Chapter 213: Filling the Void in the Heart
Slash!
Under Uchiha Hikari's control, the Armored Susanoo: Two-Tails swung the long blade burning with Amaterasu and severed Satori's limbs.
All that remained on the ground was a round mass with a mouth that took up most of its body.
She hadn't been so preoccupied with "riding the big cat" that she'd neglected her true purpose—absorbing chakra.
So Hikari's attacks deliberately avoided the central head area, merely cutting off Satori's limbs.
For a monster like this, losing its limbs shouldn't be fatal, right?
Standing in the [cockpit] of the Armored Susanoo, Hikari looked down.
Satori was clearly not dead.
What Hikari didn't know was that even if she had slashed at Satori's head, she still wouldn't have been able to kill it.
In the original story, Naruto in Sage Mode slammed it with a final Rasengan and dealt no real damage at all, he had to rely on Talk no Jutsu in the end.
Once Talk no Jutsu activated, Muku "woke up," voluntarily returned to the Box of Ultimate Bliss, and that was how the story concluded.
The Box of Ultimate Bliss itself had no subjective consciousness. If it wanted to do anything, it needed a conscious vessel, Muku was that vessel.
In a way, it was similar to how Shiromo and the others analyzed the Sage of Six Paths' existence in relation to the shinobi world.
So even though Muku still seemed capable of returning to a human form, in reality it was already just an aggregate of chakra.
Especially now, having become the aggregate of all the chakra inside the Box of Ultimate Bliss, it would never die as long as its chakra wasn't exhausted.
Unless Dust Release covered it in one go and erased it completely, causing the chakra to instantly lose its vessel. In that case, there'd be no way to recover.
"Why were you able to hit it?"
Even though Yugito had a huge hole through her chest and was bleeding, she was still unbearably curious.
If she didn't figure this out, she wouldn't be able to die in peace!
"Because you're afraid of it."
"No, I'm not afraid."
"Yes, you are."
"I'm not… alright, maybe a little. So that matters?"
This strange exchange finally ended with Yugito's reluctant concession.
"Because as long as you harbor even the slightest fear toward this monster, you won't be able to hit it."
Uchiha Hikari gave a straightforward explanation.
Since things were already nearing the end, revealing the intel now had no impact.
While she and Yugito were talking, Yachihoko had already activated in secret.
Satori twitched on the ground, trying to reattach its limbs, but every severed point was marked with the Yachihoko seal.
The moment it used chakra, it would be drained away at extreme speed.
Even if it didn't move, chakra would still be siphoned off steadily.
So what everyone saw was Satori shrieking and convulsing there.
"So that's how it is…"
Yugito finally understood, as if waking from a dream.
At the beginning, because of Satori's ugliness and grotesque appearance, that subconscious fear had existed without her even noticing.
Only now, with the answer in hand and reasoning backward, could she barely sense it.
But later, after her first and second attacks missed in succession, that underlying fear became very obvious.
"Then what about you? You weren't scared at all?"
Yugito couldn't understand. Hikari looked younger than her, and seemed like a soft, gentle girl.
How could she have no reaction at all to something so ugly and terrifying?
"Because I knew the information beforehand. And the things I'm afraid of aren't like this."
Uchiha Hikari pouted, not explaining further.
What Hikari feared most didn't need to be said, right?
Based on what she'd learned from Shiromo yesterday…
Satori, or rather Muku, and Ryūzetsu were basically childhood sweethearts.
Even though they hadn't officially confirmed anything, it was clear this was a heterosexual pairing.
Once it was heterosexual, there was nothing scary about it.
As for whether Muku turning into the furry black Satori meant some furry fetish might get mixed in, Probably not.
After all, Satori was way too ugly.
Not cute, not handsome.
Since there was no same-sex bond and no pervert who liked burning furries, Hikari had nothing to fear.
Of course, if that weren't the case, the disgusted Hikari might have gone straight to full power with a Stone-level ultimate move instead of calmly using regular Susanoo wrapped around the Two-Tails like she was now.
The Raikage listened to their exchange and didn't act rashly.
He silently memorized Satori's trait.
At the same time, he felt both ashamed and irritated that he himself had felt fear earlier.
If he weren't worried about interfering with their attack by acting on his own again, he would have already gone all-out with Lightning Release Chakra Mode to redeem himself.
After hesitating slightly, the Raikage prepared to go find Tsunade.
Yugito's injuries had to be stabilized immediately after this ended. Right now she was only barely being kept alive.
Kumogakure's intelligence had some records about Uchiha Madara and the Sharingan.
They were vague, nothing as detailed as what Iwagakure had.
But one thing the Raikage could be sure of was that Susanoo didn't have healing abilities, and neither did the Sharingan.
"Hm?"
Just as the Raikage turned around, he realized that Tsunade had somehow already walked over beside Shiromo.
His younger brother, Killer Bee, was standing there trying to sneak a peek while not daring to look directly, wearing an utterly lewd expression.
"You bastard!!!"
The Raikage exploded in rage and smashed Killer Bee on the head with a Lightning Lariat, sending him flying.
Killer Bee spun through the air and slammed heavily into the walls of Hōzuki Castle, leaving a massive crater.
If I can't hit Satori, I can at least hit you!
He was already angry, and when he turned back and saw Killer Bee chatting while ogling beauties, it just made things worse.
More importantly, Yugito was severely injured and was about to need Tsunade's treatment, yet Killer Bee was being so disrespectful. Wasn't that just asking for trouble?
And with Yugito hurt this badly, Killer Bee, as a fellow villager, fellow jinchūriki, and comrade, still had the mood to think about nonsense like that.
Absolutely outrageous.
If Yugito found out, what would she think?
Actually, the Raikage bringing Killer Bee out of the Valley of Clouds and Lightning to Hōzuki Castle this time made far more sense than in the original story.
After missing the Seven-Tails jinchūriki during his clash with Shiromo outside Takigakure, the Raikage returned and reflected deeply.
Carefully recalling Shiromo's exchange with the Seven-Tails jinchūriki, as well as what Namikaze Minato had once said to him, the Raikage transformed into a great detective and successfully cracked the key information about jinchūriki.
Back when he fought Minato, he didn't understand why Minato said those words, but later he did.
Minato's partner was the Nine-Tails jinchūriki.
Then it all made sense.
What Minato had spoken of, something that fills the void in a jinchūriki's heart.
The Raikage realized that he himself was the one who filled the void in his brother Killer Bee's heart.
That was why Killer Bee's strength surpassed all previous jinchūriki, unprecedented in history.
This was the true perfect jinchūriki.
As for Yugito, although she could control the Two-Tails' power, she still hadn't found what could fill the emptiness in her heart.
Naturally, the Raikage hoped his village could have two perfect jinchūriki.
If Yugito couldn't find a single person, she could treat everyone, treat the village itself, as what filled that void.
And now Killer Bee pulled something like this.
If Yugito found out, then the village and her comrades could forget about ever becoming what filled that emptiness.
(End of this chapter)