"You remember now? How long has it been since you last came to Takigakure Village?"
"That was just one of my shells—how long did you expect it to stay active???"
"Hmph! You still dare ask me that? Touch your own conscience—doesn't it hurt at all?"
Chōmei immediately launched into a long-winded rant at Gekko Chizan, but the latter was completely immune. He was far too used to this kind of complaining.
After all, he got complained about almost every day. He was used to it.
Since the shell Chōmei had shed had already lost its activity, then they could just switch to another method to keep things concealed.
Thinking of this, he directly volunteered and requested to take action.
"It's fine, I'll go take a look. My sealing techniques combine Jiraiya's and my sensei Orochimaru's—I'll go refine it a bit."
"After all, the Seven-Tails has been sealed for so many years already. I'll reinforce it again and make sure it stays quiet for a full ten years!"
Looking at Gekko Chizan's confidence-filled expression, Yahiko immediately felt that this was a savior sent to him by the heavens.
More than once, he had wanted to investigate the Seven-Tails' condition, but remembering Gekko Chizan's instructions and the reactions of the many shinobi in the village, he forcibly restrained himself.
After all, that was a tailed beast. His goal was not yet complete—he absolutely could not act recklessly. If something went wrong, it would be a huge problem.
Returning once again to the cave where the Seven-Tails was sealed, everything was still familiar—the same seals, the same environment.
"Chōmei, do you miss your old residence?"
"Enough already, Chizan! What is there to miss about this place???"
"Hahaha, who knows? You lived here for so long, after all!"
After teasing Chōmei, Gekko Chizan began setting up the seals.
Of course, before sealing things off, he had Chōmei once again inject chakra into the insect shell, causing the chakra that originally belonged to the Seven-Tails to surge violently once more.
The onlookers nearby felt that familiar, terrifying aura and all grew anxious.
This was exactly the effect Gekko Chizan wanted. After all, nothing was more impactful than the aura of a tailed beast.
To ensure that no aura leaked out of the cave, and to prevent outsiders from probing the situation inside, he first set up a Four Symbols Seal.
Of course, this was not the kind of seal used by that future Hokage.
It was a standard Four Symbols Seal. Minato's Eight Trigrams Seal had been developed from this, and this seal was also the foundational sealing formula Gekko Chizan used to seal Chōmei within himself.
It could strictly control the flow of chakra.
One Four Symbols Seal wasn't enough. Gekko Chizan then set up a large number of additional sealing formulas outside the cave entrance, all of them sealing techniques he had learned from Orochimaru for protection and security.
In the end, he even plastered the area with countless sealing talismans, turning the original cave entrance into something that looked like a shrine, completely covered in talismans.
Looking at his masterpiece, Gekko Chizan was extremely satisfied.
"Chizan, thanks to you. This way, the tailed beast problem is finally resolved."
Yahiko looked at the cave entrance covered in talismans, feeling deeply satisfied, and once again reassessed Gekko Chizan's strength.
He didn't recognize any of those sealing formulas, but they looked incredibly impressive.
"Sealing techniques are something I can teach you if you want to learn."
"Although you're a bit old, it's never too late for a good meal. I believe you can become a delicacy—hahaha."
Being praised put Gekko Chizan in a great mood. He casually patted Yahiko on the shoulder and launched straight into a declaration about taking him as a disciple.
This left Yahiko speechless. He was just being polite, alright? This guy immediately climbed up the pole.
...
Gekko Chizan stayed in Takigakure Village for several days. Originally, he planned to head to Kumogakure as soon as possible.
But Mei Terumī and Yugito were both out on missions. To avoid problems with later arrangements, he deliberately stayed a few extra days.
These two little brats had strength, but without proper guidance, issues would easily arise.
After all, one was overly arrogant, and the other was completely love-brained. Sigh—hard to deal with.
These days, anyone with even a bit of strength tended to have some minor flaws. Perfect people like him, Gekko Chizan, were becoming rarer and rarer.
Tragic. Truly tragic.
When the two finally returned to the village and saw their sensei Gekko Chizan, they displayed completely different reactions.
One was brimming with fighting spirit and wanted to have a match with Gekko Chizan.
The other had sparkling eyes and chased after Gekko Chizan, asking nonstop about Kakashi.
It gave him two headaches at once.
"You two, that's enough!"
"Go take care of what I assigned you first—one of you goes to the Land of Grass, the other to the Land of Hot Water!"
"You have one month. I don't care whether you fight with your fists or use any other method—I only want results!"
"If you do well! Yugito, I'll fight you. Mei Terumī, I'll call Kakashi over for you."
"If you do poorly? Heh heh, as for the consequences..."
Seeing the sinister look on Gekko Chizan's face, the two girls shuddered involuntarily.
After all, their sensei was definitely not a good person.
"Yugito, you're going to Island Turtle to train!"
"Mei Terumī, I'll throw you to my sensei Orochimaru for cultivation!"
Island Turtle! Orochimaru!
To the two of them, both were nightmarish existences!
They nodded desperately in fear.
This scene left Yahiko dumbfounded. After all, even though he was now the one steering Takigakure Village,
Yugito and Mei Terumī were both incredibly troublesome. Only when Konan spoke would they listen.
As for him—forget it.
"Yahiko, what kind of expression is that?"
"How's your Water Release training coming along? When the time comes, I'll throw you over to Orochimaru as well. With his help, your strength can improve quickly too."
Well, now Yahiko was stunned as well.
He knew Orochimaru. That gloomy, sinister aura—back when he first met him, Yahiko already felt that he wasn't a good person.
Let alone now.
After lecturing all three of them, Gekko Chizan felt thoroughly refreshed. Next would be Takigakure Village's time to shine, and he himself would set off for Kumogakure.
Hearing that Gekko Chizan was going to Kumogakure again, Yugito looked at him with deep suspicion.
After all, her sensei was someone who never got up early without profit. Going to Kumogakure definitely meant there was something there he wanted.
But it didn't matter anymore. Yugito had completely lost any longing for Kumogakure.
Freedom and the pursuit of strength were her true goals. Now it was even better—besides Gekko Chizan, she had gained a new companion, Mei Terumī.
She had to admit, Mei Terumī's strength truly exceeded her expectations. Switching between two bloodline limits—if Yugito didn't use tailed beast chakra, she really wouldn't have many good options.
Mei Terumī's appearance made Yugito realize once again that there was always someone stronger, a greater world beyond.
As for Mei Terumī—
Well, she was completely a love-brained fool!