Konoha: The thirty-year-old Uchiha lacks motivation.

The short branch inserted into Shamon's abdomen was different in color and shape from the Wood Release that Uchiha Gin was familiar with. It was grayish-brown all over, like a long-dried dead tree, with thorny branches and a cold, menacing glint at the tips.

Although one can sense its immense vitality, a discerning person can immediately recognize that it is energy nurtured from the life essence of the Shamen.

"Was this thing there from the beginning?"

Uchiha Gin frowned and examined it for a while, then turned to ask Chiyo, who looked uneasy beside him.

"No, when we found the teacher, he was already unconscious, and there was no strange branch on his body."

Chiyo shook her head. The moment they discovered Shamon had lost contact, they launched a thorough search of the area along the route.

Finally, less than a hundred miles from Loulan, they discovered the shattered corpses of a Sand Ninja ANBU squad. These were the guards who had accompanied Shamon to Loulan.

Only then did Sunagakure realize that the situation was out of control, and immediately increased manpower to conduct a thorough search of the surrounding area.

Unexpectedly, they actually found a sphere made of sand beneath the thick layer of yellow sand, covered with dense incantations.

Chiyo, as a disciple, immediately recognized it as her teacher's Magnet Release ninjutsu, Particle Sealing Palm, a defensive ninjutsu that would never be dispelled as long as the user was alive.

Having deduced from this ninjutsu that the monk was out of danger, Chiyo immediately breathed a sigh of relief and, relying on the secret scroll technique left by her teacher, dispelled the Grain Sealing Palm on the spot.

As the sand sphere collapsed, the unconscious Shamen was brought back to light.

"Was it normal at first?"

After listening to Chiyo's description, Uchiha Gin's eyes were full of thought. It seemed that the seed of the small tree in the abdomen of the monk in prison had been intentionally planted in his body.

But what is the purpose of doing this? If it is just to kill Shamen, there are other more convenient methods. Why bother planting such an inefficient weapon in his stomach?

Have you tried removing this thing?

Without rashly touching the unknown plant, Uchiha Gin pulled out a dark, round stick and curiously poked it up and down, only to find that the little thing remained standing.

Wow, its roots have really gone deep!

"Don't cut it."

Chiyo shook her head dejectedly, and Uchiha Gin blinked in confusion.

"This plant is already connected to the teacher's life. If we pull it out directly, the teacher's life will also come to an end."

"How did you know?"

When asked the question, Chiyo bit her lip, her pretty face full of regret.

"Ahem, let this old man explain."

Just then, an old man covered in bandages pushed open the door and staggered out, clearly not long to live.

"Who is he?"

Uchiha Gin pointed curiously at the old man wrapped up like a mummy. He felt a strange sense of familiarity with the man's hoarse voice.

"Lord Retsuto, you should go and rest now."

The newcomer was none other than Retsuto, who had been accidentally injured by the Sand Ninja on the city wall. After being bombarded by friendly forces, this ruthless hero stubbornly stood up again and, after some simple treatment, returned to the public eye.

"Huh? So you're still alive?"

Upon hearing the name, Uchiha Gin instantly remembered the extra in front of him. He never expected that after so many years, this old guy would still be online playing mahjong with the Six Paths Ancestor.

"Hmm!"

Upon hearing Uchiha Gin's unintentional remark, a spurt of blood shot out from Retsuto's bandaged head, and his hunched body trembled uncontrollably, clearly indicating that he was extremely angry.

"First Lord, calm down and consider the bigger picture."

Ebizo immediately stepped forward to support the swaying Retsuto, and helped him catch his breath.

"Hmph! I'll let you off this time."

Retsuto gritted his teeth, glared fiercely at Uchiha Gin, and slowly spoke.

"When I first discovered Shamon, I ordered the medical ninjas to treat him immediately. However, this backfired and instead of waking Shamon, it accelerated the growth of the plant."

It turned out that the moment Shamon was exposed, Chiyo, a medical ninja, immediately began treating her teacher, pouring life energy converted from chakra into his body as if it were free.

However, after several hours of resuscitation efforts, Sharon showed no signs of waking up; instead, he grew increasingly weak. It was then that people noticed a small bulge in his abdomen.

At first, Chiyo blushed when she saw it, thinking that the teacher had been taking too much supplements. But after observing for a while, she realized that something was wrong with the location. After lifting her clothes, the strange sprout came into everyone's view.

By this time, Chiyo's attempt to remove the foreign object was too late. Under the influence of medical ninjutsu imbued with life energy, the seed hidden within Shamon's body took root prematurely, as if injected with adrenaline.

The roots that had taken hold within his body had penetrated deeply into the monk's internal organs and meridians, assimilating into his life until the day he died.

"It's all my fault. If I had checked carefully..."

Chiyo covered her face in anguish, large tears streaming down her cheeks. She felt an undeniable responsibility for her teacher's current state.

"No, it was all my fault for misjudging. You don't need to blame yourself."

Retsuto shook his head and took full responsibility for the medical malpractice. If something really happened to Shamon, the only people Sunagakure could rely on were Chiyo and her brother, and they couldn't afford to leave any stain on their reputation.

"First Lord, this has nothing to do with you."

Wiping away the tears from the corners of her eyes, Chiyo straightened her back. She had to take responsibility for her actions.

Seeing the old man and the young man blaming each other, Uchiha Gin scratched his head in annoyance.

It turns out that their good intentions backfired, artificially ripening the seed inside the monk's body, which is why he is now in critical condition.

Gin Uchiha stepped forward and patted Chiyo on the head, calmly interrupting their conversation.

"Alright, alright, instead of wasting time dividing the pot, let's think about how to treat the monks in prison."

"Uncle Yin, do you have a solution yet?"

Feeling the warmth from the large hand above her head, Chiyo blushed slightly. For some reason, hearing Uchiha Gin's voice gave her a sense of inexplicable peace.

"I need to examine this thoroughly before drawing any conclusions."

Uchiha Gin neither nodded nor shook his head. The situation at the Shamon prison was somewhat complicated. What he needed to figure out first was the origin of this plant.

"All irrelevant people, please leave. I need a quiet environment."

Gin Uchiha pulled a pair of medical surgical gloves from his ninja tool pouch and turned to the people in the room, saying...

Feeling somewhat bored, Uchiha Hikaru and Otsutsuki Tsukihime were the first to turn and leave; they were more adept at killing than saving people.

"OK."

The Sand Ninja exchanged glances, and in the end, Chiyo stepped forward. The others didn't say anything more and followed her out.

Once there were no more strangers in the room, Uchiha Gin's gaze passed over the unconscious Shamon and landed on the blanket spread out to the side.

This blanket is definitely not ordinary. From the complex incantations on it, Uchiha Gin could tell that it was a sealing technique used to extract the chakra of tailed beasts.

The fact that the monks in the dungeon have survived being sucked dry for so long is largely thanks to this quilt.

"Some things are better left unsaid; perhaps it's better to ask the person directly involved, or rather, the person directly involved."

As Uchiha Gin spoke, he raised his hand and took down the One-Tailed Card that had been placed in the center of the sealing jutsu. He stroked the card's familiar texture, a flash of red light appearing in his eyes.

The next moment, his mind entered a vast alternate dimension, a space filled with yellow sand and fierce, knife-like winds.

In the very center of the space lay a large, dying tanuki, though its appearance was far more pitiful than the chubby, fleshy creature that Uchiha Gin remembered.

"Hey, I remember the raccoon I kept, how come it's turned into a weasel?"

"Who?!"

The mocking voice traveled through the wind and landed steadily in Shukaku's ears, startling it. It tried to get up to investigate, but its strength gave way, and it rolled over on the spot.

"Haha, it's even learned to roll over on its belly, not bad~"

Seeing this comical scene, Uchiha Gin walked up to Shukaku with a smile, his half-closed eyes radiating a chilling aura that could make even tailed beasts shudder.

"You are you!"

Two bronze-coin-like beastly eyes drooped down, meeting Uchiha's slightly reddish eyes. Shukaku was so frightened that it tucked its tail back.

"What are you looking at? I'm here to take you in!"

With a smile, Gin Uchiha raised his hand in greeting, then looked Shukaku up and down, having successfully lost weight, and reached out to pat the other's thin belly.

Shukaku cautiously took a few steps back to create some distance. As one of the few humans (or beasts) in the world who knew Uchiha Gin's true identity, he naturally dared not underestimate this strange human before him.

"What are you doing here? I know, you're here to take me back, right?!"

The dazed Shukaku, using its walnut-sized brain, quickly considered Uchiha Gin's intentions and concluded that the other party had come to capture it. A hint of struggle instantly surfaced on its massive beast head.

Without it, relying solely on the big blue crawler, wouldn't that bald guy Shamen be dead?

"What, you still don't want to leave?"

Gin Uchiha noticed Shukaku's undisguised micro-expression and raised an eyebrow curiously.

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Logically speaking, Shukaku's miserable state was all due to being dragged down by the Shamon prison, and it should be eager to immediately sever ties and return to its former plump and majestic appearance.

"Leave? It's just another place to continue serving time in jail. I'm fine here."

Faced with Uchiha Gin's keenly inquiring questions, Shukaku awkwardly turned his head away.

"It seems you're getting along quite well with the Shamen prison."

"Who gets along well with that bald guy! If it weren't for the fact that he helped me beat up that stinky fox, I wouldn't have shared my precious chakra with him."

Shukaku blushed upon being exposed, turned around and faced away from Uchiha Gin, raising his voice very loudly, but his words were still standardly awkward and uninspired.

"Alright, I didn't come here to take anything from you."

Uchiha Gin chuckled and shook his head.

"really?"

Shukaku was taken aback upon hearing this, and a look of surprise immediately appeared on his face.

With a flash, Uchiha Gin reappeared before the arrogant Shukaku, his scarlet eyes staring directly at the pair of coin-like beastly pupils, his voice carrying an unusual solemnity.

"I just want to ask, what kind of enemies did Shamen encounter in the prison?"

"."

Upon hearing this question, Shukaku's pupils contracted slightly, and his previously open smile froze instantly, revealing a look of fear that greatly puzzled Uchiha Gin.

Throughout the entire ninja world, there are many who can defeat tailed beasts, but those who can make a tailed beast show genuine fear are truly few and far between.

Aside from Uchiha Gin, who cut off the tails of many tailed beasts, there were only Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama.

"Is this the Hashirama prison?"

Seeing that Shukaku remained silent, Uchiha Gin frowned and asked,

Regardless of the joint letter of condemnation from several major ninja villages, or the Wood Release artifacts left at the scene, all these suspicions point to the long-missing Hashirama Senju.

However, Uchiha Gin believed that the attackers had merely stolen the power from Hashirama's prison, rather than Hashirama himself having done it.

"It is him, yet it is not him."

After a brief moment of recollection, Shukaku spoke with some uncertainty,

really!

This answer coincides with Uchiha Gin's guess; the enemy did indeed utilize Hashirama Senju's power.

"Although he looks like a descendant of Asura, there's something inexplicably strange about him."

"weird?"

Upon hearing Shukaku utter the word "strange," a sense of curiosity arose within him. If the enemy had simply stolen the power of Wood Release, it shouldn't have seemed strange to even the Tailed Beasts, right?

"That's right, that human isn't right. He's more like a human than a human."

When Shukaku spoke, his large face was tightly scrunched up, as if recalling a very painful experience, with a barely perceptible tremor hidden deep in his eyes.

"More like what?"

"More like us."

At the same time that Uchiha Gin was examining Shamon,

Inside a cave less than a hundred miles outside Loulan City, a burly figure draped in a black cloak, sitting cross-legged, slowly opened his eyes.

If anyone familiar with Hashirama Senju were present at this moment, they would certainly be astonished.

Because the face hidden under the cloak was exactly the same as that of the missing Hashirama Senju.

The only difference was that Hashirama Senju's expression was extremely stiff, and his black eyes showed no trace of life, making him appear like a cold corpse.

"The mission objective is alive. Continue execution?"

Suddenly, he opened his mouth and asked, word by word, into the void beside him.

"Number One, your expression was the best this time, and you recovered the most chakra. If you want to continue, I have no objection."

Suddenly, a large, dark red rift opened in the pitch-black void, and Ci Xian's cold voice rang out from it, though the satisfaction in his tone was clearly audible.

"Received, mission confirmed to continue."

Number One nodded expressionlessly after receiving confirmation.

despair!--

Cixian, dressed in traditional monk's robes, stepped out of the portal, her eyes filled with satisfaction as she looked at Subject Number One.

Of the current test subjects, Number One has the best mission completion rate. Although the results of the others are not bad, they have not brought back much benefit.

"However, just in case, I will have Number Three and Number Four assist you."

despair!--

despair!--

As they were speaking, two more figures wearing cloaks walked out of the portal. Judging from their appearance alone, they were practically identical to Number One.

Number One raised his head, expressionlessly glanced at the other two test subjects, and then nodded slightly.

Looking at the three test subjects present, Jigen's lips curled into a slight smile. If he could successfully seize the power of all the tailed beasts, his plan to ascend to godhood would have taken another giant step forward.

"The end has come for the Tailed Beast Riders." (End of Chapter)