Mount Myoboku, Arisu was eating heartily. After finishing the main course, he had some oranges as well.
"Everyone is family. The summoning world is one big family, and we should help each other in the future.", Arisu spoke as he peeled an orange.
Then he slowly stepped down, handing out the peeled orange piece by piece, one segment to the White Snake Sage, one to Enma, one to Katsuyu, and one to Gamamaru.
As for the last piece, Arisu stuffed it into his mouth in one go, chewing before swallowing.
The summoned beasts all tasted the orange and nodded one after another.
"Well said! I think the Great Sage should be the one in charge of our summoning world!" Enma slapped his thigh and said."
"That's right. In the summoning world, whether it's the great sacred lands or the smaller summoned beasts, all should be under the Great Sage's management," Gamamaru also agreed.
The White Snake Sage and Katsuyu nodded as well.
Arisu smiled. He had long since become the one calling the shots in the ninja world's summoning realm.
"Hehe, if anything comes up, we can discuss it together. If you run into trouble, this old man will step in as well," Arisu said with a smile.
Then, Arisu raised his teacup and said loudly, "I hope that at my next thousand-year birthday, everyone will still come!"
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone's expressions stiffened, and the atmosphere became somewhat quiet.
Arisu paused slightly. Ah, right, he forgot, they all had lifespans.
"Sage, I should be able to."
Black Zetsu was the first to raise his cup with a grin.
Kaguya Otsutsuki also spoke calmly, "I can as well."
"Great Sage, I can too…", Katsuyu said.
At the moment when everyone at Mount Myoboku raised their cups together to drink,
the eight clans had already begun their joint attack on the Two-Tails.
The Two-Tails simply couldn't withstand the combined power of the eight clans and was forced to release its tailed beast signal.
In the sky, the signal unique to the Two-Tails appeared.
The closest to the Two-Tails was Shukaku.
Shukaku immediately rushed over.
And then also got trapped in it.
The combined forces of the eight clans were terrifying to this extent.
———
The birthday banquet had ended.
The hall, once filled with moving figures and overlapping congratulatory voices, gradually quieted as the guests left one after another.
Only a few flickering candles remained in the corners of the hall.
Arisu stood alone in the very center of the great hall.
Waiting for something.
He had already been waiting here for a long time, from the peak of the banquet until the very end when everyone had left. The heart he had kept suspended all this time finally sank.
"What's going on… why didn't they come.", Arisu murmured softly, a trace of disappointment in his tone.
"Even if you sent me a dead eagle, it would be better than this kind of complete silence…"
As his words fell, Arisu let out a soft sigh.
In truth, he understood better than anyone that this wasn't something he could blame the nine tailed beasts for.
Over the past few years, he had deliberately concealed his whereabouts, pretending to disappear from the world.
Back then, he had solemnly promised the nine tailed beasts that he would step in to correct the chaos of the ninja world and bring stability to it, but from beginning to end, he had never fulfilled that promise.
The tailed beasts were pure by nature and valued promises. Now that he had broken his word first, it was only natural that they were unwilling to come to the appointment. If it were him, he might have made the same choice.
"Forget it. If they won't come, then so be it."
Arisu shook his head, completely letting go of the attachment in his heart. His gaze shifted to the mountain of birthday gifts piled beside him.
"In that case, I'll have the White Zetsu deliver some things to them as an apology."
The gifts were stacked higher than a person, dazzlingly arranged along one side of the hall.
The toads of Mount Myoboku had sent rare spiritual insects and immortal herbs, or carefully refined pills.
Even the usually inconspicuous White Zetsu had each prepared something heartfelt, piling everything into a small mountain.
He couldn't possibly eat or use all these things by himself. Rather than letting them gather dust, it would be better to give them to the nine tailed beasts to ease the relationship between them.
With this in mind, Arisu gave additional instructions for the toads of Mount Myoboku to work through the night to prepare giant portions of food specifically for the tailed beasts.
Once the food was ready, it would all be stuffed into summoning scrolls and quickly delivered by White Zetsu to the nine tailed beasts.
Just as Arisu bent down to organize the gifts to be sent out and began preparing the scrolls, a White Zetsu appeared.
"Great Sage! Urgent intelligence from the ninja world! The Senju, Uchiha, Uzumaki, Sarutobi, Shimura, Nara, Akimichi, and Yamanaka, these eight great clans have already formed an alliance."
"At this very moment, they are going all out to capture the Two-Tails Matatabi and the One-Tails Shukaku stationed at the border!", White Zetsu reported immediately.
Arisu's hand, which had been organizing the birthday gifts, suddenly stopped. The calm look in his eyes instantly turned sharp, and the aura around him sank.
"What? The eight clans are capturing tailed beasts together? When did this happen? Why am I only hearing about it now?", Arisu frowned and asked.
"Great Sage, this is happening right now. The information was just delayed because of the birthday banquet," White Zetsu answered respectfully.
Hearing this, Arisu let out a faint sigh in his heart.
It had already been hundreds of years since the last agreement with the tailed beasts. The promise made by Shuichi and Izumi not to capture tailed beasts had gradually lost its effect.
"Forget it. I'll go there myself.", As Arisu spoke, he vanished in an instant.
———
On the battlefield, Shukaku and Matatabi were being beaten into a miserable state.
"Shuhaku, something feels off. Why are the tailed beasts so weak?", Senju Hiruka said uneasily, full of doubt.
"Maybe it's because the One-Tails and Two-Tails are originally weak. The later tailed beasts will definitely be stronger.", Uchiha Shuhaku replied calmly.
"Shukaku, I'll leave the rest to you.", Matatabi spoke in a deep voice.
Shukaku nodded solemnly. "Don't worry."
As soon as the words fell, determination flashed through Matatabi's eyes, and she began attacking like she had gone mad.
Uchiha Shuhaku immediately released "Nameless."
The little girl instantly activated Amaterasu, aiming at Matatabi and burning her.
Not only did Matatabi not dodge, she instead sought death with all her heart.
In the end, under the combined assault of the eight-clan alliance, they accidentally killed Matatabi.
"Hey! Can't your Uzumaki clan hold back a bit? Now look, the tailed beast is dead!"
Senju Hiruka looked at the Uzumaki clan leader with a face full of blame.
"Clan Leader Senju, I didn't even use the Reaper Death Seal. I was already holding back. If it weren't for the Uchiha's black flames, we would have succeeded in capturing it long ago."
The Uzumaki clan leader refused to take the blame.
"Alright, alright. Clan leaders, we still have the One-Tails, don't we? So what if the Two-Tails is dead."
The Nara clan leader stepped forward to mediate.
At that moment, a portal suddenly appeared out of thin air in the center of the battlefield.
Arisu appeared.
The moment Arisu appeared, he instantly drew the attention of the eight-clan alliance. Tens of thousands of ninjas immediately fixed their gaze on him as he appeared out of nowhere.
"Where did this old man come from?"
"Is he from your clan?"
"How did he appear?"
The crowd broke into discussion.
The eight clan leaders immediately looked at Arisu as if facing a great enemy.
Arisu completely ignored their gazes.
He came here with no interest in dealing with these people. He only wanted to take Shukaku and Matatabi away.
Moreover, today was his birthday. He had no desire to kill or spill blood.
"Shukaku? Where's Matatabi?"
Seeing Shukaku covered in wounds, Arisu frowned, feeling uncomfortable.
The moment Shukaku saw Arisu, tears instantly streamed down his face as he cried out in front of everyone.
"Teacher! Matatabi… Matatabi was killed by them!!!", Shukaku cried bitterly.
Hearing this, Arisu's pupils suddenly shrank. His figure swayed for a moment, as if struck by a bolt from the blue, "What? Matatabi is dead?"