Konoha's Tag-System Ninja

Chapter 231: Chapter 231: The New Four-Tails Jinchūriki!

Iwagakure, Tsuchikage's Office.

Ōnoki's expression was heavy. "The Third Mizukage is dead, and now even that troublemaker from Kumogakure has been defeated!"

The "troublemaker" was his nickname for the Fourth Raikage.

The Third Mizukage's death wasn't surprising—after all, the man was even older than Ōnoki himself.

But the Fourth Raikage, in the prime of his life, losing like this? That put Ōnoki under pressure.

At this moment, Kitsuchi spoke up, "That Hoshita Shūichi is truly a monster. At his age, he's already reached this level. People outside are comparing him and that Shisui of the Body Flicker to the legends—the God of Shinobi, Hashirama Senju, and the Demon of the Ninja World, Madara Uchiha."

Ōnoki snorted coldly at this. "God of Shinobi?

"Don't underestimate what that title means!"

Though feeling the weight of the situation, he didn't believe Shūichi could yet compare to Hashirama Senju.

Looking up at his son, Ōnoki asked, "What are your thoughts on the new Four-Tails Jinchūriki?"

Kitsuchi shook his head. "Ever since the Four-Tails returned from Konoha, it's been acting differently—more agreeable toward us but highly selective about a Jinchūriki candidate."

Ōnoki frowned at this too.

In all his years, this was the first time he'd encountered such a peculiar situation.

However, since this involved creating a perfect Jinchūriki, Ōnoki had no choice but to let the Four-Tails pick its host.

After a brief hesitation, Ōnoki suddenly said, "Let Kurotsuchi try."

Kitsuchi's expression shifted, and after a moment of silence, he nodded. "Understood."

Anyone could be sacrificed, and his daughter was no exception.

---

In the Land of Fire's Daimyō Residence.

After three busy days, Shūichi finally wrapped up his work.

The location for a secret training base had been chosen, and the selection plans were finalized.

The next steps—construction and recruitment of the first batch of students—would be handled by Pakura and her team.

---

Konoha Village, Experimental Base.

While observing lab mice, Shūichi suddenly turned his head. "Is there important intel?"

Zetsu's clone, Tobi, emerged from the ground, chuckling. "Nothing escapes you, Lord Shūichi!"

"It's Konan from the Akatsuki. She wants to meet you, likely about planting spies."

Shūichi smirked. "Looks like the Akatsuki is in urgent need of manpower."

Tobi grinned. "Kumogakure's probing forced the Akatsuki to consider using Kirigakure as a secondary stronghold. Plus, Iwagakure has started leveraging the Akatsuki—their business is booming!"

Shūichi nodded, deep in thought. "Iwagakure must know about the Rinnegan, right?

"Using the Akatsuki might be their way of borrowing the Rinnegan's power to deal with me."

Tobi laughed. "That's possible! After all, your reputation now rivals that of the God of Shinobi. It's no surprise the Third Tsuchikage feels the pressure."

"By the way, can you guess who the new Four-Tails Jinchūriki is?"

Shūichi raised an eyebrow. "They've already chosen a new Jinchūriki?"

"Sounds like the choice is... interesting."

After a moment's thought, Shūichi guessed, "The Third Tsuchikage's granddaughter?"

Tobi's eyes widened in amazement. "As expected of you, Lord Shūichi—you even guessed that!"

Shūichi was already accustomed to Tobi's flattery. "So it really is her?"

Tobi nodded. "Yes, it's that two-year-old girl, Kurotsuchi. What a strange name. Who names a girl something like 'Black Earth'?"

The future Tsuchikage herself, huh?

Tch! If she gets killed during the tailed beast extraction and becomes a puppet of the Six Paths, wouldn't that be a waste?

Looks like I'll have to intervene.

His mind racing, Shūichi asked, "Anything else to report?"

Tobi quickly added, "The emissaries from Kumogakure have arrived in Konoha. The Fourth Hokage might summon you soon!"

As the words left his mouth, footsteps echoed outside. Moments later, Rin Nohara, dressed in a black robe and mask, appeared at the door.

"Shūichi, the Fourth Hokage is requesting your presence."

"Tobi, take care of things here."

With that, Shūichi turned and left with Rin.

---

On the Way Out.

Noticing the twin swords strapped to Rin's back, Shūichi asked, "How's your training going lately?"

Rin smiled. "With your clones and Isobu's guidance, I've mastered Water Release techniques. Thanks to the First Hokage's cells, my medical ninjutsu has also improved a lot.

"But as for Wood Release... I haven't made any progress."

Clearly, not everyone had Uchiha Obito's innate talent.

Even with Hashirama's cells, unlocking Wood Release wasn't guaranteed.

Shūichi nodded and asked, "How about Obito's Sharingan?

"Is it a burden for you?"

Rin's mood darkened briefly before she smiled again. "Thanks to the First Hokage's cells and Isobu's chakra, there's no burden. But mastering the Mangekyō Sharingan's abilities is still tricky."

Shūichi chuckled. "Take your time. With the First Hokage's cells, you won't have to worry about losing your vision from overusing the Mangekyō."

Rin nodded firmly. "Yes, I'll keep working hard!"

She wanted to stand beside Kakashi—and rescue Obito someday.

---

Exiting the experimental base, Shūichi parted ways with Rin and used the Flying Thunder God Technique to teleport directly to the Hokage Tower. He knocked on the door and entered the Hokage's office.

Minato Namikaze wasn't at his desk but stood by the window, lightning flickering in his hands.

"Eh? Sensei, are you practicing Lightning Release?"

Shūichi asked curiously.

Minato dispersed the chakra in his hands and smiled. "Even though I'm the Hokage, I can't afford to stop improving. What kind of teacher would I be if I let my students surpass me without a fight?"

Shūichi chuckled. "I think a teacher's greatest accomplishment is having students who surpass them."

"But speaking of which, Sensei, are you trying to incorporate Lightning Release into the Rasengan?"

Minato nodded. "That's the idea. But Lightning Release can also be used to stimulate cells, enhancing speed and reaction time."

"That Chidori Body Flicker technique you taught Kakashi is quite impressive."

Unlike the full-body Lightning Chakra Mode, which is incredibly difficult to master, Chidori Body Flicker, though challenging, was easier for someone like Minato.

After chatting for a while, Minato brought up the main topic. "Kumogakure wants us to share information about the Akatsuki and the Rinnegan. What do you think, Shūichi?"

Shūichi considered it for a moment. "We can share information about the Rinnegan, but not the abilities of Obito's Sharingan or the intel we've gathered from Zetsu."

Minato nodded, agreeing with the sentiment. He then added, "The Eight-Tails Jinchūriki and the Fourth Raikage share a close bond. Whether for the sake of their village or personal ties, once they confirm the information, they'll likely move against the Akatsuki. This benefits us, so it's worth sharing some details."

"In that case, Shūichi, I'll have you represent me in this afternoon's meeting with the Kumogakure delegation."

Shūichi sighed. "I knew you were just looking to dump work on me."

Minato laughed. "You should take a break now and then. You don't have to spend all your time training or researching!"

Shūichi nearly rolled his eyes at that.

---

After lunch, Hokage Tower Meeting Room.

The Kumogakure delegation was led by Dodai. Among their group, Shūichi recognized two individuals: Darui, the future Fifth Raikage, and a sensor-nin named Cee, who bore a striking resemblance to Minato.

On Konoha's side, aside from Shūichi, there were Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shikaku Nara.

Shikaku had recently been appointed by Minato as the leader of the jōnin corps and the head of the Hokage's administrative team—essentially Minato's right-hand man.

However, Shūichi was clearly in charge of the current meeting.

After signing the ceasefire agreement, Dodai couldn't help but ask, "Lord Shūichi, has the Fourth Hokage decided whether to share the intelligence yet?"

Shūichi smiled warmly. "Of course. The Rinnegan is a shared threat, so sharing information about it isn't an issue."

"However, I must warn you: if Kumogakure plans to face the Akatsuki alone, you should prepare for significant losses."

A middle-aged shinobi from the Kumogakure side interjected, "Are you suggesting we form an alliance to deal with the Akatsuki together?"

Shūichi nodded with a smile. "That's certainly possible.

"The Rinnegan's abilities are incredibly powerful. At my current level, I can only match its user—I can't defeat them outright.

"An alliance would allow us to pool our strengths and minimize casualties."

"Of course, there would need to be clear leadership."

Dodai's heart sank at this, realizing the underlying implication: Konoha wanted to lead the alliance.

He quickly countered, "Sharing intelligence is already akin to forming an alliance.

"As for concentrating forces, while it's a good idea, unfamiliar teams might struggle to cooperate effectively.

"Right now, we believe the priority should be gathering intelligence. Once we have sufficient information, we can collaborate and annihilate the Akatsuki with full force."

Shūichi wasn't surprised by this response and smoothly adapted. "That's reasonable."

Turning to Shikaku, he said, "Shikaku-senpai, could you introduce the intel we've gathered on the Rinnegan?"

Shikaku nodded and began to explain.

The key points were as follows:

1. Repulsion: The ability to repel all attacks, including physical and ninjutsu-based ones.

2. Attraction: The ability to pull targets toward the user.

3. Absorbing Ninjutsu : And finally, the ultimate sealing technique: Chibaku Tensei.

Upon hearing this, Dodai and the other Kumo-nin were visibly shocked and grave.

Cee couldn't help but remark, "With abilities like these, it's no wonder they're nearly impossible to defeat. Ordinary shinobi wouldn't stand much of a chance against such powers."

"Even with the cooldown between their techniques, finding an opening would be incredibly difficult."

Darui nodded with a sigh. "Indeed, it's no surprise these are the legendary eyes of the Sage of Six Paths."

"To take on someone like this, you'd need to deploy an elite force in overwhelming numbers just to find a weak spot."

"But the casualties would undoubtedly be severe."

Clearly, Shūichi hadn't been exaggerating earlier.

At this moment, Shūichi added, "And these are just the abilities we've confirmed so far. Based on my observations, this likely isn't the full extent of the Rinnegan's powers."

"This is also why I've repeatedly emphasized the importance of the Tailed Beasts. It's the reason I haven't taken them for myself and even returned the One-Tail and Four-Tails to Sunagakure and Iwagakure."

"If the five great villages continue to wage war against each other, it will only allow the Akatsuki to grow stronger in the shadows, striking when we're weakened to capture the Tailed Beasts."

"You've heard of the Ten-Tails from the Eight-Tails, haven't you?"

"In fact, I've already seen the Ten-Tails' vessel. It's a monstrous entity known as the Gedo Statue."

Hiruzen Sarutobi interjected, "If it's the Ten-Tails' vessel, it must have some ability to suppress the Tailed Beasts."

"Therefore, sending Jinchūriki to fight the Rinnegan's wielder might not be the best strategy."

Dodai immediately nodded solemnly. "Thank you for the reminder, Lord Third Hokage."

"In fact, before coming here, we had already sent people into Amegakure to investigate, but everyone we sent has gone missing."

"Does that mean Amegakure is already under the Akatsuki's control?"

Shikaku Nara glanced subtly at Shūichi before replying, "According to our intelligence, that isn't the case."

"Amegakure's leader, Hanzo, is still in power."

"There was a previous conflict between Hanzo and the Akatsuki, during which one of the Akatsuki leaders was killed. It seems part of the Akatsuki was absorbed into Hanzo's forces."

This was, without a doubt, a mixture of truth and misinformation.

Dodai, however, believed it entirely. "I see. So, the Akatsuki we knew about before has already split up."

"Could it be that the Rinnegan's wielder is now under Hanzo's control?"

Dodai's suspicion stemmed from Hanzo's reputation as a "Demi-God."

During the Second Shinobi World War, Hanzo had singlehandedly fought against the combined forces of Iwagakure, Konoha, and Sunagakure, earning his fearsome title.

Given his ambition, it seemed plausible that Hanzo could be the mastermind behind the Eye of the Moon Plan.

Shūichi hadn't anticipated Dodai's overthinking but replied calmly, "There isn't enough evidence to support that at the moment."

"Amegakure is heavily guarded and difficult to infiltrate."

---

The afternoon meeting was both productive and harmonious.

Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shikaku Nara skillfully collaborated with Shūichi to strategically mislead the Kumo-nin.

After the Kumo-nin left the Hokage Tower, Shikaku couldn't help but ask, "Shūichi, how did you predict that Kumo wouldn't ally with us?"

Shūichi smiled. "Because they already know I left a Flying Thunder God mark on the Eight-Tails. They must think I'm trying to use peaceful means to gain control of the Jinchūriki."

"With the Fourth Raikage's personality and the current situation, there's no way they'd agree to hand over their Jinchūriki to us for protection."

"Even though we've shared intelligence, human nature is what it is. They won't learn until they face the consequences firsthand."

Shikaku nodded, then pondered aloud, "The Rinnegan possesses world-shattering power. If Kumo were destroyed over the Two-Tails or the Eight-Tails, it would still be detrimental to us. Conquering the other villages isn't meaningful if they're completely obliterated."

Hiruzen Sarutobi added, "If we allow the other four great villages to fall, it'll come down to just Konoha against Nagato and Uchiha Madara. Even if we win, the cost will be devastating."

Shikaku agreed and continued, "If Kumo only suffers partial losses and allies with us under our leadership, they'll still resist any attempt at subjugation."

"Especially with the Raikage's influence, their forces will rally around him. Even if the Fourth Raikage falls, a Fifth Raikage will rise immediately."

"At that point, another large-scale war would be inevitable."

Hiruzen nodded in agreement.

The ambition to subjugate the other four great villages was extraordinary, but both he and Shikaku believed it would be incredibly challenging, if not impossible, to achieve.

Ironically, outright destruction of the other villages might be the easier path.

(End of Chapter)

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