Still going strong

The Ninja World is changing almost daily.

The Akatsuki, single-handedly, successfully stirred up the stagnant waters of the Ninja World.

Today, the Five-Tails Jinchuriki of Iwagakure was tricked out of the village and captured by the Akatsuki.

Tomorrow is the day when the Two-Tails Jinchuriki of Cloud Village is ambushed and killed by the Akatsuki during a mission.

The day after tomorrow, another remote, small country will be completely overthrown by the Akatsuki.

The entire Ninja World was in an uproar because of the Akatsuki.

During this time, Taiichi stayed in Konoha and didn't go anywhere else.

Yet, every single piece of intelligence was still delivered to him without fail.

Looking at the information that the One-Tail Beast had just been specially delivered by the Anbu regarding its possible resurrection, Taiichi waved it at the Nine-Tails Beast lying next to him.

"Hey, don't you have anything to say?"

Since they managed to extract information from Nine-Tails that he possessed a state even more powerful than the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, there has been no progress with Minato so far.

As for Naruto, let's not even mention him. He already has the potential to be a troublemaker at such a young age; making him concentrate on his work is worse than killing him.

It's still difficult.

At this moment, Taiichi also took the opportunity to put further pressure on Nine-Tails.

"What's the point of shouting? If you're not skilled enough, you deserve to be caught. You won't die anyway; at worst, you'll just have to squat in another place."

The Nine-Tails fox curled its lips, looking completely unconcerned.

"Hey, you're staying here, and all you care about is eating, drinking, and having fun, you don't care about anything else."

Taiichi said irritably, "The Akatsuki's leader possesses the Rinnegan. Do you think they collected the Tailed Beasts just for the power of your few Tailed Beasts?"

The Nine-Tails instantly became alert.

Others might not know, but how could he not know just how strong Taiichi really was?

Three years ago, he could easily pin him to the ground and beat him up. Now, three years later, his own strength hasn't improved much, but Taiichi's strength is indeed changing every day.

Such a person's warning forced the fox to think seriously.

What other use could an organization have for capturing their Tailed Beasts besides utilizing their power?

Their Tailed Beasts are Chakra beings; they have neither blood nor flesh, and cannot be eaten.

For thousands of years, this is how the Tailed Beasts have lived.

But... what if we add the Rinnegan as well?

Nine-Tails had never considered this aspect; his millennia-old habit of thinking had caused him to overlook this problem.

"You bastard, do you know something?"

"Heh, I've only heard a few legends about it occasionally!" Taiichi casually stroked the Nine-Tails' fur, a smile playing on his lips. "You Nine Tailed Beasts seem to share a common origin. Do you think the Akatsuki has found a way to return you to your original form?"

These words were like a bolt from the blue for the Nine-Tails Fox. Its fur stood on end, and its fox face was filled with disbelief.

This information is the biggest secret hidden in the hearts of the Nine Tailed Beasts, and should be unknown to anyone in the current Ninja World.

But now, Taiichi knows.

The Akatsuki also knew that nothing seemed impossible.

Following this line of thought, the Akatsuki, possessing the Rinnegan, capturing the Tailed Beasts is not such a simple matter.

A change in thinking opens up a whole new world; the Akatsuki can't defeat Taiichi, and Taiichi can the Tailed Beasts.

Does that mean two groups of weaklings can defeat Taiichi together? That's a joke. They'll still lose if they can't win.

Therefore, the only answer is that the Akatsuki has already found a way to restore the Ten-Tails.

Nine-Tails- Tailed Fox's two erect ears drooped instantly, and its tail instinctively tucked between its legs.

"Um, Taiichi, you scared me, didn't you?"

The skeptical fluffy ball looked at Taiichi one last time to confirm, its watery fox eyes filled with a longing for life.

"I'm lying!" Taiichi scoffed. "Haven't you seen how Konoha has been changing these past few years? What's all this for? It's all for that potential threat."

Taiichi was not lying; he simply changed the target he needed to guard against.

The Nine-Tails fox, who only knew how to eat, drink, and have fun, didn't notice the trickery in Taiichi's words and actually believed Taiichi lies.

"Sigh!" Nine-Tails slumped to the ground, limp and listless. "There is indeed another state beyond the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode; you can call it Kurama Mode."

"Kurama?" Taiichi asked curiously.

"Yes, Kurama, my name is Kurama!"

Taiichi looked at Nine-Tails in surprise, not expecting him to tell him his name so easily.

Taiichi was somewhat pleased; it seemed that his years of feeding the baby had not been in vain.

"In that case, you should practice with Minato. The sooner you succeed, the better you'll be able to protect yourselves!"

"It's not as simple as you say!" Nine-Tails rolled its eyes at Taiichi. "It requires a special state where both parties can completely trust each other. Only then can their Chakra successfully merge and complete the Kurama Mode."

Taiichi nodded in realization, understanding the difficulty involved.

In the original work, Naruto was able to perform Kurama Mode partly because he did have the talent for it, but more importantly, Naruto grew up under the watchful eye of Nine-Tails.

Every little thing he did was under Nine-Tails's watchful eye; Naruto himself had almost no secrets from Nine-Tails.

This also eliminates almost all the major obstacles between the two sides; everything becomes very simple as long as Nine-Tails) is willing.

Minato, however, was different. He was already a mature ninja and the Fourth Hokage of Konoha when he became the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

For Minato and Nine-Tails to open their hearts to each other and merge Chakra, that would be incredibly difficult.

Taiichi looked at Nine-Tails, who was rubbing its mouth in frustration, and felt a headache coming on. In the end, he could only pat Nine-Tails on the back to comfort it.

"Don't be discouraged. As long as you have the will, I believe there's always a way. You know what kind of person Minato is after all this time. There's always a solution to every problem. You'll definitely succeed with the Kurama Mode."

Taiichi was giving the Nine-Tails a shot of adrenaline; he absolutely couldn't let the guy get discouraged.

On the same day, Taiichi reported the Kurama Mode to Minato.

Unexpectedly, Minato's first reaction upon learning this was not how to practice the Kurama Mode with Nine-Tails.

Instead, they started criticizing Taiichi and Nine-Tails's aesthetic sense.

"Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, what a terrible name! It's neither cool nor stylish, and it's far inferior to my Invincible Golden Flame Nine-Tails Radiant Armor."

These were Minato's exact words, which stunned Taiichi for a full five seconds.

Seriously, boss? I was talking to you about cultivation, but you're just telling me your name.

Is our channel not properly calibrated?

Seeing Taiichi's speechless expression, Minato burst into laughter.

It turned out that Minato couldn't stand seeing Taiichi looking Taiichi worried about him, so he deliberately did this to lighten the mood.

"Taiichi, you don't need to worry too much. There are other ways to improve your strength besides Kurama Mode; Sage Mode is also quite good."

The means, and what truly elevates is the essence.

Minato is very open-minded and not worried about short-term strength improvement.

At the same time, he has a clear understanding of things and knows exactly what he wants.

Taiichi looked intently into Minato's eyes, his pale blue pupils revealing nothing but sincerity.

At this moment, Taiichi smiled with relief, realizing that Minato was also a rare genius in Konoha's history and did not need his excessive concern.

Time passed Tenten in this tense and eerie atmosphere.

On this day, Taiichi was training his Three Disciples when the Anbu came to inform him: the Hokage-sama summons him.

Taiichi looked up and glanced in the direction of the Hokage Building, wondering why he was being called over at this time.

He's only had a few days of rest, is he already on another mission?

Minato wasn't afraid of Tsunade coming to him with her fists clenched.

Taiichi left behind a Shadow Clone and went to the Hokage's Office.

Even the Third Hokage was here this time, making Taiichi even more curious about why Minato had summoned him.

Without mincing words, Minato got Taiichi to the point upon First Gate Taiichi.

"People Konoha Takigakure have arrived, requesting Konoha to send someone to protect their Seven-Tails Jinchuriki."

"Cough cough."

Taiichi almost choked on his own saliva.

This is truly outrageous; one ninja village issues a mission to another, the mission being to protect its own strategic weapons.

Waterfall Village has really fallen from grace, even issuing missions like this. If this gets out, it's practically announcing that their village is weak, and it will cause countless mission requests to be lost.

"Waterfall Village has been terrified by the Akatsuki." Taiichi could only sigh in that way.

"Ha, that's not our concern." Minato waved his hand. "This mission is a rare opportunity to showcase Konoha's strength to the Ninja World, but I'm not entirely confident in its ability to handle it, which is why I called you in to offer your advice."

Taiichi now understood Minato's meaning. Indeed, if Konoha had helped Waterfall Village protect the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki under these circumstances, Konoha's reputation in the entire Ninja World would have reached new heights.

However, this is not an easy task.

Taiichi reviewed the known information about the Akatsuki in his mind before carefully choosing his words and saying, "The Akatsuki members we know now include Pain with the Rinnegan, Uchiha who knows Space-Time Ninjutsu, a strange person who can use Wood Style, Kakuzu who can create masked monsters, Blood Crow of the Blood God Cult, and Hiruko who knows multiple bloodline Hiruko."

We're only talking about the known Akatsuki members. As long as they don't encounter Pain with his Pain Rinnegan the Uchiha and time, the others, if they know his information, even if they can't defeat him, can still escape."

Taiichi's statement was rather tactful; he wouldn't recommend Konoha take on this mission unless they sent a strong ninja.

Minato was also deep in thought. Although the Akatsuki had few official members, each one of them was exceptionally strong. The average Jonin from Konoha simply didn't have that kind of power.

In Konoha, there are only a handful of people who can reliably take on this task; they either hold important positions, are idle and uninvolved, or are simply not even in the village.

It's true what they say—you only realize how few people you have when you need them most. If it had been a year or two later, with the in-depth training of Senjutsu 3.0, there would definitely have been plenty of manpower available.

Even if the quality is insufficient, quantity can make up for it.

The Third Kazekage man beside him puffed on his pipe, his brows slightly furrowed, and a strange light gleaming in his eyes.

After a long silence, the Third Kazekage extinguished his pipe, looked at Minato and Taiichi, and solemnly said, "Let me go. Before this old man gets too old to walk, let me do my part for the village one last time."

Minato looked up, his brows furrowed.

Taiichi rested his chin on his hand, pondering the feasibility of this idea.

And you know what? There really wasn't a problem.

Despite being nearly 60 years old this year, the Third Kazekage Hokage is still one of the few in Konoha who can truly defeat him in terms of combat strength.

Most importantly, the Third Kazekage's title of "Professor of Ninjutsu" was well-deserved.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, who is skilled in the Five Basic Nature Transformations, can always find the best solution to deal with all kinds of unexpected situations.

If I could have a partner, that would be even better.

"If the Third Kazekage elders go, I'll go back and persuade the teacher again; that would be safer."

Upon hearing Taiichi's words, Minato's brows immediately relaxed.

The Third Kazekage Hokage was getting old, and Minato was still somewhat worried about him, but if Tsunade went as well, at least her life would be safe.

Minato looked at Taiichi with eyes full of certainty, Taiichi face full of doubt.

After the matter was discussed, Taiichi prepared to go back and persuade his teacher, which would be a tough "battle".

Taiichi opened the door and was greeted by a young ninja with an anxious expression, who was reaching out his hand as if he was about to knock.

When the young ninja saw Taiichi, his expression immediately became extremely respectful. He bowed deeply to Taiichi at a 90-degree angle, behaving like a devoted fan meeting his idol.

Taiichi looked slightly embarrassed. If this were anywhere else, Taiichi wouldn't have cared, and might even have gone up to chat with the other person and give them some pointers on cultivation.

But this is right in front of the Hokage's Office, and two Hokage are standing behind him. What are you expecting people to think?

Fortunately, Taiichi understood Minato; otherwise, he wouldn't have known how to explain it.

Just then, Minato's voice rang out from behind.

"It's Kawata. Is there something you need?"

"Ah, yes, Hokage-sama!" The young ninja Kawata immediately snapped out of his daze, responding while bowing to Taiichi once more.

Taiichi's face darkened further, and he decided to stay and listen to what new developments might be coming.

Back in his office, seeing the faint smiles on Minato and Hiruzen Sarutobi's faces, Taiichi frustrated. But he couldn't take it out on anyone, so he could only stand silently to the side with a dark expression.

Kawata, unaware of the trouble his actions were causing Taiichi, observed the strange atmosphere among the three big shots in the office and, unable to figure it out, stopped thinking about it further.

He handed the intelligence to the Fourth Hokage, then turned and left the office, bowing again as he passed Taiichi.

Minato watched Kawata's actions with a smile, and only after the office door closed again did he begin to read the intelligence report that had been delivered.

The more I looked at him, the worse his complexion became.