Chapter 161: Two tails extraction (Patreon)

After receiving a pep talk from Colt, Naruto completely recovered his fighting spirit the next day.

He was eager to return to the village and continue his special training.

The strange bond between Indra and Asura was evident.

Usually, Naruto who had seen Colt's immense strength and was indeed trying to catch up, his practice remained within a normal range.

This time, however, being unilaterally crushed by Sasuke, Naruto was fired up like never before.

On the way back, dozens of Shadow Clones practiced chakra nature transformation with leaves.

Colt and Yakumo weren't in a hurry, enjoying the journey while Naruto trained as they walked.

They finally returned to Konoha after three days.

Tsunade wasn't surprised that Sasuke didn't return.

She knew how powerful Orochimaru's ability to deceive people was; even she had almost fallen for it once.

She had agreed to this mission based on Sasuke's special status, as well as out of consideration for Colt and Naruto.

As midnight approached, after sending Shizune away, Tsunade took Colt back to her home for a drink.

Of course, for Tsunade, drinks were measured by the bottle.

After becoming the Hokage, Tsunade had chosen not to live in the Senju clan’s home.

It was too big for her alone, always giving her a feeling of loneliness when she returned home at night.

She had simply bought a house not far from the Hokage building, paid for by the village finances. She could spend that much at least for all her troubles for the village…

The two sat on the roof, watching people come and go on the street and the distant celebrations. At this moment, Konoha's lively atmosphere reached its peak.

"I kind of understand why Grandpa and the others were so desperate for this village," Tsunade sighed, taking a sip of her drink and feeling touched.

Colt sat next to her, feeling the cool breeze, so comfortable that he even closed his eyes.

"It's just an illusion. Once war breaks out, you know what the village really looks like, sister Tsunade."

Tsunade fell silent.

War was always an unavoidable topic.

Konoha was established 60 years ago, and her grandfather had died quite early in his life.

In the past fifty years, Konoha had spent half of its time at war.

How many people she knew had died in these battles?

Tsunade, a bit dazed at this moment, looked at Colt, who was about to fall asleep.

"If you were Hokage, what would you do?"

Colt replied unconsciously, "The Great Village of Konoha, destroying the four other villages alone."

Tsunade's pupils contracted suddenly.

**********

Meanwhile, in Sunagakure, in the middle of the night, Gaara was still at his desk dealing with various matters and paperwork.

Chiyo and Ebizō had eliminated many high-level opponents of Gaara's appointment before retiring.

Today's Sand Village had ushered in a new life, at the cost of Gaara working late every night.

A knock at the door announced Temari's arrival.

She handed Gaara a letter with a serious expression.

"According to reports from spies in the Land of Lightning, the Fourth Raikage was furious and sent out a large number of ninjas looking for something. Preliminary speculation is that the Two-Tails Jinchūriki is missing, because... there are traces of the Akatsuki activity there."

Gaara's eyes narrowed as he read the letter carefully.

The One-Tail had been lost, so the Akatsuki organization wouldn't have any immediate plans for Sunagakure.

But Gaara wouldn't forget the feeling of dying once. If it weren't for Colt, his grave would have been raised by now. Therefore, Gaara had always been concerned about information regarding the Akatsuki, determined to retaliate when the opportunity arose.

After pondering for a moment, he wrote a note and handed it to Temari.

"Please go to Konoha, inform the Fifth Hokage of this information, and then stay there. Temari, you will be Sunagakure's long-term liaison in Konoha from now on. Any important information should be sent back to the village immediately."

Temari was slightly flustered but didn't refuse.

"Is there any problem in the village?"

"Don't worry, with Elder Chiyo's help, there's basically no voice against me now."

**********

In the Land of Lightning, on a ruined wall, Hidan lay in a strange formation with a long scythe in his stomach. "Hey, Kakuzu-san, how's the Two-Tails Jinchūriki?"

Kakuzu walked to the woman who was nailed to the wall, observed her, and nodded.

"Almost done. Get up."

"Alright!" Hidan stood up straight with the scythe. "The lives of these Jinchūrikis are really tenacious. The average ninja dies shortly after my ceremony begins. However, she has survived until now."

Kakuzu carried the woman, who had completely lost her ability to resist, ignoring the still-bleeding Hidan.

The two found a hidden cave and communicated with Pain using the projection technique.

Pain, who was in the Land of Rain, quickly received the signal and summoned the other members.

They gathered soon.

"The Two-Tails has been collected? Kakuzu and Hidan's speed is impressive," commented Zetsu, who had just sewn up Deidara's arm.

Kakuzu was a bit impatient.

"Let's start sealing. Don't waste my time… I could be making money right now." This place wasn't far from the Fire Temple in the Land of Fire.

Not long ago, he had seen a bounty of up to 30 million at the Bounty Exchange Office.

The target was the Fire Temple. With this motivation, Kakuzu was eager to finish the Tailed Beast extraction.

Pain made a few hand seals without speaking. The Gedo Statue slowly opened its mouth, and the fingers of several Akatsuki members lit up with green lights.

"[Sealing Technique: Phantom Dragons Nine Consuming Seals]!"

A powerful suction came from the Gedo Statue's mouth.

The body of the woman floated in mid-air, and a stream of chakra flowed from her body. As Deidara was still recuperating and Sasori's body hadn't recovered yet, this sealing time was slightly longer than Gaara's.

The fingers of the woman moved imperceptibly.

In her inner world, she cried out, "Matatabi! What the hell is going on?"

Feeling the Two-Tails' chakra being slowly drawn out of her body, Yugito became anxious.