Chapter 46: What the Children of Other Nations Have, Our Nation Must Have Too
The last time Black Zetsu's mental state had completely shattered was… well, the last time.
So, where in the world was Uchiha Madara hiding? Why wasn't there a single, solitary trace of him anywhere in the entire shinobi world?
After a full three months of frantic searching, Black Zetsu had nearly turned every conceivable hiding spot upside down, yet he still couldn't find him. He was truly and utterly bewildered.
As a master schemer who had manipulated the course of history for centuries, he was now being outmaneuvered in the simple art of concealment. He could almost stomach being unable to track that monstrous entity, Mie, but why was Uchiha Madara like this too? How could such a large, living person—a man whose ego was as vast as his chakra reserves—hide so perfectly?
Mama, I feel useless, he lamented, his form rippling with despair deep beneath the earth. I can't even find a single person.
I'm sorry, Mama. I'm too incompetent.
Unable to locate his target, Black Zetsu writhed and rolled through the subterranean soil for a long while before finally settling on a new strategy: he would go to Konoha and stake out his only lead.
Senju Stelle had been present when Uchiha Madara was resurrected. If anyone knew where Madara was now, it was undoubtedly her. As long as he monitored Stelle, he was certain to eventually uncover Madara's whereabouts.
Stelle, however, was acutely aware of the shadowy parasite tailing her every move. On several occasions, she put on a masterfully crafted performance, her expression twisting with a strange, unnerving mix of confusion and paranoia. She would stop, her head tilting as if she knew she was being watched but couldn't pinpoint the source.
Once, she even began walking directly toward Black Zetsu's hiding place, her steps slow and deliberate.
The act sent a jolt of pure terror through the ancient being, triggering a cascade of mood values for Stelle's system. Black Zetsu, thoroughly spooked, finally managed to gauge the absolute limits of Stelle's sensory range. From then on, he only dared to peek from a great distance, his paranoia now a evident thing.
After baiting him for a few more days and milking him for all he was worth, new reports began to filter in from the other four Great Shinobi Nations.
Perhaps it was because they had witnessed Uchiha Madara summon the Nine-Tails to the battlefield and seen its devastating power firsthand, but the major hidden villages seemed to have collectively found a new path to bolstering their military strength. With a grim, unspoken understanding, they each began to hunt and capture the Tailed Beasts.
Creatures of such immense size and chakra were, despite their power, relatively easy to track down.
The Land of Wind was the first to act. The One-Tailed Shukaku had long resided within its deserts, so the Fourth Kazekage, Reto, personally led his village's elite shinobi to capture it.
The other three nations were not far behind. The Land of Water successfully captured the Three-Tails, Isobu. The Land of Lightning subdued the Two-Tails, Matatabi. And the Land of Earth managed to seal the Four-Tails, Son Gokū.
As for the Five-Tails, Six-Tails, and Eight-Tails, no one had yet dared to provoke them.
Of course, this wasn't because the other nations lacked ambition. They simply lacked a Senju Hashirama, who could casually use a Wood Dragon to throttle the Nine-Tails into submission before chiding it, "You're too powerful, you must be sealed," and then effortlessly capturing it.
The reality of capturing a Tailed Beast was a brutal, tragic affair. The battlefields were soaked in blood, and the losses were staggering. After each nation managed to secure just one, they were so battered that they didn't dare make another move.
Since the other nations now had Tailed Beasts, how could Konoha possibly go without?
Stelle marched into the Hokage's office, mission scroll in hand. She had already asked Senju Tobirama for the Hokage's exclusive, oversized seal and, after stamping the document with a satisfying thump, she sent it directly to the Anbu, ordering them to investigate the Nine-Tails' whereabouts.
The Anbu's efficiency was, as always, exceptional. It didn't take long for them to find their target.
The Nine-Tails had been beaten senseless on the Land of Lightning battlefield. Then, Stelle's final, devastating punch had not only knocked it out but also shattered the Sharingan's control over it. The moment it regained its senses, the colossal fox had bolted, its nine tails streaming behind it. Its massive body moved with the speed of a thunderclap, leaving nothing but a fading afterimage.
It had escaped just in the nick of time. Moments later, three ultimate techniques had collided on that same battlefield, obliterating the landscape. If the fox had been even a second slower, it would have been annihilated, forced to wait several long years to reform.
Now, the Nine-Tails was hiding in a remote, primeval forest deep within the Land of Fire, leisurely sunbathing and recovering from its ordeal.
Stelle immediately went to Senju Tobirama to apply for the capture mission.
Her reasoning was simple and irrefutable: what the children of other nations have, the children of our nation must have too.
Was he kidding? Was Konoha even Konoha without the Nine-Tails? It had to be brought back.
"You want to capture the Nine-Tails and lock it in Konoha?"
Senju Tobirama's expression became momentarily distant. He remembered a time when capturing a Tailed Beast—let alone all nine of them—was a simple matter. A single word from his elder brother, and he and Madara would have handled the creatures with ease.
But now, even capturing a single Tailed Beast required a carefully crafted plan and carried immense risk.
Otherwise, why would the other nations issue such solemn international notices declaring their intent to send envoys to Konoha, only for those envoys to be perpetually "on the way"? It was as if thousands of mountains and rivers had suddenly sprung up to block their path. The truth was, they were all stalling for time, desperately trying to recover from the grievous losses they had sustained.
"Teacher, you seem to have forgotten," Stelle said, a sly glint in her eye. "You still have a pair of Mangekyō Sharingan in your possession. You've been studying them for so long; wouldn't this be the perfect opportunity to… swap them in and put them to use?"
As the most miraculous eyes in the shinobi world, they were essentially 'plug and play'—a must-have accessory for murder, robbery, and casual travel.
The two came to an agreement and immediately went to perform the eye transplant. However, when it came time to assemble a Sealing Squad, Senju Tobirama's brow furrowed in concern.
After the founding of Konoha, Senju Hashirama had extended an invitation to the Uzumaki clan of the Land of Whirlpools. As mentioned before, this version of Konoha was founded on overwhelming power; clans were brought into the fold whether they were willing or not, beaten into submission if necessary.
Naturally, the Uzumaki clan had joined Konoha. A few scattered members, whose hatred for the Uchiha ran too deep to stomach living alongside them, refused to come. The clan didn't force them, but the main body relocated to the Village Hidden in the Leaves.
Now, the Uzumaki were thriving. They had their own dedicated Sealing Corps responsible for barrier maintenance, sealing rituals, and other related tasks. They had even begun to intermarry with the other clans of Konoha.
That wasn't the problem. The problem was the official narrative: Uchiha Madara's eyes had been stolen by an enemy.
If Senju Tobirama, as the Acting Hokage, led a large contingent to capture the Nine-Tails and then suddenly activated the Mangekyō Sharingan… the implications would be terrifying.
How could he possibly explain that?
Stelle coughed lightly. "Well, actually… I've been researching a sealing technique specifically designed for Tailed Beasts."
She was a system-blessed cheater who had drawn over a hundred rewards. While she would die of old age if she didn't work hard to farm emotions, she also possessed a pile of strange and varied abilities. This included a whole host of specialized sealing jutsu she'd developed with the express purpose of targeting Black Zetsu.
She could easily adapt one or two of them to seal a Tailed Beast. Besides, she had drawn the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style from the reward pool a long time ago. She had once thought it useless and left it to gather dust in her system's inventory, but now that they were going after the Nine-Tails, it was the perfect tool for the job.
On the spot, she demonstrated the principles and effects of the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style's formula to Senju Tobirama.
"This technique was researched and improved based on the Uzumaki clan's Four Symbols Seal," she explained smoothly. "But it hasn't been introduced to the world yet. So, I'll just register it as my own creation first. No problem, right?"
As Senju Tobirama listened to her explain the complex details of the sealing jutsu, his eyes lit up with the fervent excitement of a scientist discovering a revolutionary new theory.
With the Mangekyō Sharingan and the sealing technique ready, the two quietly slipped out of Konoha. Following the intelligence provided by the Anbu, they soon found the Nine-Tails.
At that moment, the great fox was sprawled across a clearing in the dense forest, its massive body resembling a fiery red hill. Its nine tails rested languidly on the ground, one occasionally twitching with lazy indifference. The entire fox exuded the unmistakable vibe of a 'salted fish'—utterly content to do nothing at all.
Stelle and Senju Tobirama glanced at each other, a silent understanding passing between them.
With a few swift leaps, they burst from the treeline and landed directly in front of the Nine-Tails' enormous head. Stelle gave it a cheerful wave.
"Hi, Nine-Tails! Long time no see."
The fox was enjoying its sunbath when the two humans suddenly appeared. After being inexplicably controlled, forced to fight, and nearly killed, its hatred for humanity burned hotter than ever. Its crimson, slitted eyes gleamed with a cruel light.
"Damned insects!" it snarled, its voice a low, rumbling growl that shook the very trees. "Go to hell!"
One of its massive tails whipped toward Stelle, carving through the air with a ferocious whoosh.
[Inorin's Note:
Enjoying the story? Dropping a quick review, comment, or Power Stone means the world to me and keeps these daily updates flowing!
Want to read 50 chapters ahead or just want to help keep a shameless translator alive? (My livelihood actually depends on this, haha 😭). You can support me directly here:
(P.S. Just remove the brackets and replace the [.] with a regular dot . to use the links!)
✨ Patreon (50 Advanced Chapters): patreon[.]com/InorinTL
☕ Ko-fi (Support / Sponsor): ko-fi[.]com/InorinTL
Thank you so much for reading and keeping this project alive!]