Chapter 424: Centuries
BENEATH THE DARK, SILENT SURFACE of a deep lake in the Lightning Country, the Eight-Tails rested. Its massive form was fully submerged as it rested on the lake floor.
The beast’s eyes were closed, but it was not truly asleep. Its mind was drifting in and out like the bubbles that occasionally escaped its nostrils. And one thought lingered more than others—Arthur Bennett.
The beast kept replaying what Arthur had told it. Such words from a mere man defied its logic. So the beast snorted softly, sending out a stream of bubbles, which floated lazily upward.
Centuries later.
It had been a long time since the beast had last felt the presence of any monks nearby. The ones who had once watched over its shrine had vanished long ago and were replaced by settlers who dared not approach.
Over those centuries, the beast had grown stronger and more wary but also more forgetful of the origins of its existence. Its purpose blurred with time, and it spent its days patrolling its territory while asserting dominance over the land it claimed as its own.
It wasn’t until one fateful day that it encountered a certain shinobi that dared to challenge it in the open.
"I am the first Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village," the shinobi claimed.
The battle had been fierce, and the beast felt defeat for the first time by the hands of such a man. And at that moment it was captured and sealed away.
It had later been sold and traded as a tool and a weapon to the Lightning Country. When this happened, it was then sealed inside another man. The beast loathed the idea, even as it understood that this was its new path.
But then something happened. The beast’s memories resurfaced of a time when it was very young.
"Your days will soon be filled with bondage," it recalled a young man once said.