Shukaku let out a triumphant laugh, "Old hag, do you really think I'd fight alongside you?!"
"Bah! The Land of Wind imprisoned me for so many years, and you Sunagakure still want to control my power, hmph! This time I'm going to bathe Sunagakure in blood."
"Shukaku—"
Chiyo regretted releasing Shukaku, because Tailed Beasts simply don't make rational judgments like humans.
They only care about immediate pain; whoever hurt them, they'll retaliate against.
"Is that the One-Tail Shukaku?"
Ryou appeared on a sand dune next to Shukaku's altar, with Candy, Snowy, and Matatabi beside him.
Candy had now taken over Ryou's chakra threads, controlling the Sunagakure Anbu previously controlled by Ryou, including Ebizo and Baki.
As soon as Shukaku was unsealed, it turned on Chiyo, unleashing a large-scale sand attack that covered the entire area.
Ryou activated the Mayfly Technique, leading everyone to dive into the sand, thus evading Shukaku's wide-range attack.
It could be said that without Ryou, these elite Sunagakure Anbu would have been buried by Shukaku's sand.
Ryou fiercely brainwashed them with his Sharingan: "See? I saved you all! You'll repay this kindness for the rest of your lives!"
"…"
Ebizo glanced at Ryou, unsure whether to be grateful or resentful.
The resentment stemmed from the fact that without Ryou's coercion, Chiyo would never have unsealed Shukaku.
Their predicament was all Ryou's doing.
But this guy had just saved them, and Ebizo had no idea what Ryou was planning.
"Uchiha Ryou, what exactly do you want?"
Ryou said to Ebizo, "I just want Shukaku. If Sunagakure doesn't stop me, we can still coexist peacefully."
How could that be?
Shukaku was Sunagakure's Tailed Beast, the treasure of the Land of Wind. How could it be handed over to someone else?
Ebizo only thought this to himself, but looking at the current situation, he almost wished Ryou would take Shukaku away.
Because Shukaku had begun marching towards Sunagakure, and Shukaku's intense hatred couldn't be resolved by the distant threat of Madara.
In the original work, when the Tailed Beasts were released from the Gedo Statue, Shukaku initially didn't want to fight alongside the Shinobi Allied Forces.
Shukaku's personality was very immature; only the monk Bunpuku could earn its recognition, and after Bunpuku's death, no one could restrain it.
Furthermore, Shukaku wasn't actually afraid of Uchiha Madara and Hashirama.
Because during the era when Madara and Hashirama were active, Shukaku was listening to the monk chant scriptures and hadn't witnessed their power.
It only heard from the monk Bunpuku that Hashirama alone captured the seven Tailed Beasts from the Two-Tails to the Eight-Tails.
The Nine-Tails was also suspected to have been captured by him.
Shukaku then mocked those Tailed Beasts, saying it was a disgrace for Tailed Beasts to be suppressed by mere humans.
Mere humans, how strong could they possibly be?
At that time, Shukaku thought that after its release, it would challenge Hashirama, and after defeating him, see if Kurama would still dare to say that a Tailed Beast's strength depended on its number of tails.
Because it hadn't seen the divine power of Madara and Hashirama, it wasn't afraid.
Why not fear? Because it wasn't scared!
Now, Shukaku's heart was filled with hatred for Sunagakure; it had to slaughter the Village that had imprisoned it for half a century before its anger would subside.
As for Madara's threat...
Shukaku had only bragged to the monk Bunpuku at the time; it didn't believe it could deal with Hashirama, who had defeated eight Tailed Beasts.
Madara was as famous as Hashirama, and also an Uchiha, possessing terrifying Sharingan.
He was probably not someone to provoke. It was better to avoid his sharp edge for now and play a trick on him.
Besides, even if Madara was truly terrifying, Shukaku would destroy Sunagakure and then return to the Nara Desert.
Such a vast desert; if it burrowed into a spot, how would Madara find it?
"Shukaku, you bastard!"
Chiyo regretted releasing Shukaku, a Tailed Beast with an immature mind. She brought out her trump card, the Kuroari Puppet Squad.
These were ten elite puppets clad in white robes.
Crafted by Monzaemon, the progenitor of Sunagakure's puppetry, only Chiyo could control the Kuroari Puppet Squad within the Sunagakure puppet corps.
The power of these ten puppets was explained in the original work: Chiyo once used the Kuroari Puppet Squad to conquer a city.
Although not as formidable as Sasori's Red Secret Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets, which conquered a small nation, they were still powerful Forbidden Jutsu puppets.
If Sasori's Hundred Puppet Technique focused on the quantity of puppets, then the Kuroari Puppet Squad emphasized the quality of individual puppets.
Each of the Kuroari Puppet Squad was an elite puppet.
Chiyo used the Kuroari Puppet Squad to block Shukaku's path.
But Shukaku didn't pay attention to Chiyo; instead, it turned to look at a spot on a nearby sand dune.
A pair of crimson Sharingan fixed upon Shukaku, devoid of warmth, emotion, or the slightest ripple.
Only an innate loftiness and indifference.
That indifferent gaze alone brought forth Shukaku's memories of the Uchiha Clan.
"Uchiha Clan—"
Why would Shukaku fear the Sharingan? It hadn't fought Uchiha Madara.
Because Shukaku wasn't born in the era of Shinobi Villages; it had existed since the era of Ninshu.
Throughout a thousand years of history, powerful Shinobi of the Uchiha Clan might have controlled Shukaku.
The Tailed Beasts' fear of the Sharingan is innate, and their fear of Hashirama's Wood Release is ingrained in their genes.
This is all because both of these powers can be traced back to the origin of chakra—the God Tree.
Shukaku's wild chakra surged like a tsunami in all directions, its yellow four-pointed star demonic eyes burning with all-consuming rage, and the purple-black cursed seals on its body twitched viciously.
"Evil Uchiha, take this!"
Shukaku roared, its voice filled with sand and malice, as its massive tail slammed down towards the sand dune where Ryou was.
Ryou was a bit confused: "I haven't even said anything, and Shukaku is already getting agitated?"
Candy licked a lollipop and said, "Perhaps the ancestors of the Uchiha Clan hurt Shukaku before!"
"So it's my ancestors' fault!"
Ryou shook his head, then injected a massive amount of chakra into his Sharingan, unleashing dōjutsu power comparable to a Mangekyo.
The three tomoe in his Sharingan spun rapidly.
Sharingan: Genjutsu!
The next second, Shukaku's yellow beast eyes were replaced by the projection of the Sharingan, and its heavily slammed tail instantly stopped.
Shukaku was controlled by Ryou's Sharingan.
This was not surprising; Tailed Beasts have no defenses against the Sharingan.
The strongest Tailed Beast, Kurama, could be controlled by Obito with just one Mangekyo Sharingan.
Although Ryou's Sharingan had three tomoe, he had fused with Madara's cells and possessed Madara's powerful dōjutsu genetic material.
His three tomoe Sharingan was an atavistic Indra's three tomoe Sharingan.
Being able to activate Susanoo, he naturally possessed dōjutsu power comparable to the Mangekyo Sharingan.
Shukaku has the least chakra among the Tailed Beasts. What could it use to resist the Sharingan's genjutsu?
In Shukaku's genjutsu world…
Ryou wove a scenario from when the Sage of Six Paths first created the Tailed Beasts.
The Sage of Six Paths created the souls of the Tailed Beasts, then had Kurama distribute the Ten-Tails' chakra.
Kurama's distribution was: one portion for the One-Tail, one for me; one portion for the Two-Tails, one for me; one portion for the Three-Tails, one for me…
"(/‵Д′)/~╧╧."
Shukaku roared in fury: "Kurama, who told you to divide it like that? Get out of the way, let me divide it!"
"Matatabi, what are you, a cat, doing dividing chakra? Go play somewhere else."
"Isobu, a turtle should stay in the water. Son Goku…"
"Alright, now all the Ten-Tails' chakra is mine!"
Shukaku was immersed in the beautiful dream woven by Ryou. What Shukaku hated most was Kurama using the number of tails to measure the strength of Tailed Beasts.
What it cared about most in this life was the Sage of Six Paths's favoritism.
According to the order in which the Sage of Six Paths created the Tailed Beasts, it was the eldest, the crown prince.
Why did the ninth get the most chakra?
If it could start over, Shukaku would definitely rebel against the Sage of Six Paths.