Chapter 60: Tailed Beasts in a Row
Having... acquired... the Wind Altar, Masahiko felt this trip had been very fruitful.
After finding a hidden spot to rest for the night, Masahiko enacted "Masahiko Chasing the Sun" the next morning.
"The sun rises in the east, right...? In the Naruto world, the sun doesn't rise from the west, does it? I've never actually paid attention." Masahiko had completely lost his sense of direction. He could only fly east, knowing only that the Land of Fire was east of the Land of Wind.
"So bright..."
After wandering for several days, Masahiko finally set foot on the familiar soil of the Land of Fire. He rested, took a bath, changed his clothes, activated his Transformation Jutsu, and headed straight for Konoha.
"How long did it take Naruto to get to the Land of Wind to save Gaara again? I've been running around for half a month..." Masahiko scratched his head, then remembered again. "Hashirama tricked me this time. What a failure..."
Near Konoha Village.
"One, two... seven!" Masahiko cursed inwardly. He sensed the chakra fluctuations of seven Tailed Beasts. "So, aside from the Nine-Tails in Madara's summoning dimension, mine is the last one?"
"Hashirama, you are dead..."
Masahiko rushed back, intending to settle the score with Hashirama directly.
Arriving at the village gate, Masahiko almost burst out laughing. What are these? Tailed Beast watchdogs?
Seven Tailed Beasts were sitting in a row on either side of the gate, firmly bound by Hashirama's Wood Release. They were unconscious, likely having been "petted into submission" by Hashirama's Wood Human technique.
"Elder, you've returned! The Hokage is waiting for you!" A Hyuga guardsman greeted Masahiko.
Masahiko nodded. "I know. I'm going to find him right now!"
Hokage's Office.
"Great-Uncle, you're finally back! A round trip to the Land of Wind usually takes a week. You were gone so long, I was getting worried." Before Masahiko could speak, Hashirama took the initiative.
Masahiko's face darkened. He thought, What can I do? I'm desperate too... Should I say I got lost?
Masahiko put on a serious face. "Didn't I say I was going on a publicly funded vacation? I just looked around a bit. I'll give you the expense report later."
"Er, fine. As long as you're okay. Did you catch the One-Tail?" Hashirama asked.
"With me on the job, how could I not catch it... It's in this sealing scroll!" Masahiko took out the scroll, then remembered being tricked. "By the way, you caught the Tailed Beasts pretty quickly. I see the collection at the village gate is complete."
"Yes," Hashirama replied. "I used Wood Clones to capture them separately. The last one was brought back two days ago."
"Is that so?" Masahiko scratched his head, feeling something was off.
Seeing this, Hashirama quickly interrupted, "Let's go outside the village and re-capture the One-Tail!"
Mentioning the One-Tail distracted Masahiko, and he followed Hashirama out of the village.
In a direction Masahiko couldn't see, Hashirama flashed a victory sign behind his back. Tobirama was snickering there. If Masahiko had seen it, he would have known that Hashirama and Tobirama had teamed up to trick him.
Arriving at an open area a few miles outside Konoha, Masahiko took out the sealing scroll. Release!
The Wind Altar appeared before them. Hashirama was just about to form seals, but he realized that what came out wasn't the One-Tail.
"This... isn't this the Wind Altar of the Land of Wind...?" Hashirama wiped imaginary sweat from his forehead. "Great-Uncle, you didn't go and attack the Land of Wind, did you?"
"Don't worry about the details!" Masahiko laughed. "The One-Tail is inside here."
He entered the altar. Half a minute later, Masahiko walked out holding a kettle.
"Sealing Jutsu: Release!" Time froze. He clearly wanted to release the seal on the kettle, but... nothing happened.
"This thing doesn't have a password, does it...?" Masahiko's face twitched. How do I break this? Chant sutras?
"Great-Uncle?" Hashirama probed from the side. "This kettle..."
"Ah..." Masahiko laughed awkwardly. "The One-Tail is sealed inside this kettle. I stole... er, borrowed it from an old monk!"
Hashirama was speechless. "So you didn't seal Shukaku yourself?"
"I told you, don't worry about the details!" Masahiko replied. "How do I unseal this thing..."
When in trouble, check the system. Masahiko looked at his status bar.
Fuinjutsu: LV6 (420328/600000) (+)
Witness Points: 180
"I'm a rich man now! I have plenty of Witness Points! If Level 7 doesn't work, I'll go to Level 8! If Level 8 doesn't work, Level 9!"
The result: 58 Witness Points later, Masahiko's mouth twitched.
Fuinjutsu: LV8 (1000328/5000000) (+)
"Damn it! Five million?! How much does it take to reach max level?" Masahiko had originally thought he could casually max out all his skills by the Fourth War and become a big boss. Now it seemed...
"Great-Uncle? Shukaku?" Hashirama interrupted Masahiko's painful internal monologue.
"Ah, it's nothing. Sealing Jutsu: Release!" Masahiko formed seals again. LV8 Fuinjutsu was indeed extraordinary. Even without the specific unsealing method, the seal on the kettle was broken.
A giant tanuki with violet markings appeared before them.
"RAAAGH! DAMN THAT OLD MONK!" As soon as Shukaku was released, it looked around and let out a piercing scream.
Masahiko's face darkened, and he covered his ears.
After screaming, Shukaku noticed Masahiko and Hashirama. It looked down at them. "You two released me? As thanks, I'll eat you both!"
"Hashirama, shut him up!" Masahiko couldn't stand the noisy tanuki anymore.
"Wood Release: Birth of a Dense Forest!"
"Wood Release: Wood Human Technique!"
"Hokage-Style Sixty-Year-Old Technique: Kakuan Entering Society with Bliss-Bringing Hands!"
The giant hand of the Wood Human, marked with the character for "Seat," pressed onto the head of the One-Tail, which was already bound by Wood Release. The world instantly became quiet.
"Why does it feel like Hashirama got stronger again..." Masahiko murmured. "He's in his thirties; is his strength still growing this fast?"
Hashirama used Wood Release to drag the One-Tail to the Konoha gate. Now, all eight Tailed Beasts were present.
"Tailed Beasts in a row," Masahiko chuckled, then his face stiffened. "Hashirama, swap the Eight-Tails and the Five-Tails..."
Although Hashirama didn't understand, he did as Masahiko asked.
"Mm, much better," Masahiko murmured. "Left side of the gate: One, Three, Five, Seven. Right side: Two, Four, Six, Eight. A blessing for OCD!"
Hashirama: "..."
"Alright, Great-Uncle, I'm going back first. I have things to handle, and Tobirama is waiting for me."
"Wait, you plan to just keep these Tailed Beasts like this?" Masahiko asked, puzzled.
"Just hold them for now. We'll figure out a solution later." Hashirama waved his hand and left quickly.
"I feel like I forgot something..." Masahiko watched Hashirama flee and looked confused.
"Forget it. After so many days of running around, I'll go home first..." Masahiko shook the kettle in his hand. "This trip wasn't a waste. A sealing artifact..."
Far away, the Wind Altar wept.
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