Hunting the Nine-Tails

Lightning Country.

Towering mountain ranges stretched endlessly, their peaks piercing the thin mist and giving off an imposing yet ethereal illusion.

A Kumogakure squad was carrying out its routine patrol. As a newly established major ninja village, remnants of their former rival clans often came to cause trouble. Thus, Kumogakure dispatched several squads every day to patrol the outskirts of the entire village.

As usual, the patrol squad jogged along its assigned route, cautiously observing their surroundings along the way. When the noon sun hung high overhead, they successfully completed their mission.

The squad members relaxed as well. One of them suggested, "Finally finished. Captain, how about we grab a drink later?"

The captain thought for a moment before saying, "Sure. You guys head back to the village first. I'll go hand over the mission details to the next squad, then come find you."

"Fine, but when you get there, you have to punish yourself with a drink first!"

"That's right!"

"You bunch of idiots." The captain laughed and cursed at them, then waved them off and ran alone toward the second squad.

But as he ran, the captain's expression gradually turned grave. Everything around him was peaceful, yet for the past five minutes, he had been circling the same spot.

As a ninja who had lived through the Warring States Era, the captain might not have been particularly strong, but his combat instincts were extremely sharp. He immediately stopped, gripping a kunai in a reverse hold, his tone harsh. "Who is it? Show yourself!"

As the captain shouted, he tried to disrupt the chakra within his body. His years of combat experience told him that he had most likely fallen under a genjutsu.

"Tsk, you're pretty sharp."

A teasing voice sounded beside his ear. The captain's pupils contracted, and without even turning his head, he slashed behind him—only to cut through empty air!

"Idiot, over here."

!

The captain abruptly looked toward the voice and saw a pair of scarlet Sharingan. The next second, his consciousness flowed away like water, rapidly dissolving into chaos!

Izuna looked at the dazed squad captain before him, a trace of frustration on his face. "You're already the fifth one. I hope you know something."

"Tell me, where is the Nine-Tails?"

The squad captain stared blankly ahead and said, word by word, "I don't know."

Hearing that, Izuna could not help sighing. "As expected, still no clues."

"Clues? I know a clue about the Nine-Tails." Suddenly, the squad captain spoke again, though his expression remained vacant. "A week ago, the Nine-Tails appeared five kilometers outside the village. Later, Lord Raikage drove it west into Liaoye Forest. I don't know where it is now."

"Liaoye Forest." Izuna nodded. Having obtained information about the Nine-Tails, he released the genjutsu on the squad captain and erased this portion of his memories.

Not long afterward, the squad captain slowly woke up. Seeing himself lying on the ground, his mind was completely blank. "Strange, why did I suddenly pass out? Damn! I still haven't handed over the mission."

With that, he hurriedly ran into the distance.

Meanwhile, Izuna rapidly headed for Liaoye Forest. Three days had passed since he arrived in the Lightning Country, but finding a Tailed Beast within such a vast nation was no easy task. So, he set his sights on Kumogakure's ninja.

Fortunately, the Tailed Beasts were currently regarded by ninja villages as monsters that brought calamity. No one had yet considered using them as military assets. Only after the villages' development had stabilized did they turn their attention once more to these Tailed Beasts with immense chakra.

Liaoye Forest was not far from Kumogakure. After only an hour, Izuna entered the depths of the forest. Unhurriedly, he took a compass from his robes and carefully watched its needle move.

This compass was a ninja tool passed down through the Uchiha Clan. Within a certain range, it could detect and locate unusual chakra reactions. It had previously been used to hunt for treasure, but Tailed Beast chakra was inherently different from that of ordinary humans, so it could naturally be detected with the compass as well.

Tap, tap...

Finally, after searching for nearly another half hour, the compass reacted!

"Found it." Joy flashed across Izuna's face. In an instant, he vanished from where he stood. When he reappeared, he was standing atop the crown of a towering tree. Looking down, even though Izuna had prepared himself mentally, he was still stunned by the sight before him!

In a clearing within the forest, a gigantic orange fox rested with its eyes closed. Its immense body was like a mountain, its nine tails lying naturally behind it. Its body rose and fell slightly with every breath, and the air it exhaled buffeted the surrounding trees until they swayed as though ready to collapse.

"What enormous chakra. This amount is nearly on par with Big Brother's." Izuna looked down at the Nine-Tails, his eyes full of astonishment. "No wonder Third Brother values you so highly. This chakra alone is enough to easily destroy a small country. Well, from now on, you'll be Flame Hidden Village's guardian beast. Should I give you a name? Big Yellow?"

"Hm?" Just as Izuna considered what to name the Nine-Tails, it slowly opened its eyes. Its red vertical pupils swiftly locked onto Izuna. "This restless malice... brat, who are you?"

"Hm, you're awake?" Izuna said from above. "Nine-Tails, I never expected you to be even stronger than I imagined. It's a pity I didn't obtain your power sooner. Otherwise, we might have won that battle against the Senju Clan."

"You want this old man's power?" The Nine-Tails propped itself up, its massive body slowly rising. Its enormous head soon came level with Izuna's, its voice carrying a hint of anger. "Brat, are you courting death?"

Izuna did not care about the Nine-Tails' threat in the slightest. "Just as Third Brother said, the Nine-Tails is a collection of hatred. The angrier it gets, the more violent its chakra becomes, and the easier it is to control with the Sharingan. Then... huh?"

A vast shadow rapidly enveloped the ground beneath him. A gigantic claw descended from the sky and slammed down where Izuna stood. The towering tree was effortlessly pulverized, and the blast of wind flattened every tree within several meters!

"Hmph, weak human." The Nine-Tails snorted disdainfully, twitched its ears, and prepared to go back to sleep.

"What terrifying power. Without relying on the Sharingan, I probably couldn't take you down."

A voice of admiration came from nearby. The Nine-Tails turned its head in surprise and saw Izuna standing unharmed on another tree, the Sharingan in his eyes having shifted into the Mangekyō Sharingan.

"Become a slave to the Sharingan, Nine-Tails!"

Mangekyō Sharingan: Genjutsu!

Vast ocular power poured forth. Before the Nine-Tails could even resist, its eyes had already transformed into Sharingan. Its entire body froze in place, completely trapped within the genjutsu!

The Mangekyō Sharingan was naturally the best shackle for controlling Tailed Beasts!

After controlling the Nine-Tails, Izuna immediately took out a scroll. After opening it, he formed hand seals with both hands, then pressed one hand against the scroll!

Summoning Seal!

Bang—

The Nine-Tails instantly turned into a cloud of white smoke and vanished from the forest. At the top of the scroll, the character "Nine" appeared.

"Whew, done." Izuna tucked the scroll back into his robes, looked into the distance, and a trace of concern flashed through his eyes.

"I wonder how Third Brother is doing."