"Is this really okay?"
As Utakata clenched his teeth and truly set off to return to Kirigakure, Mei couldn't help asking Yorin:
"Honestly, if you'd just recruited him outright, he would've accepted, right? Sure, 'elite jōnin' isn't anything crazy, but still—having him is better than not having him."
As she said that, Mei seemed to forget one small detail: she herself was also, strictly speaking, "just" elite jōnin.
Yorin replied, "Using people is a whole system. Sure, I can override the system—but that kind of authority is best left unused. And even if I do use it, it's not worth spending on someone like Utakata. Also—want to bet?"
"Bet? On what?" Mei shot back.
"On Utakata's future," Yorin said. "I bet that even if I treat him this coldly, he'll still end up joining us and becoming a glorious shinobi of the Ninshū."
He finished and looked at Mei expectantly, waiting for her to bite back—so he could "win" and then do all sorts of things to her afterward.
But Yorin miscalculated.
Mei had zero interest in betting. She chuckled and said, "You're mistaken about something, darling. I'm not the type who likes gambling, unlike Tsunade-nee.
And this bet obviously favors you, so… I'm not betting."
Yorin: "…"
"Then tonight we still—"
Mei: "—Do it."
So even though Yorin didn't get his wager, Mei was still willing to slip into a cosplayer outfit and "play cards" with him. Truly wonderful.
…
While Yorin was in a "this is wonderful" mood, the Tsuchigumo clan was in a "this is extremely not wonderful" mood.
After Utakata bolted, the Tsuchigumo shinobi didn't even finish cursing before they were hit by the Allied Shinobi Coalition. Under the coalition's blitz, the Tsuchigumo didn't "retreat step by step"—they collapsed like a landslide.
Before they even fully reacted, what used to be a proud clan was basically wiped out. Only the Tsuchigumo leader barely managed to survive a few exchanges.
When he looked around and realized his people were gone, he snapped.
He'd been one step away from becoming "Emperor of the Shinobi World," and now it was all ashes—why the hell did it end up like this?!
His plan was dead. And if his dream was dead, then the world had no reason to exist either. Fine—everyone could die together!
With that in mind, the Tsuchigumo leader decided to unleash Fury, taking everyone to meet the Sage of Six Paths.
"Our Tsuchigumo clan's Fury technique is invincible!"
Then, in the very next second, he discovered—he couldn't activate it.
Cold sweat crawled over his entire body.
"W-what?! What's going on?!"
That was their last trump card—why was it failing at the most critical moment?!
If it failed, what were they supposed to do?!
The Tsuchigumo leader stared at the coalition forces like a drowning man—despite how idiotic it was to look for help from the very people he'd just planned to take down with him.
But he was too mentally shattered to think straight.
"It's simple."
And something happened that shocked him even more:
The enemy actually answered him.
Uchiha Yorin stepped out from the crowd, looked at him calmly, and said:
"Fury is, at its core, just a crude way of manipulating natural energy.
And natural energy… no one in this world understands it better than I do."
"It was you?! You're the one who crack—who neutralized our clan's forbidden technique?!"
"I already told you: your so-called forbidden technique is rough as hell. Breaking it was easy."
"Nonsense! You don't understand the greatness of our Tsuchigumo clan's art!"
"Yeah, I don't understand it at all," Yorin replied casually, "because I dismantled it in five minutes."
The Tsuchigumo leader was literally pissed to death on the spot.
At least, that's what everyone present believed.
Yorin even shrugged and told them, "You all saw it—he died of a sudden brain hemorrhage. Has nothing to do with me."
Everyone nodded vigorously—while internally screaming. But outwardly, no one dared contradict him.
…
And just like that, the Tsuchigumo clan hit Game Over, and the Fury problem was solved.
After all, once the entire clan was gone, there'd be no more idiots treating natural energy like a homemade nuke.
At the same time, the Six-Tails was recovered—Yorin's first successful tailed-beast retrieval.
The moment Black Zetsu saw the sealing scroll, he looked so happy he was about to cry—ready to do a 360° Thomas spin, slide-kneel, and pop champagne right there.
Do you have any idea how he'd suffered these past few years?
Mother's seal finally had hope.
But then Zetsu's mind twisted into a new fear:
Would Mother actually get "charmed" by Yorin and… end up in his bed?
He immediately felt torn.
No matter what, Wood-Release-smoothbrain Yorin was dangerous.
…
"So," Zetsu asked with shining eyes, "next we go collect the other tailed beasts, right?"
And then he happily offered, "I've already pinned down Rōshi's location. Didn't you always hate that he calls himself 'Son Gokū' or whatever? Let's go—kill him now. What do you say?"
Yorin actually had other plans. Orochimaru's lab had finally made a breakthrough, and Yorin wanted to go check it out in person.
As for Rōshi? Let the old monk roam a little longer.
He wasn't causing trouble anyway.
…
And dealing with Zetsu's relentless nagging was easy: just hit him with the same line as always.
"You want your mom to marry me that badly?"
In the past, that line would've made Zetsu flush and choke on his words.
But now? He'd spent too long around Yorin. Thicker skin. Sharper tongue.
This time, Zetsu didn't hesitate at all. He barked, "Dad!"
…
Meanwhile, Orochimaru's message came through:
"You really aren't coming to see this? We've repaired the first Sky Ninja air-fortress prototype, and we've modified the Zero-Tail the way you wanted.
For now, it still feeds mostly on negative emotions… but the next prototype will, as you said, absorb all emotions—fairly and neutrally.
It's a magnificent invention. Not my personal taste, but… you're seriously not coming to look?"
Yorin replied, "Of course I'm coming. But first, I'm going to find someone—and beat him up. Then I'll head over."
"That person must owe you a lot of money," Orochimaru sighed.
Yorin's reply made Orochimaru flinch.
"No. Actually… I owe him."
"Wow," Orochimaru joked. "And he's still alive?"
"No choice," Yorin said. "I'm trying to marry his mom."
Orochimaru immediately started mentally cycling through Naruto, Sasuke, Kushina, Mikoto…
Yorin instantly realized what he was thinking and quickly clarified, "Not Naruto and Sasuke. Don't get the wrong idea."
Orochimaru: "..."
If Yorin weren't basically the Ninja World's Einstein, Orochimaru would've killed him on principle.
…
Anyway, that was the plan.
Before visiting Orochimaru's super-secret lab in Kirigakure, Yorin would first go "educate" Rōshi and reclaim the Four-Tails.
A wandering monk living off scraps could never imagine he was about to 1v1 the strongest shinobi alive—because somewhere else, a certain Zetsu had called Yorin "Dad."
If Rōshi knew he was about to die for that reason, he'd probably have his faith shattered on the spot and scream:
"Heavens! Earth! What is the meaning of this?!"
Of course, Yorin wasn't going to tell him the truth.
So Rōshi would just have to die.
And yes—afterward, Yorin would still bring him back with Kishō Tensei.
Kishō Tensei really was a convenient technique.