Returning the Seven-Tails

The high-profile actions of the Land of Earth and the Iwagakure not only threw the Land of the Falls Konoha.

With their cunning and shrewdness, Hiruzen Sarutobi and his companions were well aware of Iwagakure's purpose: they were after Konoha and wanted them to return the Seven-Tails.

"The Tsuchikage is causing trouble again. One thing is certain: his goal is to force us to return the Seven-Tails. Shikaku, do you think the Tsuchikage's aim is to get the Seven-Tails or to weaken our strength?" Tsunade asked first at the High-Level Meeting.

Shikaku Nara, then said, "Given the Fourth Tsuchikage's style, he probably has both ideas. However, there should be a focus."

"But since it involves Tailed Beast, I don't know much about Tailed Beast functions, so I can't judge his motives for targeting the Seven-Tails, or how likely that is."

Shikaku Nara's answer was rather conservative; he has kept a low profile ever since the Shikaisen Nara incident.

Utatane Koharu looked at Tsunade and said, "Tsunade, do you know what the specific functions of the Tailed Beast are?"

Utatane Koharu asked Tsunade, not Hiruzen Sarutobi. Hiruzen Sarutobi's understanding of the Tailed Beast might not actually be as extensive as Tsunade's. Tsunade's own grandmother was the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

Tsunade her head and said, "Unfortunately, all three of the village's Nine-Tails Jinchuriki have been related to the Uzumaki Clan. The Uzumaki Clan's physique far surpasses that of ordinary people, which is why our Jinchuriki have always been the most stable."

"But precisely because of the stability and the absence of crisis, we have conducted the least research on the Tailed Beast. Neither my grandmother nor Kushina had any in-depth understanding of the Nine-Tails."

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded and said, "We know too little about the Tailed Beast, unlike the Cloud ninja. The Cloud ninja has devoted the most effort to the Tailed Beast over the past few decades, and their research results are the most outstanding."

Mitokado Homura asked, "Isn't there still a Seven-Tails in the village? Has any research been conducted on it?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head and said, "The Seven-Tails wasn't sealed inside the Jinchuriki; it was just sealed in a container, so there's no way to study it."

Mitokado Homura frowned and asked, "If that's the case, has Iwagakure achieved any outstanding results in its research on the Tailed Beast?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi recalled the most recent appearance of Jinchuriki from Iwagakure. It seemed to have been during the Third Shinobi World War, and the opponent was Jiraiya.

The Five-Tails Jinchuriki's performance that time was Mu Qi. And it seems like only seven years have passed since then. In seven years, the Iwa ninja's research on the Tailed Beast shouldn't have made much progress.

Hiruzen Sarutobi then said, "The Iwa ninja haven't devoted much effort to researching the Tailed Beast; Iwa ninja past development focus was probably on Senjutsu."

Mitokado Homura said, "If that's the case, then if the Iwa ninja are after the Seven-Tails, it can only be to give the Iwagakure another Tailed Beast. Do you think it's likely that the Iwa ninja will do that?"

Tsunade immediately said, "Impossible. Unless Iwa ninja is already prepared to Unifying the Ninja World, it's impossible for Iwa ninja to simultaneously spread rumors that we are plotting against the Seven-Tails of Takigakure while also attacking the Seven-Tails themselves."

"At present, the strength of Iwagakure is far from sufficient to Unifying the Ninja World by force. If they were to do so, they would be courting death."

At this moment, Danzo suddenly spoke up, "In that case, let the Iwa ninja go and die."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's brow furrowed, and he immediately understood his best friend's thoughts, saying, "Danzo, are you going to impersonate Iwa ninja and attack Takigakure ninja?"

"Hmph, Yichen prides himself on being clever, but he underestimates everyone. Anyone can see that the Iwa ninja are after the Seven-Tails. In that case, the Iwa ninja have every reason to target the Seven-Tails," Danzo said.

"We didn't even need to stir things up; the Takigakure's first reaction was that Yichen had attacked the Seven-Tails. You know, he has a history of such actions."

Hiruzen Sarutobi was somewhat intrigued and asked, "How confident are you?"

After all, Konoha had suffered quite a few losses at Yichen's hands.

Danzo snorted and said, "Since you don't trust Root, then let the Anbu carry it out."

After uttering those words, Danzo slammed the door and left.

Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned slightly as he looked at the tightly closed door. Would Danzo betray the Anbu's whereabouts again and ruin everything?

Utatane Koharu shared the same concern, saying, "Hiruzen, why don't you go yourself?"

Utatane Koharu believes that only if Hiruzen Sarutobi personally intervenes will Danzo refrain from any underhanded tactics.

Mitokado Homura smiled wryly and interjected, "If Hiruzen is going to leave the village, he'd better take Danzo with him. Otherwise, none of us can stop Danzo from causing trouble."

Seeing that everyone else agreed with him, Mitokado Homura continued, "Hiruzen, I think you should go to Root and discuss with Danzo about having the Anbu and Root work together. That way, Danzo shouldn't cause any trouble."

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed, nodded, and said nothing more.

A dozen days later, at the border Land of Fire and Land of Falls, a dozen Konoha Anbu and twenty Takigakure completed the handover of the Seven-Tails.

The leader of the Takigakure faction was an Elite Jonin named Kensuke. He was quite strong, ranking among the top in Takigakure.

Having obtained the Seven-Tails and watched all the Konoha ninja leave, Kensuke breathed a slight Kensuke; the Seven-Tails was finally back in his hands.

As one of the village's top fighters, Kensuke could sense the changes in the village depending on whether the Tailed Beast were present or not. Before the Tailed Beast were lost, Takigakure was different from other small ninja villages.

Wherever the ninjas from Takigakure go, other smaller ninja villages will give them a wide berth.

However, since losing the Tailed Beast, the other smaller ninja villages felt it was inappropriate to continue granting the Takigakure special privileges. They all changed their attitudes towards the Takigakure, wishing they could vent all the anger they had suffered at their hands.

Therefore, in recent times, the status of Takigakure in the Ninja World has declined sharply, and smaller ninja villages often take the initiative to provoke Takigakure.

He handed the clay jar containing the Seven-Tails to a subordinate, then Kensuke, "Back to the village, everyone be careful. No one can be careless until we reach the village. Be extremely careful of the Iwa ninja."

"Yes." The twenty-odd people responded in unison, and then maintained their battle formation as they headed towards Takigakure.

Kensuke also drew his weapon and remained on guard.

However, the group was ambushed not long after entering the heart of the Land of the Falls.

More than thirty masked wandering ninjas launched a sneak attack, resulting in the death or injury of most of the Takigakure team.

Kensuke discovered with despair that there were at least three people in this team stronger than him, and quite a few who were no less skilled than him.

These aren't just wandering ninjas; they're definitely elites from the Five Great Ninja Villages.

Kensuke looked utterly desperate, but at this point, he had no choice but to fight with all his might.

In the end, all the Takigakure were wiped out, and the Seven-Tails was also stolen.

Shortly after the attackers left, Kensuke's body suddenly moved, and then he slowly sat up.

"Damn it." He touched the penetrating wound on his left chest; it was just a hair's breadth away from piercing his heart.

Kensuke quickly treated his wounds and then rushed to the nearest town to deliver a message to the leader of Takigakure.

After delivering the message, Kensuke returned to the place where he had been ambushed. Before he lost consciousness, he vaguely remembered that the group of ninjas had headed north after their attack.

He searched carefully to the north.

It took him a long time to find even the slightest trace.

"Damn it. These ninjas are too cautious. These traces won't last long. If I hadn't survived, by the time the village discovered the problem and sent out ninjas to search, there definitely wouldn't be any trace left." Kensuke with resentment.

Next, Kensuke left a signal for reinforcements to the village while continuing his pursuit northward.

A few kilometers north of Kensuke, thirty or so Konoha elites dressed as wandering ninjas were resting.

The leader asked one of his men, "Third, what's the situation behind us?"

The Third said, "Boss, that person is five kilometers away, following us and searching for the clues we left behind. Judging by the time, the people he sent to contact Takigakure should be arriving Takigakure."

The leader nodded, then said to the other man, "Seventh Brother, keep the clues even more concealed from now on. My requirement is: the person behind us can't be found, but his reinforcements must be located."

The seventh brother nodded and said, "Understood."

And so, guided by these Konoha elites, Kensuke and the Takigakure leader, who later personally came to their aid, finally managed to follow in their footsteps and enter the Land of Earth.

"Leader, it really is Iwa ninja." Kensuke looked towards the Land of Earth with a face full of despair.

The leader of Takigakure also looked grim. Although he had expected it, he still felt dizzy when the truth was laid bare before him.

"Keep chasing," the leader said.

Kensuke was startled and hesitated before saying, "Chief, this is too dangerous. What if Iwa-nin Iwa ninja to silence us..."

The leader said, "Don't worry, we won't go any deeper; we're just confirming again."

Kensuke and the others were helpless.

And so, the Takigakure group ventured a short distance further into the Land of Earth.

Then they lost track of the Konoha group.

Just as the leader was about to give up, the last scout ninja returned with a strange expression.

He said, "Chief, why don't you go and take a look?"

The leader and Kensuke were puzzled, but they still went in the direction the man pointed.

Soon, the group arrived at a rock. There was a wooden sign on the rock that read, "Target is 12 kilometers to the north. The target has long-range reconnaissance capabilities. It is advised not to approach within 5 kilometers of the target."

The leader of the Takigakure ninja and his subordinates looked at each other in bewilderment.

Kensuke couldn't help but say, "Chief, could this be a trap?"

The leader smiled bitterly, "It's a trap, definitely a trap. We've clearly been used as pawns. Neither the group of ninjas before us nor this ninja who left us the clues have any good intentions."

Kensuke hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Chief, should we continue the pursuit?"

The leader gritted his teeth and said, "Keep chasing, but don't chase too closely. I want to see what this person is trying to show us by leading us here."