"Huh? Uncle B, you didn't leave?"
Seeing Killer B suddenly jump out, Naruto scratched his head in confusion.
"Ah, haha. Yeah." Killer B copied Naruto and scratched his own head, playing dumb.
"Anyway, Uncle Raikage, Tailed Beasts can't do it. I already asked Kurama about that, and he told me himself," Naruto answered the Raikage's earlier question.
"...Fine. We'll leave things like this for now. We'll select a suitable candidate. In the meantime, the three of you can stay in Kumogakure and rest for a few days."
The Raikage looked at Naruto's innocent answer, then at the guilty expression on his little brother's face, and immediately grew suspicious.
B was obviously acting like someone with something to hide.
But this time, he wasn't hiding it from the Raikage.
Otherwise, he never would have jumped out of hiding to interrupt them. If the target wasn't him, then it had to be one of the Konoha ninja.
So the Raikage decided to send Naruto's group away first, then interrogate Killer B privately.
...
Under the Raikage's not-so-subtle dismissal, Naruto, Kakashi, and Konohamaru left the private training grounds.
"Whoa, what's that? Kumogakure-style ramen? I've gotta try it! Kakashi-sensei, Konohamaru, want to come?" The moment Naruto stepped onto the main street, he spotted a building in the distance with an enormous ramen sign hanging above it and was instantly drawn in.
"You go ahead, Naruto. Bring me back a serving. I still need to arrange somewhere for us to stay tonight." Kakashi waved the paper slip the Raikage had handed him earlier.
It was a voucher for free lodging at a local inn.
"I'll go with you, Naruto-nii!" Konohamaru eagerly ran to Naruto's side.
Thus, the two of them went to eat ramen while Kakashi went to book rooms at the inn.
...
Back at the training grounds, once the outsiders were gone, the Raikage interrogated Killer B.
Killer B told his big brother everything he had learned from Gyūki.
Both of Kumogakure's Tailed Beasts maintained good relationships with their human partners.
Matatabi told Yugito, so naturally, Gyūki told Killer B too.
After learning the truth, the Raikage was stunned all over again.
When Killer B first started explaining, the Raikage suspected Konoha coveted Kumogakure's Tailed Beasts and planned something sinister.
Especially considering Naruto's current condition.
Aside from the Four-Tails and Five-Tails, the kid had already gathered a portion of every other Tailed Beast's power inside himself.
Obtaining the final two was only a matter of time.
Kumogakure naturally judged others by its own past behavior.
They frequently attempted kidnappings and power grabs themselves, so it wouldn't be strange if Konoha now coveted the Tailed Beasts' raw power.
Then Killer B finished speaking.
Only then did the Raikage finally understand.
Naruto did not covet the Tailed Beasts' power.
He coveted their bodies!
The shock was no less severe than when Konoha's group first taught him their Sage Mode shortcut.
"Tsunade.... what kind of creature is she? How did the entire village become so... degenerate the moment she took office?" The Raikage felt a mysterious, creeping sense of fear.
If he had not heard and experienced it personally, he never could have imagined Konoha sinking to this level, even if someone shoved his head into a toilet.
After all, the shinobi world's Raikage might not exactly be a saint, but he was still an absolutely straightforward and respectable man.
The complete opposite of the Raikage portrayed in certain scandalous underground novels.
As a respectable man, having his worldview assaulted over and over again left him physically and mentally exhausted.
After taking a long time to recover, the Raikage finally raised his head and looked at Killer B.
"If your reason for hiding the fact that Tailed Beasts can assist with Sage Mode is to drain Naruto's physical energy, then you simply need to make sure he never finds out. B, return to the Valley of Clouds and Lightning to train. Or go to the Island Turtle."
"Big Bro, I can do that. But don't forget, Naruto's group said they won't leave until at least one person from our village has mastered senjutsu." Killer B's eyes lit up the moment he heard his brother giving him freedom.
He hurriedly put on a serious expression and analyzed the tactical situation.
"Do you have someone in mind?" The Raikage rubbed his temples.
His head hurt.
His brain felt like it had just been violently scrambled, leaving him incapable of thinking properly.
All he could do was ask his brother for a suggestion.
"Big Bro, let Motoi do it. He has an owl summon, so he can use the easier summon-assisted branch." Killer B recommended his childhood friend without a second of hesitation.
"Motoi is carrying out routine duties on the Island Turtle, isn't he? Fine. I'll leave it to you. Go inform him, and the two of you can train together while you're out there." The Raikage tossed the secret manual Kakashi had given him straight to Killer B.
"Okay!" Killer B caught the scroll, raised his hand high, and flashed a victory sign.
...
After booking the rooms at the inn, Kakashi did not go back outside.
Instead, he sat at the small wooden table, pulled out his notebook, and prepared to continue writing.
Ever since the publisher opened Kakashi's eyes, he finally entered the proper state of mind and understood how to write a compelling novel.
At the same time, Kakashi hadn't forgotten that his novels needed to serve a specific purpose.
The earlier books published under his name, as well as the movies produced by the Land of Snow, were all intended to make the shinobi world understand the apocalyptic threat posed by the Ōtsutsuki clan.
So Kakashi put pen to paper once more.
He felt that the Infinite Tsukuyomi was still not terrifying enough.
Therefore, he added more lore.
Originally, the Infinite Tsukuyomi was an Ōtsutsuki technique used to drain the shinobi world's chakra.
Once a person's chakra was completely extracted, their body would transform into a White Zetsu and be thrown into a factory, where it would work without rest day and night.
Kakashi took direct inspiration from the current industrial factories of Amegakure.
But that alone was not enough!
After death, the physical body was turned into a tool and forced to continue working.
But what happened to the soul?
Did it simply return peacefully to the Pure Land? That was far too comfortable!
And so, Kakashi wrote:
Not only that, but the victims' souls would also be transformed by the Ōtsutsuki clan into knowledge-storage ninja tools, extraction ninja tools, search ninja tools...
After finishing that sentence, Kakashi felt a little hungry.
He looked out the window at the darkening sky and muttered, "Why isn't Naruto back yet?"
Left with no other choice, he picked up the complimentary sweet red-bean bun the innkeeper had left on the table and took a bite.
"This lore is getting too complicated. I'll just call the soul-tool an AI."
The Infinite Tsukuyomi transforms a person's body into a White Zetsu and forces it to work without limit, while the soul is transformed into an AI for the Ōtsutsuki clan to use!
"Perfect." Kakashi completed the construction of that particular piece of lore.
Right at that moment, Naruto finally returned after happily stuffing himself with ramen, carrying a packed takeout serving in one hand.
"Kakashi-sensei, I'm back!" Naruto placed the hot ramen in front of Kakashi. "Huh? What's this?"
Naruto curiously looked at the manuscript lying on the table, picked it up, and started reading.
Kakashi did not stop him.
He was starving and immediately dug into the noodles.
"Naruto—slurp—why did you come back so late? Did you and Konohamaru go shopping somewhere else?" Kakashi asked curiously between mouthfuls.
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