"No! Impossible!"
"How could you control the Six-Tails so easily?!"
"This can't be happening!"
Utakata stared in disbelief. The idea that Shigure could dominate Saiken, the Six-Tails, so effortlessly shattered his understanding of what was possible.
He had endured countless hardships to earn the Tailed Beast's recognition, to form a bond deep enough to unleash its true power. Yet this boy—Shigure—had just gained Saiken's chakra, and somehow controlled it more naturally than he ever could.
To Shigure, Utakata's voice was nothing but noise.
He flicked his fingers, and a layer of Snow Mist spread from his body, enveloping Utakata in an instant. Inside was dense Snow Mist; outside, drifting Cloud Mist—until Utakata was entirely frozen, suspended like a cloud in the air.
Shigure waved his hand, and the captured mist drifted lazily toward Chōjūrō.
"You can form Chakra into ropes or threads, right?"
Chōjūrō nodded cautiously. "I can… but not as precisely as you, Shigure-sama."
"Good enough," Shigure said casually. "Attach your Chakra to that cloud and pull it back."
Chōjūrō hesitated. Could Chakra even move something like Shigure's mist?
Still, he obeyed. A thin strand of blue Chakra extended from his hand and connected to the drifting cloud. To his surprise, it responded instantly, floating toward him as if weightless.
It was like pulling a balloon through the air.
"How interesting!" Haku said, clapping softly.
"If you like it, give it a try," Shigure said with a faint smile.
Haku extended his Chakra just as Chōjūrō had. The moment his energy linked to the cloud, it responded, drifting gently into his grasp. Haku's eyes lit up as he played with it like a child discovering something new.
Watching him, Shigure couldn't help but smile faintly. It seems Haku never had much of a childhood to enjoy...
He raised his hand, dispersing the Mist Cage that surrounded them. The heavy fog dissolved, revealing the clear skies of the border once more.
Now came the next step: returning to the Hidden Mist Village.
But Shigure's thoughts had already shifted ahead. After sending Utakata back, there was still another task—capturing the Three-Tails, Isobu, also belonging to the Hidden Mist.
Originally, Shigure had planned to secure only one Tailed Beast's power before making his move in the village.
But plans could change.
Now he wanted both.
Becoming the Jinchūriki of two Tailed Beasts at once... wouldn't that drive the world mad?
If possessing the Six-Tails alone made him a monster in people's eyes, then controlling two at once would elevate him beyond that.
To wield two Tailed Beasts simultaneously—such a person would no longer be feared. They would be worshiped.
However, before those ambitions could take root, a new problem appeared.
As the Mist Cage faded, Shigure's sharp eyes caught movement outside—the unmistakable sight of Kumogakure shinobi.
"Shigure-sama…" Chōjūrō muttered, tense. "The Mist Cage blocked their perception before, but now…"
Now the enemy had noticed something was wrong.
"Hidden Mist brats?"
The Kumogakure captain narrowed his eyes. "Captain, aren't these the same three we saw earlier?"
"The smoke covering the island must've been their doing!" another ninja shouted.
The Kumogakure team surrounded them. The captain glanced between the three Mist shinobi and the strange floating cloud that Haku was tugging along.
"You're Genin from the Hidden Mist, aren't you?" he barked. "What are you doing near the border of the Land of Lightning? What was that smoke technique? You'd better start explaining!"
His tone made it clear they were preparing for a fight.
Chōjūrō's hand tightened on Hiramekarei, his twin-bladed sword. "Shigure-sama, what should we do?"
Shigure sighed lightly. "No need to waste time."
A single seal formed in his hands. The next instant, a dense white cloud materialized beneath his feet.
"Let's go."
Chōjūrō and Haku leapt onto the cloud as it lifted off the ground.
The Kumogakure captain's eyes widened. "Wait—what in the world—?"
Before they could react, the cloud shot skyward, carrying all three shinobi with it.
Within seconds, they vanished into the clouds above.
"C-Captain… they flew away?" one of the stunned ninjas stammered.
The captain stared blankly at the empty sky. "Who the hell are those kids? They come to the border, cover an island in mist, and then escape on a flying cloud?"
"And they even took the cloud with them!" another added.
"What kind of Ninjutsu was that…?"
"Some sort of secret technique?"
"I've never seen anything like it before…"
The Kumogakure team stood speechless, the only sound left being the distant wind—carrying with it the faint echo of laughter from far above the clouds.
The Kumogakure captain frowned deeply as his team discussed what had just happened. Something about those three wasn't right.
Even if they were just Genin from the Hidden Mist, their abilities were far from ordinary.
He made his decision.
"This needs to be reported to Lord Raikage immediately."
No matter what those Mist shinobi were doing—whether reconnaissance or some secret mission—it was a matter that could not be ignored.
High above the clouds, Shigure sat at the front of the Flying Nimbus, gliding swiftly toward the Land of Water. His expression was calm, but his mind was focused inward—sensing the power of the Six-Tails, Saiken.
The Chakra felt… strange. Unlike anything he had ever experienced.
It had two distinct forms.
The first was a crimson-red Chakra, the kind typical of a Tailed Beast's transformation. But the second—an intense deep blue—was something entirely different.
In this blue form, Saiken's Chakra revealed a unique characteristic—liquefaction.
Unlike a normal transformation, liquefaction didn't just make the body fluid-like; it allowed the user to become a flowing entity. A body that could slip through the tiniest gaps, reshape itself at will, and yet retain its form through Chakra cohesion.
It was nearly impossible to contain.
And that wasn't all. This liquid form carried Saiken's signature trait—corrosion.
Anything the blue Chakra touched would dissolve and decay in seconds.
It was terrifyingly efficient… and fascinating.
At the moment, the Great Sage was already analyzing this new phenomenon. However, its processing capacity was stretched thin—it was simultaneously repairing Gluttony, channeling Natural Energy to accelerate Shukaku's Chakra recovery, and now studying Saiken's unique liquefied Chakra form.
Even so, Shigure wasn't impatient. The analysis would take time, but time was one thing he had plenty of.
Saiken's corrosive Chakra attribute was the key. It explained why the Six-Tails' attacks were so destructive—its Chakra wasn't just energy; it was acid given form.
In essence, Saiken could activate a special Chakra state using this corrosive energy.
It reminded Shigure of Gaara, who once borrowed the power of Shukaku to enter a semi-possessed state.
But not every Tailed Beast had a distinct elemental property like Saiken's.
The Three-Tails, for instance, didn't appear to possess any special attribute.
No matter, Shigure thought with a faint smile. I'll find out soon enough once I capture it.
What intrigued him even more, though, was the potential synergy between Saiken's power and his own techniques.
Because the Six-Tails' corrosive acid mist was remarkably compatible with his Cloud Release.
By blending the two, Shigure realized he could potentially perform Cloud Release enhanced by Tailed Beast Chakra.
The idea made his blood stir.
He extended his hand, channeling a thread of Saiken's Chakra into the Flying Nimbus beneath him.
Instantly, the originally white cloud shimmered—turning a faint, ominous crimson.
It wasn't a deep red, more like a gentle hue radiating from within, but the sight still drew a chuckle from Shigure.
"…Heh. Looks like I'm the real Akatsuki now, huh?"
The crimson Nimbus soared through the clouds, leaving a streak of red across the morning sky.
...
TN:
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