Chapter 157: Tailed Beasts Are Pitiful!
Hearing Nohara Rin's inquiry, Hyuga Ritsu didn't immediately answer. Instead, he corrected that awkward-sounding form of address. "Just call me like before. 'Unit Head Hyuga' sounds uncomfortable—makes me feel like I'm regressing."
Nohara Rin blinked, humbly accepting the correction. She asked again, "Ritsu-senpai, what should we do next?"
"Train you."
"Huh?"
"You all understand this organization's name, right? Hokage-sama and the others agreed to establish this organization—you three girls can't seriously think it's just to conveniently let you play together?"
Uchiha Aika blinked, her gaze falling on Nohara Rin, her face thoughtful.
Hyuga Ritsu looked at Rin, speaking seriously. "Rin, I can see you're not the competitive type. Compared to fighting and killing, you'd probably prefer healing the wounded and saving lives. Unfortunately, no one gets everything they wish for. Whether you like it or not, from the moment you became the Three-Tails jinchuriki, you must fight. Either you tame the Three-Tails within you and master the tailed beast's power, or the beast erodes your heart, making you lose control repeatedly until one day you can no longer endure it and die."
Nohara Rin lowered her head, silent.
Hyuga Akiba's lips moved. She wanted to protest that Ritsu-nii's words were too inauspicious. However, she could feel how serious he was—not joking at all. She hesitated two seconds, ultimately not daring to become the early bird who gets scolded.
Ritsu looked at the silent girl, continuing. "Anti-Colossal Combat Weapon Disposal Unit—Hokage-sama named it. Honestly, I feel his naming ability is somewhat... beyond words."
Nohara Rin couldn't help herself—her mouth corners lifted. She and the other students all understood Minato-sensei's naming ability. Truly beyond words.
"However, though the name makes one want to complain, from this name I can see his expectations for you. Rin, your teacher already lost one student. He doesn't want to lose you. So he gave this name, hoping that someday you can master the Three-Tails' power and distinguish yourself when facing other villages' jinchuriki."
Hearing these words, Rin suddenly raised her head.
She stared blankly at Ritsu, hesitating a moment before asking, "Ritsu-senpai, Sensei... he thinks this way?"
"What else?"
Ritsu smiled. "You think Hokage-sama absolutely needed me as this unit head? When I clearly expressed no interest in this position, he repeatedly entreated me—precisely because my Wood Release can effectively suppress tailed beast power, increasing your possibility of mastering the Three-Tails."
Rin clenched her fists, biting her lip, bitterness appearing on her face. "Ritsu-senpai, I can understand Sensei's painstaking efforts. But I... how could I possibly master the Three-Tails' power? Kushina-sensei is from the Uzumaki clan, yet even now she must constantly remain vigilant to prevent the Nine-Tails from rampaging. How could I tame the Three-Tails?"
Her face practically had "no confidence" written across it.
But undeniably, what she said was fact. If anyone could tame tailed beast power for their own use, why would Konoha need to bring Kushina from Uzushiogakure to become the new Nine-Tails jinchuriki?
"This isn't a problem you need to worry about."
Ritsu looked at Rin. "Honestly, I truly don't want to mix with you three girls."
His words sounded somewhat hurtful. The girls all looked at Ritsu simultaneously. Akiba widened her eyes, puffing her cheeks, looking as indignant as a pufferfish. Uchiha Aika narrowed her eyes, her face showing an ambiguous smile.
Ritsu ignored this, continuing on his own. "Whether I'm willing or not, since I've agreed to take on this task, naturally I'll exert full effort to accomplish it well. Rin, you needn't worry about being unable to master the Three-Tails' power. If you ask me, kind-hearted girls like you actually have tremendous potential to truly control tailed beast power."
"Really?"
"I have no interest in deceiving girls."
"Then... then what should I do?"
Urgent, hopeful light flickered in Rin's eyes. Her negative emotions stemmed from lack of confidence—believing she couldn't possibly control the Three-Tails within her. But now Ritsu forcibly ignited hope's flame. Her emotions naturally became positive and progressive.
Ritsu stood, circling out from behind his desk. "First, we must find a location without much human presence. Though I'm quite confident in helping you successfully master the Three-Tails' power, this remains quite arduous work. Losing control several times midway is unavoidable."
Hearing this, Rin felt no fear or discouragement. Instead, her determination grew firmer—because Ritsu's statement matched her inner speculation. Without sufficient hardship and danger, how could one master tailed beast power?
If Ritsu claimed he could let her easily master the Three-Tails' power, that would cause anxiety—wondering whether he was speaking big words.
Ritsu walked to the door, looking back at the girls. "Aika, Akiba, you two come with me. We'll find Hokage-sama and ask him to save us some travel time."
The girls exchanged glances, immediately following along. Together with Ritsu, they visited the Hokage's office. After explaining their purpose, Minato cheerfully agreed to take them. He immediately used Flying Thunder God to transport them to Training Ground 44 in the forest north of the village. This place had an alternate name—Forest of Death.
Unlike ordinary training grounds, such enormous special training grounds generally weren't open to the public. They were only used as examination sites during Chunin Exams or Jonin Exams.
Of course, now that Ritsu was helping train Rin to master the Three-Tails' power, this counted as special circumstances warranting exceptional access. This place remained within the village—under the great barrier's surveillance range—while simultaneously being sufficiently distant from residential areas. No better location existed.
Minato quickly departed. He lacked surplus time to remain here, though he mentioned coming to retrieve them at lunchtime.
After Minato left, Ritsu looked at the three girls before him—primarily focusing on Rin. "Rin, the method for mastering tailed beasts actually isn't complicated. What you need to do is try hard to befriend the Three-Tails sealed within you!"
"Huh?"
Rin cried out in shock, her small face full of helpless bewilderment. Befriend the Three-Tails sealed within herself? Tailed beasts—could tailed beasts become friends?
Beside her, surprise flashed through Aika's eyes.
Akiba directly asked, "Ritsu-nii, are you joking?"
"Who's joking? Do I look that idle?"
"But befriending a tailed beast is too... too absurd..."
"Absurd? Why absurd? Who says you can't befriend tailed beasts?"
Ritsu wore a slight smile, looking at the girls. "No one stipulates jinchuriki can't become friends with tailed beasts. Jinchuriki and tailed beasts aren't necessarily antagonistic. Tailed beasts aren't wild animals—they possess wisdom not inferior to humans, along with emotions of joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness. If you have power to easily suppress and manipulate tailed beasts, naturally you can use violence to solve problems."
"But you lack such capability, Rin. Therefore, choosing confrontation is infeasible—because confrontation guarantees your loss. Befriending the Three-Tails is your only method to master its power."
Reaching this point, the girls could see Ritsu truly wasn't joking. Though they still felt it quite absurd, at this moment besides believing, no other choice existed.
Rin took a deep breath, gathering courage. "What should I do?"
Ritsu instructed, "Calm your mind and focus. Attempt entering your own inner world. Find the Three-Tails sealed within you, then have a heart-to-heart talk. How specifically to befriend someone—I needn't teach you that. You only need to remember: you're sincerely befriending the Three-Tails, not simply deceiving it to gain power."
"Definitely remember—sincerity for sincerity. Don't treat tailed beasts like easily fooled idiots. The reason I said you have great potential to master the Three-Tails' power is because you always befriend others with a sincere heart."
Rin's brow furrowed slightly, murmuring, "Sincerity for sincerity?"
Watching the still-troubled girl, Ritsu frowned, pondering two seconds. "Rin, don't view tailed beasts as monsters that casually destroy villages. In fact, tailed beasts are actually quite pitiful. Shinobi covet their tremendous power, forcibly imprisoning them within ninja bodies to create weapons of war, then accuse tailed beasts of being destructive monster incarnations."
"The Three-Tails sealed within you attempts eroding your heart and breaking the seal to escape precisely because being sealed is agonizing. Being forcibly stuffed into a narrow cage, the cramped space makes it almost unable to breathe..."
Water glistened in Rin's eyes. "Ritsu-senpai, are tailed beasts truly this pitiful?"
Watching the girl whose sympathy nearly overflowed as tears, Ritsu couldn't help falling silent, beginning to reflect whether he'd exaggerated excessively. However... Rin in this state should do quite well befriending the Three-Tails.
After several silent seconds, he nodded. "That's right. Tailed beasts are pitiful!"
Next, Rin spent several more minutes stabilizing her emotions. Then she sat cross-legged, calming her mind, letting her spiritual consciousness continuously sink deeper, continuously approaching the sealed Three-Tails.
Then—
"Zzz..." Nohara Rin fell asleep, soft breathing sounds emerging from her mouth.
Ritsu didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
But he didn't feel disappointed. This wasn't strange. The Three-Tails had been sealed into Rin less than half a year ago. Her seal had been adjusted and strengthened by sealing expert Uzumaki Kushina. The seal hadn't yet weakened, so Rin truly couldn't easily find the Three-Tails in her inner world.
Akiba was also dumbfounded. She stared at the soundly sleeping Rin. "Ritsu-nii, what's the situation?"
"Wake her, then continue trying."
Ritsu issued instructions.
Then he used Wood Release to create a chair beside them and sat down, extracting the scroll Minato had given him recording the First Hokage's Wood Release techniques. He began reading and studying.
This was also one important reason Ritsu ultimately agreed to serve as this unit head.
Though he'd spontaneously mastered many Wood Release techniques, numerous formidable ones remained unmastered. Therefore, this bait Minato produced was so enticingly fragrant—directly hooking Ritsu firmly onto the line.
Thus, Ritsu sat beside them leisurely perusing scrolls, researching and learning profound Wood Release techniques, while Rin—with Aika and Akiba's assistance—continuously attempted entering her inner world, enduring the grueling cycle of "falling asleep—being awakened—falling asleep again."
Just as Ritsu began training Three-Tails jinchuriki Nohara Rin, Missing-nin Anonymous—Uchiha Tatsuhata—whom Konoha had guarded against for so long, had already returned to the junction of Yu no Kuni and Frost Country.
This was his place of sorrow.
Here he'd lost his most treasured younger brother, becoming thoroughly despairing toward this terrible shinobi world.
"Torajiro, I've already killed one of the ringleaders who murdered you. Rest assured! I won't spare a single remaining murderer. Trash like them aren't qualified to enter that beautiful new world. Only the hell I bring them awaits!"
Uchiha Tatsuhata stood atop a hill, gazing at the distant mountain fortress on the Frost Country border, watching Kumogakure's flags fluttering in the cold wind. His crimson eyes brimmed with hatred's colors.
"Tatsuhata, act now?"
Beside him, the pitcher plant-like Zetsu emerged from a tree trunk. Black Zetsu's half-face spoke. "The White Zetsu haven't yet clarified exactly how many Cloud ninja participated in hunting and researching your Uchiha clan."
"Knowing some participants suffices. Afterward, simply follow the vine to catch all trash in one net. Moreover, fundamentally, Cloud ninja lack a single good person. Killing more makes no difference. Don't you agree, Hokage Advisor Shimura Danzo?"
Before him, tens of thousands of pale Life Threads surged forth, sketching a human form—unmistakably former Hokage Advisor Shimura Danzo, already buried by Konoha Village. Moreover, he possessed both eyes intact, youthful features, bodily functions at absolute peak.
This was also Toyoakitsushihime's capability. He could freely adjust replica age states. Not that replicas appeared as they did when dying—rather, replica ages could be adjusted to younger periods, adjusted to peak conditions.
Of course, this adjustment only worked toward youth—meaning only creating replicas from some past time period. Future time period replicas couldn't be created.
The reason was simple—ninja chakra recorded their own past peaks, but couldn't contain future information.
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