Chapter 82: The Old Monk Has Been Captured! (Part 2)
At this moment, the fierce battle of the Earth-Lightning War was in full swing. Why, at such a sensitive time, would that stubborn mule Ōnoki, the Third Tsuchikage, dare to provoke the entire world by targeting Shukaku, the One-Tailed Beast of Sunagakure? What kind of reckless move was this? Wasn't he afraid of Sunagakure's retaliation?
As Jinghang sped through the desert like the wind, he seriously pondered this question. However, no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't figure it out. Could there be some kind of conspiracy here?
But reality often defies expectations. The reason why Ōnoki suddenly had this idea and put it into action was due to the appearance of one person and the absence of another.
The one who appeared was none other than the current Eight-Tails jinchūriki of Kumogakure, B. This man showed up on the battlefield during the most intense phase of the war between the two villages. His near-perfect mastery of the Eight-Tails' power tipped the scales of the war heavily in Kumogakure's favor. The legendary "AB Combo" (A and B's Lightning Release: Double Lariat) wreaked havoc on the battlefield, slaughtering enemies left and right. Iwagakure's forces were utterly crushed, suffering heavy losses and constant retreats.
The one who disappeared was Rōshi, the jinchūriki of the Four-Tails from Iwagakure. As a jinchūriki, Rōshi had a good relationship with the Four-Tails, Son Gokū, making him a formidable force. However, Rōshi was a gentle and humble individual who disliked violence and bloodshed. Before the war even began, he had clashed with Ōnoki over their differing ideals, leading to frequent heated arguments. Eventually, he became a wandering monk, traveling the world and disappearing without a trace. Even when the Second Shinobi World War broke out, there was no sign of him.
Fortunately for Iwagakure, they still had another tailed beast, the Five-Tails, Kokuō. Unfortunately, its jinchūriki, Han, was still a child who had only recently become a jinchūriki and could not fully harness the beast's power. In a battle against B, Han was clearly at a disadvantage.
The unfavorable situation on the battlefield left Ōnoki so anxious that his hair was falling out in clumps. Finally, before his entire forehead went bald, he came up with an idea: if his village didn't have enough tailed beasts, why not just steal them from others?
But who should he target? Ōnoki counted his options one by one. The Two-Tails, Matatabi, was in Kumogakure, and its jinchūriki was said to be a baby girl—pass. The Three-Tails, Isobu, and the Six-Tails, Saiken, were far away in Kirigakure; by the time his men could bring them back, the war would already be over—pass. The Seven-Tails, Chōmei, was in Takigakure, and its jinchūriki was rumored to be an old man on the verge of death—pass.
That left only the One-Tail, Shukaku, and the Nine-Tails, Kurama. But the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki was none other than Mito Uzumaki, the widow of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju. Her sealing techniques were overwhelmingly powerful, and with Konoha's strength, provoking them could lead to their intervention in the war, which would spell doom for Iwagakure—pass.