Naruto: Starting with Tsunade

Chapter 214 The Perfect Jinchūriki (Part Two)

"You humans are as greedy as ever." The Five-Tails was disdainful, but its arrogant attitude was a little better than before.

"You're right, humans are indeed greedy creatures." Aokiji didn't refute this, slowly stood up, opened his arms, and spoke with a charlatan's tone:

Throughout human history, humanity has been engaged in one thing: killing one another. Yet, humanity is also contradictory; it yearns for peace while simultaneously destroying it.

At this point, he grinned, a mysterious smile spreading across his face: "Hmph... Just as you said, humans really are greedy creatures, don't you think?"

The five-tailed beast quietly looked at the brat in front of it.

Aokiji shook his head, changing the subject: "Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. Let's talk about something else."

Aokiji was well-versed in the art of showing off: never speak definitively, but leave the reader to fill in the blanks.

Go-Tails narrowed his eyes, seemingly lost in thought, watching what Aokiji would say next.

Aokiji continued, "You might have misunderstood what I just said. I didn't mean to ask you to give up your hatred of humans."

Five-tailed Fox gave it a strange look; it was the first time it had ever heard such words.

"There's a saying: 'Don't advise others to be kind if you haven't experienced their suffering.' If you had experienced my suffering, you might not be as kind as I am!" Aokiji sighed. "That's why I said I understand you. If it were me, I might not be as good as you. I would never try to influence you about what happened to you, because I don't have the right."

"You're such a strange person..."

Go-Tails gave Aokiji a meaningful look.

For thousands of years, the little devil in front of him was the first person to say such things to him.

In the past, among those who sealed him away were some who always spoke of righteous words like abandoning hatred.

These words made Wuwei want to vomit. It's as if you're the one who's sealed in a small cage and can't move every day.

So when the Five-Tails heard Aokiji say such things to it, it was somewhat moved. In a way, Aokiji had spoken its mind.

People feared and dreaded it, believing that the Tailed Beast was a monstrous monster caused by natural disasters.

Little did it know that in the past, it had tried to trust humans, but these humans had hurt it time and time again, which is why it has become what it is today.

The Five-Tails asked, "What do you want to do after obtaining my power?"

Without hesitation, Aokiji replied, "I want to bring peace to the world."

The Five-Tails glanced at him: "Easy for you to say. Even with my power, it's not impossible."

Aokiji laughed, "How will you know if you don't try?"

"Give it a try, are you a child?"

Aokiji smiled broadly: "I've always been a child."

The five tails were speechless. Aokiji's behavior in front of them was so mature that they momentarily forgot that the person in front of them was just a twelve or thirteen-year-old child.

Under that incredulous gaze, Aokiji smiled and said, "If you think it's right, then change what you can change, and accept what you cannot change. That is my ninja way."

Upon hearing this, Gotae stared intently at Aokiji for a moment before turning his face away and letting out a cold snort.

Wuwei still appeared to be keeping strangers at bay, but his tone had actually improved a lot.

Having experienced years of oppression, he naturally couldn't easily trust the other party, but what happened next was far beyond his imagination.

"Should I break the seal for you now?"

"!!!?"

Facing the incredulous gaze, Aokiji smiled with a hint of teasing: "What's wrong? Are you so happy you can't speak because you heard I'm going to release you?"

"Aren't you afraid I'll take over your body?"

Aokiji sighed, "Your answer precisely shows that you won't do it."

Gouwei lowered his head and pondered, seemingly lost in thought. Unexpectedly, Aokiji suddenly changed the subject and burst into laughter: "You don't actually think I said that, do you? Unfortunately, I've already anticipated your prediction."

He had his thumb pointing inwards towards himself, and the smile on his face looked incredibly smug.

Five-tailed Fox: ...

It felt like its human jinchūriki was a bit missing a screw.

The Five-Tails' understanding is not without merit; in fact, Aokiji did imitate it to a certain extent in a clumsy way.

It has been observed that the perfect Jinchuriki seems to be a bit dim-witted in some ways, so he deliberately created this persona.

"How could I not worry about whether you would take over my body after breaking the seal?" Aokiji paused for a moment, then continued, "However, it's within my control."

Five-Tails narrowed its eyes slightly. Years of being sealed away had made it dislike the feeling of having its fate controlled: "Within the scope of control?"

Aokiji held up three fingers: "First, even if you take over my body, my people have the ability to seal you back. You've witnessed Lady Mito's power."

Although the Five-Tails was very unhappy, it had to admit that it was true.

"Secondly, if you take control of my body and then are sealed back in, you will lose my trust forever, and your life from now on won't be so comfortable."

Five-tailed Fox: ...

"Thirdly, it is my eyes."

"Eyes?" While Go-Tails was still in a daze, Aokiji closed his eyes for a while. When he opened them again, his eyes were red, and three tomoe appeared near his pupils, emitting a red light.

The Five-Tails was taken aback: "The Sharingan!"

Aokiji admitted frankly, "That's right, it's the Sharingan."

Go-Tails demanded, "Are you threatening me?"

The Sharingan possesses the power to control tailed beasts, and the Five-Tails knows this.

"This isn't a threat, just the truth." Aokiji shook his head. "I'm a simple person, but also petty. I'm good to those who are good to me, but if someone wrongs me, I'll hold a grudge and never let them get away with it."

Recalling the time he was controlled by the Sharingan, Gotae snorted coldly, clearly displeased, and revealed, "The eye power of your Sharingan is far inferior to that one..."

Aokiji was taken aback.

The Five-Tails is right; controlling it with one's own eye power is not a pipe dream.

But what truly surprised him at that moment was the hidden meaning behind those words.

It seems that the Five-Tails has been controlled by the Sharingan before, and judging from the tone, it seems to be a recent event, otherwise it wouldn't be specifically brought up for comparison.

What's even more interesting is that the Five-Tails used the word "only" instead of "pairs." Just what kind of eye power does it possess that allows it to control a tailed beast with only one eye? Among all the people it knows, there's only one—Uchiha Madara!

If the assumption is true, then it means that Madara Uchiha had contact with the Five-Tails recently, and the Five-Tails was probably badly beaten up.

Aokiji still has a lot of doubts about becoming a Jinchūriki.

Why do the ninjas of Iwagakure (Hidden Stone Village) implant tailed beasts into themselves?

At first glance, it seems quite reasonable—to destroy the village.

But if you think about it carefully, there's a bug. If they were going to pick someone, they shouldn't have picked themselves. They've seen that I have the Sharingan. Logically speaking, if they were to give me a Tailed Beast, wouldn't I be afraid that I would use the Sharingan to control the Tailed Beast?

Of course, he couldn't possibly do such a thing with his eye power, but what about in the future? That's anyone's guess.

It seems like they're just complaining about how weak they are, so they're giving away cheat codes?

What kind of bullshit principle is this?

What about the motivation?

And even if you were to do that, strictly speaking, shouldn't you gouge out your own eyes?

Unless... it was intentional, it doesn't make sense.

Thinking of this, Aokiji couldn't help but think of Madara Uchiha. Just as he was about to turn his thoughts in that direction, the Five-Tails interrupted his thoughts.

Why are you specifically telling me all this?

"Firstly, it's to remind you. Secondly, I remember telling you that we might be bound together forever from now on, so I plan to build a good relationship with you. Naturally, I won't lie to you and will be honest with you. Letting you out is one step in building that relationship."

Five-tailed Fox: ...

"So, I've said all I need to say, do you want me to let you out?" Aokiji lured with a smile, "Once you miss this opportunity, you might not get another one."

Even after analyzing the pros and cons for the tailed beast, his actions still involved a gamble.

"Please let me out."

Five-tailed snort coldly.

It wasn't afraid of Jinchūriki, so what was there to fear from a Tailed Beast? It wanted to see what this Jinchūriki was really up to.

Once the seal is broken, the initiative will be in its hands.

(End of this chapter)