Chapter 296: Recognize Reality
The matter of taking Naruto Uzumaki around to the major hidden villages to borrow Tailed Beast chakra went very smoothly.
Nagato, who had already treated the Akatsuki and the Dawn Conference as the causes he would pursue for the rest of his life, used the Magic Lantern Body Technique almost immediately after receiving Rei Kaguya’s contact. He passed the news that the Dawn Conference was about to reconvene to the Akatsuki’s envoys stationed across the various countries of the shinobi world, and had them solemnly convey the importance and seriousness of this meeting to the leaders of their respective nations.
Under such circumstances, Iwagakure, Sunagakure, and Kumogakure—the strongest powers in the shinobi world—naturally received the news at once. And in the face of such heavyweight information, when Rei Kaguya merely intended to borrow a portion of Tailed Beast chakra from each village instead of directly requisitioning all Tailed Beasts and Jinchuriki by force, no blind fool would jump out at a time like this and say no.
However, in order to prevent all nine Tailed Beasts’ chakra from gathering inside his own body and causing the Karma left behind by Kaguya Otsutsuki to loosen and awaken too early, Rei Kaguya had no choice but to have Naruto Uzumaki—who in the future had earned the recognition of all Tailed Beasts and could be called an alternative Ten-Tails Jinchuriki—serve as the vessel to receive this chakra.
Naturally, this move drew surprise from the Jinchuriki and Tailed Beasts of the major villages.
“Incredible. When I poured chakra into your body, I almost thought I was sending chakra to the old man of the Six Paths… Hey, kid, once the thing that fellow beside you wants to do is over, you should have time to explain to me why that is, right?”
That was the demand the One-Tail Shukaku made of Naruto Uzumaki through Gaara’s body.
“Strange. Why do I feel that your body is actually better suited to adapting to and bringing out my chakra than the Jinchuriki who has lived with me for so many years… Could it be that in your future, I chose to lower my head to that Nine-Tails fellow?”
That was the question the Five-Tails Kokuo muttered to itself after sensing the Nine-Tails inside Naruto Uzumaki’s body, nearly fallen into eternal sleep.
“What? You want to leave with me and have me become your Jinchuriki? No, no, that won’t do. Putting aside the fact that the ninja of Takigakure still need your strength, if you follow me back to my era, then won’t the strength this era needs to face the Otsutsuki be missing a piece forever?”
“Because he is here, so your strength is not needed? Uh, I understand why you would be afraid of him, but sorry, that way of doing things is far too selfish. I can’t agree to it… Besides, as long as you don’t take the initiative to attack humans, Lord Fourth Mizukage shouldn’t have any reason to specifically come looking for trouble with you, right?”
Naruto Uzumaki spent a great deal of effort before finally persuading the Seven-Tails Chomei, who had been desperate to pour all its chakra into Naruto’s body in one breath in order to escape Rei Kaguya, who was watching the whole thing with an amused look, to give up.
As for Kumogakure’s two Jinchuriki, after they generously transmitted a large portion of chakra to Naruto Uzumaki, Yugito Nii could not help sighing emotionally.
“What an exaggerated amount of chakra. It is practically like the sea. No matter how many rapid rivers flow into it, the sea will always remain calm and unshaken… It seems the Fourth Mizukage was right. Even without his appearance, the protagonist of the next era would still not have been Kumogakure.”
“Worry, worry~ Fate is not ours, so all we can do is worry~”
Killer B, on the other hand, remained very optimistic. While constantly using his rap to stimulate the Fourth Raikage’s nerves, he raised his brows in considerable surprise at Naruto Uzumaki, who knowingly stepped forward and offered his fist.
“You know me, yo~ Savior with prophecy and tails in tow?”
“Oh! Although it hasn’t happened yet in this world, to me, you’ve always been a teacher and comrade I could trust with my life, Big Brother Killer B.”
Naruto Uzumaki took a deep breath, revealing the sunny smile he had only possessed when he was young, and shouted loudly to Killer B.
“If you’re my comrade~ then what can I say~”
Killer B changed his cadence and continued his rap. After spinning once in place, he struck a rather flashy pose and bumped fists with Naruto Uzumaki.
“Little Eight’s power~ I’ll entrust to you~ just as it trusts me~ I’ll trust you too~ the one it chose to trust~”
“Thank you… B. Really, thank you.”
“No need for thanks~ beat down the foe~ that’s the best answer you can show~”
Watching the two perfect Jinchuriki reach an understanding, then throw their heads back and laugh together, the Fourth Raikage, A, took a deep breath as his blood pressure soared.
Then he turned his head and looked at Rei Kaguya, who stood beside him and had quietly watched the whole process. In a deep voice, he asked, “So, this is why you clearly already possess the power to destroy us, yet still choose to use the Akatsuki and those reform methods that look messy and absurd to gradually corrode, change, and assimilate us, Lord Mizukage?”
“It was only so that when I unified the shinobi world in the future and sent people to take over the lands you occupied, there would be less unnecessary resistance and bloodshed… At least, that was what I planned in the beginning. After all, back then, all of you looked ready to resist to the end and fight to the death. I couldn’t tell how much of that was sincere and how much of it was stubborn posturing.”
Rei Kaguya clasped his hands behind his back. Looking at Naruto Uzumaki, who had started singing clumsy rap together with Killer B and now wore a sincere smile on his face, he chuckled and shook his head.
“But the development of history is not something I alone can completely predict just by relying on a little knowledge of future intelligence and some knowledge ahead of its time… There will always be unexpected events that disrupt plans one believed to be meticulous and comprehensive.”
“You mean the abnormal incident of the moon falling, and these two Children of Prophecy suddenly traveling back from the future?” the Fourth Raikage, A, asked in a deep voice.
“You could say that.”
Rei Kaguya nodded noncommittally. He turned his face toward the Fourth Raikage, who could not hide the unwillingness in his expression, and smiled playfully.
“Actually, you should also add the incident before the moonfall, when you and Iwagakure colluded with the Root organization under Obito Uchiha and launched a war of national annihilation against Konoha… If not for the sudden major commotion caused afterward by the Otsutsuki clan on the moon trying to make the moon fall into the shinobi world, you probably wouldn’t have the courage to stand at this distance and speak to me, Lord Raikage, would you?”
“The most important quality of an ambitious person is recognizing the gap between achievable goals and dreams that are impossible to realize.”
The Fourth Raikage let out a long sigh that was half helplessness and half bitterness.
“If you were Kirigakure’s Hashirama Senju, then I would more or less still leave behind some thought of letting Kumogakure develop quietly and endure, hoping that after your death, we would have the strength to stand up and contend for the shinobi world… But if even the moon in the sky can be toyed with so easily by you, then the ambitions of us mortals bound by gravity are nothing more than jokes born of overestimating ourselves.”
“There is nothing wrong with knowing when to yield. A united village like Kumogakure will always find it easier to seize the opportunity and soar when destiny arrives.”
Rei Kaguya smiled. Then he handed the Fourth Raikage, A, an obedient and quiet white snake whose scales had a peculiar tomoe-like pattern.
In a calm voice, he said, “Do you want to try accepting this ticket to the next era?”