At the lake in the Land of Water where Isobu had once been hidden. As the air rippled with space-time distortion, Isobu appeared once again. The sudden emergence of the colossal beast caused waves of turquoise water to roll across the lake's surface. A few startled birds cried out and flew toward the horizon.
Isobu still hadn't figured out what had just happened — it only felt a flash before its eyes, and the next moment, the human above it had brought it into a desert, where several other humans stood. Moments later, after that human recognized by Shukaku exchanged a few words with the others, they instantly returned to its hiding lake once more.
Shukaku's smug voice came from above its head.
"So, Isobu, now you see how amazing we are, huh?"
Isobu felt utterly cheated — there had been so much fine sand in that desert, and it hadn't even scooped up a handful before being dragged back. Two bursts of hot air snorted from its nostrils as it growled excitedly,
"Fine! I'll agree to help you — but on one condition."
After hearing Isobu's condition, Mitsuki couldn't help but purse his lips — he hadn't expected that Isobu actually had that kind of hobby. Still, it wasn't anything difficult for Mitsuki to handle.
In the Land of Wind, having just seen off the harbinger of death, Sajin and Saje collapsed to the ground gasping for air.They had thought for sure they were dead. Even though there had been no direct confrontation, the sheer mental pressure made their vision blur.
After catching his breath, Sajin stood up.
"Get up, Saje. We have to report this to Lady Chiyo right away."
"Right." Saje stumbled to his feet.
But they hadn't expected that Mitsuki, who had just left, would return again only minutes later. Could it be he'd changed his mind? Damn it — they should've run while they had the chance!
Saje stammered, "Y-You… you're back again? I swear I didn't say anything bad about you this time!"
Mitsuki gave the two ninjas a kind smile. Then he pulled out a Flying Thunder God kunai and threw it far ahead. Forming a one-handed seal, black space-time formulae began spreading rapidly from the point of impact, covering dozens of meters in seconds.
Flying Thunder God: Guiding Thunder
Mitsuki hadn't expected that the first time he'd use this jutsu outside the village would be… as a courier.
As the formula completed, the calm air began to warp violently.Massive amounts of sand were sucked into the barrier expanding from the Flying Raijin kunai —and transported all the way across the world to the Land of Water.
Once Mitsuki felt he'd gathered enough, he waved casually at the dumbstruck Suna-nin and vanished again. Sajin dropped to his knees, tears welling in his eyes.
"That damned Mitsuki… he's a real menace! Not only did he wipe out half of our Suna forces, now he's even stealing our sand!"
...
"Is that enough, Isobu?"
"Enough! Enough!"
Isobu was genuinely impressed — completely convinced. Shukaku sure was lucky — having such a reliable partner to wander the whole shinobi world with.
And with this kind of space-time ninjutsu at his disposal, who could possibly catch Shukaku to make him a Jinchūriki again? Damn it, Isobu wanted one too!
Watching Isobu lounging comfortably atop the piles of sand, basking in the sunlight, Shukaku couldn't help but remark,
"Didn't expect you to like eating sand, of all things."
Isobu wagged its three tails in satisfaction.
"It's not the taste I like — it's just comfortable lying on it. Besides, it gives my armor an even better shine."
"How many Tailed Beast Bombs do you need me to release, by the way?"
Mitsuki thought for a moment before replying casually,
"Up to you. I think seven or eight should do, but if you wanna give Kirigakure a bit of extra flavor, I won't stop you."
As he spoke, Mitsuki left a Flying Thunder God mark on a massive boulder by the lake.
Divine Justice from Above.
Feeling a bit embarrassed, Isobu rumbled,
"You guys avenged me against Kirigakure and even brought me all this sand… Is there anything I can do for you in return?"
It had already made up its mind — even if this human wanted it to follow him like Shukaku did, as long as it could have enough sand for a lair, it wouldn't refuse.
But Mitsuki had no idea what was going on in Isobu' head. He just laughed heartily.
"When this is all over, if I ever need something again, just send me a few Tailed Beast Bombs. That'll do."
Isobu agreed readily — chakra was something it had plenty of anyway. It promised that whenever Mitsuki needed it, it'd send over several bombs immediately. Still, Isobu couldn't help feeling like it might be missing something important…
After parting with Isobu, Mitsuki and Shukaku moved on to the next step of their plan — sneaking into Kirigakure to secretly place coordinates on key facilities.
After traveling half a day, Mitsuki stopped by a stream to collect some water. Out of habit, he scanned the surroundings — and suddenly his expression sharpened.
Shukaku immediately noticed his shift and asked,"What is it, partner?"
Mitsuki nodded gravely.In his vision, at the eleven o'clock direction, there was a group of traveling merchants. But that wasn't the point.
The point was that beneath their feet, hidden underground, was a white creature.
He'd never seen one in person before, but he knew instantly what it was — a White Zetsu. And judging by its spiraled face, this one was definitely the "Tobi" variant that followed Uchiha Madara.
Which could only mean… Madara himself was likely hiding somewhere within the Land of Water.
As Mitsuki's mind raced, the spiral-faced Zetsu seemed to lose interest in the merchants and sped off in another direction.
Mitsuki followed at a measured distance, neither too close nor too far.
Before coming to the Land of Water, he'd already considered who in the shinobi world could still pose a real threat to him.
First was Isshiki Ōtsutsuki, who had descended to the world alongside Kaguya. But Isshiki was currently too weakened to act — without a proper vessel to plant his "Karma" he couldn't unleash his full power.
Next on the list was the man Mitsuki was now pursuing — Madara.
If it were Madara in his prime, resurrected through Edo Tensei and wielding the Rinnegan, Mitsuki might have chosen to look the other way — grow a bit stronger first before confronting him. But this version of Madara was old, and his only eye was a single three-tomoe Sharingan.
So Mitsuki didn't feel the slightest bit of guilt about not respecting his elders.
After all, this old geezer had been completely fooled by Black Zetsu's rewritten tablet and was now scheming in the shadows nonstop.
With a mindset of "strike first before they do", Mitsuki decided to temporarily set aside the plan to destroy Kirigakure…and go deal with this troublesome old man first.