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JST Chapter 222: A Fox's Fear
🕑 Added 2025-03-22 12:52:21 +0000 UTC[From the target Nine-Tails: You get some of the Nine-Tails' chakra!]
Kazuki raised his head slightly and a red flash briefly crossed his eyes.
The Nine-Tails' heart skipped a beat. Although he didn't feel any loss of chakra, the moment he locked eyes with Kazuki, he could sense with absolute clarity that a portion of his own chakra had appeared within the man.
How is this possible?!
I'm still sealed in the safe house! I'm still inside Kushina's body!
Suddenly, the Nine-Tails lowered its head quickly, unable to continue using its perception to observe Kazuki.
"Just by looking at him..." The Nine-Tails shuddered. "Just by looking at him, he's managed to drain part of my chakra without me even realizing it. He's a truly terrifying guy..."
The Nine-Tails hid further in the sealed space inside Kushina, his mind in chaos.
After all, he'd already fist-bumped Kazuki! He'd even shaken his hand!
Based on his special ability to perceive malice and the chakra interaction between the two, the Nine-Tails had always held a positive opinion of Kazuki. Despite being an Uchiha, he viewed him as someone with the same nobility and generosity as Asura.
But now… how was it possible that in such a short time this man had become so dangerous?
"I... I know!" The Nine-Tails' pupils shrank suddenly: "Kazuki… he's not related to Asura or Indra! His connection is to someone even older… to the ancestor of the old man of the Six Paths!"
"No… it can't be…" his breathing became erratic. "That entity was sealed by the Sage of the Six Paths and his brother!"
The eagerness with which Kazuki absorbed chakra, the almost Ōtsutsuki bloodline emanating from him… Everything pointed to a single possibility.
The first wielder of the Ten-Tails!
As one of the nine tailed beasts created from the Ten-Tails, the Nine-Tails inherited some memory fragments and had heard many stories from the Sage of the Six Paths.
And now, having come to this conclusion, the Nine-Tails, who had never bowed his head to anyone, sank to the ground, muttering with a mixture of fear and awe, "This... this is a change unprecedented in a thousand years..."
"It's dangerous... Too dangerous!"
"No wonder the blond guy who worshipped Mount Myōboku insists that Kazuki is the child of prophecy… It seems those toads can foresee certain events after all…"
"What do I do now?!"
The Nine-Tails raised both paws to his head, his nine tails fluttering nervously from side to side. For a fox like him, the existence of anything related to the Ten-Tails and the Sage of the Six Paths was too much of a mental burden.
He had to talk to Kushina...
...
"Kazuki-san, here you go! I just finished your special order of dango, please eat them while they're still hot!"
Kojiro placed a steaming bowl of colorful dango in front of Kazuki. But when he looked at Kazuki's white hair, his expression turned worried, and he sighed softly.
"Kazuki-san, you must take care of your health…" he said seriously. "You are the future of the village."
"You too, Kojiro." Kazuki thanked him with a smile and, in a kind voice, replied, "Don't overwork yourself. I hope your dango shop continues to thrive in Konoha for a long time. May my children and grandchildren continue to enjoy your food."
"I promise to fulfill that mission, Kazuki-san!" Kojiro stood up solemnly and answered with determination.
Kushina watched Kazuki closely. His always calm demeanor and firmness in any situation made her feel increasingly uncomfortable.
'If I had the same determination as him...' she thought. 'Perhaps I could come to an understanding with the fox inside me.'
In her mind, she made a decision. 'I must speak with the Nine-Tails. After all, he is the strongest of the Tailed Beasts, and Kazuki… he is in a state similar to that of a Jinchūriki.'
Kushina clenched her fists. 'If even Lady Tsunade challenges the mistakes of the previous Hokage, I must do so as well.'
Both human and tailed beast, after their encounter with Kazuki, began to think about what words to use to talk to each other.
...
After eating, Kazuki and Kushina returned home, where they picked up some ancient scrolls from the Uzumaki clan.
"Kazuki…" Kushina said, looking at him with determination. "Konoha's future is in your hands. You are not alone; you have companions willing to fight against injustice."
She shook her fists vigorously and exclaimed, "Cheer up, cheer up!"
Kazuki smiled warmly at her and nodded. "Thank you, Kushina."
After saying goodbye politely, Kazuki turned around and walked in the direction of Naka Shrine.
...
Uchiha clan territory.
"Tobirama, do you think she misunderstood something?"
Kazuki sat cross-legged in front of the ancient stone tablet of the Uchiha clan, flipping through the clan Uzumaki scrolls he had just received from Kushina.
"Kushina says my hair looks like yours. She doesn't think you're planning to possess me, does she?" he said mockingly.
"Stop talking nonsense!" Tobirama waved his hand impatiently. "I've already spoken to Monkey. As the Third Hokage, he'll know how to explain to those youngsters what my true intentions are."
Then his expression turned serious. "Kazuki, you should worry more about yourself. That anomaly from earlier…"
"That Rinne Sharingan absorbed the tailed beast chakra you took earlier!"
"I know, but what can I do, Tobirama?" Kazuki smiled helplessly: "Do you think I can control it?"
Senju Tobirama was silent.
Tobirama, who had observed the Rinne Sharingan closely, saw the powerlessness of the tailed beast's chakra before that eye, before it was completely absorbed in an instant.
Even he, who was now nothing more than a conscious soul, felt himself almost swallowed up by that ominous eye.
That was not something that human power could resist.
"Tobirama, I can feel it," Kazuki said calmly. "I can still control myself for a while longer." He looked at the stone with a faint smile. "Even though my control weakens, my power continues to grow. According to these scrolls, what I just awakened is the Mind's Eye of the Kagura."
"I still have time. I can stabilize the war and ensure the peace of Konoha for at least twenty years."
Kazuki closed his eyes with a serene expression. "And when that happens... I will have fulfilled my duty as a Konoha ninja."
"I will have honored the Will of Fire."
"Even in such dire circumstances, you're still thinking about the village?"
"Kazuki…"
If the Will of Fire truly exists, then it must be burning in Kazuki’s heart.
Compared to the time he himself had sacrificed his life for the village's future, Senju Tobirama believed that Kazuki’s decision was even more precious and difficult.
After all, when Tobirama had chosen to stay behind, he hadn’t expected to face Kinkaku and Ginkaku wielding the Sage’s treasured tools, nor had he truly believed that, with the Flying Thunder God technique, he would actually die…
Not that he had ever feared sacrificing himself for the village.
Since the arrival of this Rinne Sharingan, Kazuki had been enduring slow and relentless torment.
His body was eroded, his chakra was stolen...
This was nothing like fighting an enemy on the battlefield. Kazuki watched as his own body slowly stopped feeling like his own, suffering an endless cycle of death and the unknown. Yet his will remained as firm as steel, still holding the village close to his heart…
Kazuki had elevated the Will of Fire to another level!
"Don’t say that!" Tobirama spoke sternly. "Kazuki, we cannot give up…"
"This isn’t about giving up or not." Kazuki shook his head, unwilling to continue the discussion. He rubbed his face, trying to shake off some of his exhaustion, and lightened his tone. "Tobirama, take this chakra and store it well. Let’s read the stone tablet together."
"Let’s see the so-called ultimate path to peace left behind by the Sage of Six Paths!"
A surge of chakra, infused with ocular power, flowed into Senju Tobirama’s soul…
Tobirama took a deep breath, absorbing the energy Kazuki had passed to him. His expression was complicated as he let out a sigh.
The Uchiha clan is born evil...
At that moment, the tomoe in Tobirama’s eyes darkened, his irises gleaming with a vivid crimson…
With his current level of ocular power, if he weren’t already a well-known figure in the shinobi world, he would look exactly like a pure-blooded Uchiha.
Tobirama had never imagined a day would come when he would allow Uchiha power to seep into his very soul.
"I must guard this power carefully. This is Kazuki’s final gift—to me and to Konoha."
Calming his mind, Tobirama fully integrated the Uchiha’s power into his soul and turned with Kazuki to face the Uchiha stone tablet.
The surface of the tablet was covered in dense black script. Without the aid of ocular power, the text appeared as nothing more than gibberish.
But when viewed through the Sharingan…
The words revealed themselves, directly transmitting their meaning into the reader’s mind. It was a truly mystical experience.
Adjusting his ocular power, Kazuki discovered that with just a three-tomoe Sharingan, the tablet only revealed fragments of the Uchiha clan’s history.
It spoke of how the Uchiha were descendants of the Sage of the Six Paths, meant to inherit the ideals of Ninshu—to seek peace and avoid unnecessary conflict.
Tobirama and Kazuki, their eyes synchronized in power, continued reading.
After taking in these passages, Tobirama let out a cold snort.
"The Sage of the Six Paths was truly naive."
Given the Uchiha's nature and battle-driven instincts, mere words promoting peace would never be enough to sway them. To the Uchiha, the only real takeaway from this would be that they were direct descendants of the Sage of the Six Paths…
No wonder they boasted about their lineage so much during the Warring States period—it all stemmed from this!
After all, these were only the passages visible to a standard three-tomoe Sharingan.
