Having chosen his target, Jokichi quickly finished his dango and hurried in the direction of the Land of Water.
About half a day later, he arrived at a coastal region.
He didn't enter the city, but went to a cliff hundreds of kilometers away from the nearest coastal city.
His operational target was a Tailed Beast, a target closely monitored by all major ninja villages.
His future actions would inevitably be exposed to the eyes of the various villages, and he might even come into direct conflict with them.
If he operated directly under his identity as a Konoha ninja, it would bring Jokichi a lot of trouble.
Therefore, he didn't enter the city to take a transport vehicle to the Land of Water.
Instead, he entered the ocean from the unpopulated cliff, and then disguised his identity while at sea.
This way, no one could gather information about his whereabouts from passersby and thereby deduce his true identity.
It was already November, the dead of winter.
Cold air and thick fog blanketed the entire maritime region.
One's eyes could only see things about five or six meters away.
After Jokichi entered the sea, he sprinted rapidly across the surface.
In just a brief moment, he reached the deep ocean.
He used his scouter to survey the area.
After confirming no one was around, he began his disguise.
First were his clothes.
The Garb of Heaven and Earth and the Shedding the Golden Cicada's Shell worn over it were too conspicuous.
Many pedestrians had noticed them on his way out of Konoha.
They had to be changed.
Taking off the two garments, he stored them in the system space.
Jokichi took out a common black kimono from a storage scroll and put it on.
Then, he put on the False Mask.
As the mask touched his face, it seemed to blend into water, becoming ethereal.
Next, his body shape, face, and hairstyle changed into the image Jokichi envisioned in his mind.
Even his aura became different.
Jokichi took out a mirror to check himself.
He looked like someone wearing a thin kimono, with light purple hair tied into a small ponytail at the back of his head, and a casual, light smile on his face.
"Not bad!"
Jokichi nodded in satisfaction and rested the Sword of Protection on his shoulder.
"From now on, I am not Jokichi, but the wandering ninja, Yato."
Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of the scabbard of the Sword of Protection.
After thinking for a moment, he simply put the sword away.
The design of this sword was somewhat unique, and quite a few people had seen it.
If he used this sword, he would definitely be recognized.
Replacing it was an ordinary katana.
This was the sword Jokichi used to use for training.
It had clashed with Ryohei for several years and was very well maintained.
Although it had no special abilities, it was very sharp.
Aside from the sword, Jokichi also carefully considered which ninjutsu he couldn't use.
Among them, Wood Release and the Rasengan were selected.
Wood Release went without saying.
In the entire ninja world, only he and Yamato could openly use it, and the traces of its use were too obvious.
It would easily be traced back to him.
The Rasengan was the unique technique created by the Fourth Hokage, and very few people knew it.
Moreover, he had used the Massive Rasengan to kill the Fourth Kazekage.
He had also used various Rasengans infused with nature transformations to take out Doto and his crew.
Although not many people knew he could use the Rasengan, it wasn't a small number either.
The Sharingan, on the other hand, could be used freely.
The only ones who knew he had the Sharingan were Obito, Pain, and Itachi.
Perhaps Zetsu and Konan should be added as well.
But it wasn't like they could go around broadcasting it to everyone.
Furthermore, if he only used the three-tomoe, combined with Yato's image, even those who knew he had the Sharingan wouldn't connect it to him.
After all, the Uchiha clan hadn't been annihilated, and there were plenty of people with the Sharingan.
Having thoroughly considered the details of his disguised identity, Jokichi accelerated his pace toward the Land of Water.
The Land of Water is an island nation far from the mainland.
One must cross the ocean to reach it.
Jokichi sprinted across the sea at full speed for about an hour before finally stepping onto the soil of the Land of Water.
He entered a city and gathered information from the locals.
The anime only mentioned that the Three-Tails hid in a mist-shrouded massive lake in the Land of Water.
But it didn't specify where in the Land of Water this lake was located.
After asking around from various sources, Jokichi received information about three locations that fit the description.
Following a process of elimination, he finally found the lake where the Three-Tails resided.
Situated within a forest, the lake's surface was shrouded in mist and deadly silent.
Only the occasional bizarre cries of unknown birds from the forest broke the silence, making the atmosphere somewhat eerie.
Jokichi stood on a large tree in the forest by the lake.
The scouter on his face constantly flashed its signal light.
Beneath this lake, there was a massive chakra reaction, even stronger than the chakra contained within the Ring of Shukaku.
"Looks like this is the place."
Jokichi smiled, took a deep breath, and shouted loudly.
"Isobu, Isobu."
As the saying goes, courtesy before force.
Jokichi had no grudge or enmity with Isobu.
He merely wanted to take a little bit of its chakra to forge a ring, and didn't want to start fighting and form a grudge right from the start.
If he could achieve his goal through conversation, that would be best.
But the Tailed Beasts, due to various actions by humans, were not very fond of them and almost never paid attention to humans.
The Three-Tails Isobu was slumbering in this lake.
Unless he used powerful ninjutsu to attack the lake bottom, it wouldn't come out.
So Jokichi called its name directly.
When the Sage of Six Paths created them, he gave them each a name and instructed them to help humanity in the future.
And they were to respond to those who called them by their names.
Unfortunately, as time passed.
History became legend.
Human prejudice and arrogance treated the Tailed Beasts as unequal beings.
No one remembered their names, nor did anyone care about their will.
They simply treated them as nuclear weapons and sealed them inside Jinchuriki.
Right now, calling out its name, if Isobu heard it, it would definitely respond.
Sure enough, as Jokichi continued to shout.
Ripples began to form on the originally calm lake surface.
Then, they grew increasingly violent, bulging upward.
A massive, three-tailed mud turtle with a carapace covered in sharp spikes surfaced.
It rested on the water surface, its ferocious face directed right at Jokichi, its single remaining blood-red eye staring fixedly at him.
That massive size and ferocious appearance, even without mobilizing chakra, gave off a tremendous oppressive feeling.
But Jokichi seemed not to feel it at all.
He smiled playfully and greeted it.
"Hello there, Isobu!"
Isobu pondered slightly.
After a long while, it looked at him again.
"How do you know my name."
"I just know it!"
Jokichi said shamelessly.
"Besides, that's not important. I need a favor from you."
Isobu remained silent for a moment before saying.
"Indeed, it's not important. However, if you want me to be sealed inside your body to create wars and disasters, I won't pay any attention to you."
"I'm not a psychopath. Why would I go creating wars and disasters for no reason!"
"Psychopath, huh."
Isobu snorted coldly.
"Aren't you humans exactly psychopaths?"
"Well, well, you're generalizing too much. Not all humans are like the ones you've seen."
"True."
Isobu recalled the Sage of Six Paths who created them and the disciples of Ninshu, and couldn't help but nod approvingly.
"Speak. What favor do you need me to help with?"
"Just a tiny bit of your chakra. The amount of powder that falls off when you grind your carapace will do."
"Is that it?"
Isobu's ferocious face showed a human-like expression of being dumbfounded, before returning to normal.
"Are you sure you didn't misspeak?"
"I just want a tiny bit of the powder that falls off your body."
Jokichi solemnly declared once again.
"Alright. Since you want it, then I'll give it to you!"
Isobu's booming voice said.
"However, even though our Tailed Beast chakra is incredibly astonishing, just this tiny bit of powder is only enough to use an ordinary ninjutsu. Are you really not mistaken?"
"Mhm, just a tiny bit of powder."
"Alright then! Here you go!"
Saying that, the Three-Tails whipped its tail and slapped it against a rock by the lake.
Some powder fell off the scales protecting its tail.
Jokichi hurriedly ran over to collect it, and the system's prompt sounded in his mind.