The Seven-Tails Jinchuriki

As evening approached, Anyo infiltrated the village and paid Kakuzu no attention at all, taking Genno to a secluded spot to hide.

Genno asked in confusion, "Why are we hiding? Aren't we looking for the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki?"

Anyo gave a mysterious smile. "Guard my body. I have a way to find him."

With that, Anyo formed hand seals and silently cried out, Spirit Transformation Technique!

A dark soul undetectable to ordinary people flew out of his body. Although his chakra had been sealed, Anyo's greatest strength was actually his soul. With the Spirit Transformation Technique at his disposal, he feared almost no one in a one-on-one fight. The Spirit Transformation Technique was even more formidable when used to find people, especially Jinchūriki.

Sure enough, the moment Anyo emerged in Soul State, he sensed an immense surge of soul power.

In that direction.

His dark soul floated straight over, and Anyo tried using his soul to perform the Sealing Technique Kushina had taught him earlier.

It worked. Once he finished the hand seals, an invisible barrier appeared out of thin air, firmly enclosing the place where the Seven-Tails was.

"Who's there?" The Seven-Tails Jinchuriki startled awake.

He turned out to be a white-haired old man who looked extremely frail, like a candle flickering in the wind, though his soul power was immensely strong.

After a moment's consideration, Anyo increased the soul power of his Spirit Transformation Technique. His ink-black soul seemed to become tangible as it entered the old man's mind directly.

"What kind of ability is this?" The old man was greatly shocked.

Appearing deep within the old man's soul, Anyo could clearly see his soul space. Besides the man himself, there was a monster resembling a cross between a beetle and a dragonfly, with several enormous wings behind it that looked particularly striking.

Anyo looked at the tailed beast. In Soul State, he felt no pressure whatsoever, and he relaxed considerably. It seemed that, among the tailed beasts, the Seven-Tails was one of the weaker ones. Thinking about it, that made sense. If he were very strong, the other Five Great Nations would never have let Takigakure snap him up.

"So this is the Seven-Tails, Chōmei?" Anyo looked him over appreciatively, used Soul State to take on his original appearance, then gave a friendly smile. "Hello, my name is Anyo. This is a ninjutsu, the Spirit Transformation Technique. It allows me to use soul power to attack and communicate."

Seven-Tails Chōmei looked extremely uneasy as he watched Anyo. The wings behind him kept trembling, and he actually seemed terrified. The old man stroked him and soothed him for a while before asking, "What is your purpose in entering my soul?"

Anyo stated his original purpose without a care. "I want to take Takigakure and kill all the village's ninja, but I don't want to cause too much of a disturbance, so I came to seal your six senses in advance. Since you've noticed, I'll be direct. Don't intervene, or you'll cause even more casualties."

At those words, the old man froze for a moment before giving a bitter smile. "May I ask which nation's ninja you are? Why would you set your sights on a little place like Takigakure?"

Seeing that the old man remained fairly calm and was in no hurry to fight to the death, Anyo was also very pleased. He took the initiative to sit down and talk. "I'm from Konoha..."

Anyo had barely said those words when Seven-Tails Chōmei, who had remained silent all this time, suddenly spoke. "You're from the Uchiha Clan, aren't you? Such an evil, dark soul-even worse than Madara Uchiha's."

Hearing this, Anyo asked with interest, "Oh, now I remember. All of you Nine Tailed Beasts were captured by the First Hokage and Madara Uchiha, right? How strong were those two?"

The Seven-Tails clearly recalled those days and said somberly, "Without the Six Paths, they were invincible."

At this point, the old man asked, "So you're a member of Konoha's Uchiha Clan. As far as I know, Takigakure hasn't offended Konoha, has it?"

"It hasn't, but you burned down my subordinate's village. Oh, I mean Kagerō Village, which you attacked half a month ago. So, am I wrong to come for revenge?" Anyo countered.

"Ah, there is no right or wrong in war, young man. I hope you'll keep your word." After saying this, the old man's expression turned bitter, and he said in astonishment, "I've already sensed that familiar murderous aura. To think the one who came was Kakuzu. Well, that makes sense. He certainly does hate the village."

"Oh, your spiritual perception is sharp. You can sense him even through the seal," Anyo praised.

"Not at all. I'm simply too familiar with him. After all, the secret technique he practices, Earth Grudge Fear, was originally the village's forbidden technique." The old man then asked uneasily, "Will Kakuzu really listen to you and only kill ninja without hurting anyone else?"

"I can't guarantee it completely. After all, I hired him with money. He's not my subordinate." After saying this, Anyo thought for a moment. "If there aren't any powerful ninja, and it won't cause widespread destruction, he probably won't."

"That's good." The old man sighed in relief. He knew Kakuzu's strength well; the village's ninja would be no match for him. He spoke frankly. "Actually, there's no need for you to trap me like this. I'm already old, and I have no desire to fight anyone anymore. May I ask you a favor?"

"Oh? Let's hear it."

"I can help you obtain Takigakure. In exchange, I need you to protect my granddaughter and let her inherit the Seven-Tails without trouble. She and the Seven-Tails are the most precious things I have in this world."

"Your granddaughter? What does she look like?" Anyo asked.

"Her name is Fū. She looks like this." The old man conjured an image in midair of an adorable little girl with green hair, orange eyes, and somewhat dark skin. She looked about two years old.

"No problem." Anyo agreed immediately. She's just a little girl. A lollipop should win her over. If one doesn't work, then two.

"Thank you," the old man said. "You can leave now. I won't go out."

"Then I'll take my leave. See you tomorrow."

After releasing the Spirit Transformation Technique, Anyo quickly woke up. He looked at Genno, who had been silently keeping watch beside him, and said, "Things went even more smoothly than I imagined. Now we just have to wait for Kakuzu to deal with the trouble."

"Ah, this ninja you brought in really is something." Using the mechanisms he had made, Genno could roughly sense what was happening in Takigakure. The ninja inside were almost all being slaughtered by Kakuzu.

By dawn, a bloody air had begun to spread through the battle-scarred Takigakure. Apart from those still asleep, most residents knew that something had happened, but as ordinary people, they naturally did not dare go outside.

Wreathed in a bloodthirsty aura, Kakuzu came openly before the two of them. His shirt had been torn to shreds, and one of the four masks on his body had shattered. It seemed the battle had not been a complete sweep; he had still suffered some damage. Unfortunately, against Kakuzu, anyone lacking overwhelming strength and intelligence was bound to meet a miserable end.

The first thing Kakuzu said upon seeing them was, "Time to settle the bill."