"More! You're still alive!?"
Killer B's voice sounded very weak, but to Ai's ears it was like heavenly music.
Obito very considerately pulled the Black Rod out of A's shoulder. A didn't utter a sound and rushed to Killer B's side, hugging him tightly.
Killer B glanced at Obito and asked,
"Big brother, who is he?"
Ai wiped away her tears and replied,
"He's the Hokage-sama's subordinate. If it weren't for him, I would have died at the hands of that Jigen!"
"Ahem, I see, thank you so much..."
Killer B struggled to get up from A's arms, but having just lost his Tailed Beast and been thoroughly beaten by Jigen, he was too weak to do so and finally collapsed helplessly into A's arms.
Seeing this, Ai quickly asked,
"Bi, how are you feeling right now?"
Bi waved his hand and said,
"The Gyuki left me with a piece of its tail, which saved my life."
Obito an eyebrow, recalling how Nagato had brought back a section of an octopus tail when he went to capture the Eight-Tails.
It seems that for Jinchuriki, the Eight-Tails is indeed the Tailed Beast with the strongest ability to protect itself.
Although he survived, Killer B was still very downcast, because the Eight-Tails was more than just a Tailed Beast to him. After so many years of living together, he had long regarded the Eight-Tails as family.
A knew about Killer B's feelings for the Eight-Tails. He sighed and turned to look at Obito.
"You are a subordinate of the Hokage-sama, would you be so kind as to take us to see Hokage-sama?"
Obito nodded. He had come out to find Jigen, and now that he had found him, he naturally wanted to hurry back and report.
With a thought, he opened the passage to the outside world, then pulled the two of them out.
Killer B and A looked around in bewilderment, muttering to themselves.
"This is... Konoha?"
The three were standing in front of the Hokage Building when two Anbu members quickly appeared before them. They recognized A as the Fourth Raikage, but embarrassingly, they didn't know Obito.
Obito briefly explained that he was Senga's subordinate. Since he still had his Sharingan activated, the two Anbu members treated him with considerable respect.
One of the Anbu wearing a monkey mask was about to go in to report when suddenly, Itachi walked out of the building.
He nodded to Obito, then spoke to the two Anbu.
"You all go down first, he's one of us."
The two Anbu bowed to Itachi and then withdrew.
Itachi then led the three to the door of Senga's office. He let Obito and the others go in, and then left.
Obito knocked on the door, Senga's voice came from inside.
Come in.
Obito pushed open the door and entered. Killer B and A exchanged a glance, and for some reason, they suddenly felt a little uneasy.
Senga glanced at the two disheveled brothers behind Obito and asked,
What's going on between them?
Obito told Senga about what happened at Cloud Thunder Gorge, and Senga looked at Ai with sympathy after listening.
The Kumogakure was first robbed of its tadpole by Pain, and now the Eight-Tails has been taken by Jigen. They've really had the worst luck ever.
When Ai saw Senga again, his attitude was completely different from before. He put aside his arrogance and bowed to Senga.
"Hokage-sama, thank you for saving me and Killer B!"
Senga waved his hand and said,
"No need to thank me, it was Obito who saved you."
"Thank you, thank you..."
After exchanging a few pleasantries, Senga stood up from his chair and came to Ai's side. He glanced at the bloody hole in Ai's shoulder and asked,
"That's quite a serious injury. Was it done by Jigen?"
"Uh... yes!"
Ai readily shifted the blame onto Jigen, Obito opened his mouth, but swallowed back what he wanted to say.
Senga nodded. He remembered that Jigen liked to use Black Rod as weapons when he was in Karma, and the wounds on Ai's body were also quite similar in size to the Black Rod.
He reached out and placed his hand on Ai's shoulder, channeling a small amount of Yang Release Chakra into it.
Nourished by Yang Release Chakra, A's wounds healed at a visible speed, and were completely restored in no time.
When Senga tried to treat Killer B again, Killer B quickly waved his hand and said,
"I don't need to trouble the Hokage-sama. The Chakra Gyuki left me is enough for me to recover!"
When the Gyuki was mentioned, Killer B's face fell, Senga patted him on the shoulder as a gesture of comfort.
Senga was also quite surprised that Jigen had absorbed the Eight-Tails. When did this guy start eyeing the Tailed Beast?
Furthermore, aside from the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails, the Chakra of the other Tailed Beast has already been absorbed into Kaguya's body. So, does this mean his next target is Kaguya?
Thinking of this, Senga turned to Obito and said,
"Take those two to Minato and have him make the arrangements. I'm going to meet with this Jigen."
"Yes!"
In a forest,
Jigen was grabbing a Mist Ninja by the neck and holding him up in front of him.
Around Jigen lay the lifeless bodies of Kirigakure Mist Ninja. They were unlucky; they'd gone out on a mission and ended up running into Jigen. (Tianlai Novel Network)
Jigen looked indifferently at the Mist Ninja in his hand and said,
"So that woman has already gone to Konoha with Uchiha Senga?"
"Yes... yes, that's all I know. Please spare my life, I..."
"Snap!"
With a crisp crack, the Mist Ninja's neck snapped to the side, and he fell completely silent.
Jigen muttered to Mist Ninja aside.
"Who exactly is this Uchiha Senga? Why is Kaguya following him?"
Last time, he was so focused on absorbing the Eight-Tails that he forgot to ask Kaguya where she ended up, so he left behind a Mist Ninja.
This Mist Ninja happened to have participated in that war, and Jigen obtained the information he wanted from him.
He's now hesitating about whether to continue searching for Kaguya. If he were to risk the collapse of his "vessel" to reincarnate, he's confident he could defeat Kaguya and reclaim the Chakra Fruit.
However, the addition of the unknown Uchiha Senga has made him somewhat hesitant to act rashly.
He hasn't found a suitable vessel yet; once Jigen's body collapses, he'll be completely finished.
Jigen grew angrier the more he thought about it. If it weren't for Kaguya, how could he have ended up in this state?
Being ambushed by one's own guardian—if word got out, everyone would laugh their heads off.
After feeling frustrated for a while, Jigen opened a portal to leave, when suddenly, a voice came from above.
"Found you, Ōtsutsuki Isshiki."