Chapter 78: Getting the Reward
The kid finally said it!
The Three-Tails is indeed very dangerous and must be sealed away!
Sarutobi Hiruzen immediately disregarded the words said by Akihara Kagura afterwards. Although this little fellow unavoidably leans towards Shimura Danzo, he finally said the most important thing!
“…”
The Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, was still somewhat baffled.
This kid said something about the Three-Tails being very dangerous and needing to be sealed away. I hope the Three-Tails is really as dangerous as you say, and not just easily captured by your Wood Dragon Jutsu!
“What nonsense are you spouting!”
Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at the Fourth Mizukage,i Yagura, and sternly scolded Akihara Kagura: “How could there be any danger when the Lord Mizukage can control the Tailed Beast inside of him?”
After saying this, Sarutobi Hiruzen didn’t wait for Akihara Kagura to reply, but turned to look at Yagura and sighed: “This child, like others in the village, is probably shadowed by the Nine-Tails incident that happened years ago in the village, fearing that such a disaster might happen again… even I sometimes worry about the possibility of its recurrence…”
Sarutobi Hiruzen didn’t mind mentioning the disaster of the Nine-Tails incident in front of the Mizukage, seizing the opportunity to empathize: “We have always suspected that Uchiha Obito was the mastermind behind the Nine-Tails incident. We've been cautious about a repeat of such an accident, and had to heavily seal the Nine-Tails. Unexpectedly, this dangerous rogue ninja also harmed other villages, bringing so much trouble to Mist Village…”
“That guy is indeed very dangerous…”
The Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, nodded his head, even feeling a bit startled: “If he had controlled me back then, and used me to cause a rampage of the Three-Tails in Mist Village…”
“You won’t have to worry about that in the future.”
Sarutobi Hiruzen, holding his pipe, took back control of the conversation: “Konoha has a sealing technique that can seal the Tailed Beast chakra inside a Jinchuriki. Even if Uchiha Obito wants to unseal the Tailed Beast, he must find the correct method to undo the seal…”
Of course, this was nonsense!
Sarutobi Hiruzen didn’t know what techniques Uchiha Obito had mastered during his time in hiding. He wanted to make the Fourth Mizukage accept the fate of being sealed, without affecting the friendly relations between Konoha and Mist.
“I understand.”
The Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, calmly nodded, understanding Sarutobi Hiruzen’s intentions: “My chakra should indeed be sealed by Konoha…”
Yagura raised his head and said solemnly: “I only have one request, whether I am dead or alive in the future, the Three-Tails must return to the Land of Water, or I can't guarantee the situation in the village. Mist and Konoha might end up in an unending conflict.”
“Of course.”
Sarutobi Hiruzen quickly nodded in agreement, making his promise: “As the Third Hokage of Konoha, I assure you, Konoha will not covet the Tailed Beast of our ally.”
For the Konoha Village, the negative impacts brought by the Tailed Beasts far outweigh their usefulness.
Within the village, the Uchiha clan is like a ticking time bomb, and the Tailed Beasts are like another. A slight mishap with either could combine and turn the Konoha into ruins.
"Five Elements Seal!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen personally applied the Five Elements Seal on Yagura, imprinting a sealing formula on him!
This technique would prevent Yagura from using the Three-Tails' chakra until the seal is properly undone, naturally preventing any voluntary outbreak of the Three-Tails.
Only at this moment did Sarutobi Hiruzen truly set his mind at ease regarding Yagura. He personally led the Mizukage back to the Konoha, showing him around the village's scenery with the demeanor of hosting a guest. He even arranged for Yagura to live close to himself and assigned an Anbu team to ensure Yagura's safety.
Without a doubt.
The Tenzo team would be the most appropriate for this task.
Unfortunately, Akihara Kagura lost his first superior and was transferred from Tenzo's team. He temporarily formed a two-man squad with anbu leader Hatake Kakashi.
[System Prompt] : You are no longer under the command of Tenzo.
"Why!"
Akihara Kagura was dissatisfied with this arrangement.
Mainly because he had never completed a task for his superior Tenzo, and had inadvertently implicated Tenzo in a mishap shortly after joining his command.
This small mine has not even been excavated yet...
Why is he not allowed to work here?
Moreover...
The work in Tenzo's team is undoubtedly the most leisurely!
Who doesn't know how easy it is to protect the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura!
"The Mizukage's impression of Konoha isn't bad..."
Hatake Kakashi, holding his forehead, was troubled by his subordinate: "Maybe the Hokage is concerned that you'll affect the image of the Konoha?"
This kid could infuriate anyone with his words.
The Third Hokage had only just managed to make Yagura feel like a guest instead of a prisoner of war, and had only just opened a channel of communication between the Mist and the Konoha... But all the efforts of the Third Hokage would be in vain with just a slip of this kid's tongue.
"Is the image of the Konoha more important than its safety?"
Akihara Kagura still had a compelling reason: "What if the Tailed Beast inside the Mizukage goes berserk? At least my Wood Release can surely suppress his power!"
"The Three-Tails won't cause any trouble…”
Hatake Kakashi believes in the sealing technique of Sarutobi Hiruzen.
This is because the Five Elements Seal of Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage, is powerful enough to seal the chakra of the Three-Tails, to the extent that even the current Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, finds it inconvenient to utilize the chakra within his body.
Such a sealing method is quite useful.
A Jinchuriki who cannot use the Tailed Beasts chakra, and even struggles to harmonize their own chakra, is essentially rendered useless in their ninja career until the seal is lifted.
Besides this...
Sarutobi Hiruzen might also be worried about Akihara Kagura having to obey the orders of Danzo, who might be secretly plotting something detrimental to the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura.
This would be problematic.
"Let's go, we're heading to the training ground."
Hatake Kakashi, donning his outfit, said, "I'll take you to the training ground; the Hokage is going to teach us a new ninjutsu."
Hatake Kakashi looked back at Akihara Kagura and seriously told him, "The techniques taught by the man known as the 'Professor of Ninjutsu' are not simple ones."
"Us?"
"Probably as a reward for our contributions!"
Hatake Kakashi stroked his white hair and said slowly, "After all, we brought back the Mizukage, helping to thaw and ease the relationship between the Konoha Village and the Mist Village..."
"..."
Akihara Kagura quietly watched Hatake Kakashi.
The disrespect in the young man's eyes was not at all hidden.
"You captured the Mizukage."
Understanding what Akihara Kagura was thinking, Hatake Kakashi slowly said, "We prevented you from killing the Mizukage; we should all be credited for this achievement, right?"
"True to a leader, not shying away from taking credit..."
Akihara Kagura felt Hatake Kakashi's reasoning made sense and considered discussing with another superior, Obito, to see if he had any plans for revenge against Hatake Kakashi.
"Alright, alright."
Hatake Kakashi patted Akihara Kagura's head and casually smoothed his black hair, "If you're interested, I can also teach you some techniques at the training ground."
"Let's skip the technique that carves a dog's head on the wall…”