Chapter 171: Isobu, Your Power Is Too Strong
"Humans, what exactly do you want to do? Why won't you let me go?"
Isobu's low, hoarse voice inexplicably carried a trace of grievance.
Seeing this, Kurotsuchi Raiga suddenly felt much better inside.
A mighty tailed beast was now sharing the same emotional wavelength as him.
"Isobu, your power is simply too strong, so we need to keep you under control."
Shiromo stepped forward and delivered this classic, copy-pasted line.
"?"
In the Three-Tails' huge eyes flashed an equally huge question mark.
The Three-Tails felt that, having lived for thousands of years since birth, this was the first time it had ever heard something this absurd.
Shiromo said this without the slightest psychological burden. Instead, the original source of this line, Senju Hashirama, now revealed an awkward expression on his face.
"First Hokage-sama, why does it feel like the Three-Tails is really scared of you? Just now, after it looked over here, it immediately shifted its gaze away."
"Your techniques are Wood Release, not the Sharingan, so why is it so afraid to make eye contact with you?"
Nohara Rin tilted her head and asked in confusion.
"Uh, well…"
Seeing the younger generation's eager, inquisitive expression, Senju Hashirama couldn't bear to refuse an answer. He could only sigh and speak the truth.
"Kid, you should know that aside from the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki, ordinary tailed-beast jinchūriki started with my wife, Mito."
"Do you know what that means?"
"It means that when I captured the tailed beasts back then, I could only restrain and control them first, then hand them over to the leaders of the various ninja villages."
"..."
"To prevent them from waking up and firing Tailed Beast Bombs, I also had to block their mouths."
Thinking of something, Senju Hashirama added another sentence.
"..."
Rin fell silent.
The scene forming in her mind was simply far too outrageous.
Hikari, just from listening to this exchange, went through a full sequence of expressions: [stunned], [shocked], [disgusted], [repulsed], [acceptance].
This was the Senju clan for you, naturally gifted at coming up with new nonsense every time.
She had originally thought that "binding together through bonds" was already outrageous enough. Who would've thought there was something even more unhinged?
At least the former involved bonds between humans. But what the hell was that latter thing?!
In an instant, the two female ninja found themselves empathizing with the tailed beasts, finally understanding why they hated this filthy shinobi world so much.
Before even being sealed, each of them had suffered humiliation at the hands of Senju Hashirama, the founder of the ninja village era.
The Nine-Tails had it the worst, being humiliated simultaneously by both Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara.
After that, it was sealed.
Losing freedom wasn't actually the main issue. Their happiest days had been when they accompanied the Sage of Six Paths.
The real problem was that ninjas used their power to recklessly destroy the shinobi world created by the Sage of Six Paths.
How much effort had the Sage of Six Paths put into restoring vitality to the world back then?
In short, it was perfectly normal for tailed beasts to have no goodwill toward humans.
From beginning to end, they had never experienced anything that could increase their favorability.
But Senju Hashirama was actually innocent, too.
He might indeed have had some unclear, tangled "bond" with Uchiha Madara, but he truly was not a furry.
Hashirama's treatment of the tailed beasts was done out of sheer necessity.
Indeed, there were sealing tools other than humans that could seal tailed beasts, like Shukaku's tea kettle or the Eight-Tails' Kohaku no Jōhei (Amber Purification Jar).
But just thinking about it made it obvious: such tools were far too rare for Hashirama to obtain in bulk.
Even if he found one or two, what about the rest?
"Isobu, right now there's more than one group outside coveting the power of the tailed beasts. In their eyes, you're just a piece of meat. So being inside a jinchūriki is actually the safest option. What do you think?"
Shiromo continued his "friendly" communication with the Three-Tails.
"..."
The Three-Tails had no idea what to say anymore.
Wasn't he just saying a moment ago that its power was too strong?
In the very next second, he said that out in the open it was just a piece of meat. He didn't even bother pretending, huh?
Still, after learning Shiromo's group's true purpose, the Three-Tails felt a sense of relief.
Being sealed, right? It wasn't the first time anyway.
Eh? Wait a second.
"You know my name?"
The Three-Tails asked in a muffled voice.
"Of course. I know all nine tailed beasts, Shukaku, Matatabi, Isobu, Son Gokū, Kokuō, Saiken, Chōmei, Gyūki, and Kurama."
"..."
The Three-Tails fell silent once again.
Its own name was one thing, it had once revealed it voluntarily, so it wasn't strange that a small number of people knew.
But the other tailed beasts?
Especially Kurama, who was the most hostile toward humans.
How could this person possibly know?
The Three-Tails suddenly recalled a prophecy the Sage of Six Paths had once told them.
A blue-eyed youth who laughed as he called the names of the nine beasts…
The Three-Tails stared at Shiromo for a while.
These weren't blue eyes at all, though?
Could it be that it had misheard back then, or after thousands of years, remembered it wrong?
Maybe it wasn't "a blue-eyed youth," but "a BYD youth"?
That would actually fit pretty well…
"Since you're the person from that old Six Paths geezer's prophecy, I'll follow your orders. Should I let her become my jinchūriki again?"
The Three-Tails spoke once more, this time extremely cooperative.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
Shiromo looked utterly confused.
When did he become the person from some prophecy?
The Sage of Six Paths… or rather, Gamamaru, what kind of ability did they have to foresee him?
"It's nothing. My memory's messed up. I was just talking nonsense."
The Three-Tails immediately changed its tune.
It absolutely couldn't let the other party know that the prophecy was trash-talking him, or it would be in serious danger.
"You…"
"Um, since Isobu has already agreed, don't make things difficult for it anymore."
Rin tugged on Shiromo's sleeve.
Seeing this, the Three-Tails couldn't help but feel a little sentimental.
This jinchūriki seemed to have a pretty good personality.
No, wait, its previous jinchūriki, Yagura, also had a good personality.
Unfortunately, its luck was terrible. Both jinchūriki had been controlled by others, so it never really had any chance to communicate.
"Alright then. Hashirama, you're up."
"Oh, okay."
Shiromo stepped aside as Senju Hashirama moved forward and began sealing the Three-Tails.
Hashirama clapped his hands together. The Three-Tails' massive body twisted violently and was sealed into Rin.
Exceptionally smooth.
This sealing technique came from the Uzumaki clan.
It seemed that anyone who married into the Uzumaki clan would have to learn a bit of sealing techniques from their spouse as a bonus.
Of course, the Senju clan itself also had sealing techniques, otherwise, how would they have sealed Uchiha Hikari together with the Sarutobi clan back then?
"That's it? It's solved just like that?"
Kurotsuchi Raiga watched the entire process like it was a show, utterly bewildered.
Wasn't sealing a tailed beast supposed to cause massive casualties every time?
That was how it was in Kirigakure, and other villages were supposedly the same.
Didn't the Three-Tails even want to put up a bit of resistance?
Once escape was hopeless, it immediately knelt?
Kurotsuchi Raiga stood there dumbfounded. Not long after the sealing was completed, Terumi Mei, having been informed by the ANBU after sensing the disturbance, arrived with a group of Kirigakure ninja.
When she saw that it was Shiromo here, Terumi Mei let out a sigh of relief.
And when Uchiha Hikari saw Terumi Mei, she also let out a sigh of relief.
She had previously heard people say that Shiromo had a good relationship with the Mizukage, and she'd been worried that the Mizukage might be a man.
Thank goodness, Thank goodness.
(End of this chapter)