Capturing the Remaining Eight Tailed Beasts

After Dave let the Nine-Tails out, he left him alone to roam the village as he pleased. With Madara and Hashirama still in the village, the Nine-Tails wouldn't dare try anything even if he had ten times the nerve.

Naturally, a Nine-Tails strolling so openly through the village caught the attention of spies from other villages, who passed the information back home.

Land of Wind, Sunagakure.

"What do you make of this, Chiyo?" Reto, the First Kazekage, set down the document in his hand and asked the young Chiyo standing before him.

"A red fox with nine tails... the Nine-Tails... the nine tailed beasts... has Konoha already tamed the Nine-Tails...? No, our village must have a tailed beast of its own too. Konoha's Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha were already enough of a headache. Add the Nine-Tails, and Konoha really will be the strongest of the five great villages," the young Chiyo said gravely.

"In that case, with Konoha having already captured the Nine-Tails, which of the remaining eight tailed beasts should we capture?" Reto asked with a nod.

"According to the records, the Nine-Tails is the strongest of the nine tailed beasts. The other eight combined might not even have as much chakra as the Nine-Tails alone. Since the Nine-Tails is no longer available, we should capture the One-Tail. The records describe the One-Tail as a marten covered in cursed seal markings, skilled in Wind Release and Magnet Release Sealing Jutsu. He's an excellent match for Sunagakure. He should be somewhere in the Land of Wind too. He's quite fond of sand," Chiyo said, taking out a book of records.

"All right, we'll capture him!"

Meanwhile, the other villages also began making moves of their own. Their targets were the remaining eight tailed beasts.

Konoha, Hokage Office.

"Any ideas?" Hashirama asked the people before him, looking at the intelligence report with a headache. Politics had never been his strong suit...

"We need to capture them too. Now that Dave has become the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki, every village will focus on capturing the remaining tailed beasts. We need to get all of them before they do," Tobirama said, slowly opening his eyes, his gaze sharp.

"Why capture them? The Nine-Tails is enough for us. What, do you want to capture every tailed beast and have the other four great nations gang up on us?" Izuna retorted from beside him, rolling his eyes.

"Heh, Izuna, why don't you go home and attend a matchmaking date? You don't belong here. If we capture the remaining tailed beasts and sell them to the other villages, we'll not only gain substantial funds to support our village, we'll also keep the Five Great Nations balanced and prevent them from acting rashly. Now that our village has the Nine-Tails, the other four great villages all feel threatened. We've been out in front of the five great villages, and that puts Konoha's future development at a serious disadvantage. The other four villages could very well target us."

Tobirama sneered, taking a jab at Izuna before offering his explanation.

"Tobirama Senju! Do you want to die?!"

"Heh, Uchiha Izuna, remind me who I already killed once!"

"Tobirama Senju!!!"

"Uchiha Izuna!!!"

After roaring at each other, the two rushed out, headed straight for the roof of the Hokage building, and started fighting...

Inside the office, Hashirama looked utterly miserable... Can't those two just get along...? Look at Madara and me. We're so close! Unlike you two, who start throwing punches at the slightest provocation. Still, Tobirama had a point, and Hashirama was already tempted.

A short while later.

"Izuna, how strong are you now?" Hashirama asked, looking at the bruised and swollen faces of Izuna and Tobirama with a growing headache.

"Heh, at least stronger than a certain white-haired bastard who only knows how to play dirty with Flying Thunder God," Izuna sneered, his face swollen like a pig's.

"Right, then can I leave the One-Tail and Two-Tails to you?" Hashirama nodded. Naturally, he wasn't about to take Izuna's nonsense seriously, but Izuna's current strength was surely about equal to Tobirama's.

"No." Just as Izuna was about to agree, Madara stood up beside him and spoke.

"Hm? What's wrong, Madara?" Hashirama paused, turning to ask him.

"Yeah, big brother, why won't you let me go?" Izuna asked, equally puzzled.

"I failed in my duty as your older brother before and let you die. Now that you've come back to life, I'll spend the rest of my life making up for it. All you need to do is live safely, Izuna. I don't want you in danger again. Leave four of the remaining eight tailed beasts to me," Madara said evenly, looking at Hashirama.

"Big brother..." Conflicting emotions crossed Izuna's face... He didn't know what to say...

"All right, Madara. I'll leave the One-Tail, Two-Tails, Three-Tails, and Four-Tails to you." Hashirama understood Madara's feelings. He felt the same way about his own younger brother, Tobirama.

"Certain people who've only just come back to life should behave themselves, go on matchmaking dates, and carry on the family line. What about me, big brother?" Tobirama, whose face was also swollen like a pig's, asked after taking another jab at Izuna.

"You? You don't need to leave either. Stay in the village and go on matchmaking dates with Izuna. Hahaha! Mito has found a few more lovely women for you lately. Go meet them. Leave the remaining four tailed beasts—the Five-Tails, Six-Tails, Seven-Tails, and Eight-Tails—to me. It's been a long time since I last fought." Hashirama smiled slyly, utterly ignoring Tobirama's increasingly dark expression...

"Tobirama Senju!!! I'll kill you!!"

"Uchiha Izuna!!! Someone who's already died once has no right to say that!"

"Tobirama Senju!!!"

"Uchiha Izuna!!!"

Watching the two rush out to fight again at the slightest disagreement, even Madara joined Hashirama in feeling a headache coming on... But he wasn't going to stop them. He would leave Izuna to settle his own affairs with Tobirama. As long as Izuna was all right, that was enough.

Just then.

"Madara, want to see who can catch them faster?" Hashirama asked, looking at Madara with a fierce fire blazing in his eyes.

"Hashirama Senju, should I take that as a challenge?" Madara met Hashirama's gaze, scarlet light shining in his eyes.

"Of course!" Hashirama nodded. Damn it, whether it was dancing, games, or claw machines, I haven't beaten Madara once these past few days. I'm going to even the score!

"Hashirama!"

"Madara!!"

A short while later, Sasuke Sarutobi entered the Hokage Office with a stack of documents for Hashirama to review.

When he saw the chaos inside the Hokage Office... papers scattered all over the floor, two huge holes in the glass behind the desk... Sasuke Sarutobi's slightly hunched figure instantly seemed utterly forlorn...

"Hashirama Senju!!!"

Hashirama Senju, who had already run out of the village, heard the roar coming from behind him and shuddered violently...