Now, even Killer Bee, Yugito Nii, and Fū—standing behind Naruto—felt that what Gaara said made sense.
After all, keeping them here was not only the decision of the Five Kage, but also an arrangement personally approved by Uchiha Hikaru.
With the strongest man in the ninja world overseeing everything, they all began to feel that Naruto's plan might truly fail.
Gaara wasn't wrong.
As a shinobi, doubting one's superiors was a serious taboo.
Yet Naruto didn't back down.
Instead, a smile slowly appeared on his face.
"You're right," Naruto said calmly.
"This is the decision of the Five Kage—and of Brother Uchiha Hikaru."
"I believe him too. I believe Brother Hikaru will lead the Allied Shinobi Forces to victory and personally take down the traitor, Uchiha Obito."
"But—"
His expression sharpened.
"If—just if—"
"What if something unexpected happens right when victory is within reach… and we're only lacking the combat power of us?"
"If we win, everyone celebrates."
"But if we lose," Naruto continued, his voice lowering, "then the nine of us will become sinners of the entire ninja world."
"Because we—jinchūriki, the strongest among ordinary shinobi, the villages' so-called 'strategic weapons'—contributed nothing to this war."
"What then?"
"Being condemned would be one thing."
"But what if the entire ninja world is destroyed… swallowed by the Infinite Tsukuyomi?"
Naruto's words struck hard.
Gaara fell silent, unable to immediately refute him.
Naruto didn't stop there.
He pressed on.
"It's very likely that Brother Hikaru will still lead the alliance to victory."
"If that happens, whether we join the war or not might seem irrelevant."
"But even then, countless ordinary shinobi will die."
"That's unavoidable."
"If we join the battlefield, we can save more lives. We can prevent those sacrifices."
"With us there, even the smallest chance of failure could be erased completely."
"And even if we do lose—"
Naruto looked straight at them, his gaze unwavering.
"Then we live and die together with the ninja world."
"…Or what?" he asked quietly.
"Are you all afraid of death?"
His tone wasn't heated anymore.
It was calm. Questioning. Suspicious.
Han stepped forward, stopping beside Gaara.
"Uzumaki Naruto," he said evenly.
"You're not wrong."
"But if we leave now, it will take at least a full day to catch up to the Allied Shinobi Forces."
"What if Obito's side takes advantage of that gap and captures our tailed beasts during the journey?"
"As a jinchūriki, I'm prepared to die for my village at any time."
"But it can't be a meaningless death."
"I won't allow my sacrifice to advance the enemy's plan."
Naruto nodded.
"You're right," he said.
"But that part's easy."
"We just need to place a sealing formula on all nine of us."
"Carve it directly onto our hearts."
"If anyone is about to be captured, we activate the seal and destroy the body immediately."
"I already asked Kurama about this," Naruto added seriously.
"He said Shukaku's sealing techniques can absolutely do it."
As he spoke, Naruto turned his gaze toward Gaara.
Gaara walked forward in silence, stopping beside him.
His answer was already clear.
"Naruto is right," Gaara said.
"I'm not particularly skilled with sealing techniques… but Shukaku is."
One by one, the others placed their cards down and walked toward Naruto.
Yugito Nii clicked her tongue with clear regret.
"What a shame. I finally got the ninja card for 'Uchiha Hikaru [Young Man]' this round. I had a real chance of beating you, Gaara."
Youguimaru scratched his head.
"Senior, let's play again when we get back. I'll beat you properly next time."
Lao Zi looked at Naruto deeply.
"A brat from Konoha… I'll remember you. I acknowledge your Will of Fire."
Han nodded firmly.
"As long as it's for the village, I won't hesitate to strike with everything I have."
The nine jinchūriki reached a consensus.
Inside Gaara's body, Shukaku swung his thick tail smugly.
"Hah! Leave it to me, brat—hehehehe!"
"As expected, in the end it's still me, Great Lord Shukaku, who has to shoulder this heavy responsibility with my sealing techniques!"
In the next instant, Gaara's pupils transformed into deep, coppery-yellow rings.
"Alright, brats," Shukaku's voice boomed.
"Let Great Lord Shukaku put a seal on you!"
His tone was exaggerated and villainous as the sealing formula spread.
During the process, Yugito Nii even infused the chakra of the Two-Tails, Matatabi, into the seal.
Once activated, azure-blue flames would instantly incinerate everything—leaving nothing behind.
At the same time, Killer Bee asked Gyūki to sever one of its tentacles and split it into nine clones.
Each clone was infused with portions of the jinchūriki's chakra and the tailed beasts' power, making them nearly indistinguishable from the real ones.
As for the barrier trapping them—
While it was incredibly strong from the outside, breaking it from within wasn't difficult.
Especially not with Shukaku, a master of sealing techniques.
Just like that, the nine of them broke through the three-layer barrier, quietly slipping out from the rear of Turtle Island and sprinting across the sea.
On the ocean's surface, nine figures cloaked in crimson tailed beast chakra raced forward in a straight line—an awe-inspiring sight.
"Uncle Killer Bee," Naruto asked curiously while running,
"how long will the tentacle clones you left behind last?"
Bee thought for a moment.
"If it were just a normal clone of me," he said,
"it'd last over a month."
"That's how I used to sneak out of the village to mess around."
"But the tentacle was split into nine parts—and mixed with your chakra too."
"So… yeah. Probably less than half a day."
The moment he finished speaking, everyone instinctively sped up.
The tailed beast cloaks around their bodies grew thicker and denser.
"Then we need to reach land within two hours," Naruto said quickly.
"Otherwise, Brother Hikaru will definitely drag me back."
Naruto tried to imagine that scene—
…Nope.
Way too terrifying. (;ﾟДﾟ)
Three hours later, Naruto and the others were less than a dozen miles from the coastline.
At that same moment, inside the jinchūriki training chamber on Turtle Island—
The clone sustained by Naruto's chakra and the Nine-Tails suddenly destabilized.
"Oh no… the Nine-Tails' chakra is too strong—"
Bang!
The clone dispersed instantly.
Outside the barrier, the on-duty guard responsible for monitoring the jinchūriki froze in shock and shouted:
"The Nine-Tails jinchūriki—Uzumaki Naruto—is missing!"
"Send an emergency report! Notify Uchiha Hikaru and the Hokage immediately!"
In the Allied Shinobi Forces' command room at the center of Turtle Island, the operator receiving the report decoded it at once and blurted out:
"Master Hikaru—this is bad!"
"Naruto's gone!"
Uchiha Hikaru:
"…Huh?" o((⊙﹏⊙))o
...