Chapter 12 (Patreon)

“I can do this!”

After learning the truth about the Nine-Tails, Kushina gathered her courage and sent her consciousness into the sealed space within her.

However, the moment she saw the enormous fox towering before her, her confidence wavered.

Could she really treat something so powerful as an equal?

The Nine-Tails remained pinned down by the Adamantine Sealing Chains. It sensed Kushina’s arrival and glanced at her briefly before closing its eyes again.

Trusting Roy’s advice, Kushina suppressed her fear and walked toward its massive head.

“Hey, Nine-Tails! Let’s become friends!”

Her voice was completely sincere.

The Nine-Tails merely scoffed without opening its eyes.

It did not believe a human could cast aside years of fear and hatred toward the Tailed Beasts so easily.

This was probably another trick.

Strangely, being ignored helped Kushina calm down.

Her nervousness gradually gave way to stubborn determination.

If she could not even earn the cooperation of the Tailed Beast sealed inside her, how could she ever hope to change Konoha?

Kushina made a decision.

She would release all of the Nine-Tails’ restraints and prove that she genuinely trusted it.

Before she could act, however, someone stopped her.

“Don’t do that yet.”

Kushina turned in surprise.

“Roy? You came in too?”

Roy had not expected to enter the sealed space with her.

He had assumed the strange bond only tied him to Kushina’s physical body. Now it appeared that he was bound to her consciousness as well.

The instant Kushina called his name, the Nine-Tails opened its eyes.

For the first time, it could see the man who had been speaking beside its jinchūriki.

That only made Roy’s existence even more confusing.

In the outside world, the Nine-Tails could hear his voice but could neither see nor sense him.

Inside the sealed space, it could see him clearly, yet it still could not feel the slightest trace of his presence.

Had Kushina not spoken to him, the Nine-Tails might not have realised another person was standing there at all.

After stopping Kushina, Roy looked past her and met the fox’s enormous gaze.

“Nine-Tails, we truly intend to treat you as an equal.”

The fox watched him in silence.

“But humans and Tailed Beasts have spent too many years fighting and using one another. There’s no trust between us yet, so releasing every restraint immediately would be foolish.”

Roy continued calmly.

“We’ll have to build that trust over time. If we keep speaking honestly, I believe you’ll eventually understand that Kushina is sincere.”

He then asked Kushina to loosen the chains enough for the Nine-Tails to raise its body instead of leaving it completely pinned to the ground.

She also removed the chain binding one of its tails.

The instant the tail regained its freedom, it swept toward them.

Kushina’s eyes widened.

She immediately prepared to summon the chains again, but Roy stopped her.

“Wait.”

The enormous tail rushed toward them with enough force to tear through a building.

Kushina shut her eyes.

The wind created by its movement whipped her long red hair behind her.

For a moment, she believed Roy had misjudged the Nine-Tails.

Perhaps its hatred for humanity truly ran too deeply.

Perhaps communication had never been possible.

Just as she prepared to bind it again, the wind suddenly stopped.

Kushina slowly opened her eyes.

The Nine-Tails’ tail had stopped less than half a metre away from her.

Roy quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

His left hand, hidden behind Kushina, relaxed.

He had taken a gamble as well.

Had the Nine-Tails truly intended to attack, Roy would have used Bakudō to restrain it long enough for Kushina to restore the seal.

Fortunately, it had stopped.

The Nine-Tails did not trust them yet, but it had chosen to give them a chance.

Joy spread across Kushina’s face.

Roy had been right.

Tailed Beasts were not mindless disasters that could never be reasoned with.

Humans had simply never trusted them enough to try.

Kushina instinctively reached out, wanting to touch the enormous, fluffy tail in front of her.

The Nine-Tails immediately pulled it away.

It gave the two of them a sideways glance.

“Tch. How boring.”

“You’re so stingy!” Kushina complained, pouting at it.

“That’s enough for today,” Roy said. “We should leave before you push your luck.”

He glanced toward the Nine-Tails.

“Come back and speak to it often. Once you truly trust each other, it might even let you touch its tail.”

Roy and Kushina disappeared from the sealed space.

The Nine-Tails bared its fangs at the place where they had been standing.

“Fools! What do they think I am? Some pet begging for human affection?”

Once her consciousness returned to her body, Kushina immediately turned around in excitement.

“Roy, we did it!”

As expected, her sudden movement sent Roy flying halfway around her.

“I’m sorry, Roy! I got carried away.”

Roy had experienced it so many times that he no longer had the strength to complain.

He could only stare at her in silence and let the matter go.

---

Root’s Underground Headquarters

Another desk shattered beneath Danzo’s fist.

Not only had Root failed to discover who was spreading the rumours, but the stories had continued to grow.

The missing villagers and Orochimaru’s human experiments were only the beginning.

Now people were also connecting Danzo to the death of Sakumo Hatake and the attempt to cut supplies to Konoha’s orphanage.

The villagers’ anger toward the Hokage’s adviser was increasing by the day.

Had it only been one or two people speaking against him, Danzo could have sent Root to silence them with a private warning.

But far too many people were discussing the rumours now.

He could not move against them all.

The moment Root threatened anyone, the person behind the rumours would surely use it as proof that Danzo had something to hide.

Danzo had never felt so trapped.

In the past, he had used the same methods to ruin countless enemies.

Only after becoming the target himself did he understand how difficult such rumours were to stop.

Since he could not openly send Root after the villagers, Danzo went to Hiruzen.

He wanted the Hokage to order the village to stop discussing the accusations.

If Hiruzen could silence the rumours for even a short time, Danzo believed Root would eventually uncover the person responsible.

Hiruzen took some satisfaction in seeing his old teammate forced to ask for help.

It was rare for Danzo to approach him without making demands.

“You brought this upon yourself,” Hiruzen said. “Had you not done those things in the first place, no one would have been able to use them against you.”

He had intended to use the opportunity to reprimand Danzo.

Instead, Danzo immediately lost his temper.

“Everything I did was for Konoha!”

He struck his cane against the floor.

“The human experiments began with a proposal you approved! Sakumo Hatake had gained more influence than Orochimaru and Minato, and you allowed the villagers’ anger toward him to spread!”

Danzo’s voice rose.

“And those are not the only matters in which you—”

“Enough!”

Hiruzen’s roar filled the office.

He glared at Danzo with an authority that silenced even his oldest teammate.

“The experiments I approved were to be performed on bodies that had been legally donated for research.”

His eyes hardened.

“You used living subjects. You abducted civilians from our own village and handed them to Orochimaru.”

Danzo said nothing.

“As for Sakumo, I intended only to reprimand him for abandoning the mission. You were the one who turned the entire village against him.”

Hiruzen leaned forward.

“Do you want me to name the person Sakumo abandoned the mission to save? The same person who later condemned him in public after being instructed by your men?”

Danzo stared at him.

“For years, I overlooked too much because I believed you would remember where the line was,” Hiruzen continued. “My tolerance allowed these problems to grow until they could no longer be hidden.”

Danzo was stunned into silence.

It was the first time in years that he had seen Hiruzen display the full authority of the Hokage.

But his surprise quickly turned to fury.

Everything he had done had been carried out with Hiruzen’s knowledge—or at the very least, his silent acceptance.

Now that those actions threatened Hiruzen’s reputation, he intended to place all the blame on Danzo alone.

To Danzo, it was nothing more than betrayal.