Chapter 328: The Connection Between the Tailed Beasts
"…It usually absorbs faster through the usual channels, but this is way too fast, isn't it?"
"Could it be that someone sealed Naruto the way I sealed Jiraiya? But even then, the seal shouldn't only be taking effect now."
"Or could it be that Naruto is actually some kind of legendary succubus who can drain people dry…"
Orochimaru analyzed the situation seriously, then decided to test it.
"Second Hokage-sama, I'll leave it to you."
Orochimaru nodded to Senju Tobirama behind him and began examining Naruto manually.
The implication was clear, if there was any risk of him being "drained", Tobirama should sever his arm immediately.
But nothing happened.
Absolutely nothing.
"Stop poking around. It's probably because there's a connection between Tailed Beast chakra. He absorbed a portion of the Eight-Tails' chakra, and that portion can be considered willingly given by the Eight-Tails."
"After all, Naruto is the 'child destined to call out the names of the nine beasts' from the prophecies of the Great Toad Sage and the Sage of Six Paths."
Shiromo had already figured out the reason and explained it directly.
At the same time, he mentioned something the Sage of Six Paths had said near the "final arc" in the original story.
Shiromo had already explained the overall future trajectory before, but there was no way he could cover every detail.
This particular line from the Sage of Six Paths was one of those details.
"At that time, Naruto had the chakra of all the Tailed Beasts within him. The Sage of Six Paths let the Nine-Tails remain inside Naruto as a kind of relay hub, allowing the nine Tailed Beasts to communicate through him."
"Later, when something happened to the One-Tail and Eight-Tails, the Nine-Tails sensed it immediately and informed Naruto."
"Is there actually an effect like that? Well, it makes sense. The nine Tailed Beasts were originally one entity, so it's normal for them to have some special connection."
As Orochimaru listened, his eyes lit up.
He had a new idea.
But he needed to confirm something first.
"Can all Tailed Beasts communicate directly like this? Or is it only the Nine-Tails? Or does it only work when Naruto, who has gathered all their chakra, serves as a relay?"
Orochimaru asked carefully.
"The last one."
Shiromo gave the answer.
Before the final arc, the Tailed Beasts had never communicated this way, not even the Nine-Tails.
This only became possible after Naruto fulfilled the Great Toad Sage's prophecy, fought alongside the Nine-Tails and Eight-Tails against the other seven Tailed Beasts, learned all their names, and completed the fist-bump connection.
"I see…"
As Orochimaru spoke, he was already preparing to leave and rush back to the lab to start experimenting.
"Wait."
Gaara stopped him, "What about the two of them? Are we just leaving them like this?"
"They're both perfectly healthy. There's no issue. We'll consider replacing Sasuke's eyes to awaken the Eternal Mangekyō once he wakes up. Oh, right, we should move them into separate rooms so they don't start fighting the moment they wake up."
Orochimaru, reminded of this, quickly made arrangements.
After moving Sasuke to the next room, Orochimaru looked at Gaara.
"Almost forgot, you're the One-Tail's jinchūriki. Why not give Shukaku's power to Naruto as well?"
"How would I do that?"
Gaara regretted the question the moment he asked it.
How else could it be done?
"Let me handle it."
He steeled himself and walked to the bedside.
"Shukaku, I'm counting on you."
[No way. Why does that Nine-Tails brat get to be the leader and communication hub, while I'm just some background extra?]
[In my opinion, we should pick three managers among the Tailed Beasts. I'll reluctantly take the role of first elder, Gyūki can be second elder, and the third… fine, we'll let the Nine-Tails have it.]
"…."
Gaara was speechless.
There were only nine Tailed Beasts total, and it wanted to appoint three "elders"?
Just how bad was the relationship between the One-Tail and Nine-Tails?
Gaara began to worry about his future relationship with Naruto.
A jinchūriki and their Tailed Beast was like a remarried family with children, if the "kids" didn't get along, the marriage wouldn't be happy either.
Just as Gaara was thinking about how to persuade Shukaku, the latter suddenly resolved things on its own.
[Wait, what were you asking me to do again? Give my power to the Nine-Tails? How? Oh, heehee, like that? Sure, sure. Nine-Tails, I'm coming in…]
A mass of sand emerged from Gaara's body.
This wasn't Gaara's own sand, but a manifestation of Shukaku's chakra.
Puchi.
The sand went in.
The room fell silent.
After a while, Orochimaru checked, sure enough, the sand had disappeared.
Shukaku's power had been absorbed by Naruto.
"Shukaku says it can now communicate with the Nine-Tails through this method. But the Nine-Tails isn't responding, maybe because it's unconscious, or for some other reason."
Gaara relayed what he heard in his mind.
"Could it be that Shukaku keeps mocking it, so the Nine-Tails is just ignoring the messages?"
Shiromo suggested a possibility.
"…."
Gaara fell silent.
That really did seem to be the case.
As the jinchūriki, he could clearly hear Shukaku's nonstop chatter.
[What do you mean? You're saying the Nine-Tails can hear me and is just ignoring me on purpose?]
[Shukaku: I'm an idiot]
[Kurama: …]
[Kurama: You finally figured it out.]
[Shukaku: You weakling Nine-Tails, how does it feel? Say something!]
[…]
"That's enough."
With an awkward expression, Gaara confirmed that everything had worked.
"Then there's no problem."
"The ability to receive signals means there's also a transfer of chakra. This is essentially an internal 'Yachihoko' system used exclusively among the Tailed Beasts."
Orochimaru proposed his idea. This was only a theoretical foundation; actual application would require further work.
Just as he said, the Tailed Beast chakra within Naruto was different from that of Kinkaku and Ginkaku.
Naruto could not only use the strongest powers of the Tailed Beasts, but also maintain communication.
Even in the Boruto era, Naruto could still use techniques like Lava Release: Rasenshuriken.
This meant the chakra wasn't consumable, nor was it forcibly taken without recognition like Kinkaku and Ginkaku's case.
It was more like "borrowing power."
And speaking of borrowing power, Orochimaru thought of the Ōtsutsuki Ascension Device he had made for Hanabi.
But the nature of borrowing power in the two cases was different.
The Ōtsutsuki device provided a temporary Tenseigan Mode, where the power remained independent and essentially belonged to Hanabi herself.
Naruto's case, however, involved borrowing power that still belonged to other Tailed Beasts.
This connection gave Orochimaru another idea.
The biggest problem with Baryon Mode was its immense chakra consumption. Even a Tailed Beast couldn't sustain it for long, and if it was completely depleted, the Tailed Beast would die.
So what if, when a jinchūriki used Baryon Mode, they could draw on the chakra of all the other Tailed Beasts?
Wouldn't both the power and duration increase dramatically?
(End of this chapter)