Utakata's words nearly made Yorin laugh out loud.
"Utakata… Utakata…" Yorin sighed, then said, "You're a smart guy. So why do smart people keep saying stupid things?"
Utakata instantly caught the implication. "So your real target was never the Tsuchigumo clan—it was me… the Six-Tails Saiken?!"
"You're wrong again." Yorin shook his head and said, supremely confident, "I want the Tsuchigumo clan's Fury. And I want your Six-Tails Saiken too."
"…You bastard."
If Yorin were just another Tsuchigumo-style lunatic, Utakata would've mocked him on the spot. But he wasn't.
There was no one in this world who made Utakata feel more uneasy than Uchiha Yorin.
"All right, enough." Mei finally cut in as the tension spiked. "Yorin, stop acting like a cartoon villain. And you, Utakata—calm down."
"Mei… has the Mist Village really become Konoha's dog?"
"Don't put it so crudely," Mei replied lightly. "I'm just following public opinion. And even if I were a dog, I wouldn't be Konoha's—I'd be Yorin-sama's."
That jab didn't anger Mei at all. She continued casually, "What Yorin said about wanting the Six-Tails is also him giving you a chance, you know.
You refused Mist's invitation before, but we can give you a second chance.
Surrender, return to Mist, swear loyalty to Yorin-sama. If you do that…"
Utakata narrowed his eyes. "…Then you'll let me off?"
"No," Mei said, smiling sweetly. "After we kill you, we'll use One's Own Life Reincarnation to bring you back."
Yorin didn't bother lying. Utakata wasn't important enough to waste lies on.
"I don't know if you've heard of Suna's secret technique, One's Own Life Reincarnation. It can revive the dead. If you behave, then after we extract the tailed beast, we'll revive you with One's Own Life Reincarnation.
You can start over under a new identity, and live on as a Mist shinobi."
"Bullshit!" Utakata snapped. From his attitude, Yorin immediately knew: he didn't know One's Own Life Reincarnation existed. He thought Yorin was messing with him.
"Even if you're the second coming of the Ninja God, you don't get to toy with me like this!"
That was it—talks were dead.
Yorin sighed. People really were impossible to understand.
Still, he didn't condemn Utakata to death in his heart.
Because this wasn't really Utakata's "fault." And Yorin wasn't an Akatsuki-style terrorist—he had no taste for "kill and loot" nonsense.
As for the life needed for One's Own Life Reincarnation? That was easy—use a death-row criminal.
The world had only been "peaceful" for a few years. There were plenty of monsters who deserved execution.
And later, when the world got safer and executions dropped? No problem—by then, mass-produced artificial bodies would exist.
With synthetic organ tech, people could replace organs, blood, even bloodlines.
Ethics mattered, of course: you don't clone a whole person just to harvest them. If you need an organ, you grow an organ.
That minimized the moral rot as much as possible.
Yorin, thinking all this, decided he really was a genius.
With that cheerful confidence, Yorin and Utakata fought—though calling it a "fight" was generous. It was Yorin beating up a kid.
Utakata's acid spray and bubble techniques were decent—his damage wasn't far behind Mei's Lava Release, and with the Six-Tails backing him, his range was even better.
Half-tailed-beast form, full transformation, tailed beast bombs—he handled all of it smoothly. He'd clearly put in the work. And after defecting, he'd sharpened his vigilance and combat readiness even further.
But… that's all?
Two years ago, Utakata might've been a serious opponent.
But, sir—times have changed.
Yorin didn't even need Primordial Titan or Susanoo: Takemikazuchi. In base form, he crushed Utakata barehanded and slammed him to the ground.
"This is terrifying…" Utakata lay there, hollow-eyed, staring at the sky. "Did my whole life really amount to nothing?"
As that thought hit, his life flashed before his eyes. Yorin used the extraction method Black Zetsu had taught him. Utakata felt like his body was being scooped out from the inside.
And just like that, the unlucky jinchūriki hit Game Over.
His Six-Tails was beaten into submission too. After a thorough thrashing, Saiken finally understood who the boss was and let itself be sealed without further fuss.
Then Yorin pulled out a pre-prepared death-row convict, slapped him with genjutsu, and made him believe Utakata was his beloved childhood sweetheart. Sobbing, the convict performed One's Own Life Reincarnation and revived Utakata.
Yes—Yorin had taught him the technique via genjutsu.
Genjutsu really was convenient.
He'd even once considered mind-controlling all the daimyo and nobles and forcing a "peaceful handover."
But after thinking it through, he decided revolution needed to be more violent.
A bloodless transition sounded easy, but it left toxins behind. People would start reminiscing: "Maybe the nobles weren't so bad—maybe we should let them rule again."
At the first crisis, those parasites would crawl out and stir trouble.
Better to cleanse things properly.
Yorin reaffirmed that belief—and waited.
One's Own Life Reincarnation worked fast. In under two seconds, Utakata jolted back to life, only to see a scar-faced brute gazing at him with gooey affection—then immediately collapse dead again.
Utakata: "?"
Utakata: "What the hell?"
Yorin: "All right. I kept my promise. You're alive again."
Utakata: "…What?"
Reality was right in front of him, but it still felt impossible. Reviving the dead wasn't supposed to be that easy.
So Yorin really hadn't been lying.
But Utakata had refused the deal. So why save him?
Yorin: "Because of trust. Trust.
If I didn't save you just because you refused me, then you'd assume all my promises were lies. You might die believing I was a fraud, and that would annoy me.
So I brought you back, to prove your mistake—and my correctness—with facts."
Utakata didn't know what to say. He wanted to kneel and smash his head into the ground, but he still had pride.
After choking on it for a while, he finally forced out a single word:
"…Thank you."
Yorin: "Whatever. You can go now."
That stunned Utakata again.
Shouldn't the next step be recruitment? Using him? Making him work?
Even without the Six-Tails, Utakata was still at least elite jōnin level.
Was Yorin's organization so stacked that even an elite jōnin was disposable?
Unfortunately for Utakata's ego… yes.
Yorin's side was overflowing with talent. If Utakata were Kage-class, Yorin might bother to personally recruit him.
But elite jōnin? In the current "big business" era of the Ninshū, that was "nice to have," not "must have."
So Yorin didn't waste time.
With Utakata handled and the tailed beast secured, Yorin turned to leave for the Tsuchigumo clan next.
But Utakata called out:
"Wait."
"You're really just leaving?"
Yorin: "Yeah. Why wouldn't I?"
"…No—uh. Aren't you going to recruit me? Have me join your side?"
"Nope."
Utakata's face flushed red. "Fine. What if I volunteer? I'll join you voluntarily."
Yorin: "Sure. Go back to Mist, then go register at the Ninshū office. After a one-year probation, you'll become a glorious Sect member."
With that, Yorin left Utakata standing there, dazed, and headed toward the Tsuchigumo.
"Damn it…" Utakata gritted his teeth. "Looking down on me like I'm nothing. I'm an elite jōnin!"
He stomped off—then stopped after a few steps.
He clenched his jaw, and finally, still fuming, bolted toward Kirigakure anyway.
~~~
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