"What? Water Release?"
"You can talk now too?"
"Toad."
The Insect King spoke slowly, syllable by syllable, but it was enough to convey meaning.
"Because you've been communicating with the toads, you learned to speak?" Yagyū Souma asked.
"Yes."
That medical kikaichū was clearly a special individual to begin with, and on top of that it had spent a long time around humans, so it had completed linguistic evolution ahead of the others.
But the Insect King was different.
It lived deep inside the Forest of Death and rarely came into contact with people—yet it had still managed to grasp basic words.
That alone was impressive.
Sure enough—
Pressure really did drive growth.
Yagyū Souma suppressed a smile and patted its head.
"Then from now on, help me stockpile more Water Release chakra. If you can steal some toad oil while you're at it, even better."
"Oil?"
The Insect King thought for a moment.
"Never seen it."
"That's fine. Keep doing business with them first. We'll expand gradually later."
"Okay."
The Insect King clearly didn't understand any of this and just answered at random.
After teasing it for a bit, Yagyū Souma sent it back.
The kid had to hurry home to make money—
The kikaichū–toad trade was already booming. These days, it wasn't unusual to see toads delivering larvae to the Forest of Death to be cultivated.
In exchange, every so often, a few toads would be left behind to be… "drained."
After sending the toads away, Yagyū Souma began pondering ninjutsu again.
Elemental techniques had to be put on the agenda sooner or later.
However—
In Konoha, most elemental ninjutsu were already extremely mature. Even if a specific technique didn't exist, there were usually well-developed alternatives.
But here?
Aside from a handful of individuals, the majority of chūnin and genin in the Sound Village only knew crude sound-based techniques that relied heavily on tools.
A vast blue ocean.
Yagyū Souma's eyes gradually lit up.
He immediately rushed back, thinking as he ran, mentally mapping out how to derive new techniques from existing research.
Then—
He reached the office, sat down, and began writing at full speed.
The Nine-Tails had been in a bad mood, but seeing him so focused, it immediately leaned in.
Then—
"Fire Release: Flame Pellet Technique?"
The Nine-Tails stared at it for a long time.
After forming hand seals, the technique allowed the user to spit out small fireball pellets from their mouth, but—
After imagining it—
Wasn't this basically spitting?
Just replacing phlegm with Fire Release chakra.
And—
"I remember the Uchiha have something similar, don't they?" the Nine-Tails muttered.
It didn't remember the name, only that it had been hit by it during the Nine-Tails' Night.
"You're thinking of Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique," Yagyū Souma said with a smile, setting down his pen.
"This is an improved version. It's simpler, consumes less chakra, and the resulting power is actually higher."
"What's the point?" the Nine-Tails asked, confused.
Phoenix Sage Fire was basically tickling-level damage. Strengthening it a little wouldn't change anything—still useless.
Yagyū Souma glanced at it and immediately knew it was thinking from a tailed beast's perspective.
"Fire Release is flashy and relatively slow, so it's hard to hit people. The core of this technique is speed."
"How?"
"Ninja tools."
Fire sand, oil-infused water—any kind of liquid or weighted medium works.
With added mass, the fire pellets move much faster, making 'all flame, no damage' far less likely.
The Nine-Tails fell into thought.
Then it understood.
"This is the low-level version?"
"Right. The advanced version requires both Fire Release and a separate oil-extraction technique. Using two elemental transformations at the same time is extremely difficult for most people."
That was jōnin-level difficulty.
In fact, many jōnin who weren't ninjutsu specialists couldn't do it at all.
The Nine-Tails didn't really understand human ninjutsu.
But after comparing things internally, it finally grasped Yagyū Souma's logic—
It was like shrinking a Tailed Beast Ball, adding weight, and then blowing it out.
Not enough power?
If it hits, even low power is effective damage.
If it doesn't hit, even the strongest technique is meaningless.
The Nine-Tails couldn't help admiring Yagyū Souma's strange creativity and even began thinking about modifying Tailed Beast Balls itself.
Following this logic…
Add phlegm?
No.
Tailed beasts didn't have phlegm.
And ordinary chakra constructs couldn't withstand the power of a Tailed Beast Ball anyway.
At that thought, the Nine-Tails glanced at Yagyū Souma.
That Sage chakra of his…
It might actually work.
The reason the strike that decapitated Hidan had been so fast wasn't just Yagyū Souma's physical ability—it was because he had activated Sage Mode and the Nine-Tails Mode simultaneously.
Sage chakra combined with a Tailed Beast Ball…
That might be feasible.
The Nine-Tails opened its mouth, then tilted its head and looked outside.
Ahem.
The old man loved peace.
For the rest of the day, Yagyū Souma focused entirely on refining ninjutsu.
He was aware of the Nine-Tails' subtle emotional fluctuations.
But since it didn't say anything, neither did he.
One human, one beast—an unspoken understanding.
Flame Pellet Technique.
Oil-Coating Technique.
These were the two techniques Yagyū Souma had refined most recently.
He also transcribed the cutting shockwave he'd used in Sage Mode into a scroll.
As for the name—
He simply borrowed "Tempest Kick."
Simple. Easy to remember.
After finishing, he left a copy in the Sound Village, then had the Insect King use Reverse Summoning to bring himself and the Nine-Tails back.
Hokage Tower.
Tsunade, the Third Hokage, and the two advisors were all seated inside, staring at a single intelligence report.
Silence filled the room.
After a long while, the Third Hokage spoke.
"Can we find where Yagyū Souma is?"
"No. He's developed the habit of walking with a chakra barrier active. Unless he wants to be found, ordinary ninja can't locate him at all."
That was the most troublesome part.
If he were easy to find, they could've summoned him back already and prepared countermeasures in advance.
But now—
"I had Genma deliver him a letter. He's definitely received it. Whether he explains himself depends on him."
Tsunade sighed.
The Third Hokage chuckled.
"That's what it's like out there. You and Jiraiya caused plenty of trouble yourselves."
"Cough—today we're talking about Yagyū Souma, not me."
Tsunade cleared her throat awkwardly.
Being chased by creditors all the way to Konoha really wasn't dignified.
She now owed the Third Hokage money, which made it even harder for her to slam the table like she wanted.
After thinking for a moment, Sarutobi Hiruzen said,
"Yagyū Souma has always been steady. If he hasn't sent word, he's probably planning to come back and explain in person."
"I think so too!"
Tsunade nodded in rare agreement.
The two advisors remained silent for a while before one of them finally spoke.
"Even if he explains, the matter of attacking a jinchūriki—"
"Wrong!" Tsunade cut in instantly.
"False intel. Akatsuki did it. It has nothing to do with Konoha. The tailed beast chakra that leaked was from fragments lost long ago."
Sarutobi smiled and nodded.
True or not, Konoha couldn't acknowledge it.
He was about to speak again when—
A figure appeared outside the window.
Sarutobi stood up calmly.
"Ahem. Everyone's here? In a meeting? Should I come back later?"
"Get in here!"
Tsunade yanked open the window and dragged Yagyū Souma straight inside.
The moment they saw the small fox perched on his shoulder, all three elders' eyelids twitched.
The Nine-Tails.
Unsealed.
Even as a clone, its chakra alone was at least ten or twenty percent of the original.
If it went berserk, the Hokage Tower would be gone.
Sarutobi took a deep breath to keep his blood pressure down.
"Yagyū Souma…"
"You old men are less calm than the kid," the Nine-Tails sneered.
"He dares carry me around. What are you afraid of? Are you more afraid of death than him?"
During the Nine-Tails' Night, all three elders had been present.
The fact it wasn't rampaging now was already showing restraint.
"You—!"
Homura Mitokado slammed the table and stood up.
"You what?" the Nine-Tails laughed.
"Am I wrong? Look at Yagyū Souma and her—then look at yourselves. All talk, no backbone."
"We're not afraid of death!" Koharu snapped.
"Then why didn't you fight me back then instead of letting the Fourth do it?"
If it had been these old fools, it would've wiped them all out.
Sarutobi remained silent.
Since Yagyū Souma had brought it here, he clearly had absolute confidence.
Seeing Koharu and Homura seething, Sarutobi raised a hand to signal them to sit.
Koharu forced herself down—
"Getting scolded like that and still sitting?" the Nine-Tails mocked.
"That's enough, Nine-Tails."
Yagyū Souma pressed it down.
"Say a few lines, fine—but don't get carried away. I'll throw you back into the Forest of Death."
The Nine-Tails still wanted to curse, but—
A lump of Sage chakra sealed its mouth shut.
"Cough. Let's focus on business," Tsunade interjected quickly.
"Important matters first."
Koharu stood abruptly.
"I'm leaving."
Getting verbally destroyed by a tailed beast was humiliating.
Homura followed shortly after.
This office—
He didn't want to stay either.
The Nine-Tails grinned.
"Alright," Tsunade said, turning serious.
"Yagyū Souma, explain what happened. We extracted some memories from Hidan's head, but the details are still unclear."
Sarutobi added,
"And why were you in the Cloud Village, and why did you fight the Eight-Tails' jinchūriki? They've already come to complain."
"Relax. They don't know who I am. No evidence," Yagyū Souma replied.
Then he explained the sequence of events.
Naturally, he omitted certain details.
Like how he'd gone to the Sound Village first.
Or that observing the Lightning Release Armor was secondary—his real interest had been the Eight-Tails, Gyūki.
Those thoughts didn't need to be said out loud.
As they listened, Tsunade and Sarutobi alternated between tension, shock, and delight—
Especially when they heard about the fusion of Yagyū Souma's chakra with the Nine-Tails', forming a new state.
They exchanged a glance, then looked at the Nine-Tails.
No wonder.
Tsunade finally understood why Yagyū Souma had brought it here.
The Nine-Tails claimed Akatsuki had nothing to do with it and that capture meant the same old sealing—but given the chance to beat up Akatsuki members, it was clearly willing to cooperate.
That alone was a huge improvement.
Of course, they both knew this only applied to this Nine-Tails clone.
What the original thought was another matter entirely.
After a long silence, Tsunade took a deep breath.
"So they have no proof it was you?"
"Right. They all know it was me—but they can't prove it."
"And the Nine-Tails?" Sarutobi pressed.
This was the crux of the Cloud Village's complaint.
Yagyū Souma smiled.
"According to Jiraiya's investigation, Akatsuki has a member skilled in concealment and Earth Release. And judging by Kakuzu, the organization has existed for a long time…"
"Exactly! Akatsuki did it!" Tsunade clapped.
"How could Konoha ninja do something like that?"
"I recall that Gold and Silver Brothers once devoured the Nine-Tails' flesh to obtain its chakra. Orochimaru also researched this area."
Yagyū Souma spoke righteously.
"I suspect this was something Orochimaru left behind within Akatsuki."
Sarutobi pondered.
Cloud Village wouldn't believe it—
But logically, there were no obvious holes.
Akatsuki had gone to the Land of Lightning.
And in the end—
Cloud Village had no evidence, and their losses weren't severe.
After a pause, Sarutobi said,
"They might demand Hidan."
"We don't have Hidan, so what are we supposed to give them?" Yagyū Souma replied smoothly.
"And even if I killed him, I helped them. Shouldn't the Cloud Village be thanking me? As for Hidan—joint research is fine."
"???"
Tsunade stared at him.
This brat…
Advance Chapters available on Patreon
patreon.com/pikachu614