Naruto: The Age of Ninja Swords Begins in Kumogakure

Chapter 213 0.5 Millimeters of Loyalty

In a secret underground chamber at the Kirigakure Ninja Base in the Land of Waves, Yagura Karatachi and his men gathered.

"Let's start by sealing the small three-tailed one."

After the sealing ninja confirmed that the sealing technique was working properly, Yagura Karatachi spoke and then gestured to Kusagi no Eito beside him.

Kusanagi understood and went to the center of the inscribed sealing formula. The three sealing ninjas formed hand seals and injected chakra to activate the sealing formula.

Yagura Karatachi then took out a sealing ninja tool and released it, from which projected a colossal creature three meters tall—a miniature Three-Tails within the Three-Tails' body.

The released three-tailed fox went berserk and tried to attack, but it was firmly sealed by the sealing technique. In the end, it was sealed into the abdomen of the Kusanagi-no-Kami amidst a furious roar, forming a triangular sealing technique.

This is a sealing technique specifically designed to counter the Three-Tails, and it has a strong suppressive effect on the Three-Tails.

After catching their breath, the three sealing ninjas stepped forward to check the sealing technique of Kusanagi Yagito. Only after confirming that it was correct did they nod to Yagura Karatachi.

After receiving confirmation, Yagura also breathed a sigh of relief. Although this sealing technique, which could even seal the Three-Tails' main body, could easily seal the small Three-Tails, it was still a tailed beast after all, and any accident could be fatal.

The rest is simple. There is another three-tailed miniature version, which is three meters long. It was sealed into the body of another Kirigakure Jonin as an aid for the two of them to break through their limits and become Kage-level powerhouses.

Next came the sealing of the three tails, which had long been removed from the Three-Tails using sealing techniques, and contained half of the Three-Tails' chakra.

Although the Three-Tails went berserk for a long time because of this, it was suppressed by targeted sealing techniques, and with the loss of half of its chakra, it did not affect Yagura Karatachi.

Ao, Juzo Biwa, and Raiga Kurosuki each possess one of the three tails and have one-sixth of the Three-Tails' chakra.

"Can I enter Tailed Beast form?"

Yagura asked if the three men's success or failure was related to the upcoming war.

If the three of them could enter Tailed Beast Transformation, they could unleash Kage-level power, and at least that Tailed Beast Cloak would be difficult to break through with ordinary means.

Furthermore, the gathering of the three can also help him condense the Tailed Beast Ball, making it an even more strategically important entity.

The three remained silent, channeling their chakra to merge with the power of the Three-Tails' tail in the sealed space through a sealing technique, and then slowly guiding it out.

They had been getting used to the Three-Tails' chakra for a long time, all for this moment.

Gradually, crimson chakra emerged from the seal on their abdomen, spreading throughout their bodies and enveloping the three of them—this was the initial stage of tailed beast transformation.

The surrounding Mist Ninja were on high alert, ready to suppress them at any moment.

Fortunately, all three remained relatively clear-headed and did not lose their rationality due to the influence of the tailed beast chakra.

After all, it's just a tail, and it doesn't yet have the soul consciousness of a three-tailed fox. Plus, with a targeted sealing technique, it's not surprising that it was able to stay stable.

"I have an urge to kill everything and destroy everything."

The calmest of them all, Ao, spoke up. The Three-Tails' chakra did affect his consciousness, but it was still within his tolerance.

"This is normal. Maintain your self-awareness and don't let that impulse corrupt you, otherwise you will lose control and become unable to distinguish between friend and foe."

Yagura was quite satisfied with Ao, but he was worried about Juzo Biwa and Raiga Kurosuki.

Both were products of the Blood Mist Policy, inherently cruel and bloodthirsty, making them more susceptible to having their consciousness corrupted by the Tailed Beast's chakra.

They endured great hardship, but they could barely maintain their consciousness, which was already their limit.

Yagura and the others watched quietly from the sidelines. This was something that only the two of them could get through on their own; outsiders couldn't help.

The two constantly struggled against the tailed beast chakra within their bodies, trying to suppress the chakra they had drawn out. Only by completing this step could they be considered to have initially adapted.

Ao has already suppressed the tailed beast's chakra and recovered. In comparison, he is somewhat weaker than Juzo Biwa and Raiga Kurosuki.

The main issue is their mindset. They not only have to fight against the tailed beast's chakra, but also against their own inner demons, which puts them under even greater pressure.

Fortunately, the two were determined enough, especially after being easily suppressed by the people of Kumogakure last time, which made them grow a lot in terms of mentality, and they finally managed to suppress the tailed beast chakra back.

"Huff huff..."

Both of them were panting heavily, their clothes were soaked with sweat, and their chakra was exhausted. Their bodies were completely drained, showing how difficult the fight had been.

However, Yagura Karatachi was not very satisfied with this. The two of them had just struggled to even stabilize themselves, let alone fight.

Moreover, once they enter the battlefield, their bloodthirsty and ruthless nature will inevitably be unleashed, and they will absolutely go berserk.

"Why don't we ask Ai and the others for advice?"

Seeing that Yagura was dissatisfied, Toussamono noticed and whispered a suggestion.

"Come with me to visit him tomorrow."

After some deliberation, Yagura Karatachi finally decided to go and have a conversation with him.

Anyway, the Hidden Cloud Village already knew about the plan to create separate Tailed Beast Jinchuriki, so there was no need to keep it a secret.

Juzo Biwa and Raiga Kurosuki were both frustrated, but they couldn't say anything.

They knew their own state just now; they were incapable of fighting with a clear head. If they lost control and went berserk, they would become unable to distinguish friend from foe, which was not what they wanted.

After resting for a night and recovering somewhat, the two followed Yagura Karatachi to the manor where the Cloud Ninja reinforcements were staying the next day, where they met the Cloud Ninjas who were having a meal.

The meal was very lavish, mostly fish; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it a whole fish feast.

This is normal, after all, the Land of Waves is an island nation surrounded by the sea, and its main food can only be seafood.

"You've come at the perfect time, come sit down and have something to eat."

Ye Yue Ai waved generously, gesturing for the group to sit down and enjoy the meal.

Yagura and the others didn't stand on ceremony and sat down to eat some.

After the meal, the group was led to a private reception room, where Tamura Hao even brought his Thor clone along for a brief appearance.

"Why did you suddenly come here today, Yagura-kun?"

Yozuki Ai asked, her gaze falling on the three people standing behind Yagura Karatachi.

The three of them don't look too well.

"I have something to ask of you today."

Yagura didn't beat around the bush and got straight to the point.

"Ao and the others are my subordinates and the bearers of the Three-Tails' tails, but their minds are not stable enough, making it difficult for them to perfectly control the tailed beast's chakra. Do you have any solutions?"

Everyone knows each other well, so there's no need to hide anything, especially since a real war is about to break out.

These words surprised Ye Yueai and the others, who hadn't expected that the other party had come for this reason.

Ye Yue Ai turned to look at her junior brother; he had no way of solving this problem.

Tamura Hao did have several solutions, the most direct being to swallow the three tails of the Three-Tails and then purify the chakra with the Ten-Tails.

But that was definitely not going to work. He didn't even purify the chakra of the Tailed Beast Jinchuriki in the village, just to avoid alerting the Tailed Beasts and the Sage of Six Paths in the shadows. So there was no need to purify the chakra of outsiders.

"I can use genjutsu to extract their negative emotions, but this is only a temporary solution and can only buy them six months. In the end, they still have to rely on their own willpower to resist the erosion of the tailed beast chakra."

He revealed a method, a result of his research on real waterfalls, which could be accomplished using the Tsukuyomi eye technique.

However, the effect is much worse than that of a real waterfall, as it does not completely remove negative emotions and only lasts for a maximum of six months.

"Six months is enough. You can tell us any needs you have, and we will do our best to meet them."

Yagura was delighted. Although it was only half a year, a brutal war was about to begin, the kind that would best hone one's spirit and will. He believed that after that, the three of them would be able to easily control the Three-Tails' tail.

Now it depends on what kind of compensation the other party wants.

"We obtained some information from the Senju clan. After the First Hokage captured those tailed beasts, the Second Hokage studied them and discovered that the Three-Tails had many smaller Three-Tails inside it. I want to study one of them."

Tamura Hiroshi didn't stand on ceremony and stated his requirements.

I was thinking about how to get a little three-tailed cat, and now that it's been delivered to my door, I'm naturally not going to be polite.

"I'll have one sent over later."

After a moment's thought, Yagura nodded in agreement. It was nothing if it was just a small three-tailed creature; the three-tailed creature had many more inside it.

However, since they are so sincere, we can't send something too cheap; send one that's two meters tall.

"That's good. Don't resist my illusion."

Tamura Hao activated the Sage Art Seal, and two dragons extended from behind him, then manifested a kaleidoscope pattern. Using this as a medium, he made eye contact with the three people, pulling their consciousness towards him and extracting their negative emotions bit by bit.

It took a full half hour to complete the process of returning the three people's consciousness to their original state.

The three people, whose consciousness returned to their bodies, all turned pale, their legs buckled, and they knelt on the ground, cold sweat pouring out of their bodies.

The extraction of negative emotions just now was not gentle; it felt as if my soul had been cut out and extracted.

What terrified them even more was that the other party possessed such powerful illusion techniques. How could this person be so powerful?

"You'll be fine after a few days of rest."

Tamura Hao retracted the two dragons into the Immortal Art Seal and indicated that the three of them would recover after a few days of rest, which was equivalent to suffering an illusion attack, so it wasn't a big problem.

"We won't stay long. Little Three-Tail will be sent over later."

Yagura didn't linger. He was eager to go back and check on the three of them to see if they had truly shaken off their negative emotions and if they had been left with any backup plans.

Ye Yue Ai and the other three got up to see them off, and then returned to discuss the matter.

"Is there a smaller tailed beast inside the Three-Tails?"

Fauci was quite surprised; this was the first time he had ever heard of such a thing.

"If we can figure out the secrets behind it, the tails of the tailed beasts can be transformed into smaller tailed beasts, and the effect should be much better."

Tamura Hiroshi was very curious about the secrets behind it and decided he had to study it carefully this time.

At the same time, it needs to devour a small three-tailed beast to further enhance and perfect the small ten-tailed beast. For the small ten-tailed beast, tailed beasts are still the most nourishing.

Ye Yue Ai didn't pay much attention to this and instead started talking about someone.

"That Izumi Shimura is also on this front; he'll probably be targeting you again."

He knew his junior brother's undercover identity, and that Shimura Izumi happened to be Shimura Danzo's daughter, which made things a bit tricky.

"That woman is definitely a problem."

Tamura Hiroshi also felt that the woman was difficult to deal with, and he didn't know if the last lesson had made her repent and give up her so-called hatred.

"I'm going to the Land of Fire to gather some intelligence. I wonder how many people Konoha will send to support us."

After some thought, Tamura Hao greeted everyone, opened a portal, left the Land of Waves, and swam from the seabed to the coast of the Land of Fire. After going ashore, he swam around and finally sensed that familiar chakra.

However, it wasn't just one, but two familiar streams of chakra.

"Lord Danzo is here too?"

Tamura Hiroshi was surprised. What was Danzo-sama doing here?

Despite their doubts, they rushed to Lord Danzo's place immediately.

"Lord Danzo!"

Upon reaching a mountaintop, Tamura Hiroshi knelt down on one knee. This time, he had made great progress compared to last time. Last time, his knee was one millimeter away from the ground, but this time it was only 0.5 millimeters, demonstrating his exceptional control over his body.

"How did you find me?"

Danzo Shimura turned around, puzzled as to how this henchman had found him.

"The Raikage's son sent his subordinates to infiltrate and gather intelligence on the Konoha front. They passed by not far away earlier and sensed Lord Danzo's chakra, so they came to ask for instructions. Also, the summoning blood that I gave my subordinates for intelligence transmission last time has been used up. I would appreciate it if Lord Danzo could give me some more."

Tamura Hiroshi replied respectfully, his mind free of any distracting thoughts, filled only with unwavering loyalty to Lord Danzo.

Now that Lord Danzo has obtained the Dark Chakra, he must be able to sense the negative emotions in others' hearts. We must not let Lord Danzo have any misunderstandings.

"Your perception is so sharp."

Danzo Shimura was surprised; this person's perception was quite strong.

"I once sealed the Samehada ninja sword of Kirigakure into my body like a tailed beast. Samehada has the ability to devour other creatures and gain some of their abilities."

He initially devoured the corpses of many Uzumaki ninjas, gaining some of Kagura's Mind's Eye abilities.

Tamura Akira frankly confessed that his loyalty to Lord Danzo was as clear as day and as bright as the sun and moon.

"Is it the Three-Tails? The Second Hokage's records show that the insect seemed to have the ability to absorb chakra."

Danzo had some recollection of the name Samehada from the Second Hokage's research notes on the Three-Tails.

"Yes, Kirigakure took it from the Three-Tails and made it into a strange ninja sword. It was seized by their subordinates in the Land of Whirlpools back then and sealed inside their bodies using the Whirlpool Sealing Technique."

Originally intended to solve the chakra problem, research revealed Samehada's potential for further enhancement, so it has been continuously cultivated.

Danzo Shimura understood, then sized up the outstanding henchman before him and asked in a cold tone, "What did you do to Koizumi during the Chunin Exams?"

He noticed his daughter's unusual behavior, especially her performance on the battlefield in the Land of Hot Water. Clearly, she had a grudge against this boy. After thinking it over, he figured it must have been during the Chunin Exams; the two must have had some contact.

At that time, he knew that his daughter had also participated in the Chunin Exams, but had not passed the survival battle in the Forest of Death. He figured she must have been up against this kid.

"In order to take revenge on Kumogakure, the young lady wanted to kill all the Kumogakure candidates in the Chunin Exams and had her sights set on me. I had no choice but to defeat her. In order to prevent her from causing any more trouble, I have given her a slight punishment as a warning."

Tamura confessed honestly, stating that he was forced into legitimate self-defense and that the subsequent "discipline"... no, "education" followed.

"Is a mere punishment enough to give Koizumi nightmares every night?"

With a cold snort, Shimura Danzo didn't believe that a little punishment could make his daughter have nightmares every night.

"That was after the battle in the Land of Hot Springs. I used illusion magic to try to bring you back to your senses and stop you from dwelling on hatred. Perhaps I didn't use the right method."

Tamura Hao admitted his mistake, acknowledging that he had indeed miscalculated this time, causing the young lady to have a nightmare and letting Lord Danzo find out. He said he would have to go and treat Miss Izumi afterward.

"You want to succeed me as the second head of Root?"

After a long silence, Danzo Shimura had an idea.

"Yes, I wish to return to Root after completing my undercover mission, and succeed Lord Danzo as the Second Hokage, to assist him."

Tamura Hao made no attempt to conceal his ambition: the second-generation leader and the legacy of Root must belong to me, Tamura Hitaka; anyone who dares to take it will be chopped up.

Danzo Shimura was very satisfied with the boy's ambition and honesty, and after some consideration, he made a decision.

"I'm giving you a mission: win over Koizumi and become her man."

"what?"

Tamura Hiroshi was dumbfounded. What kind of operation was this?

"If you want to succeed me, you must complete this task."

Shimura Danzo's attitude was very firm, leaving no room for negotiation.

"Miss Kequan already has a fiancé, and she is completely devoted to him."

Showing a hesitant expression, Tamura Hao felt that this task was a bit too difficult, and it was something he had improved upon on his own.

If I had known there would be a mission like this, I wouldn't have done it that way before. Now the difficulty of the mission has been raised to hell level.

This is difficult!

"You don't need to worry about him. He's not a man anymore. You have to make Koizumi forget him as soon as possible. That's your task."

Shimura Danzo was not very satisfied with that son-in-law, partly because he no longer had that reason, and this information had been confirmed and was correct.

On the other hand, his old buddy's actions chilled him and made him dissatisfied.

Since you are so heartless, then don't blame me for being unjust.

"what?"

Tamura Hao looked bewildered again, then hesitated for a moment before finally steeling himself and saying, "This subordinate must marry Nonou."

Yakushi Nonou is my bond with Root, an unbreakable bond, and I will never let Nonou down.

"That's your problem, as long as you have the ability to manage them."

Danzo Shimura didn't care about this. As long as his daughter severed her relationship with Shinnosuke Sarutobi and thus broke free from Hiruzen's mental control, nothing else mattered.

Although he only has one daughter, he is not a doting father; he is content as long as his daughter doesn't have a miserable life.

After hesitating for a while, Tamura Hiroshi finally gritted his teeth and decided to do it. No one could stop him from inheriting Lord Danzo's legacy.

"Your subordinate obeys, but Miss is completely devoted to Sarutobi Shinnosuke, and it seems that some radical measures will be needed to change that."

"You can arrange it yourself!"

Danzo Shimura didn't care about the process; he only cared about the result.

"In this battle, I will obtain the Three-Tails."

He then revealed another matter, which was also his main purpose in coming here secretly.

He learned many ancient secrets from Miyu Otsutsuki, and became even more interested in the Tailed Beasts.

Having received intelligence that Kirigakure had dispatched someone suspected to be the Three-Tails Jinchuriki, we must capture him. This henchman's arrival is perfectly timed.

"The Three-Tails Jinchuriki of Kirigakure is named Yagura Karatachi, a disciple of the Third Mizukage. Currently, according to the Tailed Beast Splitting Jinchuriki Plan, the Three-Tails' tail has been severed and sealed inside three people..."

Tamura Hao revealed the information without the slightest hesitation. As Danzo's most outstanding henchman, his loyalty was beyond question.

(End of this chapter)