Chapter 154: Good Meat Always Has Dogs Eyeing It
"Ah, this feels so good~" Shukaku rolled around comfortably in the desert, letting the sun blaze down overhead. He loved this dry, scorching environment.
"Hey, little kitty, don't forget who dug the well when you drink the water!" Yasushi reminded from the side. "I'm the one who helped you escape Sunagakure's pursuit."
"Tch, I know, I know. It's just threatening a daimyo, right? I learned how. I can do it myself next time." The ungrateful big cat dismissed him.
"Is that so? Then look forward to meeting Sunagakure shinobi at the daimyo's palace!" Yasushi looked at him with a half-smile.
"Damn! I knew you had ulterior motives." Shukaku grumbled discontentedly, stretching out his limbs lazily. "Either way, I'll never submit to you."
"Tailed Beasts are never slaves!"
"Worst case, I'll just die again. Sunagakure already canceled the pursuit anyway. After I revive, I'll naturally be free again."
"Is that so? Hehe..." Yasushi laughed coldly. "What a naive little kitty!"
"You think you'll truly never die permanently?"
"Let me share some good news—there's an Akatsuki organization also hunting Tailed Beasts, planning to merge all nine Tailed Beasts into one and revive the Ten-Tails."
"How about it? Hearing this news, what are your thoughts?"
"What?!" Shukaku was immediately shocked, rolling over to sit up. He stared with huge eyes, his face filled with horror. "The Ten-Tails?"
"That thing wants to destroy the world. How can we let it revive?"
"It's fine." Yasushi waved dismissively with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "After revival, it'll immediately be absorbed by a jinchuriki anyway. Won't affect anything."
"That's still not acceptable!" Shukaku rushed before Yasushi, lowering his massive head and crying out in alarm. "The old man said no matter what, we can't let the Ten-Tails revive. Otherwise the entire world faces destruction."
"What's that got to do with me?" Yasushi spread his hands, completely indifferent. "When the sky falls, naturally tall people will hold it up. Just have the Sage of Six Paths come out and deal with it!"
"But the old man is dead!" Shukaku cried out.
"Not necessarily. Maybe he's not completely dead yet!" Yasushi said meaningfully. "Either way, being the savior isn't my job. I don't care about that."
"I'm just telling you, little kitty—if you submit to me and follow my orders, then even if you get absorbed into the Gedo Statue in the future, I have ways to pull you back out."
"But if you don't obey, then naturally I won't care whether you live or die."
"This..." Shukaku immediately hesitated.
The reason he preferred death over submission was naturally because he believed he'd never truly die. But once taken to revive the Ten-Tails, he'd genuinely be dead.
Facing death, even Tailed Beasts couldn't remain calm.
Yasushi wasn't in a hurry. He just waited patiently.
Whether it worked or not, this was just a casual move. Success would be nice; failure was fine too.
After a long while, Shukaku finally compromised.
He reluctantly approached Yasushi, puffing angrily:
"I knew you definitely wanted to use me as a weapon too. Whatever—for the sake of the shinobi world's peace, I'll temporarily follow your orders for a while."
"But don't get too happy. Your heart isn't pure. I won't acknowledge you."
"After resolving the Ten-Tails crisis, you have to let me go free."
"Hehe, sure!" Yasushi agreed without hesitation.
Either way, when the Ten-Tails crisis would be resolved—that was still for him to decide.
After subduing Shukaku, Yasushi sat on his head and pointed forward.
"Let's go! We're heading to Otogakure to rendezvous with Orochimaru. Might as well see how Konoha Village is doing now."
"Haven't seen them in a while. I kind of miss them."
Shukaku snorted sullenly. He was very unwilling to be used as a mount, but he didn't say much more. He obediently took large strides toward the Land of Rivers.
The Land of Wind and Land of Rain actually bordered each other—they could go back directly. But Yasushi wasn't so obedient about returning to report mission completion. Since he was already out, of course he had to properly visit old friends.
The Land of Rivers lay between the Land of Fire and Land of Wind. To reach the Land of Fire, one had to cross the Land of Rivers first.
The Land of Rivers was a so-called "neutral nation"—the kind whose national strength was too weak, posing no threat to surrounding nations. The kind that could be bullied however anyone wanted.
The reason they still occupied such a large territory without being annexed by neighboring countries was purely due to political games between the Land of Fire and Land of Wind, leaving this buffer zone in place.
The Land of Rivers also had a shinobi village called Takumi Village. As the name suggested, it was a hidden village created by a group of craftsmen gathering together.
Takumi Village was famous for producing quality ninja tools. The Five Great Nations' kunai, shuriken, and other ninja implements were basically all outsourced to this village.
Takumi Village's founder was named Seimei, a very skilled blacksmith who knew some ninjutsu and innovatively created many powerful ninja tools.
With these ninja tools, Takumi Village could suppress rogue ninja wandering in from various places and barely maintain public order within the Land of Rivers.
But that was all.
The quantity of powerful armor determined the number of high-end shinobi. Before achieving qualitative change, shinobi numbers were the standard for evaluating a nation's strength.
Speaking of shinobi numbers, Takumi Village composed of craftsmen was undoubtedly a weakling, constantly bullied by various nations. They couldn't even resist, or they'd lose their "neutral nation" status and become even worse off.
Facing this situation, Takumi Village people naturally harbored resentment and constantly worked hard trying to change everything, wanting Takumi Village to truly become a powerful shinobi village and the Land of Rivers to become a shinobi world power.
This day, Kamekichi was hammering away at his forge—"clang clang clang"—when a beautiful woman suddenly rushed in excitedly.
"Leader, Leader... A Tailed Beast is coming!"
"Hmph." Kamekichi's expression didn't change. He continued hammering methodically, saying dismissively: "Let it come. It's not like it would attack our small village anyway. Most likely just passing through."
"War is breaking out in the outside world right now. Using Tailed Beast jinchuriki is perfectly normal!"
"Konpaku, you need to be more composed!"
"That's not it!" Konpaku hastily explained. "It's not a jinchuriki going to war. Someone seized Sunagakure's Tailed Beast! They're currently passing through our Land of Rivers territory, heading toward the Land of Fire."
"What?!" Kamekichi was immediately shocked. "Sunagakure's Tailed Beast was seized by Konoha Village?"
"Not Konoha Village—Konoha's missing-nin Uchiha Yasushi, who joined Amegakure."
Konpaku urged excitedly:
"Leader, this is the Tailed Beast we've dreamed of! Usually it's hidden in Sunagakure. Now it's finally come out—we can't easily let this chance pass!"
"I've investigated thoroughly. This group only has Uchiha Yasushi and the One-Tail. No one else."
"Since he could seize the Tailed Beast from Sunagakure, we can naturally seize it from him too."
"Exactly!" Kamekichi slapped his thigh, casually tossing his hammer aside and heading outside. "Quickly notify Tatsumaki and Tachi. We're all going out. We must seize that Tailed Beast!"
"Whether we can revive Ancestor Seimei depends on this attempt!"
"Yes!" Konpaku was waiting for exactly this. She immediately turned and ran to notify her companions to assemble.
Moments later, the four fully armed individuals each carried their most beloved ninja tools and rushed out of Takumi Village, heading to intercept the Tailed Beast.
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