Chapter 90: Negotiation – Capturing the One-Tail Shukaku Alive
"Sensei, the Sand ninja are retreating. Should we pursue?"
Jiraiya snapped back to reality, noticing the Sand forces beginning to withdraw, and quickly called out to Hiruzen Sarutobi beside him.
"Hm? The Sand are retreating? No need to chase. We're withdrawing too."
Hiruzen Sarutobi considered for a moment before ultimately deciding against pursuit.
Although they had won this battle, Konoha's current condition was far from ideal. Before reinforcements arrived, more than half their ninja were already injured.
In contrast, the Sand ninja had suffered relatively few losses. If they forced a pursuit, the desperate Sand forces might choose mutual destruction. Even if Konoha won, the final losses would still fall heavily on them.
After all, Konoha's victory in this battle relied mainly on Ling Yu. The Sand ninja had retreated in haste purely out of fear of the Wood Release he displayed.
Rather than chasing now, it was better to wait until Ling Yu's fight ended. Once Ling Yu captured the One-Tail Shukaku alive, the Sand ninja would surely be the first to seek negotiations. In the end, the greatest benefit would still go to Konoha.
Meanwhile
"One-Tail Shukaku chakra absorption progress: 50%"
Looking at the system panel showing that half the chakra had already been absorbed, Ling Yu prepared to stop.
After all, if Shukaku were completely drained, it would take time to revive. If the Sand ninja saw their tailed beast gone and launched a desperate full-scale attack on Konoha in rage, that would be troublesome.
He had no desire to charge in alone and slaughter every Sand ninja—becoming an enemy the Sand Village would remember with hatred for a century. That would make it much harder for him to visit the Sand Village and pursue girls in the future.
Better to leave the One-Tail Shukaku alive for now. Once its chakra recovered sufficiently, he could come back and collect more—treating it as a long-lasting, durable power bank.
"Hey! Stop screaming. Keep screaming and I'll absorb you completely—let you experience the pain of death once."
Even though he had already stopped, Shukaku was still shrieking. The sharp, piercing cries were starting to annoy Ling Yu.
Bang!
Another fist slammed into its body—a small warning to Shukaku. Then Ling Yu opened his Rinnegan and entered the Tailed Beast space where Bunpuku had sealed Shukaku.
"You… how did you get in here?! I… I surrender, okay?!"
Seeing Ling Yu suddenly appear in the Tailed Beast space, Shukaku was startled and hurriedly scrambled up from the ground.
It had completely lost its earlier arrogance of calling itself "this great one." It had been thoroughly beaten by Ling Yu's Wood Release, once again reliving the terror of being dominated by Hashirama Senju long ago.
The powerful binding force of Wood Release, combined with the wooden dragon wrapped around its body madly draining chakra, left it unable to fight back. Half its chakra had already been sucked away—any more and it would damage its origin.
"Don't worry about how I got in. One-Tail Shukaku—you should recognize these eyes, right?"
Ignoring Shukaku's outburst, Ling Yu floated into the air. His deep purple Rinnegan stared directly into Shukaku's eyes.
"This is… impossible! How… how do you have the exact same eyes as 'him'?!"
Those familiar eyes made Shukaku recall an old acquaintance from thousands of years ago. In an instant, its wariness toward Ling Yu grew even stronger.
"I got them through my own strength. Enough talk."
"Shukaku, I came here to make a deal with you. I won't kill you today—how about you tell me the locations of the other tailed beasts?"
Seeing that his intimidation was sufficient, Ling Yu got straight to the point and made the proposal to Shukaku.
He knew tailed beasts could sense each other's presence, which would greatly assist his plan to collect them. Right now, he only knew the locations of the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails.
The remaining tailed beasts were either roaming freely in the wild or had already been sealed inside other jinchūriki and were hiding. It would be very difficult for Ling Yu to find them on his own.
Although he had previously sent Kakuzu to gather information, one person's efforts were ultimately limited.
Rather than searching blindly, it was better to rely on the mutual sensing between tailed beasts—letting the One-Tail Shukaku point out their approximate locations. That would make future collection much easier.
"You're really going to let me go? But… why do you want to find the other tailed beasts?"
Shukaku didn't answer directly. Instead, it wanted Ling Yu to explain his reason. Its wariness remained as strong as ever.
Although relationships between tailed beasts weren't great—and some even harbored grudges—based on the fact that Ling Yu had already absorbed half its chakra and was now asking for the locations of the others, it was clear he had some kind of plot targeting tailed beasts.
"That's none of your business. I advise you not to ask too many questions. The more you know, the faster you die."
Ling Yu had no obligation to answer Shukaku. He gave a light laugh, his expression gradually turning fierce. Then he activated the power of his Rinnegan.
In an instant, Shukaku's eyes also reflected the Rinnegan—it had clearly been placed under control.
"Besides, I'm not here to negotiate. I'm using your life—and the life of the jinchūriki outside your body—to make this deal with you."
"Agree to my terms, and neither of you dies. Refuse… heh, you should know what happens."
"One last kind reminder: I know where the Ten-Tails' husk is. I'm sure you don't want to return to its body, right?"
"Wait… wait a minute! Give me a little time to think!"
The moment it heard the words "Ten-Tails," Shukaku truly panicked. Death was something it could barely accept, but returning to the Ten-Tails' body meant no chance of revival.
Although its body was under control, Ling Yu had not taken over its consciousness. Without opening its mouth, Shukaku's tense voice transmitted directly into Ling Yu's mind through tailed beast telepathy.
"I'll give you one minute to decide."
Ling Yu paused his actions for a moment, then resumed normally.
So this was the telepathic connection between tailed beasts? The ones that couldn't speak communicated this way.
He loosened his control over Shukaku, crossed his arms, closed his eyes, and waited quietly.
One minute felt both long and short. Under Shukaku's deep contemplation, the time passed quickly.
"Have you decided?"
As soon as the minute was up, Ling Yu opened his eyes. The dignified deep purple Rinnegan stared at Shukaku, making its heart race with fear.
"Spare our lives, and I'll tell you the locations of the other tailed beasts."
After one minute of thinking, Shukaku had realized the ninja before it was an existence it could never defeat no matter how hard it tried. The only option was to obey honestly.
Even if Ling Yu had some unknown scheme, Shukaku knew it had no way to stop him—it couldn't even last three moves against him.
The other tailed beasts were probably in the same situation. Even if it refused to reveal their locations, he would eventually find them anyway. They would all fall into his hands sooner or later. Better to cooperate now and save its life.
Besides, Shukaku got along quite well with its current jinchūriki Bunpuku. Dying pointlessly like this would be too much of a waste. And it didn't want to experience the pain of death either.
"A clear decision."
"However, the sensing between us tailed beasts isn't limitless by distance. Right now, I can only sense that the Three-Tails is in the southern part of the Land of Rain," Shukaku added hurriedly.
"Just the Three-Tails? Fine. I'll come find you again in the future. Remember to prepare information on the other tailed beasts."
Ling Yu narrowed his eyes, feeling somewhat dissatisfied.
But something was better than nothing. Since he had already left a mark on it, he could return anytime. After leaving those words, he exited the Tailed Beast space.
Hearing that Ling Yu would come back for it again, Shukaku couldn't help but shudder.
I told the truth—yet he still won't let me go?
I was once born into this ninja world with unmatched power—wind when I wanted wind, rain when I wanted rain. Even Kage-level ninja would flee at the sight of me.
I never imagined I'd be completely dominated by a ten-year-old brat. My life as a tailed beast is truly tragic.
Then Shukaku seemed to accept its fate. It let out a faint sigh and stared silently at the spot where Ling Yu had stood before leaving, lost in thought.
"Release."
Standing atop the wooden giant's head, Ling Yu formed a single hand seal, releasing the wooden dragon that had bound the One-Tail Shukaku.
Shukaku didn't maintain its tailed beast form any longer and returned to Bunpuku's body. Ling Yu casually picked Bunpuku up and headed toward Jiraiya's position.
"Alright—everyone, fall back to camp."
Seeing that the battle on Ling Yu's side had also ended, Hiruzen Sarutobi issued the order for the Konoha army to withdraw.
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