Rumble!!
Howling gales drove rolling storm clouds into a massive vortex, forming a vast and breathtaking natural spectacle above Kumogakure.
It looked as though some monster was struggling and thrashing within the vortex, while blazing white lightning illuminated the two figures in the hospital room!
"After I became a Jinchuriki, the companions I used to get along with well began looking at me differently."
As if he felt that was too subjective, Fukai shook his head self-mockingly and changed his words. "No, perhaps they were trying their best to act normal too. But I could feel that everything had changed."
"It was like walking alone toward the end of darkness, feeling the threat of death with every step. The loneliness and fear could never be driven from my heart."
"It made me increasingly doubt whether I was truly suited to become a Jinchuriki. But ninjutsu, ability, bloodline, prestige—I lacked none of them. That was why I was chosen as a Jinchuriki..."
Under that shadow, he thought about the same thing every day until he could no longer see himself clearly, as if a hole had opened in his heart.
"...Sorry. I talked too much."
Seeing the thoughtful look on the woman's face, Fukai gave a bitter smile. "Perhaps only those who have become Jinchuriki can understand this feeling."
Even though the excessively young woman before him was the most skilled person in all the Land of Lightning at resolving psychological issues whom the Third Raikage could find.
Click.
As the two spoke, a tall, thin woman dressed as a nurse entered, carrying a tray of medicine.
The pupils in her eyes were somewhat strange, cold vertical slits like those of a venomous snake. She cast Fukai a faint glance, then licked the corner of her thin lips as if coveting him.
After placing the medicine beside the woman, she reached out to light an incense burner, then silently left again.
"It's all right. My responsibility is to help you, isn't it?"
A gentle smile hung on the woman's face. After adjusting her glasses, she spoke softly, "Have you ever considered that becoming a qualified Jinchuriki requires not ninjutsu, ability, bloodline, or prestige, but something else?"
As she spoke, she pointed toward the thunderclouds outside the window that showed no sign of stopping, then pointed at Fukai's left chest with a smile. "Something that can fill that hollow deep within your heart."
Looking into the woman's gentle yet profound eyes, Fukai froze. He instinctively glanced aside to avoid her gaze, yet a sense of agreement arose within him.
Something that can fill the hollow deep in my heart?
"I can't find it." Fukai let out a breath. His face was slightly pale, and the despair in his eyes deepened. "Doctor, last time I heard you mention a method that could better release emotions and relieve pressure?"
"Yes." The smile at the woman's lips deepened as she nodded slightly. "If you are willing, although I cannot guarantee a complete cure, relieving your stress will not be a problem."
"However, out of professional ethics, I must warn you beforehand that the method is not gentle. I need you to trust me completely, and the treatment cannot be interrupted before it is finished. Otherwise, it may cause you irreversible harm."
With that, she extended a hand and pressed it down slightly, her tone gentle. "If you are prepared, then lie down."
An eerie dead silence fell over the hospital room. It was so quiet that only their breathing could be heard.
After a long silence, Fukai slowly lay down on the bed and stared straight at the white ceiling. In the end, pain overcame reason.
"A gave me half an hour." He closed his eyes, feeling his heart twitch slightly. "If I haven't come out after half an hour, no matter what happens, he'll force his way in."
Fukai could actually tell that A's precaution was not aimed at the defenseless female doctor before him, but at him, the Jinchuriki.
If an accident occurred during this treatment, both he and the doctor would be subdued by A in an instant.
No.
The doctor would be killed outright, while he would be sent back to Kumorai Valley.
It was called protection, but it was imprisonment.
Even the Third Raikage, the man who had chosen him and was known as the strongest shield and strongest spear, harbored wariness and distrust toward him now.
His unstable mental state made everyone wary, and their strange gazes only made him doubt himself more deeply.
As long as his companions could not trust him completely, he could only remain trapped in this vicious cycle. His fragile mental state would gradually worsen, inching closer and closer to the abyss of losing control and rampaging.
"Half an hour is more than enough."
The woman's gently smiling voice entered his ears. "My treatment method is to let you enter a dream. Time flows differently in dreams and reality, so you can rest assured."
Fukai paused in surprise. "I've only heard of people using genjutsu to treat mental illnesses. Is the method you use something similar?"
As the Eight-Tails' Jinchuriki, although he had not yet become a perfect Jinchuriki, he possessed strong resistance to genjutsu. Ordinary genjutsu would likely be ineffective against him.
"No." The woman gently brushed aside Fukai's bangs. Her lowered eyes looked at his face as she softly said, "This is an ordinary person's method."
A moment later, Fukai heard gentle, soothing music begin to play and felt a pair of soft hands lightly press against his temples.
"Just think of yourself as resting. Do as I say next."
The woman's gentle, steady voice came to him. "First, adjust your body into the most comfortable position. Then relax and slowly take deep breaths."
"Exhale..." Fukai's breathing gradually became steady.
His breathing had always been even and calm. It was a required skill for a ninja.
Gradually, weariness appeared on his face, and his tense body began to loosen.
"Yes, very good. Slowly breathe out. Mm, once more. Take a deep breath, breathe out. What kind of environment do you like?"
"...The seaside." Fukai's lips moved slightly, and even his answer seemed to have slowed.
That was the only time he had ever gone to the seaside. The vast, boundless ocean had left a deep impression on him.
"Good. Now imagine that you are lying by the sea. The sea breeze is cool and comfortable, and the waves are rhythmically striking the reef..."
The voice in Fukai's ears became increasingly gentle, drifting near and far like the waves.
His gently massaged head gradually relaxed.
His chest, back, abdomen, arms, legs...
His entire body became more and more relaxed, so relaxed that it felt as though he were floating among the clouds.
"How do you feel now?"
Only the woman's calm voice could be heard in the room. Fukai's breathing was so steady that it could not stir the air.
"..."
Fukai's voice was faint, like sleep-talking in a dream.
"Can you hear?"
"Can you smell?"
"Can you... see?"
As the soft voice entered his ears, Fukai's eyeballs gradually began moving rapidly beneath his eyelids.
His breathing suddenly became hurried, and his body began convulsing violently.
Rumble!!
An explosive clap of thunder suddenly erupted beside his ears, as though the sky had been torn open and a beast bent on destruction had burst forth from within.
His eardrums nearly tore apart. His calm breathing broke instantly, and Fukai abruptly opened his eyes.
He instinctively tried to reach toward where the Memory Doctor was.
But what he sensed was... warmth.
Fukai was somewhat stunned, but even more confused.
Something went wrong with the psychological treatment. That was his first thought.
The next moment, he felt something wet drip onto his face. Fukai instinctively raised his head, and his pupils suddenly contracted.
"Ghk! Ghk!"
A thick, nauseating stench of blood flooded his nose. He saw the doctor's pale, blood-soaked face.
He was the one gripping the doctor by the throat and holding her high before him. Those eyes that had always been gentle had become unfocused and lifeless.
At his feet, severed limbs had piled into a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. A crimson rain fell from sky and earth alike, blood pouring down in torrents and making the scarlet Chakra cloak around him appear even more horrifying.
"Monster."
Fukai saw the doctor looking down at him, her twisted, hateful face trembling as she said, "You... damned monster!"
Just as he stood there dumbly, a familiar furious roar came from behind him.
"Fukai! What have you done?!"
Yet in that roar from the Third Raikage's son, there was no longer any of the respect he had once held for Fukai.
At the same time.
The hospital room door opened.
It was not the hospital room Fukai "saw," but the room where the woman was.
The damp air outside slipped through the crack in the door into the dim hospital room. Amid the swaying light, the graceful shadow cast upon the wall slowly raised her head, her gaze falling on the "Nurse" who had silently entered.
"Mr. Orochimaru." The woman adjusted her glasses and smiled. "Are you satisfied with this cooperation?"
"..."
The "Nurse" reached up and tore off her face, revealing a somewhat feminine, pale visage.
Then he picked up the Special Genjutsu Drug from the nearby table, which had already burned out. His snake-like pupils narrowed slightly, and he instinctively licked his lips. "You... who exactly are you? And what did you do to him?"
"I am a pharmacist. A pharmacist who saves people, a pharmacist who saves the world."
The smile on the woman's face remained unchanged as she spoke softly, word by word. "As for Fukai... he will repeat it again and again and again, endlessly reliving his nightmare."
"In the end, he will die without pain. No, it should be said..."
"Be freed."
Rumble!!
At that moment, a thunderstorm descended over Kumogakure, branching lightning spreading pale streaks across the black sky.
"Gather the troops and prepare to head for the Land of Rain. By the time we enter the field—"
The Third Raikage, who was issuing orders from afar in his office, raised his head and frowned at the thick storm clouds that had somehow gathered overhead. Occasionally, lightning like white pythons lit up the gaps between the clouds.
For some reason, his chest felt tight and uneasy, as though it foretold some impending calamity. The dark clouds above were pressing down upon Kumogakure.
Then, in the next instant.
BOOM!!
A thunderous blast far more terrifying than lightning engulfed heaven and earth!
A blazing white light burst forth from the distant horizon, rushing straight at him and swallowing the Raikage Building.
That was not thunder.
It was the roar of Yin-Yang Chakra compressed to the utmost limit!
—Tailed Beast Ball!
A surging Fire Tide swept outward with the shockwave, instantly shattering the area surrounding the Raikage Building. Red flames lit up half the dark night, while within the perfectly circular space, it was as barren as a drought-stricken wasteland!
"Roar!!"
The Third Raikage emerged from the ruins, his body charred black and wrapped in Lightning Release Chakra. He raised his head and looked toward the monster that was wantonly unleashing terrifying Chakra in the direction of Kumogakure Hospital.
"Damn it, why now of all times?!" Bitterness filled his mouth as he roared, "Sealing Squad! Get your asses together!"
On the eve of the complete outbreak of the Second Shinobi World War...
The Eight-Tails had gone berserk!!
Before you continue