"I'm the head of the greatest enka ninja~"
"Aiyo aiyo"
"It's you who stay by my side!"
"Oh oh oh~ Little Eight! Little Eight!"
"YOOO! My RAP! Bursting with passion! Baby!"
"Ah~ yeah!"
"."
On an oval-shaped platform, a burly man with eight swords strapped to his back swayed and twisted as if performing a ritual dance. On his left cheek were two horn-shaped tattoos, and he sang wildly off-key. From ti to ti, several octopus tentacles—lined with suction cups resembling staring eyes—popped out of his body.
"Did the Eight-Tails' jinchūriki go crazy from being cooped up?" Naruto muttered. "I saw your father fight him alongside the Raikage back then. He looked way more normal than this."
"This is his true personality," Kurama said. "You didn't see the Third Raikage's mories. He's been rapping whenever and wherever since he was a kid—pretty similar to the Seven-Tails' jinchūriki. He's a carefree type. Hurry up and contact Gyūki."
"Alright."
Naruto was floating five ters above the man's head. This man was Killer B, the Eight-Tails' jinchūriki.
Using the Second Tsuchikage's concealnt technique, Naruto had remained invisible as he flew into the canyon. At first, he'd expected to encounter so kind of heavy-duty barrier ant to imprison a jinchūriki. Instead—whether because Kumogakure was overly confident, or because they trusted the strength of a perfect jinchūriki too much—there was almost nothing. Aside from a dozen sensory-type shinobi stationed on nearby peaks, no other defenses had been set up.
After a while, the dancing Killer B suddenly toppled over in an exaggeratedly ridiculous pose, then sprang back to his feet with agility. Pushing up his sunglasses, he scanned the surroundings, looking even more absurd than before.
"Heh heh! He's looking for you," Kurama's strange laughter echoed in Naruto's mind.
"Gyūki told him about ?" Naruto frowned. "What exactly did you say to Gyūki?"
"I told him everything that needed to be said," Kurama replied casually. "But he said he wants to talk to you in person."
Naruto thought for a mont, then flew toward the long staircase to the side.
"Little Eight! Where's your friend?" Killer B shouted. "Dodging the sensory net here—what a badass move!"
"Stop searching. He's already gone to your little shrine. Go in," Gyūki said.
"What an aweso guy! Damn it! Idiot!" Killer B exclaid.
Still looking around, Killer B suddenly turned and leapt, clearing half the staircase in a single jump. After landing, he kicked off again and soared, landing right in front of his resting shrine.
Passing through several white curtains, Killer B entered the shrine. The mont he stepped inside, he saw a man with black hair and golden vertical pupils slowly reveal himself.
"Orochimaru!"
Shk!
Killer B instantly drew two swords from his back. Ever since the Konoha Crush incident, the entire shinobi world had known that Orochimaru captured Shukaku, the One-Tail of the Sand. Later, both Takigakure and Iwagakure publicly announced that Orochimaru had taken their villages' tailed beasts as well.
Orochimaru was now the most-wanted criminal in the shinobi world. There was hardly a ninja who didn't recognize him—especially not soone like Killer B, who had lived through the Third Great Ninja War.
"B! Calm down! He's not Orochimaru!" Gyūki hurriedly stopped him, then imdiately contacted Kurama.
"What's going on? Kurama, what is your jinchūriki doing?"
"It's just a Transformation Technique," Kurama replied indifferently. "You won't have much ti to talk anyway. He's warning you—and warning Kumogakure. I already told you: the Akatsuki leader who possesses the Ten-Tails' husk has the Rinnegan. Cloud's protection of you is far too lax."
Killer B maintained a ready-to-attack stance, glaring at "Orochimaru."
"A Transformation Technique? Then why not show your real face?" he demanded.
"Orochimaru" glanced toward the shrine entrance and smiled. "Your partner already knows the reason. To be honest, I didn't want to et you in the first place."
"Acting all sneaky makes mad!" Killer B snapped. "Damn it! Idiot! If you've got sothing to say, say it—okay!"
His expression stiffened for a mont, then he imdiately began dancing again. But before long, his face suddenly sharpened, and he thrust a fist toward "Orochimaru."
Bang!
"Orochimaru" t the blow with his own fist. As their fists collided, Naruto heard a deep, powerful voice.
"Hm? Didn't Kurama say you were—"
"Get to the point!" Kurama cut in before he could finish.
"I'm Uzumaki Naruto," "Orochimaru" said calmly. "My relationship with Kurama—and the other tailed beasts—is one of equal partnership. For certain reasons, I hope you won't reveal my identity to Mr. Killer B."
"That's fine," Gyūki replied. "Kurama already told . But what he said—I need so ti to think it over. B is the Raikage's brother. He probably can't—"
"That's fine. Once you've decided, I'll co back."
As soon as he finished speaking, "Orochimaru" withdrew his fist, and his figure faded into the darkness.
Killer B lowered his sunglasses and blinked, speaking to Gyūki in his heart. "He's leaving just like that? Little Eight, why didn't you ask your friend what kind of secret technique he used? If I could learn it…"
Whoosh!
Before he could finish, a scroll no larger than a piece of chalk flew in through the shrine entrance.
Killer B reached out and caught it. The next instant, five figures rushed in.
The bald man in front quickly assessed the situation. Seeing that Killer B was unhard, he let out a breath of relief. "Killer B-sama! We detected an intruder!"
Killer B's voice turned solemn. "Yeah! Hurry and report to my big brother—Orochimaru infiltrated this place! Otherwise Big Bro will definitely punish you. Damn it! Idiot!"
"Yes!"
The bald man's expression changed, and he quickly signaled the other four to retreat. After they were gone, Killer B clenched the tiny scroll in his hand.
Poof!
Smoke burst out, and a three-ter-tall glass container appeared on the ground.
When Killer B saw what was inside, he cried out in shock.
"Little Eight's horn?!"
Arashi Mountain Bamboo Grove
Three Kumogakure shinobi stood motionless at the entrance to the bamboo forest.
Rumble—rumble!
Suddenly, several loud explosions echoed from within the grove. All three shinobi's expressions changed.
"Sothing's wrong!"
BOOM!
Another explosion rang out, then everything fell silent.
"Imdiately inform the Barrier Team to seal this area," one blond Cloud ninja ordered. "And hurry—notify the Raikage-sama!"
He dashed into the bamboo grove, while the other two ran out.
After so ti, the ninja who entered spotted Yugito Nii standing before a collapsed bamboo building. He closed his eyes, ford hand seals, and searched for a long while before exclaiming in surprise:
"Where's the intruder?!"
Yugito replied calmly, "C, don't waste your chakra. He's already gone."
The blond ninja froze. "Who was the intruder?"
A strange look flashed through Yugito's eyes.
"…Orochimaru."
Above the seas of the Land of Lightning, Naruto flew through the clouds in a feather-white robe. He had entered Sage Mode. What he needed to do was largely finished; now, while supplying energy to the World Gate, he headed unhurriedly toward the Land of Spring.
"Hahaha! This ti, Kumogakure will definitely take protecting those two jinchūriki more seriously," Kurama laughed in Naruto's ear. "As long as they don't sneak out themselves, Akatsuki won't be able to capture them—unless their leader personally brings people to Cloud to do it."
"Maybe," Naruto replied noncommittally.
"There's sothing I don't understand, though," Kurama said suddenly. "In the mories of those three old guys from the Three Great Sage Regions, Matatabi and Gyūki really did reunite with us in the end. And in that future fragnt, you were there too—and you looked about the sa age as you do now."
Naruto smiled faintly. "You an that, judging from their attitudes just now, it doesn't look like they'll be leaving their jinchūriki anyti soon?"
"Exactly."
A startling thought suddenly flashed through Naruto's mind.
"I think I can infer why that outco occurs," he said. "And honestly, it mostly has to do with you, Kurama."
"?" Kurama sounded baffled. "What do you an?"
"The past and the future are linked by inevitable cause and effect," Naruto said seriously. "When we first agreed to et Matatabi and Gyūki, I had no intention of eting their jinchūriki."
"But because of you, both of them insisted on seeing . I didn't think much of it at the ti. Since Cloud's protection of its jinchūriki was lax, I decided to borrow Orochimaru's identity to warn them."
"That might be the key factor that causes them to leave their jinchūriki sooner in the future."
"What are you talking about?" Kurama asked, even more confused.
Naruto continued, "You just said they'll receive much tighter protection from now on—and that Akatsuki would only be able to capture them if their leader personally went to Cloud."
"I think that possibility is extrely high."
"Can you stop beating around the bush and explain it clearly?!" Kurama snapped.
Naruto clicked his tongue. "Akatsuki's goal is the tailed beasts. Right now, everyone in the shinobi world knows that 'Orochimaru' easily captured the One-Tail, Four-Tails, Five-Tails, and Seven-Tails."
"And today, you helped infiltrate both Matatabi's and Gyūki's jinchūriki—using Orochimaru's identity."
"In that situation, once Akatsuki learns that Orochimaru failed today, how likely do you think it is that they'll mobilize fully and head to Kumogakure to capture them?"
"…Wait. Let think this through," Kurama muttered.
He fell silent, deep in thought.
Naruto shook his head and said nothing more. He felt his reasoning was highly plausible. After swiftly cutting through a vast sea of clouds, the clouds ahead suddenly churned and darkened, followed by a low rumble of thunder.
Naruto raised a hand and swept it forward. A tornado shot out, instantly tearing open a gap hundreds of ters wide in the clouds.
"Help! Soone—help !"
"Hm?"
Naruto's eyes sharpened as he looked down through the opening in the clouds.
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