Aaaah—!"
---
After dealing with A, Shin disappeared with a teleportation jutsu and reappeared at the home of his second target:
Blue B, the jinchūriki of the Eight-Tails.
He wasn't just the host of the Eight-Tails, he was also the nephew of the Third Raikage and the older cousin of the Fourth Raikage. If things had gone as expected, he would eventually have become Killer B's mentor.
But Shin's appearance had brought the unexpected ahead of schedule.
At that moment, Blue B was standing by the window, staring blankly at the bustling streets outside. His expression was exhausted, lifeless, as if he'd lost all will to live. As a child, hewas chosen by the Third Raikage to become the Eight-Tails' jinchūriki due to his exceptional talent in ninjutsu, bloodline, ability, and character. And because he had great compatibility with the Eight-Tails, he was the first person who had the potential to become a perfect jinchūriki of the Eight-Tails.
However, he had an overly sensitive personality.
Ever since becoming a jinchūriki, he'd noticed a change in the way people looked at him. This constant shift wore down his body and soul, causing him to frequently imagine terrifying scenes of death.
The judgment from others, combined with his inner fragility, left him in a constant state of anxiety and fear. Of course, he wasn't the only one to suffer this way. Most jinchūriki across the villages had terrible childhoods, with only a few exceptions like Yagura, who perfectly suppressed the Three-Tails.
Shin's goal… was to end Blue B's suffering.
Blue B watched the people moving outside the window for a while longer, but eventually lost interest and returned to the dining table. He picked up the coffee he had already sipped earlier and began drinking it slowly. But not long after, a wave of intense drowsiness hit him, and his mind quickly became groggy.
"What's happening to me?" he muttered, confused. But thinking that he hadn't had a proper rest in a long time, he didn't dwell on it and headed for the bedroom to sleep.
Three minutes later, Shin's figure emerged from another room. He walked over to the bedroom and stood beside the unconscious Blue B. The reason he had suddenly become so sleepy was because Shin had drugged the coffee he drank.
Sensing that Blue B was now completely unconscious, he grinned and placed his hand directly on Blue B's chest.
As chakra surged through his palm, the Iron Armor Seal used to bind the Eight-Tails began to loosen, then completely broke.
In the next moment, one of the Eight-Tails' tails burst out from Blue B's body, then the second… then the third…
During that opening, Shin's right hand transformed into a blade-like form, slicing off the tip of one of the Eight-Tails' tails. He sealed it into a scroll and then vanished using the Flying Thunder God Technique.
---
In Raikage's Office, the Third Raikage was still troubled by the intel A had brought back about Shin, when suddenly, a terrifying surge of chakra erupted, jolting his entire body.
"Hm? The Eight-Tails?!"