"Damn humans! I will never submit to you!"
"Awooo! One day, I'll take revenge on your descendants! I'll tear your schemes apart bite by bite!"
"I'll destroy your homeland with my own hands! I'll kill your loved ones with my own hands!"
"..."
Watching the fox spew nothing but vulgarities, Hashirama thought it over and felt that Mito's method was indeed worth trying. But if they did that, Mito herself would be making far too great a sacrifice.
"I don't want you to get hurt. How about I become the Jinchūriki instead?"
"Hashirama..."
The two embraced tenderly, their feelings gradually intertwining. The Nine-Tails nearly choked on the lovey-dovey display, then began cursing even more viciously the next moment.
Uchiha Gen did not receive word that Uzumaki Mito had become the Jinchūriki until a week later. Madara's funeral had been held very discreetly, and the news had not even spread beyond Konoha. Nor was he surprised that Uzumaki Mito had become the Jinchūriki.
The Uzumaki Clan was ultimately longer-lived than the Senju Clan, and they were experts in Sealing Arts. No one was more suitable than her.
"Once Rōran is finished, I should seal away a Dragon Vein and try being a Jinchūriki myself."
After settling the clan's affairs, Uchiha Gen left Konoha with the three little ones and five followers. Going by the schedule, it was time to take the three children to the laboratory and replace their eyes.
At the border between the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire, in the original laboratory, Uchiha Gen's Shadow Clone watched the clock, calculated the timing, and fished the cultivated bodies out of their nutrient tanks. The people inside looked seventy or eighty percent similar to the three children, except their skin was much fairer—a sickly white utterly devoid of