"Suiton: Suipōdan no Jutsu! (Water Style: Water Bullet) — BOOM!"
"Katon: Tōkakkū! (Fire Style: Head Carving Pain) — Fwoooosh!"
"Raiton: Ikazuchi no Kiba! (Lightning Style: False Darkness) — ZZZ-BOOM!"
Channeling the Tailed Beast's chakra into these techniques, Sasuke unleashed tremendous destructive power—even in a style like Water Release, which he was never proficient at. As for Kakuzu's signature Fire and Lightning Releases, their output was now at an unmatched level.
The results left Sasuke extremely satisfied.
Still, he couldn't ignore the unpleasant feeling. "So… Naruto's been carrying around the Nine-Tails' negative emotions all this time, and yet he's still so optimistic? I don't know if he's just thick-skinned… or really that strong-willed."
Natsuki replied, "Probably both. Naruto's a natural-born optimist, but he's also got a resilient heart—that's the only way he's been able to endure the Nine-Tails' malice. But the coldness and scorn of the village still hurt him deeply. Between the two of you, I think you should be more worried about yourself. Your emotions have always been unstable—don't let the beast find an opening. And if your jinchūriki status is exposed, you'll face what Naruto went through."
"A bunch of ignorant commoners."
Sasuke was indifferent. "I fight for revenge… and to protect my comrades. As for those useless villagers, they're nothing to me."
Oh-ho… now that was the right mindset.
Frankly, those villagers—ignorant, idle, and petty—weren't worth protecting. Sasuke's perspective was far more rational than Naruto's "I'll protect the people who hated me just to earn their acceptance" way of thinking. That kind of groveling was pathetic.
The more Natsuki thought about it, the more annoyed he got. Part of him wanted to convince his father-in-law to sell his business in Konoha and move to the capital. That way, if Pain ever leveled the village with Shinra Tensei, it wouldn't be his problem.
Unfortunately, his father-in-law wouldn't agree—and Tenten certainly wouldn't. At the very least, the shop's neighbors were familiar faces after all these years; they couldn't just watch them die.
And that… was the problem.
Natsuki said, "From now on, I'll focus on investigating the masked man. You just spend your days outside mastering the beast's power. You've got at least two or three months—use them well."
Sasuke nodded. "Thanks. I won't stand on ceremony—if you ever need my help, just say so."
Natsuki waved it off, glancing around at the scenery. "This place is nice, but Kabuto knows about it, so we'll move elsewhere."
Over the years, Natsuki had found several hidden spots perfect for training. He'd even taken Tenten to one before, so she could practice with the Six Paths Ninja Tools—after all, those weren't exactly suited for use inside the village.
Sasuke's case was similar. Training with a Tailed Beast's power in the village was out of the question—not just because of the damage or panic it might cause, but because it would draw Danzō's attention. And that was trouble he didn't need.
Shup! Natsuki whisked Sasuke away.
A day later, Kabuto arrived at the lake with Guren and Yūkimaru. But no matter how much they fed Yūkimaru medicine to stir the beast, the Three-Tails never appeared. And as time passed, the mist over the lake quickly dissipated.
Kabuto had a bad feeling.
The Three-Tails… was probably gone.
Over the next month, Natsuki and Sasuke roamed the nations neighboring Amegakure, but never found the masked man. Instead, they kept hearing about Deidara and Sasori taking bounty-hunting jobs.
It seemed the two had completely taken over Kakuzu's role, working hard to earn money for the Akatsuki.
Natsuki had no intention of going after them now. His allies in the village needed time to grow—if he killed Deidara and Sasori too soon, it might provoke the Akatsuki into sending Pain early. And fighting all Six Paths in a premature invasion would be much harder.
"Shinra Tensei can repel anything. Banshō Ten'in can attract anything. Push and pull—troublesome abilities. I need a way to counter them. Ideally something that can 'push back' his push—then I won't have to worry about him blasting the village apart. No way am I letting my wife's family business take a loss."
Still, to be safe, he thought he'd try again to convince his father-in-law to sell off some assets—just in case Shinra Tensei couldn't be stopped, the damage wouldn't be too great.
Sasuke, meanwhile, was reviewing his current arsenal:
The White Fang sword style, Raiton: Chidori, Raiton: Ikazuchi no Kiba, Katon: Tōkakkū, Shunshin, genjutsu—all well-honed techniques, more than enough to handle jōnin-level opponents.
From the Senju archives, he'd also learned plenty about the Uchiha—Fire Release mastery, Sharingan usage, taijutsu, kenjutsu—as well as their weaknesses. His control over fire techniques was now more precise, his Sharingan use smoother, and he'd corrected several bad habits.
The Senju archives really were a treasure trove. He wanted to visit them again.
He'd also mastered several sealing jutsu—notably Shishō Fūin (Four Symbols Seal), Hakke Fūin (Eight Trigrams Seal), and Fūja Hōin (Evil Sealing Method).
Most importantly, he'd grown comfortable with the Three-Tails' power. While not yet at full jinchūriki mastery, he could skillfully draw on the beast's chakra and enter tailed-beast form smoothly. He felt frighteningly strong now.
Fortunately, he hadn't gotten arrogant—because he and Natsuki had sparred, and he'd been crushed by Natsuki's water giant technique.
Natsuki was like an unscalable wall. But that was fine—Uchiha Itachi couldn't beat him either. Losing to Natsuki didn't affect Sasuke's revenge plans.
"Natsuki, still no leads?" Sasuke asked during a break. "That masked man is too secretive… we might never find him."
Natsuki sighed. "I think he's just afraid of me—deliberately avoiding me. If he ever shows up in front of me, I'll beat the crap out of him."
Sasuke almost laughed out loud. Vulgar as it sounded, he believed Natsuki could really do it.
But with no leads, they couldn't keep wandering forever. Natsuki wrote a note to Tsunade, reporting the mission failure.
Her reply came quickly: return to the village and pause the mission.
Perfect—Natsuki was missing Tenten's embrace anyway. Without hesitation, he took Sasuke back to Tsunade's office.
Tenten had just finished delivering a message and hadn't left yet. When she saw Natsuki return, she didn't care who was watching—she jumped straight into his arms.
(End of Chapter)
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