Chapter 115 (Patreon)

Yujiro naturally noticed the doubt in Namikaze Minato’s eyes.

However, he had no intention of explaining himself.

After all, what was he supposed to say?

That he could use the Limiter to alter his own physical constitution?

An explanation like that would only leave Minato even more confused.

At present, Yujiro had reached the initial phase of the Fourth Limiter Stage.

For now, its power was limited to repairing damage at the genetic level and drawing out the potential hidden within his body.

He still could not rewrite his body’s fundamental structure.

However, once Yujiro advanced to the middle phase of the Fourth Limiter Stage, he would gain the ability to rewrite that very foundation.

By then, obtaining an affinity for space-time ninjutsu would be nothing.

Even the physical constitution of the Uchiha clan or the extraordinary vitality of the Uzumaki clan could be reproduced with ease.

The Mangekyō Sharingan?

The Byakugan?

Even the Rinnegan?

Yujiro would only need to observe them once.

With the middle phase of the Fourth Limiter Stage, he would be able to freely rewrite his genes and reproduce the necessary biological structure, allowing him to simulate abilities that had once belonged exclusively to others.

When that time came, even powers such as the Sharingan and Rinnegan would no longer be beyond his reach.

“Minato-sensei, did you need something from me?” Yujiro asked.

“Oh, right!” Minato quickly returned to his senses. “Jiraiya-sensei is back. He brought a great deal of information concerning the current state of the shinobi world.”

His expression became more serious.

“One of his reports concerns a mysterious organization that has recently begun gaining influence.”

“The Akatsuki?” Yujiro asked with a faint smile.

“Yes.”

Minato stared at him in astonishment.

It had taken Jiraiya several investigations to uncover the organization’s name, yet Yujiro had identified it immediately.

“Let’s go take a look.”

With his sword in hand, Yujiro headed toward the Hokage’s office.

After they arrived, Jiraiya immediately took out the intelligence scrolls he had compiled over the past several years.

“Yujiro, according to what I’ve uncovered, a new organization has appeared in the shinobi world,” Jiraiya said in a low voice. “They call themselves the Akatsuki.”

He unrolled one of the scrolls across the desk.

“They also seem to have been recruiting missing-nin from the Five Great Shinobi Countries for years. Orochimaru appears to be among their members.”

“Orochimaru?”

Yujiro nodded calmly.

Orochimaru joining the Akatsuki was hardly surprising.

Whether he eventually chose to abandon the organization was equally unimportant to Yujiro.

Orochimaru had never truly devoted himself to the Akatsuki’s cause. He was merely using the organization as a temporary shelter and a convenient means of advancing his own plans.

He had no interest in the Akatsuki’s supposed goal of bringing peace to the world.

What Orochimaru sought was the pinnacle of the shinobi arts.

Immortality.

Knowledge of every secret in the world.

And, ultimately, the power to catch up to Yujiro.

“There’s more,” Jiraiya continued. “According to my investigation, the Akatsuki has become extremely active during the past few months. Just one month ago, they finally made their first major move.”

As he spoke, his expression gradually grew solemn.

“A major move?” Yujiro repeated.

He silently considered the current point in the timeline.

It was now approximately Konoha Year Sixty.

In the original course of events, the Akatsuki should not have begun openly capturing the Tailed Beasts for another two or three years.

Yet judging from Jiraiya’s report, their plans had been moved forward.

Even so, Yujiro remained completely composed.

“Have they begun capturing the Tailed Beasts?”

Jiraiya sharply drew in a breath.

“How did you know?”

Yujiro merely smiled without answering.

What was there to explain?

An Akatsuki that did not hunt the Tailed Beasts would hardly be the Akatsuki.

“One month ago, the Akatsuki dispatched a two-man team to Sunagakure in an attempt to capture the One-Tail,” Jiraiya continued.

“According to the intelligence provided by Sunagakure, the two operatives were Deidara, a missing-nin from Iwagakure, and Sasori of the Red Sand, a missing-nin from Sunagakure.”

Jiraiya’s voice became even heavier.

“We still don’t know why the Akatsuki is collecting the Tailed Beasts, but sooner or later, they will come for Konoha.”

He looked toward Yujiro.

“Because Konoha currently possesses two of them.”

“The Two-Tails and the Nine-Tails.”

The moment Jiraiya finished speaking, an irritated snort echoed through the office.

“What?”

A golden light emerged from Yujiro’s body and gathered above the Hokage’s desk.

A moment later, Kurama appeared in his small, almost deceptively adorable form, standing proudly on the desk with all nine tails raised behind him.

“Jiraiya, you brat,” Kurama growled. “Are you saying that ridiculous Akatsuki organization thinks it can defeat me?”

After spending five years beside Yujiro, Kurama had long since lost any desire to leave.

There were two main reasons for that.

The first was that life beside Yujiro was far too comfortable.

Kurama was given the finest food, had a proper place to rest, and even had a professional maid at home who attended to his needs.

Never in his long life had Kurama experienced such treatment.

The second reason was Yujiro himself.

Kurama had personally watched him grow stronger, little by little.

Yujiro had once been nothing more than a brat who could not defeat him.

Now, he had become someone whose true strength even Kurama could no longer see through.

Kurama simply could not be bothered to leave.

Why abandon such a comfortable life when he could remain beside Yujiro and enjoy himself without a care in the world?

Besides, everyone in Konoha now knew that the Nine-Tails was Yujiro’s personal companion.

Whenever the villagers encountered him, they respectfully addressed him as Lord Nine-Tails.

The title was always spoken with reverence, both before and after every sentence.

Kurama found the entire situation immensely satisfying.

Leave Konoha?

Why would he ever do something so foolish?

Kurama could be somewhat impulsive at times, but he was not an idiot.

Outside the village, he would have to endure hunger and exposure to the elements. Worse still, he would constantly have to worry that someone might appear and force him into yet another troublesome battle.

In Konoha, he could eat as much as he pleased, live in comfort, and occasionally order people around whenever the mood struck him.

There was no reason to give that up.

Jiraiya and Minato did not react when Kurama appeared on the desk.

They had long since grown accustomed to it.

After all, Kurama was now firmly on Konoha’s side.

“Lord Nine-Tails, I’m not saying you couldn’t defeat the Akatsuki,” Jiraiya replied patiently. “The problem is that we still know very little about them.”

He folded his arms.

“We don’t even know the identity of the person leading the organization. My concern is that they may have developed a method specifically designed to deal with Tailed Beasts.”

“That doesn’t frighten me!” Kurama declared arrogantly. “Who do you think I am? I’m the Nine-Tails!”

He planted one forepaw against the desk and proudly raised his head.

“Forget the Akatsuki. Even if the other eight Tailed Beasts came at me together, I could still beat every last one of them into the ground!”

Kurama was not merely boasting.

He truly possessed that level of strength.

In the original course of events, Kurama had displayed overwhelming power despite possessing only the Yang half of his chakra.

Below the level of the Ten-Tails, there were few beings capable of standing against him.

Even Gyūki, the complete Eight-Tails, might not have been able to defeat Kurama when he possessed only half of his full chakra.

The Kurama standing before them now was completely different.

Both his Yin and Yang chakra were intact.

He was the complete Nine-Tails.

Yujiro looked at the proud miniature fox standing majestically atop the desk and could not help but smile.

“Kurama, can you deal with the Mangekyō Sharingan?”

“Ahem…”

Kurama’s expression immediately stiffened.

“Well… as long as I’m careful, I should be able to avoid being caught by a Mangekyō Sharingan.”

The nine tails that had been proudly spread behind him suddenly drew together.

His posture became noticeably less confident.

Whenever the Mangekyō Sharingan was mentioned, Kurama felt the urge to curse whoever had first awakened those accursed eyes.

Without the Mangekyō Sharingan, Kurama would have been able to roam throughout the shinobi world almost entirely unchallenged.

Unfortunately, those eyes were one of the greatest natural threats to the Nine-Tails.

Their ability to control him was simply too effective.

Even now, there was already a pair of Mangekyō Sharingan within Konoha capable of placing Kurama under its control.

The only question was how long that control could be maintained.

Yujiro could tell that Kurama was still unwilling to admit defeat, so his smile deepened slightly.

Then his next words left Kurama, Jiraiya, and Minato completely stunned.

“You might be able to avoid the Mangekyō Sharingan…”

Yujiro’s gaze sharpened.

“But can you avoid the Rinnegan?”