Konoha: Start from untying the caged bird

Page 191

"Relative freedom".

Hyuga Yuzuru's words caused Ichio's eyes to widen slightly.

Its raccoon ears perked up slightly, and it tilted its head back: "What do you mean?"

"I plan to change the sealing method for Jinchuriki. To be precise, if possible, I don't intend to seal you into someone else's body as before. If you can control your power and manage your body size, I can even allow you to move freely around Konoha and fulfill some of your reasonable requests."

Hyuga Yuzuru's words stunned Shukaku for a moment: "Huh!?"

What...is this guy saying?!

"Tailed Beasts are not simply wild beasts—in my view, they possess emotions and reason, and are not natural beings opposed to humans."

I hope to find the possibility of Tailed Beasts and humans coexisting, not just as Jinchūriki, but in a true sense.

Hyuga Yuzuru's words made Shukaku fall into deep thought. The previous irritability and impatience in its eyes were gone, and it stared intently at Hyuga Yuzuru: "Do you know what you're saying?"

“Of course.” Hyuga Yuzuru said calmly, “The ninja world is not very safe right now. There are still ambitious people who hope to use the tailed beasts to achieve some ulterior motives. Until I deal with these enemies, I hope you can stay obediently around Konoha.”

But once I've dealt with those guys, I'm willing to give you the chance to return to nature and regain your freedom.

At that time, if you like to stay with humans, then stay with them; if you don't want to, and wish to return to nature, that's your business, as long as you can guarantee peaceful coexistence with humans.

So, what do you think of this deal?

Yuzuru Hyuga's words made Shukaku observe his expression carefully, but all he could see was a calm and indifferent look on the other's face.

He's serious!?

Shukaku thought in disbelief.

This was the first time in all his years that he had ever met a human being with such thoughts.

In the past, humans either avoided him because of his immense power, or coveted him because of it. Every human he encountered tried to seal him away, destroy him, or drive him away.

Only his previous host, Fenfu, allowed Shukaku to experience the beauty of humanity for the first time.

During the decades he was imprisoned with Bunpuku, Shukaku pondered more than once what the relationship between himself and humans, and between tailed beasts and humans, should truly be.

Even Bunpuku never thought, as Hinata Yuzuru said, that he could no longer exist in a sealed form, but could truly coexist with humans or return to freedom.

Shukaku stared at the other person with a seemingly indifferent expression: "How can I trust you?"

"Shouldn't trust be something that exists only after going through many things together? Who would trust someone they've just met? Even with you, I can't really say I trust you."

But I think... it's worth a try.

As Hyuga Yuzuru spoke, he deactivated Sage Mode, landed on the ground, looked up at the enormous tailed beast, and asked, "Can you shrink a little?"

Shukaku looked down at him for a while, then its body began to shrink, taking on a half-tailed beast form. Gaara's red hair also grew on top of his head, making it look somewhat incongruous, but its size became only slightly larger than that of an ordinary human, no longer appearing so exaggerated.

"The first step of the plan is for me to be able to separate you from Gaara's body without harming the host. This will undoubtedly require your cooperation. Currently, the chakra in Gaara's body has become mixed with your chakra. If we cannot separate them and remove you, it will mean depriving Gaara of all his chakra."

If he did that, he would naturally face certain death.

Shukaku was quite puzzled by Hyuga Yuzuru's words. It frowned slightly and said, "As far as I know, Gaara has nothing to do with you, right?"

“I don’t like meaningless killing,” Hinata Yuzuru said calmly. “Of course I can disregard his life, but if I were that kind of person, how could you trust that I would respect your life?”

Shukaku remained silent for a long time, then let out a few low chuckles: "Interesting..."

It raised its head, its beastly eyes thoughtfully observing Hyuga Yuzuru before it, and lazily said, "Well, I have one condition..."

Hyuga Yuzuru looked at it: "What?"

"Nine-Tails, what do you plan to do with it?" Shukaku's eyes gleamed with amusement.

After a moment of contemplation, Hyuga Yuzuru said, "When it can calmly accept reality, I will give it the same conditions as you."

“Hehe…” Shukaku thought of something and a strange smile appeared on its face. It raised its head and said, “As long as you can beat him up and let me be the audience… even if you want me to stay in Konoha obediently or be sealed away again, I will agree.”

Hinata Yuzuru's lips twitched: "That's all?"

“Of course…” Shukaku lazily raised his head and said, “For me, being sealed for another ten, twenty, or a hundred years doesn’t matter—it’s just a long slumber.”

Even without you, given human nature, trouble will inevitably find me sooner or later.

I am very interested in your suggestion. As for the research you mentioned, as long as it doesn't make me uncomfortable, I'm willing to cooperate with you.

but..."

It smiled: "The Nine-Tailed Fox must be like me..."

Hinata Yuzuru understood.

For Shukaku, the foul-mouthed human in front of it, or any other human, meant nothing. Anger or disgust, it had long been used to it over the years—after all, it wasn't the first time it had lost to a human.

But if you could witness the Nine-Tails getting a beating... that would be a completely different story.

Imagine the sheer joy of watching Hyuga Yuzuru deliver the same slap to Kurama that he himself had suffered!

But the reason for getting Shukaku to cooperate is not just that.

At this moment, its beast-like eyes calmly gazed at Hyuga Yuzuru, looking into his azure eyes, lost in thought.

After receiving a response from Hinata Yuzuru, Shukaku remained silent for a moment, then suddenly asked softly.

"you...

Is it really human?

Upon hearing this, Hyuga Yuzuru smiled faintly.

"Who knows?"

Shukaku chuckled noncommittally twice, then whispered, "Then release me from this brat's body as soon as possible... Gaara, this poor brat..."

Its voice carried a hint of pity, and a touch of mockery.

May you share in the blessings...

For some reason, it remembered its former host again.

He shouldn't have done this, yet he glanced at Hyuga Yuzuru with a hint of expectation in his eyes before slowly returning to the seal, revealing a weary Gaara.

Gaara knelt awkwardly on one knee, and after a while, he managed to stand up with difficulty.

He looked at Hyuga Yuzuru with a complicated expression; the opponent's strength had exceeded his expectations.

This was the first time he had ever felt so clearly the power that even the monster within him was astonished by.

"You...are you planning to take Shukaku out?"

Gaara said.

Hyuga Yuzuru looked at him and said, "If we can guarantee that there will be no harm to the Jinchuriki."

What I said to you before still holds true. I think I don't care whether I need to stay in your body a little longer.

You can think about it carefully yourself. If you still want to remain a Jinchūriki, that's not impossible.

Gaara paused for a moment, then said in a hoarse voice, "It doesn't matter."

He had his hands in his pockets, his red hair swaying in the wind, and the word "love" on his forehead was clearly visible through his hair.

Hyuga Yuzuru looked at Gaara's indifferent expression and simply smiled calmly: "Starting today, you can move into the apartment—with your abilities, you're more than qualified to be a Chunin, so for now, just stay in the village as a Konoha Chunin and wait for orders."

Don't cause trouble... Remember, in Konoha, you're no different from any other ninja.

Also, be nice to your neighbors.

Gaara frowned slightly.

Neighbor!?

who is it?

Chapter 141 The Eve of Departure

Not far from the Hokage Building in Konoha, there is an unremarkable-looking apartment building.

Compared to many newly built high-rise buildings, this apartment building, located not far from the Hokage Building, has only two floors and eight rooms to ensure the view of the Hokage Building.

Although the interior rooms feature a modern design, from the outside they appear quite ordinary, lacking even an elevator and requiring visitors to ascend via an external spiral staircase.

Gaara thought Hyuga Yuzuru was trying to trick him—living here didn't seem to be a problem, and as for the neighbors... they should be nicer to him.

However, when Yuzuru introduced the residents of the apartment to him that day, his expression changed slightly.

Itachi Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki, Yakumo Kurama.

These three people were Gaara's neighbors in his room on the second floor.

What made Gaara even more speechless was that on the first floor lived Kakashi Hatake, Might Guy, and Jiraiya.

Isn't this really Konoha's new type of prison?

So, you Konoha just keep all the monsters locked up here?

Even though Gaara quickly lost consciousness during the Chunin Exams due to his Sleep Technique and was unable to witness firsthand the strength of Konoha's forces, Shukaku within him is no longer asleep. It seems to sense that its freedom is approaching and is no longer so resistant to Gaara. Instead of fighting for control of the body, it even takes the initiative to introduce him to the strengths of these people.

Or perhaps Shukaku simply has a wicked sense of humor and wants to see what Gaara will look like among this group of monsters.

But Hyuga Yuzuru no longer had time to care about Gaara's life in Konoha.

He has found Payne, or rather, Nagato's trail.

Since the last battle, when he subtly imprinted the Flying Thunder God mark on Konan during the fight, he has never given up on the idea of ​​using Konan to find Nagato's true identity.

Moreover, because of his ability to see the future, his Flying Thunder God Technique can be used as a surveillance device—by simply looking at the 'future' he has traveled to after using the Flying Thunder God Technique, he can know the approximate location and situation of the other party.

However, Hyuga Yuzuru was not in a hurry to go and do anything with Nagato.

The other party is still useful to him at the moment.

After pinpointing the enemy's location, they secretly ordered the Anbu and Root to monitor the surrounding area and set up multiple outposts around the Land of Rain.

After losing Black Zetsu and Obito Uchiha, the Akatsuki organization suffered more than just a loss of combat power. More importantly, their intelligence gathering and counter-surveillance capabilities were significantly weakened after these two were sent away.

Compared to Hyuga Yuzuru, who seems to have an unparalleled understanding of the game's situation, the Akatsuki organization is completely clueless about Konoha's current situation. However, Konoha has maintained its advantage in information gathering thanks to Hyuga Yuzuru.

The Akatsuki organization was a small organization whose strength was highly concentrated in a few individuals. After losing its most important asset—mobility and secrecy—its threat to Konoha plummeted.

Hyuga Yuzuru could even detect the other party's whereabouts as soon as they arrived in the Land of Fire. It would probably be impossible for Nagato to shout out in Konoha how many floors a bag of rice needed to be carried up.

Fortunately, there are still many ninja villages besides Konoha.

Aren't Iwagakure and Kumogakure also part of the world? Let them suffer.

This was the last bit of value the Akatsuki organization had for Hyuga Yuzuru.

In addition to this, after reaching a preliminary agreement with Shukaku, Hyuga Yuzuru's next task is to participate in the research process on the One-Tailed Shukaku.

He needs to personally grasp the nature of the Tailed Beasts and deepen his understanding of them in order to effectively control, or rather, suppress, the Tailed Beasts, or even create them.

At the same time, we also need to find a way to help Naruto master the power of the Tailed Beasts as soon as possible.

In the short term, I don't expect him to become as strong as he is in the original work, strong enough to go toe-to-toe with Pain, but at least he should be as strong as Rasa, right?

The strength of Konoha cannot be solely due to his own strength; otherwise, wouldn't he have to serve as Hokage in Konoha for the rest of his life?

Hyuga Yuzuru, who longs for retirement, goes to great lengths to train new talents, isn't it all so that Konoha will have successors who can support his strength?

Naruto did not disappoint his expectations—although he had some doubts about his dream of becoming Hokage during his genjutsu simulation, he was encouraged by Hinata to regroup and arrived at the Hokage's office full of energy the next day at noon.

"Yuzuru-nii!"

"I'm ready!"

He gave a thumbs up, his smile bright and sunny, but what Hyuga Yuzuru was paying attention to was his hair—his once smooth, golden hair had now been cut into a buzz cut, and Naruto's already slightly mature features looked like those of the future 'Sixth Hokage'.

Hyuga Yuzuru sat at his desk, and Hyuga Kaoru, who was sitting next to him, smiled at him. Naruto Uzumaki was taken aback by their smiles and subconsciously scratched his head, only to touch his prickly short hair.

"What's wrong...?"

Hyuga Kaoru covered her mouth and chuckled: "It seems Naruto is already an adult."

"Hmm, hmm, as expected, if you want a boy to grow up, you still need the help of a girl."

Hyuga Yuzuru earnestly cooperated with Hyuga Kaoru, the two of them exchanging words back and forth, undoubtedly making Uzumaki Naruto blush deeply.

His eyes widened, and he stammered in a panic, "What are you talking about... I, um..."

Finally, Naruto Uzumaki looked at Yuzuru Hyuga with annoyance: "Yuzuru-nii!"

Hinata Yuzuru laughed and lay back in his chair until the other man puffed up his cheeks, which was a rare sight for him. Then he waved his hand and said, "I only saw a little bit, just a tiny bit."