Nine-Tails

As Mito Uzumaki experienced the genjutsu, she had initially thought the Nine-Tails could break her out of it. Instead, he had fallen under it himself. She hardly knew whether to laugh or cry. Dealing with tailed beasts was far too easy for the Uchiha.

That was the pot calling the kettle black, though, since dealing with tailed beasts was easy for her too. Members of the Uzumaki Clan who had mastered Adamantine Sealing Chains were natural experts at handling them.

Still, she discovered that this genjutsu had no adverse effects. It even let her experience various chakra nature transformations, which shocked her. Could Uchiha Sharingan Genjutsu really achieve this? Or was this a Mangekyō Sharingan ability unique to him?

Much as she marveled at it, most of the visiting shinobi from the village had mixed feelings. He simply taught them without hesitation. When Konoha had first established the Ninja Academy, every clan had treated its jutsu as taboo knowledge that could not be shared with outsiders.

And what had Uchiha Mu done? He had taught them everything he knew. What was he after? They did not understand, but they had certainly gotten a measure of the man. Among them, Hiruzen Sarutobi was exceptionally talented. He had already mastered fire nature transformation, and now that he had experienced the other natures, he was confident he could master them all.

Shimura Danzō had similarly mixed feelings. In his view, the Uchiha were uncontrollable and posed a potential threat to the village. Yet he could not figure out the man before him. Still, the lessons in nature transformation were too good to pass up, and he felt his strength had improved enormously.

Seeing that the genjutsu contained nothing else, Hashirama Senju broke free and looked at Uchiha Mu with a hearty laugh. "Mu, how about coming back to the village?"

"Hashirama, are you trying to repay kindness with malice?" Uchiha Mu rolled his eyes.

"Hahaha." Hashirama clearly failed to notice the double meaning in those words.

"This Medical Ninjutsu of yours is excellent. More people will be able to survive now. Is there anything I can help you with?" Hashirama was sincerely grateful to him. His own regenerative ability was unrivaled, but Medical Ninjutsu had never occurred to him.

Normally, Konoha's Medical Ninjutsu would not have developed until Tsunade came along. Now, Uchiha Mu had accelerated that process.

"Hashirama, I want your cells." Uchiha Mu felt he had collected too few last time.

"Oh, that? Sure, but don't do anything reckless with them." Hashirama's tone turned serious. Then he cut himself with a kunai. The wound quickly healed, and Uchiha Mu successfully sealed away the piece of flesh and blood he had removed.

"No problem."

"Come to think of it, Uchiha Mu, this is our first meeting, isn't it? There's something I want to know. Why did you leave Konoha? Was it for the same reason as Madara?" Although Hashirama did not understand what Madara had said before leaving, those words still weighed on him.

For instance, he could not understand why Madara would attack Konoha when it was a village they had built together.

"My reason?" Uchiha Mu murmured before answering, "As I see it, Konoha is nothing more than one big shinobi clan formed by an alliance of smaller clans. I don't like that."

"One big shinobi clan?"

"Just a shinobi clan whose members have different surnames." Uchiha Mu felt that was enough explanation.

"These peace talks are for peace in the shinobi world, too."

"So you've decided to distribute the tailed beasts, Hashirama? To keep the villages from attacking recklessly because they each have a tailed beast?" Uchiha Mu asked.

"That's exactly what I intend. For peace in Konoha, I'll do anything, even get down on my knees." Hashirama's expression was solemn, making Uchiha Mu realize that this was a Hokage, not merely a figurehead put forward by Tobirama Senju.

"I hope you're right." Uchiha Mu could not be bothered to argue with him anymore. He had an idea: once Hashirama died, he would bring him back with Impure World Reincarnation and let him see for himself how his actions had escalated warfare in the shinobi world.

Within the genjutsu, the Nine-Tails was utterly bewildered. He had been dragged into a genjutsu even while inside Mito Uzumaki? Wasn't that a little too ridiculous? Thinking of how Madara Uchiha had also needed only a glance not long ago made him uncomfortable all over.

Uchiha Mu had not made things difficult for the Nine-Tails, but he had taught him a few things too, making sure everyone was included. After experiencing it all, the Nine-Tails had a complicated look in his eyes, filled with both hatred and an emotion he could not name.

While inside Mito Uzumaki, he had heard that those two, the Two-Tails and the Seven-Tails, were living carefree lives in Uchiha Mu's village. Meanwhile, he had to be sealed inside someone. It only hurt when he had something to compare it to.

Before long, everyone had emerged from the genjutsu. The Nine-Tails discovered that he had too, without being controlled by the Sharingan. Uchiha Mu-he would remember that name. If he ever got the chance, he would ask Chōmei and Matatabi about him.

Mito Uzumaki looked at Keiko Uzumaki after going through a round of genjutsu herself. "He really is impressive."

"Lady Mito?" Keiko Uzumaki had not been caught in the genjutsu, because Uchiha Mu had already taught her through genjutsu back in the Hundred-Clan Shinobi Nation.

"It's nothing. Is this how he taught people in the Hundred-Clan Shinobi Nation?" Seeing that Keiko Uzumaki had no questions, Mito realized that perhaps she was the clueless novice here.

"Yes. He teaches everyone this way."

"He teaches them everything?"

"No. He tailors his lessons to each person's strengths. For example, he taught the Uzumaki Clan members the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique and the Rasengan." Keiko Uzumaki knew that mastery mattered more than the number of ninjutsu one knew. Of all the powerful figures in the shinobi world, who had become famous simply by knowing a lot of ninjutsu?

"I see." Mito Uzumaki nodded. The lesson had only taught her chakra nature transformation, but her greatest strength was still Sealing Jutsu, and she did not intend to change her fighting style.

Still, ever since she had begun sharing her body with the Nine-Tails, she had felt that she would see less combat in the future, unless an enemy attacked Konoha or his power was truly needed.

Hashirama was rather idealistic and had no filter, so she knew he intended to distribute the tailed beasts. Excluding the Two-Tails and the Seven-Tails, Konoha would keep the Nine-Tails, while the remaining six would be divided among the other four great nations.

Everyone who had experienced the genjutsu was stunned. In an era when people practically treated even C-rank ninjutsu as ancestral treasures, Uchiha Mu had shared something like this without conditions. It was no less earth-shattering than suddenly releasing a free game in an age of paid game-time cards.

The Uchiha opened their mouths. They constantly spoke of glory, utterly immersed in the fame Madara and Mu had brought them. Yet at this moment, they fell silent. They could not bring themselves to share the Uchiha's accumulated knowledge with others. As the saying went, teach your apprentice everything, and the master starves.

It was fair to say that, aside from secret techniques and forbidden jutsu, the Uchiha possessed the most jutsu. There was no question about that. After all, the Sharingan was also known as the Copy Eye, and it could easily copy ninjutsu of all five elements.

The Hyuga shinobi had similarly mixed feelings. As members of the branch family, they lacked that crucial degree of vision, leaving those without enough talent with virtually no chance of learning Rotation. Moreover, the Main Family did not even give them the complete Gentle Fist teachings. They looked toward Hyuga Lingnai, who was instructing Rei, with conflicted eyes.

Even though they had not attended the Main Family's meeting, Hyuga Lingnai's unmarked forehead told them that nothing had happened to her. Not only that, even Hyuga Rei, who had been punished for her negligence, had stepped forward. Uchiha Mu had made all of this possible too.

"She really knows how to pick a man," said one envious branch-family girl with blunt bangs and bandages.