章節 109: Chapter 109: The Competition

For many years, the shinobi world had been making a huge mistake. They regarded the tailed beasts as mere beasts or weapons, capturing and sealing them as strategic assets.

In Aoba's view, this approach was overly simplistic and, in fact, backward.

Perhaps it was because the First Hokage was too powerful. In his hands, the tailed beasts were indeed like pets that he could hand out casually. But the problem he overlooked was that his descendants didn't inherit his power. Over time, the strength of the shinobi world waned more and more.

The later shinobi lacked the strength to treat tailed beasts as pets. They craved the power of the tailed beasts but simultaneously feared it.

This led to an awkward relationship with the tailed beasts, particularly in Sunagakure and Konoha.

They wanted to use the tailed beasts as strategic weapons while simultaneously abusing their jinchuriki. Aoba found this attitude utterly ridiculous.

But that wasn't the main point. Aoba believed there was another unexploited value in the tailed beasts: intelligence.

One must remember, the tailed beasts were created by the Sage of the Six Paths. They were among the few beings in the world who had encountered him. Many seemingly trivial memories of theirs might hold secrets lost to the current shinobi world.

Unfortunately, few people in the shinobi world had considered this. Even Uchiha Madara only saw the tailed beasts as pets or weapons.

"Bring it out. I want to talk to it directly."

Aoba's words left Gaara silent. Aoba knew he was communicating with Shukaku, so he waited patiently.

After about five minutes, a clump of sand appeared on Gaara's shoulder, which slowly took shape, transforming into a miniature version of Shukaku.

"What do you want to know?" Shukaku asked.

Aoba studied Shukaku with a peculiar gaze, making Shukaku uncomfortable before he finally spoke.

"First, tell me everything you remember about the Sage of the Six Paths."

Shukaku's expression shifted, as if he had expected this question, and he replied.

"It was so long ago, my memories are faint. I only followed him for a few years."

"Did you ever see him in battle?"

"Battle? No, there was no fighting. Back then, no one in this world could threaten him, so there was no need for battle."

"I see. Then, do you remember the process of him creating you?"

Shukaku's expression showed he had anticipated this line of questioning.

"You're the first human to pursue this question in all these years."

"This isn't my question, really. For the current shinobi world, the Sage of the Six Paths has become something of a legend, a half-forgotten tale. No one seeks out something so elusive."

"But you're different. I can see the fire in your eyes. You're a frightening young man. But I must warn you, what you're pursuing is far more dangerous than you can imagine."

"And where does that danger come from? Is it you, the Sage of the Six Paths, the Ten-Tails, or that one on the moon?"

Under Gaara's astonished gaze, Shukaku's body exploded, as if the surge of emotion had overwhelmed its chakra-constructed form.

"How… how do you know about these things? No one in today's shinobi world should be aware of this."

In truth, Shukaku was shocked because Aoba seemed to know even more than it did.

Shukaku knew of the Sage of the Six Paths and the Ten-Tails; after all, one had created it, and the other was its original form. But it didn't fully grasp Aoba's mention of "the one on the moon."

As it had said, Shukaku had only spent a short time with the Sage of the Six Paths and didn't know much. Perhaps Kurama knew more, but they didn't get along well.

"How do you know about the Ten-Tails? There should be no records of the Ten-Tails in the shinobi world," Shukaku asked again.

"I know more than you might think. For instance, I even know that someone is secretly working to revive the Ten-Tails."

"!!!" Shukaku was genuinely alarmed. To fully resurrect the Ten-Tails, one would need to gather all nine tailed beasts or, more directly, kill all nine, allowing the Ten-Tails' chakra to reform.

In other words, the Ten-Tails' resurrection would mean the death of the nine tailed beasts.

"That's impossible," Shukaku refused to believe it.

"Nothing is impossible. I can assure you, it's true."

Shukaku fell silent, while Gaara appeared lost, not understanding the conversation between them.

After a long pause, Shukaku finally spoke again.

"If what you say is true, then anyone seeking to revive the Ten-Tails would be against the entire shinobi world. But frankly, I doubt the entire shinobi world could stand against you at this point."

"No, I can tell you with certainty. Right now, there are at least two people in this world I cannot truly defeat. One of them has the absolute power to suppress me directly."

"That's impossible. That day, when you defeated me, you used some form of natural energy, right? I don't understand this power, but I've heard that fox mention it. Your Sage Mode is nearly flawless. How could anyone possibly overpower you?"

"That person possesses the Rinnegan."

Aoba's words stunned Shukaku into silence. It knew what the Rinnegan was. Those were the eyes of the Sage of the Six Paths.

After a long silence, Shukaku finally spoke with difficulty.

"With the current level of power in the shinobi world, it's impossible for the Rinnegan to emerge."

Shukaku was correct. The strength of today's shinobi world had indeed regressed significantly from the era of Hashirama and Madara.

And that was the truth: the Rinnegan hadn't appeared in this era; it was the work of the previous era's Uchiha Madara.

Aoba didn't lay everything out in detail. Instead, he used bits and pieces of information to let Shukaku fill in the gaps on its own.

High-value information like this was not something to reveal all at once. Both Shukaku and Gaara were people he intended to recruit, but they weren't valuable enough yet to warrant full disclosure.

"The truth is that the Rinnegan has indeed reappeared, and more than one person in the shinobi world already knows about it."

"All right, let's say I believe everything you're saying. Then what about you? What role do you play in all of this?"

Shukaku's tone was mysterious, and Aoba's reply was equally enigmatic.

"You've already guessed what I want, haven't you? To me, this is…a competition."

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Currently on Chapter 150 - Konoha's Counterattack