"Hmph."
Kurama looked helpless, as though being held in Shizuka Uchiha's arms had left him terribly aggrieved. He turned his head away, looking thoroughly displeased.
"Hahaha...!"
Seeing Kurama like that, Senju Fujima couldn't help laughing.
"What? Kurama isn't the only Tailed Beast? There are eight more?"
At that moment, Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju sat in the office. Sasuke Sarutobi was there as well, reporting the information Enma had provided. His report shocked the two Hokage.
"That's right. We haven't seen them ourselves, but the summoning beast clans, like Enma's, have a clear understanding of them."
"They say that a thousand years ago, there was a fearsome Ten-Tails. But for reasons unknown, the Sage of Six Paths forcibly split it into nine Tailed Beasts."
"Kurama is the strongest of them. We don't know how powerful the others are."
Sasuke Sarutobi shared all the information he knew, indirectly reminding Hashirama and Madara that Black Zetsu might summon the other eight Tailed Beasts at any moment.
"Understood, Sasuke. Thanks for the effort. You can go back now."
Hashirama Senju nodded slightly at Sasuke Sarutobi, then gestured for him to leave.
"Then I'll take my leave."
Sasuke Sarutobi nodded and turned to go.
"Madara, what do you think would happen if that person summoned all eight Tailed Beasts at once?"
After Sasuke Sarutobi left, Hashirama Senju frowned deeply and turned to Madara Uchiha.
"If they appeared one at a time, neither of us would fear them."
"But if all eight appeared at once, the two of us couldn't be everywhere at the same time."
"Konoha might be wiped out. Even if we survived and managed to capture all eight Tailed Beasts, it would be too late to matter."
Madara Uchiha frowned. If all eight Tailed Beasts appeared inside the village at once, they'd be difficult to deal with. And if they appeared right in the center, ordinary villagers—and even Chunin and Genin—would have no chance to escape.
The two of them were troubled. They hadn't awakened the Rinnegan yet, and still had no way to deal with Black Zetsu. The whole situation was becoming a mess.
"Exactly. If we don't plan ahead, Black Zetsu could summon all eight Tailed Beasts at once. We might be fine, but the villagers could suffer terrible casualties."
"So we have to take action. We absolutely can't let Black Zetsu summon all the Tailed Beasts at once."
Hashirama Senju frowned and nodded. After thinking for a moment, he spoke.
"Then what's your plan? We don't even know where Black Zetsu is."
"How are we supposed to deal with him?"
Madara Uchiha had no idea what to do. They couldn't catch Black Zetsu, or even find him. Simply staying on the defensive was a difficult position to be in.
After all, they had no idea when Black Zetsu might launch a sudden attack. If he did, they'd be in real trouble.
"I think I've come up with a good plan."
"But I don't know if it'll work. I'll ask Izuna and Tobirama to come over and discuss it."
Hashirama Senju had an idea, but he wanted to hear everyone's opinions before deciding.
"What is it?"
Madara Uchiha grew interested and quickly turned to Hashirama Senju.
"Though we've established the Konoha Ninja Village, the other four great nations have also established Sunagakure, Kumogakure, Iwagakure, and Kirigakure."
"But the villages are still constantly fighting and attacking one another. Not to mention that they're all eyeing the Land of Fire, hoping to seize its abundant resources."
"Since there are only nine Tailed Beasts, we should capture them all and distribute them according to their strength."
"Since Kurama is the strongest, we can keep him for ourselves."
"The other eight Tailed Beasts can be divided evenly. Each village would get two, giving every village a Tailed Beast and deterring them from attacking one another."
"Once the Tailed Beasts are divided up, the other villages will protect their own. Then Black Zetsu's plan to summon all eight at once won't be a threat."
"Maybe that could bring peace and end the wars for good. What do you think?"
Hashirama Senju explained his idea. He planned to capture the Tailed Beasts and distribute them evenly among the four great nations. Perhaps that would be the best possible outcome.
"Hmph, no way. Why should we give them Tailed Beasts after capturing them?"
"If we had all nine Tailed Beasts, couldn't we force them to surrender to Konoha?"
"Why can't you think things through? If we have overwhelming power, we can put an end to this age of strife."
"If we divide the Tailed Beasts evenly, they could use them to wage war. Wouldn't that put us at a disadvantage?"
"At the very least, their use of Tailed Beasts would slaughter our Chunin and Genin. I don't think that's acceptable. If we're going to capture them, we should keep all nine Tailed Beasts for ourselves."
After hearing Hashirama Senju's proposal, Madara Uchiha understood his thinking. He frowned, but saw things differently.
He believed that if the other villages got Tailed Beasts, they would become even more brazen. And when war broke out, many Chunin and Genin would die needlessly.
That would greatly increase the likelihood of war, so there was no way they should distribute the Tailed Beasts evenly.
"This..."
"You have a point. Let's ask Tobirama, the others, and Fujima to weigh in."
"Majority rules, just like last time. Do you dare?"
Hearing Madara Uchiha's argument, Hashirama Senju considered it. Madara wasn't wrong, but they needed to discuss carefully which course to take.
"Tch, why wouldn't I? They'll definitely agree with me."
Madara Uchiha was utterly confident. He was sure his younger brother, Tobirama Senju, and the others would support his choice. He gave a disdainful little scoff as he replied.
"Oh? Where does all that confidence come from? Ahahaha!"
Seeing Madara Uchiha's inexplicable confidence, Hashirama Senju burst out laughing.
"Tch, you just got lucky last time."
Madara Uchiha said, unconvinced.
Before you continue