It Was a Peace-Loving Tailed Beast, Not Very Willing to Attack Humans

Kokuō was exceptionally handsome.

Pure white from head to toe, with the look of both a dog and a horse, his slender, agile figure ranked among the top three in the Tailed Beast world.

He also stood 65 meters tall, higher than any building in Konoha.

Standing atop Kokuō's head, Ruohuo had to look down to speak with Orochimaru.

Orochimaru looked up.

From afar, he watched the student he had pronounced "dead" just two minutes ago standing on the Five-Tails' head, full of life, with the previous Five-Tails Jinchuriki in his hand...

So, what exactly had happened?

The question filled Orochimaru's every thought.

The boy could fly, and he was pretty fast. He'd crossed mountains and breached the defensive lines, gone deep into the heart of Iwagakure territory, and then turned back...

How had he come out riding the Five-Tails??

And carrying the Five-Tails Jinchuriki's corpse??

Had the boy actually defeated the Five-Tails Jinchuriki?

How had he managed that... Could the information on the Five-Tails Jinchuriki have been wrong? Was he actually some ailing old man on his deathbed?

There was no way he'd killed himself in front of the boy!

And when a Jinchuriki died, wasn't the Tailed Beast supposed to...

"Ruohuo..." Orochimaru was overwhelmed by shock and questions.

But as soon as he opened his mouth—

"ROOOAAARRR!!!!!!!!"

Five-Tails Kokuō let out a furious roar at Orochimaru, powerful enough to shake the mountains!

Pfft—

Manda immediately dispelled the Summoning Technique and fled back to Ryūchi Cave in a puff of white smoke!

Bang!!!

Orochimaru was struck by the sound waves, which seemed almost tangible. He flew backward and slammed into the rocks ten meters behind him!

Pfft—

Orochimaru spat out a mouthful of blood, and two streaks of blood ran from his nostrils and ears.

Taking the full force of Five-Tails Kokuō's roar without any warning had left Orochimaru seriously injured!

"Okay, okay. Any more roaring would be rude..."

Ruohuo stopped Kokuō with a thought, and the roar finally ceased.

"Teacher, my new partner has only just come out of a long, dark imprisonment, so he's still adjusting."

Ruohuo spoke to Orochimaru. "Don't worry. The Five-Tails means no harm. He's just a little frightened..."

"Teacher, hurry up and greet my new partner. He won't roar at you anymore after that."

"..."

Orochimaru stood up awkwardly, leaning on the rocks, and looked at Ruohuo from afar with a complicated expression.

He hadn't heard what Ruohuo said... They were already far apart, and his ears were still ringing. His eardrums had surely been ruptured.

But Orochimaru had been the top student at the Ninja Academy back in the day. His theoretical knowledge was rock-solid, and that included lip-reading.

Even though he couldn't hear, he could still make out what Ruohuo meant.

"Ruohuo..." Orochimaru spat out another mouthful of bloody saliva and felt a dull ache in his chest.

"Your new partner... is very strong."

Leaning on the rocks with one hand, Orochimaru gave Ruohuo a thumbs-up with the other.

He lowered his head and took a moment to catch his breath before he finally began to recover.

When he looked up again, he had managed to regain half his usual elegance and composure. He smiled at the Five-Tails.

"Hello, Five-Tails."

Orochimaru forced a smile. "I'm this boy's teacher, Orochimaru. I'm glad you've become his partner."

Five-Tails Kokuō snorted through his nostrils in reply.

"Indra... why have you changed your name?"

Five-Tails Kokuō's voice sounded in Ruohuo's mind. "And this human... he's so false. I don't like him."

"He has the potential to become the only wise man of this era, and he's important to my plans... Every era needs intelligent people to make progress, Kokuō."

Ruohuo replied through their mental link. "Besides, I haven't changed my name. I've awakened some of my memories from a past life..."

"I was Indra before, and I'm Uchiha Ruohuo now. Don't dwell on it too much, Kokuō."

"..." Five-Tails Kokuō fell silent for a moment. "It seems the long cycle of rebirth has changed you greatly, Indra."

He had completely accepted it.

After forming a chakra link with Ruohuo, the Five-Tails had fully recognized Indra's mark in Ruohuo's chakra.

So even though Ruohuo differed from the Indra in the Five-Tails' memories, Kokuō could still accept it.

It was like a childhood friend.

No matter how much they changed as they grew up, once you knew who they were, it all felt perfectly natural.

"Ruohuo..." Orochimaru interrupted the conversation between the boy and the Tailed Beast and pointed toward the distant mass of dark figures on the other side of the mountain.

"Looks like we have to leave. Iwagakure's ninjas... probably won't be too happy to see us."

Then he looked at Ruohuo again and smiled. "Could you have your partner fire off another Tailed Beast Bomb? I'm sure he'd be happy to do it..."

At that, Ruohuo was genuinely tempted.

Looking at that mass of Iwagakure ninjas... How many soldiers would one Tailed Beast Bomb take out?

Wouldn't his battle record shoot through the roof?

"No, Teacher."

Ruohuo suppressed the urge to clear out the enemy forces and shook his head with a frown. "My partner is a peace-loving Tailed Beast. He's not very willing to attack humans."

"The Land of Earth used to be his home, too. He doesn't really want to damage the environment..."

Battle records, in the end, were just a tally of kills.

Iwagakure was Konoha's enemy, not Uchiha's. What did that have to do with him?

The Ninja World War was going to last for years. Ruohuo had no intention of making Iwagakure surrender.

Wouldn't that just benefit Konoha?

"..." Orochimaru fell silent.

Then what was that Tailed Beast Bomb just now?

But the question had barely crossed his mind before Ruohuo answered it.

"Besides, I only just rescued him. He's still a little weak."

"Just now, I saw that you were in danger, Teacher. For my sake, he reluctantly used the weakest Tailed Beast Bomb he could to help you out."

"That's left him even weaker. He's not in very good shape now..."

"..." Orochimaru fell silent again.

Weak?

He didn't think so.

One roar had set his insides churning and left him deaf. And Ruohuo called that weak?

Still, Orochimaru had noticed earlier that the Tailed Beast Bomb had landed on the Iwagakure encampment...

"Then we really shouldn't stay here long, Ruohuo."

Orochimaru didn't dwell on it, and his smile had regained eight-tenths of its usual composure.

"Sure. Then hurry up and summon your partner, too, Teacher."

Ruohuo said, "He didn't catch up with me last time. I can give him another chance."

"..."

The composure on Orochimaru's face vanished again.