Chapter Thirty-Eight: Just a Thief

Josuke kept smiling as he handed the little monk a few bills. When it came to dealing with people, he was second to none.

The little monk's eyes lit up at the sight of the money. Well, who wouldn't be tempted by a chance to earn some?

What was a lousy little monk's life worth, anyway?

This was much more practical. He fawningly asked,

"What would you like me to do, benefactor?"

Josuke sneered. Ah, I liked him better when he was so defiant.

Ahem.

Josuke spoke gently, getting down to business.

"Could you please ask Sora to come out? Just tell him someone's here to see him."

The little monk nodded, pressing his palms together reverently. "Amitabha. Please wait a moment, benefactor."

It wasn't long before Sora arrived.

Josuke narrowed his eyes. So this was Sora—the one who'd stolen the Nine-Tails Chakra. He possessed the Nine-Tails' Chakra, even though he hadn't been the one to steal it.

Those things aren't yours. I'm taking them back for you!

Josuke wasted no time. He immediately used a Sealing Technique, sending its chains toward Sora (I'm stuck). As for what kind of sealing technique it was, who knew? All that mattered was that it could extract Tailed Beast Chakra. It was listed in the sealing techniques, after all.

That's right.

The theft of the Sealing Technique had been swept under the rug after the Third Hokage's death. But even after Tsunade took over as Hokage, she hadn't given up investigating. She simply hadn't found a single clue.

So they'd pinned the blame on Orochimaru. Damn, that was spot-on. I guessed right on the first try.

Back with Sora, the chains had seized him. Sensing that Josuke meant him harm, Sora knew he was facing someone who intended to take his life.

So he held nothing back and unleashed his trump card.

He immediately entered his strongest form: the Nine-Tails Tailed Beast Form, the Nine-Tails Tailed Beast Cloak Form!

Josuke laughed. That's it?

Too weak. Josuke shook his head and increased the force of the Sealing Technique. Activating Cursed Mark Stage Two, he pinned Sora against the wall.

Sora grimaced in pain. One of his tails transformed into a fist and slammed into Josuke's armor. Sora sneered inwardly. His fists had never failed him. Anyone who tried to take this power from him had been reduced to dust.

But to his utter shock, the fist he'd always been so proud of did nothing at all. The fist formed from Tailed Beast Chakra had struck something like an iron wall.

It shattered.

Seizing the opening, Josuke used Wood Release on Sora!

Wood Prison Technique!

The wood immediately restrained Sora's three tails and all four limbs. Josuke could only think how ridiculously weak he was—less than a tenth of Naruto's strength. Or maybe Josuke himself was simply too strong.

Josuke thought to himself.

With that, he sped up his work. The Sealing Technique began operating smoothly, and a tiny amount of Nine-Tails Chakra flowed into Josuke's body.

There was none of the vast, evil Chakra he'd imagined. On the contrary, absorbing it was extraordinarily easy—not even requiring the slightest effort.

That's it?

Josuke looked down on this power.

The Chakra reserves were too small, barely at the level of an elite jonin. No wonder Sora had only appeared in the early part of the story.

Even Sora still showed signs of life. He wasn't dead at all; he was doing just fine.

That was most likely because he didn't have much Chakra. Still, this should be enough, Josuke thought.

He then left the area and continued along the nearby road.

...(Should Asuma live or not? Let him live... I'll just make up a method.)

After leaving the Temple of Fire, Josuke finally reached the place where Kakuzu and Hidan had fought Asuma.

The battle had ended long ago. Asuma had been stabbed through the heart, and his life was already hanging by a thread. The only reason he could still speak was that he was clinging to his last breath.

Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino were already crying their eyes out.

Asuma's gaze grew vacant and unfocused.

"Ino, you may be strong-willed, but you're also good at looking after others. I'm counting on you to take care of those two clumsy idiots, Shikamaru and Choji..."

Ino fought back her tears. This was only the second time she'd cried like this, the first being after Josuke.

"Okay..."

"Oh, and... don't let Sakura beat you... whether it's Ninjutsu... or love."

Asuma had no strength left. He figured he was about to go see his father.

Dying beside his students at the end of his life didn't seem so bad.

Asuma closed his eyes.

Josuke arrived at that moment. What he had for Asuma was a new treatment medicine developed by Orochimaru.

"Move aside!"

Shikamaru and the others were still lost in their grief. The sudden voice interrupted them.

Before the three could agree, Josuke poured Orochimaru's treatment medicine into Asuma's mouth. Not long ago, Josuke had become one of Orochimaru's subordinates, so he'd volunteered to help him with something.

Orochimaru hadn't been picky and had told Josuke to do as he pleased. So Josuke had set his sights on the treatment medicine Orochimaru was researching. This medicine was different from the ones he'd made before.

It was only for near-death situations. It could keep a person hanging on to life, preventing them from dying until medical help arrived. It was remarkably miraculous, though no human trials had been conducted.

So even Orochimaru didn't know how well it worked or whether it had any side effects or other adverse effects.

This time, Josuke had made Asuma his guinea pig. Asuma was going to die anyway, so he'd see if he could save him.

And that was how the scene had begun.

The medicine went down easily. Now all that remained was to see if it worked. It was up to you, Asuma.

After that, Josuke started to leave.

But Shikamaru called out to him.

"Hey, what are you really after? Does Asuma-sensei have to be put through this, even if he's going to die?"

In his grief, Shikamaru couldn't help cursing himself. It was all his own mistake that had given Josuke an opening.

He immediately used the Shadow Imitation Technique to restrain Josuke.

This was the first time the two had ever fought.

"What am I after? I just want to save Asuma. Don't you trust me?"

Josuke said.

Shikamaru didn't believe his explanation. Instead, he told Choji to take out a Kunai, ready to attack Josuke.

"I'm telling the truth. I really am here to save Asuma. He still has a breath left in him. You should get him medical attention right away, or it'll be too late."

Shikamaru didn't believe him. He was just about to make a move when Ino grabbed him from behind.

"Shikamaru, stop! He's right. Asuma-sensei really does still have a breath left!"

Shikamaru and Choji were stunned. Shikamaru hurriedly told Choji to stay alert while he tested Asuma's breathing. Sure enough, there was still a faint breath left in him.

There was no time to waste. Shikamaru quickly told Choji to use the Expansion Jutsu, grow large, and carry Asuma away. He and Ino would follow behind. But just then, Ino suddenly said she wanted to stay behind.

The situation was urgent, so Shikamaru and Choji didn't say anything...