As soon as the proposal to question the tailed beasts entered the communications network, the Five Great Shinobi Villages sent in their conditions one after another.
Some demanded that all answers be shared.
Some demanded that their own village's Sealing Squad read the memories.
Others proposed having the jinchūriki enter the unified Technique, then having sensory ninja determine whether the tailed beasts were lying.
Every demand was made in the name of verifying the truth of the ancient past.
Every demand could also expose the jinchūriki's identities, the structures of their seals, and the tailed beasts' weaknesses.
Takigakure was the first to refuse.
Their Seven-Tails chakra sample had only just been seized. They would not send their jinchūriki, tailed beast and all, to another, larger negotiating table merely because the Sage of Six Paths' final words had surfaced.
Kumogakure replied with just one sentence.
The tailed beasts were not Konoha's archives.
Kirigakure did not even acknowledge whether its village currently had a jinchūriki.
Before the dispute had even begun, the verification process already showed signs of turning into another struggle over the tailed beasts.
Gen copied out the original sentence from the stone wall at sea once more.
First, ask them what they remembered.
Not read their memories.
Not extract anything.
And certainly not gather the Nine Tailed Beasts in one place.
His first list contained only four questions.
Had they seen the Sage of Six Paths during the final stage of his life?
Had they seen the Black Will when his power was divided?
Had they heard any command that they must become one again?
Were they willing to continue answering?
The first three required only confirmation of whether they had witnessed those things.
The last determined whether the questioning could continue.
If any tailed beast refused, that refusal