Seven-Tails Fu (Part 1)

While that female ninja was leading Ye Wuji, Kakuzu remained motionless on the spot, as if he hadn't seen them at all. Although their movements were very stealthy, there were no obstacles in this area after all. Ye Wuji was not truly a child; after a moment of thought, he roughly guessed that the secret technique must be a ninjutsu for stealth.

After entering the Sacred Tree, Ye Wuji discovered that the interior was completely hollow. Not only that, but many buildings had been constructed inside, yet he didn't spot a single person. On the decorations outside some of the rooms, Ye Wuji noticed patterns of the Takigakure forehead protector. This was likely where Takigakure secretly trained its ninjas; an ordinary person would never imagine that this Sacred Tree held such a hidden world within.

Ye Wuji walked slowly along the path toward the interior. He hadn't expected to be able to approach this place, let alone enter so smoothly. Since he was already here, he might as well go and see where the Hero Water was located. Even if he were discovered, he would have an excuse.

Although he felt a bit guilty toward that female ninja, for the sake of his future, he had no other choice. Ye Wuji cheered himself on while carefully walking deeper inside.

While Ye Wuji was cautiously heading inward, at the center of the Sacred Tree—the place where the Hero Water was stored, which also served as the repository for Takigakure's secret techniques—it was not like in the movie version where a single bottle of Hero Water simply sat there. This place not only had many guards but was also protected by a barrier. Once an enemy approached, they would be attacked. Even if one managed to defeat the guards, these barriers would provide enough time for the guards to sound an alarm.

Yet at this moment, all these guards had fallen, and the barrier had been dismantled, yet not a single sound of an alarm had been triggered.

"So this is the Hero Water that Takigakure has been trying so hard to hide," a figure said, looking at the bottle containing the Hero Water.

"Indeed. Although it's of little use to us, it still has some value for ordinary ninjas. How about it? Shall we take it?" another distinct voice replied.

It was very strange; clearly, there was only one person, yet two different voices were speaking. When looking closely at this person, one could see the iconic giant Venus flytrap-like leaves wrapped around the figure's head. Looking at the body, which was black on one side and white on the other, it was Zetsu. It was unexpected for Zetsu to come here at this time.

After Zetsu arrived at the pedestal where the Hero Water was kept, he didn't even glance at the liquid. He casually picked up the scroll beside it and opened it, only to find it filled with garbled characters.

"Release," Zetsu whispered, forming a hand seal. As his words fell, the garbled characters on the scroll shifted and rearranged into normal, readable text.

"It's just some instructions on how to use the Hero Water. Not bad, though; it basically overcomes those side effects. No wonder Takigakure dared to declare war on Konoha all those years ago. This must have been their source of confidence," a deep voice resonated. This was the voice of Black Zetsu.

"But they were defeated anyway, weren't they? The Second Hokage is still alive. Takigakure was simply asking for trouble. Not only did they fail to gain any advantage over Konoha, but they also ended up losing all the ninjas they had painstakingly cultivated, causing the village's strength to decline. I really don't know what the leader of Takigakure was thinking," White Zetsu's voice chimed in.

"Heh heh. Besides the Five Great Nations, which other village leader would dare to claim the title of Kage? They are all just arrogant fools. Besides, that sneak attack on Konoha likely had other motives. I didn't expect them to actually pull it off. I hadn't paid attention to this village before, but it seems they do have some strength."

"Since you aren't interested in the Hero Water, what about this Earth Grudge Fear? It seems quite good. If developed well, one could have several lives."

"It's also a trash technique; only those people treat it like a treasure. Not to mention anything else, the different hearts alone cause conflict. That Kakuzu is only alive because of luck. Besides, do you even care about having a few extra lives?"

"Don't be like that. That Kakuzu still has some strength; at least this cooperation was quite good. And with his personality, he can serve us even better," White Zetsu defended Kakuzu, then continued, "What now? Since we're here, we can't leave empty-handed. Even if these things are useless to us, they might be useful in the future."

White Zetsu waited for Black Zetsu's reply, but Black Zetsu only let out a few "heh heh" laughs. White Zetsu asked curiously, "Hey, what's wrong? Give a suggestion, since we've already made a move."

"It's quite interesting. I didn't expect to see that brat here," Black Zetsu laughed.

"That brat?" White Zetsu had just said this before immediately correcting himself: "It is quite interesting. But isn't this kid with Nagato and the others? How did he end up here? Oh right, I forgot, this brat also seems to have all-nature affinities. Should we take him down?"

Although there was no obvious reaction, it seemed that Black Zetsu's ability was superior to White Zetsu's, as Black Zetsu had discovered the target first. However, if one considered Black Zetsu's true identity, then whatever he did wouldn't be surprising.

"No need. Didn't you just say you didn't know what to do with these things? Why not give them to this brat? Perhaps he will be a useful pawn in the future," Black Zetsu suddenly suggested.

"I don't see any use for him, but since you say so, let's give it to him. Though I doubt that brat can find this place. Still, this kid isn't bad; it's been a while, and his chakra has increased quite a bit," White Zetsu said after sensing Ye Wuji, who was slowly approaching.

"Pawns don't necessarily have to be useful; even if they are useless, it doesn't matter. It's just a spare move. Besides, this brat has spent some time with Nagato; perhaps he will have an unexpected use regarding Nagato. The more pawns, the better," Black Zetsu whispered. As he spoke, he extended a piece of wood, wrapped it around the Hero Water and the scroll, and then both Black and White Zetsu slowly sank into the ground.

Ye Wuji was walking carefully, looking around from time to time, afraid that someone might suddenly pop out. While walking, Ye Wuji saw a different building appear in front of him, built right in the middle of the road. It was a circular tower. Ye Wuji cautiously approached the tower door and didn't find anyone.

Ye Wuji carefully pushed open the tower door. Before he could see anything else, he spotted a bottle in the center of the tower. On the platform beside the bottle, there was also a scroll.

Ye Wuji felt his heart pounding "thump, thump, thump." Everything had happened too suddenly. Even though he had prepared for everything, he still couldn't believe that this item was right in front of him. However, since things had come to this, Ye Wuji could only cast those thoughts aside; since he had seen the items, he couldn't just leave them behind.

After experimenting carefully a few times, Ye Wuji took the Hero Water down. Later, he thought that since he had obtained the Hero Water, he might as well take the scroll beside it; perhaps it contained the village's secret technique.

After carefully placing the Hero Water and the scroll into his spatial pouch, Ye Wuji finally felt half his anxiety dissipate. He then quickly left the area, preparing to return to the spot where the female ninja had left him; returning now shouldn't arouse any suspicion.

After Ye Wuji left, the tower in the middle of the road vanished. Zetsu slowly emerged. "Quite cautious. For a brat, that's not easy," White Zetsu said slowly.

"Then it should be ending soon. Don't let Kakuzu actually kill the person; it's not the right time yet. The main purpose of coming here this time was to confirm intelligence," Black Zetsu had already pushed the matter of Ye Wuji to the back of his mind. To Black Zetsu, whether Ye Wuji would be useful later didn't matter at all. If they happened to meet, he would certainly make Ye Wuji play the role he was meant to.

Unfortunately, Black Zetsu had no idea that Ye Wuji's primary goal in seeking power was to deal with him. If Black Zetsu knew, one wonders if he would regret his decision today.

In fact, Black Zetsu would later deeply regret his decision today. It was this inadvertent choice that created the greatest obstacle for him later on. The Hero Water could increase a person's chakra volume tenfold, and even in Takigakure, it was a top-secret item, with only about ten drops being produced every hundred years.

That bottle of Hero Water contained the accumulation of who knows how many years of Takigakure's history. In truth, it wasn't even something Takigakure had stored; the Sacred Tree had existed before Takigakure arrived. Only after discovering the Hero Water did Takigakure begin to utilize it, and even then, there was only that small amount. Takigakure had many ninjas, and usually, only a few could utilize the Hero Water. Even Kakuzu had only used one drop before assassinating the First Hokage, and that was to increase his strength.

That bottle of Hero Water contained at least several hundred drops. Even if the potency of the Hero Water diminished over time, it resulted in Ye Wuji's chakra volume being just shy of a Tailed Beast, exceeding even Kisame Hoshigaki, who was known as the "Tailed Beast without a Tail."

However, the Hero Water was useless to Black and White Zetsu. For people like them, chakra volume was not the issue; the ability to unleash power was what mattered most. Even the Nine-Tails, with its infinite chakra, had suffered defeats.

Just as Ye Wuji was rushing back to the spot he had been watching, the battle between the female ninja and Kakuzu outside had reached a fever pitch. One of Kakuzu's water-attribute hearts had already been destroyed.

At this moment, the female ninja was hiding underground, preparing to ambush Kakuzu. That was how she had destroyed one of Kakuzu's hearts earlier. This female ninja was worthy of someone who understood the Earth Grudge Fear technique; she wasn't fooled at all, causing Kakuzu, who had tried to seize the opportunity to ambush her, to nearly lose another heart.

"Secret Technique: Scale Powder Explosion!" As the female ninja finished her words, explosions began around Kakuzu—chain explosions. By the time the explosions ended, Kakuzu was covered in wounds, with blood flowing from many parts of his body. Yet, even so, Kakuzu did not die.

"Truly worthy of being the most outstanding ninja in Takigakure's history. To survive even this... your Earth Style is quite good." At this moment, the female ninja had emerged from the ground.

Seeing the female ninja appear, Kakuzu let out an angry roar, then felt a bit strange. "What exactly are you? Did you also learn that forbidden technique?"

Looking at the female ninja's appearance now, nothing else had changed, except for a pair of green wings growing from her back, which, paired with her long green hair, made her look even more beautiful.

"Don't talk about me; didn't you also turn into a monster?" Kakuzu was still concerned about this point at such a moment; it seemed he still held a grudge over the female ninja's earlier sarcasm.

"I am not a monster. Didn't you see that I've become even more beautiful? But since you've come, don't leave. You are from this village anyway; wouldn't dying here be a better ending for you?"

"Secret Technique: Twin Wing Slash!" Following the female ninja's hand seals, the pair of wings behind her flapped a few times, and several large wind blades rushed toward Kakuzu.

"Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall!" It seemed Kakuzu wasn't seeing this secret technique for the first time, as he raised earth walls on all four sides of his body. Usually, for such wind blades, defending from the front would suffice; there was no need to waste chakra on such things. Even a Tailed Beast with infinite chakra like the Nine-Tails didn't have the habit of wasting chakra.

But when the wind blades were blocked by the earth walls, they unexpectedly curved, attacking from all four sides. It seemed Kakuzu had suffered from this technique before, which was why he used such a defensive maneuver.

Seeing Kakuzu block her attack, the female ninja smiled slightly and then vanished from Kakuzu's sight. Seeing her disappear again, Kakuzu quickly retracted his technique and jumped to the side. Sure enough, a figure emerged from right beneath where Kakuzu had been standing—it was the female ninja.

"Lightning Style: False Darkness!" Following Kakuzu's words, a large spear made of lightning formed in front of him and pierced toward the female ninja. As this lightning spear moved forward, it continued to split, covering the area below.

When the female ninja saw the lightning spear piercing toward her, she flipped and vanished from the ground, disappearing into the earth like a pangolin.

Kakuzu had not yet split off his clones even this far into the fight, and it was clear what he was doing as the two continued to trade blows.

On a tree in the distance, a figure was constantly watching the battle—it was Zetsu. It was unclear how he had emerged from the Sacred Tree so quickly.

"It seems the target is correct. Judging by the target's ninjutsu, it is indeed the Seven-Tails, Chomei. I didn't expect the Seven-Tails to have a jinchuriki so soon, and the jinchuriki's strength seems quite formidable. Kakuzu might not necessarily be a match for him," White Zetsu said while staring at the battlefield.

"It is a bit strange. The fact that the Seven-Tails has a jinchuriki isn't surprising, but the strength of this jinchuriki is peculiar. It seems this jinchuriki is highly compatible with the Seven-Tails. As for Kakuzu not being a match, you underestimate him. This only proves the prowess of this jinchuriki; to use the Tailed Beast Mode right from the start without any probing is why Kakuzu was caught off guard. The reason Kakuzu is being suppressed is that the opponent is very familiar with his ninjutsu and combat style. It seems Takigakure has been plotting how to deal with Kakuzu all these years," Black Zetsu mused.

"So what now? Should we have Kakuzu retreat, or should we go and support him? Their reinforcements seem to be arriving soon, and the situation with the Daimyo of the Land of Waterfalls is almost resolved. These dark ninjas are truly unreliable," White Zetsu asked.

"Signal him to retreat. This time was merely to confirm the whereabouts of the Seven-Tails. If we act now and capture it, it will attract unwanted attention. Furthermore, the Tailed Beasts must be sealed in order for it to be effective; we cannot afford to make a mistake there. Capturing it now is useless, and it would be a waste of our manpower to guard it. It isn't worth it."

"That is true. But I really didn't expect the Seven-Tails to be in Takigakure. No wonder there hasn't been any intelligence on it for so many years. If we hadn't wanted to verify the information a while ago, we truly wouldn't have known the Seven-Tails was no longer in the Land of Wind. It's fortunate we discovered it early; if we had no news of the Seven-Tails once the plan began, it would have been a huge headache," White Zetsu said with a tone of regret.

"Speaking of which, the Land of Wind is truly useless. They paid such a high price to trade for the Tailed Beasts from the First Hokage, yet they couldn't even keep watch over them, causing us to waste so much time confirming the location of the Seven-Tails," White Zetsu continued.

"It was our own carelessness as well. Back when the Five Great Nations held a conference regarding the Tailed Beast issue, in order to maintain the balance of power, the other four nations paid a heavy price to exchange Tailed Beasts with the First Hokage. The Land of Wind took the One-Tail and Seven-Tails; the Land of Lightning took the Two-Tails and Eight-Tails; the Land of Water took the Three-Tails and Six-Tails; the Land of Earth took the Four-Tails and Five-Tails. The Land of Fire kept the strongest, the Nine-Tails, which balanced the combat power of the five nations. It is unexpected that while the Tailed Beasts in other countries are fine, the Seven-Tails in the Land of Wind has vanished. For such an important military asset to disappear without the Land of Wind making a single move is truly abnormal," Black Zetsu slowly analyzed the situation. "It seems we must keep an eye on the Land of Wind from now on. We can't have them causing any trouble."

"Understood. I will dispatch some people to look into it," White Zetsu replied. "I have already signaled Kakuzu to retreat. What should we do next?"

"Nothing needs to be done. Everything is ready; we only lack the east wind. The only thing to do now is wait. It is time to go back once; it is time to tell him that the plan he has been plotting for years is about to begin," Black Zetsu said slowly, his eyes reflecting a sense of absolute control.

"Kakuzu has already retreated. Are you going to see him?" White Zetsu asked.

"Let's go see him. He will be a useful asset in the future; we shouldn't waste him easily," Black Zetsu said, and then Zetsu vanished.

Kakuzu had already escaped the territory of Takigakure. Although he had been in a sorry state earlier, he no longer looked so disheveled; aside from his tattered clothes, his injuries were already gone.

In a secluded spot, Kakuzu found a tree and sat down to rest. Once he had recovered, he spoke to the empty air: "I know you are already here. After this, I no longer owe you anything. Do not come looking for me again. This deal was a total loss."

"Hehe, don't be like that. You should thank me for the opportunity to return to your own village," Zetsu emerged from a tree on the other side.

"What exactly are you trying to do? Since you wanted me to act, why didn't you tell me Takigakure had a jinchuriki? If you had provided the intelligence beforehand, I wouldn't have lost a heart," Kakuzu stood up and faced Zetsu.

"I wouldn't say I lied to you. It was only a suspicion before, but now it is confirmed. You can't blame me, though; you were once a member of Takigakure yourself. Even you didn't know the village had a jinchuriki, so how was I supposed to confirm it?" White Zetsu replied.

"Hmph, fine. I suppose you have a point. So, what are you really planning? Don't tell me you just went to confirm the existence of a jinchuriki," Kakuzu continued to ask.

"I didn't lie about that; it was indeed to confirm the existence of the Tailed Beast. As for what we are doing, you will know in the future. So, what are you going to do now? If you have nothing else, I have some things I would like your help with," Black Zetsu spoke this time.

"Don't push your luck. I am not your subordinate. Although you saved me once and I will do some things for you, that does not mean you can command me," Kakuzu said, his eyes turning cold as he looked at Zetsu.

"Rest assured, I am not commanding you. I just want you to find a way to acquire more money while you are replenishing your hearts. I need a large sum of wealth," Black Zetsu said.

"Just money? Is it that simple?" Kakuzu asked, sounding somewhat uncertain.

"Yes. To develop an organization, wealth is indispensable. I even want you to be the treasurer of our organization. Don't forget the conditions you agreed to. I won't ask for anything you cannot do, but acquiring some wealth is something you should be able to handle, right? Besides, this is right up your alley," Black Zetsu continued.

"If that is all, then how much do you need?" Kakuzu asked.

"The more, the better, of course. The strength of an organization also depends on its financial power. Oh, and there is one more condition," Black Zetsu paused.

"What other condition? Let's hear it. I don't guarantee I can do it," Kakuzu said coldly.

"Don't worry, it's a very simple condition. Before I come looking for you, do not make an enemy of the people of Konoha. And preferably, stay far away from the Land of Fire."

"Why? You should know I have a grudge against Konoha," Kakuzu asked, stunned.

"I am afraid you will be killed by the people of Konoha. You should know it wasn't easy for me to save you from the First Hokage. If you were to be killed by Konoha's people again, wouldn't all my hard work be for nothing?" Black Zetsu said.

"Hmph," Kakuzu let out a cold snort upon hearing this. "Then my revenge will go unavenged. The First Hokage left me a mark, and I still wanted to return the favor."

"I'm afraid you won't have the chance. The First Hokage is already dead. Do you intend to go bully the low-level ninjas of Konoha?" Black Zetsu said.

"Hmph, fine. I will try my best not to provoke the people of Konoha, but if they come to provoke me, then I will not be polite." After saying this, Kakuzu vanished in a flash, as if afraid Zetsu would add more conditions.

"Why did you tell him not to make an enemy of Konoha?" White Zetsu asked curiously.

"The Nine-Tails is in Konoha, and it is the last Tailed Beast to be captured. Before we capture the first eight, it is best not to startle the snake. If Konoha were to be prepared, it would be very troublesome. After all, even he was defeated by the First Hokage. Although the First Hokage is dead, who knows if he left behind any contingencies? If even he could do such things, then there is no reason the stronger First Hokage wouldn't have known anything," Black Zetsu said slowly, as if remembering something.

"That is true. The God of Shinobi, capable of defeating him and the nine Tailed Beasts combined with his own strength—that title is truly well-deserved. I really want to see the demeanor of the God of Shinobi," White Zetsu said, seemingly full of admiration for the First Hokage.

"I am afraid you will never see it. Only a living First Hokage can be called the God of Shinobi." After Black Zetsu said this cryptic sentence, Zetsu vanished.