Naruto: Starting with Tsunade

Chapter 223 Persuasion

Mito, recalling what the Five-Tails had mentioned earlier, asked, "Five-Tails, what kind of cooperation were you talking about with Aokiji?"

The Five-Tails was still brooding over being brutally beaten by Mito using the Adamantine Lock, and refused to answer: "You ask me, so I'll tell you? Why should I!?"

Aokiji interrupted Go-Tails, saying with a forced smile, "Lord Mito, don't take it personally. That's just how it is. Let me explain."

"Tell me about it. I'm quite interested in this matter."

Mito wanted to see what method Aokiji had used to make the tailed beast look like this.

Aokiji quickly organized his thoughts: "Simply put, I made a deal with Xiao Wu. If I can defeat it head-on within seven years, it will behave itself and live with me."

Living life?

Mito chuckled, "Your analogy sounds just like that of a young married couple."

Aokiji wore a bitter expression: "I don't want to either, but unless something unexpected happens, Xiao Wu will have to stay in my body for the rest of his life, unless I die."

Mito: ...

"Fortunately, tailed beasts don't have genders, otherwise the thought of having a peeping tom next to me every time I'm intimate with Tsunade would be worse than killing me."

Mito: ...

Wuwei retorted, "Boring, I don't care to watch this kind of thing."

Mito then asked, "What will happen if you lose?"

Aokiji said in a relaxed tone, "What else can we do? Of course, we'll let Xiao Wu handle it however he wants."

"What does this have to do with you releasing the Five-Tails?"

Aokiji chuckled, "If we don't show some sincerity, Lady Mito, do you think it will be so obedient?"

Mito glanced at the Five-Tails standing beside her and thought that there must be more than one reason why the Five-Tails would compromise: "There must be other reasons as well."

"As expected of Lady Mito, she is insightful and meticulous, guessing it in an instant."

Aokiji seized the opportunity to flatter him, roughly repeating what he should and shouldn't say when he had previously tricked the Five-Tails.

After hearing this, Mito felt that Aokiji was being a bit too optimistic: "Even if you say that, I'm still a little worried. To be on the safe side, I think we should..."

The rest of the sentence was left unsaid, but the meaning was already quite clear: Mito believed that the Five-Tails should be resealed.

The Five-Tailed Fox wasn't stupid; it understood Mito's unspoken meaning and its anger was palpable. Its five tails twisted and danced wildly behind it.

Aokiji glanced at the Five-Tails: "Little Five, calm down."

The Five-Tails glared angrily: "Calm down? Are you going to be sealed away again?"

"I will not let you be resealed. Please believe me, I will persuade Lady Mito to change her mind."

Aokiji's talk-no-jutsu had some effect; the Five-Tails listened for now, wanting to see how this Jinchūriki would persuade the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki in front of him.

Mito watched Aokiji remain silent, waiting for his response. She shared the same sentiment as Go-O, wanting to hear how Aokiji would convince her.

As the wife of the First Hokage, she couldn't act impulsively like Aokiji in some matters; more often than not, she had to be responsible for the safety of the village.

With the Five-Tails standing beside him, Aokiji had to carefully choose his words: "Lord Mito, I remember you once said that to control the power of the Tailed Beasts, you need to use love, right?"

Mito did not deny it: "I did say that."

Aokiji replied, "I think that statement is inappropriate."

Mito looked surprised: "That's not right?"

Aokiji slightly modified Mito's words in his own way: "Rather than saying it's about controlling the tailed beast with love, I personally think it's more accurate to describe it as 'reaping rewards'."

"A harvest?"

Mito nodded and lowered her eyes, pondering the meaning of these words.

Saying the same thing in two different ways can lead to two different results.

Aokiji's statement is very insightful.

Although it was just a change of one word, the effect was much better than the former.

Control implies domination, and it's associated with negative terms like enslavement. In contrast, the word "harvest" is often associated with positive and uplifting terms like friendship and love.

This sounds much more pleasant than the previous sentence.

Mito gave Aokiji a meaningful look.

When it comes to the issue of tailed beasts, the child in front of us is now walking a path that has never been seen before.

In the past, when people captured tailed beasts, their first thought was to control and enslave their power. But Aokiji wanted to resolve the tailed beasts' long-standing hatred and become their friend. You can imagine how difficult this path is... uh, how difficult it is.

Mito recalled the scene of Aokiji bickering with the Five-Tails, and a strange expression appeared on her face: "There's a reason why Tsunade would fall for you."

"Is this a compliment?" Aokiji said, feigning innocence despite having gotten the benefit.

Mito shook her head with a helpless expression, then looked at the Five-Tails with a solemn expression: "This time, for Aokiji's sake, I will not seal you. If you have any disloyal intentions, then don't blame me for sealing you again."

Aokiji realized that this was Mito's way of helping him out, getting the Five-Tails to remember his feelings. He put his hands on his hips and smugly said, "Haha, Little Five, did you see that? I told you I would help you sort things out."

Gouwei turned its head to the side, arrogantly indicating that it did not appreciate the gesture.

Just as things were heading in a happy direction, an untimely voice suddenly called out: "Hey, Five-Tails, you don't actually believe human sweet talk, do you?"

Looking in the direction of the sound, one sees a large orange fox imprisoned in a cage. Its size is no less than that of the Five-Tails, and it is as tall as a mountain. Both the massive chakra emanating from its body and its evil aura surpass those of the Five-Tails.

Five-Tailed Fox noticed the large fox and called out its name: "Nine-Tailed Fox".

The Nine-Tails' bloodshot eyes radiated an evil aura: "Five-Tails, you've fallen, actually submitting to a brat."

In response to the mockery, Gouwei retorted, "Come out of that cage first, then talk to me."

"Clap clap clap..."

Its claws pounded frantically against the iron bars, its eyes blazing with fury: "I can't believe you were fooled by a few sweet words! You've utterly disgraced us tailed beasts!"

The Nine-Tails was making a lot of noise. Aokiji picked at his ears. The Nine-Tails really was a grumpy old man.

Compared to this one, even the Five-Tails is a well-behaved baby. If he had the Nine-Tails imprisoned inside him, Aokiji would never have treated the Nine-Tails with the same boldness as he treated the Five-Tails.

Their temperaments are too different.

Mito glanced at the Five-Tails behind Aokiji, then at the Nine-Tails behind her, exhaled, and couldn't help but sigh, realizing that she was truly a failure as a Jinchūriki, despite both being Jinchūriki.

In order to prevent the Nine-Tails from affecting Aokiji, it immediately severed its connection with Aokiji's spiritual world.

Aokiji snapped back to reality.

Mito's face showed a bitter expression: "I originally wanted to teach you how to control the tailed beasts, but now it seems that was a bit unnecessary."

Aokiji opened his mouth, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Lord Mito, I have a favor to ask."

Mito was taken aback.

Aokiji whispered, "Could we... not tell the village's higher-ups about this?"

A look of "why" crossed Mito's eyes.

Aokiji sighed, "How should I put it? My situation is rather special. If I were to tell the story, it would definitely cause a huge uproar. But I know that the Third Hokage is a good person and would probably support me. However, I don't know about the others. So I don't want to put the Hokage in a difficult position."

(End of this chapter)