[The Renegade] Chapter 13 - Kuchiyose (Patreon)

Chapter 13 - Kuchiyose

The negotiations didn’t take long. In the end, Tsunade wanted to save her captured people, and Konan was also in a tight spot. Amegakure desperately needed new supplies of coal to continue functioning. Thanks to Shikaku Nara’s mediation, the two powerful women even came to an agreement to start an alliance.

When the business talks came to an end, Tsunade stepped closer to Naruto. He could tell from the way her brows were furrowed in thought that she was having a hard time finding her words.

"I know it’s too late... I-," she paused, hesitating, "...I understand you won’t come back after all that has happened. But, for all it’s worth… I’m sorry, Naruto."

Greatly surprised, he didn’t say anything at first. He had not expected her to apologize because less than half an hour ago, she called him a traitor and appeared to be fully intent on beating the crap out of him and dragging his ass back to the village.

‘Is she truly sorry? Or did she change her mind because she’s afraid of my power?’

Letting out a sigh, he said:

"You know, I wasn’t calling you 'baa-chan' just to annoy you… I used to look up to you. You were almost like family to me."

Even after what she had put him through, Naruto couldn’t bring himself to hate her. He was disappointed with her, he was hurt, and he was angry. But he didn’t hate her.

"I, I-"

Tsunade’s voice trembled. She couldn’t finish her words.

"I’m glad you decided not to continue the fight. Truly," he said after a moment of silence. "Konoha used to be my home, and you were my former comrades. I would’ve hated to be forced to kill any of you... I didn’t want to kill Gai-sensei either, but he gave me no choice. If it comes down to it, I will do what I must. Ame is my home now, and my loyalty lies with Lady Konan."

After he said those words, neither of them spoke for a while. As silence was instilled between the two of them, Hiashi Hyuga came and said:

"Hokage-sama, it’s time for us to go."

⁂

After the three Konoha nins left, Naruto and Konan looked at the devastated landscape silently for a while.

"It’s over. We’ve finally killed Madara," she said, allowing herself a smile.

"It wasn’t the real Uchiha Madara. The real Madara is dead. This was an imposter."

"Have you read his memories?" Konan asked.

"Yes. His name was Uchiha Obito, he was a former teammate of Kakashi. He’s had a tragic life, but that doesn’t excuse all the atrocities that he had committed. His death was too easy. He should’ve suffered. He should’ve died a horrible death."

It sounded strange to her to hear Naruto speak with so much hatred.

"Wait, don’t destroy the body," she said quickly when she saw him walking to Obito’s corpse and starting to form hand seals.

"Why?" he asked, cancelling the fire technique that he had been about to cast.

"A shinobi’s body is like a treasure trove of information, especially when it’s someone as powerful as this Uchiha. It would be a waste to destroy it."

"...Alright."

As Konan used her paper sheets to wrap Obito’s corpse like a cocoon for the sake of transportation, Naruto suddenly had a thought:

"What’s going to happen to the Land of Rivers? Their Daimyo just got murdered, and they don’t have a strong Hidden Village either."

Daimyo were the feudal lords. Usually, they were very well protected, so it was not often that they were assassinated. But the Land of Rivers was a rather small and militarily weak country compared to its neighbours.

"There used to be a Hidden Village named Tanigakure two decades ago, but, after the Third Ninja War ended, for some reason, the Daimyo stopped sponsoring them, so they faded into obscurity. The Daimyo of this country preferred to rely on mercenary Shinobi for his protection. It’s also one of the reasons why Akatsuki used to operate unhindered in this country. We even used to have a hideout here," Konan said.

"Right… that was the place where Gaara died…"

After she finished wrapping Obito’s corpse with her paper, she sealed it in a scroll.

"Say, Konan, what if Amegakure took over the Land of Rivers?"

That question surprised her more than she showed outwardly.

"Certainly, they don’t have a Daimyo anymore, and their Hidden Village is powerless. Rather than letting the rich officials in the government start a civil war, it wouldn’t be bad for the country, especially for the average people, if Ame took it under its rule… but things are never that easy when it comes to politics," she said.

"What do you mean?"

"The Land of Rivers isn’t a large or militarily powerful country. To put it in simple terms, this country is more like a buffer zone between the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire, a sort of neutral ground between these two big nations. Amegakure’s expansion could be seen as a sign of aggression by both villages."

"But Suna and Konoha have been very close allies ever since Gara became the Kazekage. And now we are also allied with Konoha, aren’t we?" he asked.

"Our alliance with Konoha is merely in the budding stage, and we also have to consider the fact that now that Akatsuki’s leader is gone and that Uchiha Sasuke has been defeated, the other Four Nations will start asking about the whereabouts of the bijuu that had been captured."

"The rest of the world doesn’t know about Gedo Mazo or how the tailed beasts were captured. The Rinnegan is still a mystery for most people. I think the secret is safe for now," said Naruto.

Konan took on a pondering expression before saying:

"Your suggestion does have merit. I will discuss it with the rest of my advisors. If we took control of the Land of Rivers, we would have access to the sea, and that would open up our trade. But, related to the bijuu, what are you planning on doing with them and the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path?"

"I will free them, of course. Tailed beasts aren’t weapons to be used by shinobi as they please. They are their own beings, they have feelings, and they are intelligent," Naruto said vehemently, as if he was daring her to say otherwise.

Konan found herself smiling at him.

"You’re always so passionate about the things you believe in. But I told you already, didn’t I? I will support you in your decisions. I will be the pillar that supports your dream of peace. I don’t disagree with your decision. But I believe it’s not prudent to set the tailed beasts free from the Demonic Statue just yet."

"Why?"

Although he disagreed with keeping the bijuu captive even a second longer than necessary, he respected Konan’s opinion, so he wanted to hear her reasoning.

"If you set them free now, how long until the other Hidden Villages will send entire squads of elite shinobi to capture them again? The Bijuu are so strong that they can change the balance of power between the Hidden Villages. None of the Hidden Villages is going to pass on the opportunity to capture a tailed beast for the sake of making another jinchuuriki, especially now, after they all lost their weapons."

As Naruto became silent, Konan continued:

"With your power, you could probably fight off such groups when the time comes… but if they come to the conclusion that Amegakure is hogging all the tailed beasts for themselves, we will become the target of the entire world. Can you fight against the Five Great Elemental Nations all by yourself? Are you powerful enough to deter them from daring to start a war? In the Ninja World, power is everything. Please listen to my advice. I suggest you keep the bijuu inside Gedo Mazo for a while longer. Let us recover from our economic burdens first and wait until you have fully mastered your Rinnegan. After you master all its paths, you will have become no different from a god."

Naruto let out a sigh as he listened to her words, but he didn’t try to contradict her. He had only thought about setting the tailed beasts free without considering the consequences of such a deed.

"I am still lacking. I still have much to learn. Thank you for your guidance, Konan," he said, his shoulders dropping with the disappointment he was feeling in himself.

"You will learn everything in due time. No one is born wise and knowledgeable, so don’t beat yourself over it. I will continue staying by your side and doing my best to guide you until you no longer need me or my council."

"That day won’t ever come because I will always need you," he said with a chuckle.

A brilliant smile lit up her face.

"You just know the right things to say to make a woman’s heart flutter. What a charmer," she said coyly, and she put her arms loosely around his neck, her face now only centimetres away from his.

Her sudden embrace and her proximity left him at a loss for words. Entranced by her beautiful orange eyes, it almost came as a surprise when she leaned in and pressed her lips against his.

The burning forest and their destroyed surroundings faded from his field of view as he closed his eyes and hugged her soft body tightly to his chest. He lost himself in the taste of her lips.

Even after they parted, he didn’t want to let her go out of his arms for a while. His clinginess and the needy look on his face made her coo at him: "You’re adorable."

It felt strange to hear a girl say such things about him. His stomach stirred from his feelings for her.

"I just like you so much! I can’t help it," he said, his face heating up outside of his control.

His innocent but straightforward confession made her smile at him widely. He was making her feel like a teenager all over again.

"Let’s go back to Ame, shall we? Can your clone summon us there?"

A piece of paper came out of Konan’s palm, and Naruto focused his chakra on his index finger to write on it the words "Summon us to Ame". In the next moment, both Konan and Naruto disappeared in a cloud of white smoke.

⁂

The sound of raindrops hitting the leaves, the fresh smell of nature, the chirping of the birds, the view of rays of sun peeking through the curtain of clouds covering the sky, and the comfort of lying down on the soft, grassy ground… Kyuubi couldn’t remember the last time he had been so happy.

The titanic fox made the ground quake and stirred great gales of wind with his enormous tails as he rolled onto the ground and jumped around like a newborn pup. A pup the size of a small mountain, but a pup nonetheless.

At last, he was finally free from the seal! After nearly a century of being imprisoned in a dark place in terrible conditions, he was finally free to roam the world as he pleased!

Although he was a gigantic demonic beast, Kurama was still a fox in the end. The desire to dig out a den for himself was rooted in his being. He wanted a place to call home.

However, seeing as the Land of Rain consisted mostly of grasslands, river valleys, and swamps, Kurama headed towards the border with the Land of Earth in search of a tall mountain to claim as his own.

Back in the day, the Nine-Tailed Fox used to be known as an unstoppable force of nature, a walking disaster. His sheer size alone was enough to destroy any human settlements in his way just by walking through them. But now, the demon fox was different from his past. Out of gratitude for his saviour, he was very mindful of his surroundings and avoided all villages and towns during his trip towards the mountainside.

Nevertheless, the news of Nine Tails’ appearance had still spread over the entire world.

⁂

Raikage-dono,

I will get straight to the point. The leader of the Akatsuki died at the hands of Uzumaki Naruto. Uchiha Sasuke has been captured as well. He is imprisoned in Konoha as we speak, awaiting trial.

As a result of our plan to investigate the Land of Grass, Naruto still resents Konoha. He had sworn his allegiance to Amegakure. Lastly, Uzumaki Naruto possesses the Rinnegan now. His new power is unfathomable. Seeing as we have all lost our jinchuuriki, this is not the time for us to act rashly. I advise you to proceed with caution when interacting with the Land of Rain in the future.

Godaime Hokage, Tsunade.

"The leader of the Akatsuki is dead? Uchiha Sasuke was captured. Then what was the damned point of the Kage Summit?" the Raikage yelled, making his subordinates wince at the volume of his voice.

"According to our sources, there was a great battle in the Land of Rivers, at the border with the Land of Wind. It appears that the Akatsuki attacked the leader of Amegakure and the Hokage during their diplomatic meeting," Mabui said.

"The Leaf had diplomatic contact with Hidden Rain? That damned Hokage ‘forgot’ to make any mention of it in the letter!" the Raikage said. "I don’t like this. We were supposed to be allies while Amegakure is known as the birthplace of Akatsuki. Why would the Hokage make contact with them without telling us anything? I knew I shouldn’t have trusted her!"

While the Raikage started ranting about Hidden Leaf’s alleged betrayal, a man burst rudely through the doors of the office. Before the Raikage could rebuke him for his lack of manners, the man shouted:

"Raikage-sama! The Nine-Tailed Demon Fox has reemerged! The Kyuubi has been spotted in the Land of Rain, not far from the border with the Land of Earth!"

"What?! How is that possible?" the Raikage said in disbelief. The Hokage had just sent him a letter through which she informed him of the Akatsuki’s destruction and warned him of Uzumaki Naruto’s power.

"What happened? Speak! Did the Nine-Tails Jinchuuriki die? How is it possible that the bijuu has escaped?"

"We-, we don’t know for sure yet, sir," the man said meekly, cowed by the aggressivity in the Raikage’s voice. "But there is something strange about the Kyuubi. It doesn’t have 9 tails. The reports say it only has 8 tails now."

The Raikage stood up from his couch and went to the large windows of his office. Putting his hands at his back he told his subordinates as he looked over the village below:

"If the Hokage’s letter is to be believed, Uzumaki Naruto is still alive. But we all know that nobody can survive a bijuu’s extraction. And then there’s also the matter of Kyuubi having eight tails instead of nine. Something doesn’t add up. Mabui!"

"Yes, Raikage-sama?"

"Call Darui, Samui, Karui, and Omoi for me. I have a mission for them."

⁂

Three days after the battle in the Land of Rivers, oblivious to how the entire world had been thrown into chaos by his unexpected reemergence, Kyuubi was finally done preparing his den. An entire mountain had been hollowed out for the sake of accommodating his enormous body.

Now, the gigantic demon fox was lying down at the foot of the mountain, stretched out like a cat, basking in the sun. After spending so many years in a cold, dark, and damp place, he couldn’t get enough of the pleasant warmth coming from the sun.

Hours passed with him just lazying around, sleeping. Seeing as it was autumn, the days were shorter. Soon, evening came, and Kyuubi retreated to the cosy shelter of his den.

‘I should dig deeper. Since this is going to be my home, I should expand it.’

But he couldn’t just dig out senselessly in fear of the mountain caving in and ruining the efforts of all his hard work.

‘I shall ask Naruto to help me tomorrow.’

Now that his former jailer had the Rinnegan, he acquired all five nature affinities.

‘With his Doton techniques, he can make some pillars and stabilize the mountain.’

Kyuubi’s large tails started wagging slightly as he thought about how his home was going to look like in the future.

‘One room will have a hot spring.’

Given his enormous size, the hot spring had to be the size of an entire lake. It was a colossal amount of work to create something of that magnitude underground, but if there was one thing that Kyuubi didn’t lack, it was time. He was immortal.

‘Another room will be for my hoard.’

He didn’t have a hoard yet, but he was planning on rectifying that very soon.

‘One room will be for guests. I can’t wait to see their jealous faces when they see my place.’

He was giddy with anticipation at the thought of showing off in front of the damned sand racoon and throwing his wealth and awesomeness into his face.

For the first time in many, many years, Kyuubi’s mind was not filled with rage and thoughts of revenge. Instead, he was hopeful about the future. He was…excited and content. He was happy.

‘I still can’t believe Naruto would go that far for me.’

The depth of the gratitude he felt for the boy couldn’t be put into simple words.

‘I won’t ever forget what he has done for me. For as long as he lives, I will protect him. I will lend him all my strength.’

Having vowed that to himself, Kyuubi’s mind was then filled with thoughts of his new home again. Plans for a ventilation system, gathering naturally luminescent rocks, building himself a divan, and so on and so forth—the fox couldn’t hold back his excitement.

But suddenly, a powerful earthquake shook the mountain from its very foundations. But Kyuubi didn’t even flinch. Earthquakes were hardly a danger for someone like him. Even if the mountain were to collapse on top of him, he would be unscathed. So he just closed his eyes and waited for the earthquake to pass.

But Kyuubi immediately grew alarmed when 30 seconds passed and the earthquake still had yet to end. Huge chunks of dirt and rocks started falling off from the ceiling of his den, and before the fox could even think about getting out, the whole mountain really did collapse on top of him.

"Nooo! My home!" the fox cried out, heartbroken.

⁂

"Don’t let your guard down,"  an old voice rang in the silence of the night. "An attack such as this is far from enough to subdue the mightiest among the nine demonic beasts."

A loud shout of acknowledgement came from the large number of men and women below.

"It’s coming!" he said and, merely a few seconds later, the ruined mountain’s surface started shaking.

"Do not let your heart falter. Do not close your eyes. Burn this moment in your memory: this is the moment Iwagakure takes its rightful place back in the world."

As the old man spoke, the dozens of people below felt their hearts being set ablaze with their fighting spirit.

"We are about to face a monster beyond human comprehension. A walking disaster, a cataclysm of nature. But we are IWA! This is our Will of Stone! We don’t give up. No matter the adversity, we don’t back down! No matter the enemy, we will fight! This is our time now!"

"Raaaaah!" The ear-deafening shouts of the Iwa shinobi and kunoichi filled the skies.

But their excited warcries came to an abrupt stop as the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox burst out from the ground. The demonic roar it let out made the warcries of nearly a hundred ninja sound like the cries of a baby in comparison.

"You miserable insects!" Kyuubi screamed enraged, and the roar he let out stirred up a small-scale tornado, sending over a dozen Iwa nins flying into the distance. "You destroyed my home! I’m going to massacre you all!"

"Everyone, focus your chakra on your feet!" a tall and burly man shouted. "Don’t get swept away by its bellows. Maintain your positions!"

Floating above everyone in the sky, the old man who had given that speech a few moments ago shouted:

"First squad: Swamp of the Underworld!"

Over thirty shinobi and kunoichi formed the seals for Boar and Tiger before crying out at the same time:

"Doton: Swamp of the Underworld!"

The ground beneath Kyuubi’s feet turned into a muddy swamp, and, due to his enormous weight, he quickly started sinking into the ground.

But the bijuu was far from done, and he had means of attacking from a distance as well.

"It’s going to fire a tailed beast bomb! Kitsuchi! Stop it!" Onoki yelled, recognizing the telltale position Kyuubi adopted in order to form the deadly attack.

Before the bijuudama was finalized, Kitsuchi went through a sequence of four hand seals before slapping his hands on the ground and shouting:

"Doton: Mountainous Earth Technique!"

Two slabs of earth of colossal proportions—large enough to even dwarf the titanic tailed beast—rose from the ground and slammed into Kyuubi from two sides like a sandwich. The impact was so powerful that Kyuubi couldn’t maintain his technique, and the bijuudama exploded before it could be completed.

However, even though it was incomplete when it detonated, it was still a tailed beast bomb formed by none other than Kyuubi. The explosion blew away the makeshift mountain that had trapped Kyuubi within, and the debris and pieces of rock coming off of it pelted the surrounding Iwagakure shinobi and kunoichi like mortar. Over a dozen of them lost their lives.

Not only had the explosion shattered the mountain that Kitsuchi had summoned and killed over a dozen Iwa nins, but the Dark Swamp that had been trapping him down was evaporated as well.

"Second squad: Earth Flow Spears!"

"Third squad: Lava Spring!"

"Fourth squad: Lava Quicklime!"

At their Tsuchikage’s orders, a forest of rock spears suddenly grew out, impaling Kyuubi from underneath. The rock spears couldn’t pierce through his tough fur and skin, but the blunt force they dealt couldn’t be underestimated.

Kyuubi had yet to recover from that attack when a vast curtain of lava was thrown at him, almost like a river. The lava melted the forest of rock spears in a matter of seconds, and even with his affinity for fire, Kyuubi roared in pain as he was submerged in molten rock.

A split second later, the Iwa ninjas spit out a large amount of quicklime, making the lava submerging the fox congeal, effectively trapping the bijuu within.

Kyuubi roared in a mixture of rage and pain, and a huge sphere of dark purple chakra began to take form in front of his snout.

"We won’t have any of that!" Onoki said as a cube of white chakra appeared between his hands. "Dust Release: Atomic Dismantling Jutsu!"

The white cube quickly grew in size until it was even bigger than Onoki himself. In the next moment, the tailed beast bomb was entrapped in the cube of light.

For the first time since the start of the fight, despair appeared in Kyuubi’s red eyes as his bijuudama was reduced to atoms.

"Sealing Corps! Move out!" Onoki ordered, and nearly twenty ninjas appeared around the trapped demon fox with a body flicker, surrounding it in a circle.

Kyuubi roared. He had just regained his freedom! After so many years spent in captivity, he was finally freed! He couldn’t go back to that, no matter the cost.

"Even if I die, I won’t let anyone capture me again! Even if I die, I will take you all you vermins to the grave with me!"

A bijuudama like nothing even Onoki had ever seen before started forming above Kyuubi’s head. Kyuubi’s own fur and flesh started peeling out as he poured his very being into casting that technique.

"It’s no use!" Onoki screamed back at him as a sphere of white chakra appeared in his hands. "There is nothing that my Particle Style can’t win against! Stop wasting your chakra and let yourself get captured obediently, demon!"

But, this time around, Kyuubi fired off an unstable bijuudama, long before the technique could be considered complete and before the Tsuchikage could cast his Dust Release jutsu.

A catastrophic explosion boomed. The Sealing Corps ninjas in proximity were simply erased from existence, and even Onoki himself was blown away by the shockwave like a broken kite, smashing violently against a nearby cliffside.

Panicking at the new development, the dozens of ninjas surrounding the fox all went through the same hand seals and shouted at the same time:

"Doton: Doryuuheki!"

Over a hundred walls of rock and dirt rose from the ground all around Kyuubi, making it look as if he was in the middle of an amphitheatre now.

However, to everyone’s surprise and confusion, Kyuubi didn’t follow up with another devastating attack as they had expected.

Only Onoki, who was high above everyone’s heads, could see what the fox was doing, and his eyes became wide in disbelief when he saw the tailed beast starting to form shinobi hand seals. He had never heard of any tailed beast casting shinobi techniques until then! His shock only grew bigger when he recognized the sequence of hand seals that Kyuubi performed.

Done making all the necessary hand seals, the bijuu’s demonic voice reverberated in the night as he placed his clawed hands onto the ground:

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"