"This chakra… As expected, Shukaku refuses to be left out."
After leaving the village, Hagoromo quickly sensed the chakra of Shukaku, the One-Tail. After all, chakra on the scale of a tailed beast was something neither sensor-nin nor non-sensor-nin could ignore.
As for the jinchūriki going berserk, that had actually been within Hagoromo's expectations. Whether actively or passively, whenever the jinchūriki encountered a crisis, Shukaku would always appear. And with Gaara and his siblings' abilities, they were clearly no match for Team Six, which consisted of a deadpan, a girl with a woman's heart and appearance but a male body, and a second-generation troublemaker.
Although according to Hagoromo, the task he had given Team Six was to "hold back" the jinchūriki, in reality, they would very likely beat the Sunagakure team black and blue. So Gaara undergoing tailed-beast transformation was absolutely reasonable.
At this moment, the Sunagakure team had already fought and retreated out of Konoha, reaching a somewhat more distant outer area. Team Six's problem was that although their strength was sufficient, they did not have authorization to take lives. Killing the jinchūriki before he transformed into a tailed beast? That was absolutely not allowed.
Because to Hagoromo, that would not be "killing" him. On the contrary, it would mean "releasing" Shukaku into the wild, and once released, he would be gone for years.
This was a rare opportunity. Even if they loosened their attacks slightly, they could not possibly cause trouble for Hagoromo.
Dealing with a tailed beast only had meaning if Hagoromo handled it personally.
Inside the Rashōmon barrier and the Four Violet Flames Formation, the Third Hokage and Danzō should still be fighting Orochimaru. Meanwhile, the Sunagakure and Otogakure shinobi inside Konoha had basically been wiped out.
The few survivors had also fled the village, including Chiyo… Even if she was an extremely powerful puppeteer and skilled in poison, she could not remain unmoved when facing concentrated fire from Konoha.
In that sense, it seemed Chiyo had abandoned her dear Fourth Kazekage… Fine, this was indeed abandonment. But considering Chiyo's age and status, she had experienced all kinds of things. Even if she had hurriedly joined the chaotic battle at the very beginning, by this point, she had definitely noticed that something was wrong.
Whether in terms of motive, process, or intention, Konoha and Sunagakure should not have had any reason to attack each other. The Hokage's actions were far too absurd. In Konoha, the Third had no reason at all to set up a barrier and duel the Fourth Kazekage one-on-one. Doing that would only prevent Konoha's own forces from being brought to bear. Wouldn't ganging up on the Kazekage be better?
The deeper Chiyo thought about it, the more she felt that Sunagakure had been used.
In truth, this kind of wisdom born from experience was undoubtedly quite correct. So based on her own judgment, Chiyo decisively abandoned her boss, the "Fourth Kazekage," and ran away once the situation no longer looked right…
And after dealing with the summoned pets Orochimaru had set loose to wreak havoc in the village, Jiraiya seemed to be pursuing Chiyo.
As for Tsunade, she was responsible for staying in the village, coordinating the overall situation, and treating the injured. At this moment, Konoha had undoubtedly already begun operating with her at its center.
Whether or not someone like Tsunade was present made an obvious difference. If Tsunade had not returned to Konoha at this time, then with the Hokage cut off, although Konoha had powerful combat strength and an absolute numerical advantage, without unified command, everyone could only fight separately.
But with the next Hokage present, even without the Third, all of Konoha's power could still be integrated together.
Therefore, the chaos lasted only for an instant and was soon calmed down.
Hagoromo's encounter with Tsunade had lasted only an extremely short time. After the latter indicated that she was already "all right," he swiftly continued his movement.
His main objective had still not been achieved.
Originally, after Gaara and the others left the village, although he could predict that they would not have gone too far, if Hagoromo wanted to find them, he might have had to enter Sage Mode and search. But now there was no need. The tailed beast's chakra was as conspicuous as a 250-watt light bulb hanging right under his eyelids in the night.
After locating the exact place, with Hagoromo moving at full speed, he arrived at the scene almost in an instant.
With Mirai and the other two's strength, fighting a single target of the same age was still fine. But when dealing with a tailed beast, they clearly lacked effective offensive methods, especially techniques capable of settling things in one blow.
So at this moment, they already looked somewhat overwhelmed.
The Summoning Technique? Although large summoned beasts and tailed beasts were almost the same size, their chakra levels and overall combat strength were not on the same level at all.
As for sealing techniques, Mirai could use them, yes. But techniques like the Reverse Four Symbols Sealing Technique too easily dragged both the user and allies into them. Without Hagoromo's death-seeking spirit, it was best not to throw scrolls around carelessly.
"Something feels different… Shukaku's chakra level isn't as strong as I imagined."
Hagoromo appeared behind Mirai's three-person group. Looking at the enormous body not far ahead, he frowned as he spoke.
It had to be said: this tanuki really was a bit ugly.
Hagoromo wondered whether he had seen too many tailed beasts, and only after comparing them did he realize that Shukaku's chakra level was just so-so. But he even felt that the Shukaku before him was weaker than when they had first met.
Had old age withered his beauty?
Fine, that had been many years ago after all. Although Hagoromo had blown Shukaku's head apart back then, chakra intensity was ultimately a somewhat vague concept. As for what level the One-Tail had been at back then, he could no longer quite remember.
"Hagoromo?"
The parent had finally arrived, and Mirai breathed a sigh of relief. She had been under quite a bit of pressure too.
"The jinchūriki seems to have used a Feigning Sleep Technique to awaken the tailed beast. But the One-Tail has only just woken up, so its chakra intensity hasn't risen yet."
She had clearly heard Hagoromo's doubt and gave her own explanation.
"So in other words, Shukaku's chakra is still growing stronger?"
"…Yes."
With that, Hagoromo understood.
In many cases, full tailed-beast transformation was no different from a tailed beast escaping from its seal. But there were also opposite cases. Even if it looked like the tailed beast had already come out, the other party had still not fully transformed.
"Where is the jinchūriki hiding?"
Unfortunately, what Hagoromo wanted was neither partial tailed-beast transformation nor full tailed-beast transformation. What he wanted was to completely release Shukaku.
His intention was to first grant absolute freedom, then grant absolute unfreedom.
"He's probably hidden in the One-Tail's head. After using the Feigning Sleep Technique, the jinchūriki should be there."
Hagoromo still wanted to ask in more detail, but time no longer allowed it, because Shukaku had clearly noticed his arrival as well.
Since his birth, how many times had Shukaku been beaten up? To be honest, because he had lived too long, Shukaku could no longer remember. But if asked who had beaten him up last time, he naturally remembered that with perfect clarity.
After all, turning such an adorable kitty into a honeycomb briquette was something only one shop offered, with no other branches. Other than Hagoromo, there was no one else.
Then, after so many years, Shukaku finally got a line of dialogue. In a shrill voice completely mismatched with his size, filled with anger, relief, neuroticism, arrogance, and madness, he said:
"After all these years, I finally see you again, brat!"
Compared with Shukaku, whether in age or individual size, Hagoromo really was a brat. But the way he said it also carried a bit of an "I MISS YOU" feeling.
The only problem was that Shukaku's intelligence was worrying.
If you see him, hurry up and run. What the hell are you so happy about?
Even more unfortunately, this might be Shukaku's only line from beginning to end.
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