"Earth Release, Fire Release, and Lava Release... is this the power the Four-Tails possesses?"
As the sealing was completed, Allen immediately felt an astounding surge of Chakra flowing through his body. Unlike the Chakra refined from a ninja's own cells, the Tailed Beast's Chakra felt significantly more like a concentrated mass of natural and life energy.
It wasn't exactly as the rumors claimed, that it possessed truly infinite Chakra, but rather that its total volume was exceptionally staggering, and it could rapidly replenish and recover from the surrounding environment, creating the illusion of being an inexhaustible wellspring.
Regardless, for a human, it was impossible to match the Chakra reserves of a unique creature like a Tailed Beast. Once one became a Jinchuriki, they essentially never had to worry about running out of Chakra again. The only catch was that each Tailed Beast's Chakra nature was fixed; theoretically, it could not be converted into other elements.
"How does it feel to be a Jinchuriki?" Orochimaru asked with a cryptic smile.
"Not bad! Much better than I expected. I've also discovered that Tailed Beasts are just a bunch of bullies who fear the strong. When they realize you're more powerful than they are, they choose to cooperate quite submissively."
As he spoke, Allen instantaneously drew a massive amount of Chakra from the Four-Tails within him, forming a blackish-purple Tailed Beast Bomb in his hand. Throughout the process, the Four-Tails remained entirely silent; it showed no desire to communicate, nor did it attempt to stop its new Jinchuriki from utilizing its power.
"Oh? You've only just become a Jinchuriki and you can already control the Tailed Beast's power!" Orochimaru was visibly taken aback.
One had to understand that Tailed Beasts were hardly known for their good temperaments. Although the Four-Tails was nowhere near as tyrannical or vicious as the Nine-Tails, considering it had been forcibly extracted from its previous host, whom it clearly respected, there should have been, at the very least, a period of adjustment.
Allen nodded slightly. "Yes. I find it strange as well. The Four-Tails doesn't seem to have any intention of speaking to me, yet it lets me draw upon its Chakra as I please."
"In any case, this is a fortunate turn of events. Next, we shall head to the Land of Wind to meet with the Fourth Kazekage and discuss the specific details of our negotiations. With the power of the Four-Tails, dealing with the Kazekage's Magnet Release should be relatively easy," Orochimaru said, licking his lips meaningfully.
"I don't understand. Why do you want to kill the Fourth Kazekage? Wouldn't he cause more damage to Konoha if he stayed alive? Is it purely for the sake of Reanimation?" Allen finally had the chance to ask the question that had been bothering him. From any logical standpoint, assassinating the Kazekage seemed to have more drawbacks than benefits.
"Hehe, for research funding, of course. Research is a very expensive endeavor, and I still have to send a hefty bribe to the Daimyo of the Land of Rice Fields every year. Rasa's Kekkei Genkai happens to be Magnet Release: Gold Dust, allowing him to manipulate the gold within the sand. With this ability at my disposal, I'll never have to worry about a lack of funds again," Orochimaru hissed, revealing his sinister motive for the murder.
"For funding? I see!" Allen nodded in thoughtful understanding.
However, he quickly proposed a counter-condition: "I want half the proceeds from the sale of the Fourth Kazekage's Gold Dust! No... one-third should be enough."
"Hmm? What do you need that much money for?" Orochimaru looked puzzled.
"To forge a proper weapon! I need to purchase a large amount of Chakra Metal at high prices, and hire the best bladesmith available," Allen answered without hesitation.
Having cleared every raid from Molten Core to the Temple of Ahn'Qiraj every lockout, he had accumulated enough gold to buy the Sulfuron Hammer from the Auction House and combine it with the Eye of Sulfuras. Unfortunately, as a Hunter, he lacked the weapon proficiency for hammers and could not bring out the true power of this legendary orange weapon.
Therefore, he had been looking for an opportunity to see if he could modify the hammer into a sword, incorporating Chakra Metal, without destroying its internal structure or its proc effects. That way, the sword techniques he had learned could finally be put to use.
"A proper weapon? Do you still need a weapon?" Orochimaru glanced at the fissures in the surrounding earth that had been punched out by sheer brute force, his lip twitching slightly. To him, this young man's fists, sheathed in two types of energy, were already terrifying weapons, arguably no inferior to the legendary tools passed down by the Sage of the Six Paths.
"Of course I do!" Allen replied bluntly.
His ultimate goal was to defeat and consume the extraterrestrial invader, Kaguya Otsutsuki. Judging by the physical resilience she displayed in the final battle, ordinary weapons couldn't possibly inflict any decent damage on the "Mother of Chakra"; in fact, she hadn't even been wounded, merely sealed away. To deal a truly fatal blow, he needed a literal "god-tier" weapon.
Since he hadn't seen a single "binding" for Thunderfury drop despite so many lockouts, Allen could only pin his hopes on the "Orange Hammer." He believed a weapon modified from the Sulfuron Hammer would be enough to cleave through Kaguya's body and deal significant damage.
"Very well! I agree to your terms." Seeing that Allen had no intention of backing down, Orochimaru gave in. It was essentially profit without investment, after all; a little more or less made no difference. Furthermore, after the Reanimation, he could use the Fourth Kazekage to dig up even more Gold Dust. It was a guaranteed win.
With their verbal agreement reached, the two quickly left the Land of Earth and headed south toward the sea of sand that was the Land of Wind, meeting up with Kabuto Yakushi and Karin at the border.
"Orochimaru-sama, here is the intelligence I've gathered regarding the Kazekage and his personal guards. Please, take a look." Kabuto bowed respectfully, offering several information cards with both hands.
But Orochimaru didn't take them. Instead, he pointed to Allen. "Give them to Allen-kun. He is the primary force for this ambush."
"No need. I know Rasa's abilities; he's no threat to me. As for the Kazekage's guards, they won't last a second." Allen didn't even reach for the cards, leaving Kabuto hanging.
"Hehe, you certainly are confident. In a place like the Land of Wind, Magnet Release does have its merits. Though with your strength, taking down a mere Kazekage shouldn't be too difficult, it's just a matter of how fast," Orochimaru chuckled, bailing out his subordinate while shooting Kabuto a look.
Kabuto caught the hint immediately and performed a ninety-degree bow. "My deepest apologies. It was my oversight."
While they were speaking, the Fourth Kazekage, wearing his "Wind" kanji hat and white robes, finally appeared on a distant dune. Only two personal guards followed closely at his side. It had to be said that while this man's strength was middling, his audacity was off the charts; to meet a dangerous element like Orochimaru without bringing a larger escort for protection was bold to the point of folly.