Chapter 48: I, Senju Stelle, Also Have a Dream of Becoming a Jinchuriki
After farming a fresh wave of points from Black Zetsu, Stelle was in an exceptionally good mood.
There was, however, a slight complication. The fact that the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan was now in Senju Tobirama's possession was known to Black Zetsu. This meant his scheming gaze would inevitably fall upon the Second Hokage.
When that time came, he would surely concoct all sorts of plots against Tobirama.
That simply wouldn't do.
It would be far better to keep the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan with her; she could toy with Black Zetsu from time to time, farming his mood values without ever fearing his machinations.
But how could she possibly bring this up with Tobirama, that research maniac?
She glanced sideways at him, her gaze lingering on his eyes as she hesitated, words caught in her throat.
Just then, as if he could read her mind…
Senju Tobirama spoke, his tone indifferent. "I'll return these eyes to you later. They belong to Madara, after all. He would be furious if he knew they were with me."
Stelle blinked. Wait a minute. She hadn't even said anything, yet he was already offering to give them back.
'Does he have some kind of mind-reading jutsu?' she wondered.
She knew Tobirama was a pragmatist above all else. A pair of Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan in his hands represented a treasure trove of research, an opportunity to maximize their utility for Konoha. Yet, he was handing them back just like that.
He was becoming harder and harder to read.
Upon their return to Konoha, the envoys dispatched by the Four Great Shinobi Nations arrived as scheduled.
Senju Tobirama assigned the task of their reception to a young Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Among the three genin he was personally training in the Hokage's office, two were certified troublemakers. Only Hiruzen could be considered moderate and level-headed. Entrusting the reception to him significantly lowered the chances of the foreign dignitaries getting beaten up.
Of course, the welcoming committee was nothing short of luxurious.
It included Uchiha Kagami from the Uchiha clan, an elite jōnin from the Hyūga clan with his Byakugan, a promising new-generation shinobi from the Senju clan, and even a representative from the Uzumaki clan.
With such a group shadowing them, the envoys couldn't make a single suspicious move even if they wanted to. The Byakugan was watching their every twitch, the Mind's Eye of the Kagura was locked onto their chakra, the Sharingan was dissecting their every action, and the monstrous strength of the Senju was a constant, unspoken threat.
Standing before this lineup, the jōnin teams from the Four Nations felt like a pack of huskies thrown to the wolves.
They didn't dare move. They really, truly didn't dare.
What shocked them even more, however, was the sheer prosperity of Konoha.
Wide streets, bustling rows of shops, and tidy, spacious residences—compared to this, their own villages felt like refugee camps.
Merchant caravans moved in and out of the streets, their carriages laden with all sorts of goods.
The civilians passing by didn't show the slightest hint of fear upon seeing the foreign ninja. Instead, they openly gathered to watch, the air thick with a sense of peace and affluence.
One had to remember that Konoha had just waged a war, yet there wasn't the slightest sign that it had been affected.
Didn't the ninja guarding the borders cost money? Didn't supplies need to be consumed?
Beyond their shock, the faces of the envoys twisted with raw envy.
This was especially true for the jōnin from the Hidden Sand Village. Konoha was already so prosperous, yet they still had the gall to "invade" their Land of Wind.
Was it easy for them to achieve even a little development?
Yes, it was a fake invasion, but even a fake one had cost them many lives. If it had been real, how many more would have died?, thanks to the large-scale deployment of medical scrolls on the battlefield, Konoha's casualties had been minimal. The mere thought made the Sand jōnin's heart bleed.
In these negotiations, they had to make the Land of Fire cede a piece of fertile land. They needed it to grow crops, to develop, to have even a fraction of this.
While the ninja of the Four Nations were being closely monitored, Senju Tobirama began to consider how to handle the Nine-Tails.
The Tailed Beast had been brought back, putting Konoha on equal footing with the other nations who possessed one. The problem was what to do with it.
Logically, the best solution was to find a suitable candidate, seal the beast inside them, and create a jinchūriki. But for some reason, Tobirama hesitated, holding off on the decision.
Stelle waited for a long time, fully prepared to assist with the sealing jutsu or whatever else was needed, but the order never came.
She mulled it over for a moment and quickly understood.
In the original timeline, Konoha was the first to capture and distribute the Tailed Beasts, so they pioneered the process without a second thought.
But now, the other nations had caught their Tailed Beasts first, setting a rather grim precedent before Konoha even captured its own.
According to the reports from their intelligence teams, the other great nations were suffering massive headaches. Once sealed into a jinchūriki, the beasts would go on a rampage at the slightest provocation.
In the Land of Wind alone, the One-Tail, Shukaku, had proven too powerful and difficult to control, rampaging several times already. The news was so widespread that Konoha's intelligence-gathering ninja barely had to do any digging, a proof of the scale of the destruction.
also, if the Tailed Beast was extracted from its host, the jinchūriki would die.
So many uncertainties made Senju Tobirama pause. He never fought a battle he wasn't sure of winning, and he certainly didn't want to leave such an unstable variable within his own village.
Ultimately, he decided to temporarily seal the Nine-Tails in the back mountain forest.
With his mastery of forbidden jutsu, he was confident that if given enough time, he could research the most suitable sealing formula before transferring the beast into a host. There was no need to rush.
The Nine-Tails was sealed in Konoha's back mountains, on a peak quite close to the Uzumaki clan's compound, which was immediately designated a forbidden zone.
Stelle and Uzumaki Mito worked together to set up the primary sealing array. Afterward, sealing experts from the Uzumaki clan were stationed to guard the Nine-Tails, reinforcing the seal at regular intervals.
Stelle felt he was overthinking things. She pointed at herself and said, "Tobirama-sensei, isn't the most suitable candidate for the jinchūriki right in front of you? Why are you so focused on the Uzumaki clan?"
"You want to be the jinchūriki?" Senju Tobirama, who had been inspecting the stability of the seal, stopped dead in his tracks.
"Yeah," Stelle said, puffing out her chest. "I'm the one who caught the Nine-Tails. My chakra capacity is huge, my fūinjutsu is powerful, and I have a natural talent for it. I can adjust the seal at any time depending on the situation. I'm practically a born-and-bred jinchūriki candidate."
While shamelessly recommending herself, she was thinking, 'If the Tailed Beast is extracted, the person dies, right? Isn't that a ready-made way to log out of this world? I have to get this opportunity into my own hands.'
Seeing the strange, eager glint in her eyes, Senju Tobirama's brow furrowed deeply. "I don't agree. Give up on that idea."
"Why?"
Stelle didn't understand. She was such a perfect choice. With Tobirama's personality, he should have agreed without a second thought.
Whether in terms of strength or loyalty to Konoha, she was the ideal candidate. She was actually quite looking forward to the prestige of being the very first jinchūriki.
"There is no 'why.' I just don't agree."
To the side, the Nine-Tails, curled up inside the seal, was about to explode with rage. It listened as the two of them discussed its ownership as if it were a piece of furniture.
It was the great Nine-Tails, not some kitten or puppy! Was its fate something they could just decide on a whim?
"You two damnable humans!" it roared, its voice shaking the very air. "You actually dare to capture the great Nine-Tails-sama and even want to seal me into a human body? I'm telling you, don't even think about it!"
"If you really dare to seal me, I'll cause trouble inside that person's body every single day! I'll make it impossible for them to mold chakra! I'll make them go berserk every day! I will never give them a moment of peace!"
"And don't ever let me out. The day I come out, I will tear your Konoha to shreds!"
Its entire body's chakra swept out violently, making the whole valley tremble as if rocked by an earthquake.
However, whenever that massive wave of chakra impacted the seal, just as it seemed cracks were about to form, glowing curse marks would automatically flow from the array to patch the spot, rendering its efforts useless.
The Nine-Tails roared for a long time, but it was all for nothing.
[Ding! Mood value from Kurama +5000]
When Stelle heard the system notification, her expression shifted instantly. The way she looked at the Nine-Tails was no longer one of simple curiosity but of a prospector stumbling upon a mountain of gold.
She had really been stuck in a rut. How could she have forgotten such a major supporting character in this world's timeline?
This was the most important character running through the entire story—the Nine-Tails! How could she not farm its mood values properly?
She rubbed her fingers together, a wicked smile spreading across her face. Looking for all the world like a street bully who had just cornered an innocent maiden, she took a step into the seal's perimeter.
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