章節 77: Tailed Beast Whisperer
Now he understood why he hadn't picked up their signatures with his Tamashii: they were both masking their chakras.
Those players were still a fair bit away, approaching the lake while being completely oblivious to the colossal Tailed Beast about to rise.
This was bad. Very bad.
Not only did Jasper's presence threaten his plans, but unleashing a Tailed Beast on unsuspecting intruders was not part of the deal.
Arthur's mind raced with possibilities. Confronting Jasper openly this early was not something he wanted to do. Players who discovered his whereabouts would swarm this country in a heartbeat until he was found.
A new plan, a desperate one, finally formed.
A tremour shook the ground. The water in the distance churned violently, and a monstrous head crowned with razor-sharp horns broke the surface. The Three-Tails continued to slowly emerged until half of its body was above water.
Arthur seized this opportunity. Hidden half a mile away, he had Minato dive into the water.
'Giant Rasengan…'
One technique, and the unsuspecting beast let out a roar that echoed across the land. It was struck right in its plastron. Arthur then had Minato quickly teleport to his side.
He deactivated the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode on Minato, choosing to remain hidden until he understood Jasper's motifs.
Suppressing both his own and Minato's chakra signatures, he kept himself low behind a towering hill, hoping the distance was enough to further mask their presence.
He hadn't wanted to provoke Isobu; he had planned to approach it once it surfaced, hoping to reason with it like he had done with Saiken.
Now, thanks to this impulsive display of power, he had a raging Tailed Beast to be used as a distraction.
The colossal devil lashed out with a massive tail, pulverizing the land. In the distance, Arthur's senses picked up Jasper's and Alice's figures moving faster. They were drawn in by Isobu's rampage, approaching cautiously and with trepidation.
All according to Arthur's expectations.
As they neared, Isobu whipped its head around, spotting the tiny figures. It growled at them loudly, sending quakes through the ground.
"What the…?!" Alice gasped. "What's causing it to go crazy all of a sudden?"
Arthur couldn't hear their conversation, but with his Tamashii, he could read their lips.
Jasper, unlike Alice, remained eerily calm. He activated his Byakugan and said, "Stay here... I'll handle this."
Without waiting for a response, he activated the Fourth Gate like flicking a switch, quick and effortless. With enhanced speed and strength, he then launched himself towards the rampaging beast, dodging its flailing tentacles with ease.
Arthur watched. While impressive, he was more observant, his mind considering at how much stronger Jasper had become in such a short time. Jasper's ability to move so fluidly at such a heightened speed confirmed his suspicions—this player was even more dangerous than he had anticipated.
Reaching the top of the colossal beast's head, Jasper deactivated his technique. He landed gently without showing any aggression or setbacks from having used one of the Eight Inner Gates.
Slowly, he placed a hand on Isobu.
"Calm down," he said in a surprisingly lax tone, despite the chaos around them. "There's no need to be angry."
Isobu, astonishingly, seemed to respond to Jasper's touch. Its thrashing subsided as it gave low, mournful growls.
'How did he…?' Arthur asked himself.
Then he remembered something. He recalled from Jasper's profile a special ability called "Tailed Beast Whisper." It allowed a player's character to communicate with and even pacify these powerful creatures.
Now it started to make a little sense why these two were present.
As if on cue, Isobu rumbled a response, its voice filled with a tinge of sadness. It recounted its version of events—the sudden attack from an unseen source, the surge of pain and anger that had fueled its rampage.
Jasper smiled—a smile that never quite reached his eyes. Arthur recognized the insincerity of the gesture. This wasn't about helping Isobu; this was about manipulation.
"I see," Jasper said. "It seems you've been wronged. But fear not, Isobu. I am a prophet, and I have foreseen a future where your power will be crucial. Together, we can build a world…"
His false sense of sympathy continued to spew words of nonsense. It was different than what Arthur had done, for Arthur never lies.
Jasper was spouting ridiculous tales about a world of peace, a world where Isobu's power wouldn't be misused—all carefully crafted lies to gain the Tailed Beast's loyalty.
Of course, Isobu believed Jasper. There truly was a prophetic boy in this world that would unite the Tailed Beast. And that boy was the main character.
Arthur wasn't naïve that he would believe Jasper's rhetoric. What he desired to know was if Alice was Jasper's accomplice. Or was she simply playing along?
The sight of Isobu lowering its head in apparent submission made one thing clear—the Tailed Beast Whisperer trait changed the game.
As expected, Isobu, seemingly swayed by Jasper's empty promises, agreed to a summoning contract. Jasper performed the procedures much like Arthur had, signifying the completed ritual.
Arthur had lost the Three-Tails.
While he still had Saiken, the advantage of having multiple Tailed Beasts under his control was gone. Now, he was forced to share the power of these legendary creatures with a madman.
But anger wouldn't solve anything. He had to adapt.
So he began to think of a new strategy. A frontal assault was out of the question. Not with Isobu now on Jasper's side.
As his mind raced, he noticed Alice approaching Jasper. She stopped a safe distance away.
"Did it tell you what happened?" she asked.
"It's a 'he,' just so you know," Jasper corrected.
"Umm… okay?"
"Everything is under control," he answered. "Isobu must have been attacked by a ninja. There's a clear wound on its belly."
Alice's brow furrowed as she asked, "Who'd be bold enough to attack the Three-Tails?"
Jasper had been thinking about the same thing. He shrugged it off, assuming that it might have had something to do with Orochimaru.
After all, there was an arc dedicated to the Three-Tails in the original story. The only problem was that it wouldn't unfold for another three years.
"And your Byakugan didn't pick up anyone?" she wondered.
He shook his head. Whoever or whatever it was that attacked Isobu was no longer present.
The two decided not to spend too much time dwelling on the mysterious event.
"He makes three," Jasper finally said. "Next up is Saiken."
Arthur was right. They had indeed been targeting Tailed Beasts.
But who were the other two that they had on their side?
The players began walking away, allowing Isobu to return to the depths of the lake. This prompted Arthur to retreat.
He turned his back on the scene and activated the flying raijin technique through Minato, teleporting them both away from the area.
Today was a defeat, but he would continue to prepare himself for the challenges that lay ahead. He had lost a battle, but the war was far from over.
After having deactivated the Reanimation and returning to the hotel, Arthur took a moment to consider his situation.
He might have lost Isobu, but he still had Saiken. And more importantly, he had learned valuable information.
The players were not sitting idly by, waiting for him to make a move.
Capturing more Tailed Beasts, it seemed, wasn't the most prudent course of action anymore for him. It simply attracted unwanted attention.
Thankfully, Saiken remained safe. Jasper and Alice claimed to be after Utakata, the former Jinchūriki of the Six-Tails, who was already dead.
Arthur hadn't collected that bounty, and the body was destroyed. Subsequently, the other players would never find the missing Jinchūriki.
Moreover, he had cleverly placed a flying raijin mark on Saiken during their initial contract formation. If any of the players stumbled upon the desolate location where Saiken roamed, he could effortlessly summon the Tailed Beast away before any alliances were forged.
He also understood one more thing, and it was that he wasn't the only one with a keen eye for survival. The other players, skilled and resourceful as they were, might be harbouring similar ambitions.
Unlike Arthur, though, they likely possessed a deeper understanding of the Narutoverse, which made them potentially more dangerous.
They might not be directly targeting Tailed Beasts, he believed, but perhaps they were chasing after other legendary artifacts.
Most of the players, through their trials in the Leaf Village, had proven themselves capable of becoming Jōnin. They weren't just adept fighters; they were also cunning strategists.
It wouldn't be a stretch to imagine them requesting permission to leave the village in pursuit of mythical items like the "Hero Water" or the "Infinite Armour."
The former could boost one's chakra tenfold, while the latter was a chest plate that could absorb the chakra of anyone or anything that came into contact with it.
Many of the deadly items and mystic artifacts in this world originated from movies and filler arcs, of which the players would have full knowledge of!
A sense of worry almost threatened Arthur as he thought about it. He hadn't considered this angle. He'd assumed the players' aims were not aligned with his own, as they claimed a collective effort to improve this world.
But if certain players, like Alexander or Jada, got their hands on powerful weapons like the Petrification Gauntlet or the Garian Sword, also known as the Dark Sword, they'd evolve into even more formidable adversaries.
No, Arthur couldn't allow that to happen.
There were specific weapons he'd rather have in his possession than risk them falling into the players' hands.
His gaze narrowed in determination. He wouldn't chase after more Tailed Beasts; instead, he'd shift his focus to acquiring something equivalent, if not more lethal: Hagoromo's Treasured Tools!
The Treasured Tools, also known as the Six Paths Sacred Treasures, are a set of powerful tools created by Hagoromo himself.
They are considered five of the most powerful ninja tools and have been passed down through generations.
In order was the Leaf Fan, a large fan that can generate all five basic elemental chakra natures with a mental command. It can also be used as a shield.
Next was the Gold Rope, a thick length of rope that can draw out the "word soul" of anyone it comes into contact with. That word soul can then be severed by the Seven Stars Blade, a light blue broadsword with a brown talisman hanging from the bottom.
Regarding what a word soul even is, it's the word a person uttered the most. Once the Seven Stars Blade severs the word soul struck by the Gold Rope, it can absorb it into the Crimson Gourd.
The Crimson Gourd is a giant brown-coloured gourd with a red cloth around it. It can take a person's word soul hostage by saying a specific command and sealing the person inside the gourd, making it difficult for them to escape.
The final tool was the Amber Purification Jar, a large pot that can seal anyone within it if they respond to its call. It was used to temporarily seal powerful Tailed Beasts like the Eight-Tails.
The Treasured Tools were both written and shown to be incredibly powerful, even more powerful than the weapons from the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist!
However, there was a costly prerequisite: they consumed enormous amounts of chakra when used, making it difficult for a normal person to wield them without fatal repercussions.
The last characters even spotted with four out of the five tools were the notorious "Gold and Silver Brothers."
It was possible for them to wield them effectively because of their immense chakra reserves and the Nine-Tails' chakra within them—something they acquired after eating the beasts' flesh. They were so strong that they even fought against the second Hokage and the second Raikage, the leader of the Cloud Village.
After the brothers' deaths, all except the Amber Purification Jar were lost, of which no one was aware of their current location.
Obtaining the Amber Purification Jar, currently housed within the heavily guarded Cloud Village, was an improbable feat. But regarding the rest of the Treasured Tools, Arthur had a slight idea of where he could find them.
The decision was made. He wouldn't let his loss of the Three-Tails deter him.
Whether they were players or NPC, he wouldn't let anyone outsmart.
With a new goal in mind, he set his sights on the Lightning Country.
每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票