The One-Tails, Shukaku, was located in the Land of Wind, in Sunagakure. Its jinchūriki was the young Gaara.
The Two-Tails, Matatabi, and the Eight-Tails, Gyūki, were in Kumogakure, sealed respectively within Yugito Nii and Killer Bee.
The Three-Tails, Isobu, and the Six-Tails, Saiken, were in Kirigakure. The Three-Tails was sealed in the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, while the current jinchūriki of the Six-Tails was unknown. In the future, it would be sealed inside Hotaru's master, Utakata.
The Four-Tails, Son Gokū, and the Five-Tails, Kokuō, were both in Iwagakure, sealed respectively in Rōshi and Han.
The Seven-Tails, Chōmei, was located in Takigakure—the same village as Kakuzu. The current jinchūriki was unclear, but it was most likely Fū.
The Nine-Tails, Kurama, after the Nine-Tails incident, had one half sealed inside Naruto, and the other half was sealed by Minato using the Reaper Death Seal—together with his own soul—inside the body of the Shinigami.
Uchiha Yu focused his thoughts on the Nine-Tails. The key to unsealing the Reaper Death Seal lay within the Uzushio Clan's Namiendō Shrine.
Orochimaru knew quite a bit about that.
But Yu wasn't sure whether the Shinigami's mask could really release Minato's soul and the sealed half of the Nine-Tails. If it did, he could even have Orochimaru reincarnate Minato using Edo Tensei.
Once the Kirigakure mission was done—
And after acquiring a perfect jinchūriki body by taking in the Six-Tails and Three-Tails—
His next target could be Konoha, and the Nine-Tails inside Naruto.
During that time, he could study how to extract Minato's sealed half of the Nine-Tails.
A gentle breeze blew across his face as the giant snake reached the forest's edge. Uchiha Yu finalized his action plan for the coming days.
First, find Karin. While Orochimaru searched for Shinno, Yu would take his Uchiha squad to Kirigakure, eliminate the remnants of Obito's influence there—and take the tailed beasts while he was at it.
As he thought, Yu glanced at the unconscious Mikoto.
She was fine.
Yu had used mental manipulation and a bit of genjutsu to put her into a long, deep sleep. With Nonō taking care of her, there was no need to worry about daily life.
As for Mikoto's side quest involving the "Pink Medicine," they could complete that en route to Kirigakure.
RUMBLE—
The giant snake exited the forest and slithered onto the rolling grasslands, winding across the uneven terrain toward Kusagakure.
"There's a squad of shinobi heading our way. This fugitive road of ours is surprisingly lively," Orochimaru said, peering into the distance, full of amusement. Even during missions with the Akatsuki, things were never this interesting.
"…"
Yu swept his gaze ahead.
The breeze stirred the swaying grass. The endless green plains rippled like waves on a vast ocean.
The Uchiha had noticed nothing unusual in the distance.
They lacked long-range sensory skills, so anything beyond their visual range was unknown. That was why Sasuke wanted someone like Karin, who could serve as his "eyes."
At the front of the giant snake—
Terumi Mei, after hearing Orochimaru's words, turned to glance at Ao. The latter nodded and raised a hand to remove the black eyepatch over his right eye, revealing a white Byakugan that didn't suit his usual demeanor at all.
Ao's expression grew serious. Staring out over the grassy plains, he raised his right hand, forming a seal with his index and middle fingers, channeling chakra into the Byakugan.
CLANG—
The veins around his eyes bulged. The Byakugan activated, and Ao clearly saw the shinobi squad approaching across the distant grasslands.
The Uchiha all turned to look at him.
They'd all heard rumors of this so-called "Byakugan Killer"—the man who once led a raid into Konoha but was scared off by Shisui Uchiha.
Unfortunately, Shisui had been loyal to Konoha to the very end. Though he repelled many elite from Kirigakure and earned countless merits, his blind faith in the village leadership had led to his eventual downfall.
"Heh… To obtain a Hyuga main family Byakugan on the battlefield and build your reputation with it—besides luck, you've got a bit of skill," Orochimaru remarked, glancing at Ao and offering rare praise.
But just that one glance made Ao break into a sweat, as if a venomous snake had locked onto him.
Still, he couldn't help but feel a bit delighted—this was praise from one of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha.
Seeing everyone intrigued by the Byakugan, Nonō suddenly remembered something and waved Izumi over.
"Hm?"
Izumi had just been wondering whether the Byakugan could be transplanted as easily as a Sharingan. Seeing Nonō gesture, she smiled and walked over.
Nonō had been wholeheartedly dedicated to the Uchiha throughout the journey, and everyone could see it.
Especially during the time when she had put all her efforts into healing Uchiha Yu, she had earned a great deal of favor from the Uchiha clan members.
Even Izumi liked Nonō very much—she was a woman who appeared gentle and elegant, acted with kindness, and had a rich emotional depth.
"Please take care of her for me," Nonō said with a smile, gently placing Mikoto next to Izumi. The latter didn't refuse and cradled the unfortunate clan matriarch in her arms.
After clearly observing the approaching group a few kilometers away, Ao spoke in a low voice: "It's a team of Iwa-nin. They're being followed by many others. Looks like they're deliberately rushing here."
Mei Terumi's expression turned cautious.
Previously, she and Ao had used the Byakugan to avoid Iwa-nin main forces in the mist while pursuing a Hyuga ninja who escaped with an intelligence scroll.
It was because Mei had seen Iwagakure strike so swiftly at Konoha—
That she began to worry Kirigakure would fall too quickly.
If that happened, Sunagakure, which had always held hostility toward Kirigakure, would surely deal with them just like Iwagakure had with Konoha.
"Let's stop here."
Uchiha Yu raised his eyebrows slightly. It seemed that must be the "gift" Ōnoki had mentioned.
RUMBLE—
Under Orochimaru's control, the giant snake came to a halt.
Behind the snake's head—
Izumi's big black eyes widened in surprise as she saw Nonō, without the slightest hesitation, retrieve a scroll sealed with Hiashi Hyuga's Byakugan and walk up to Yu.
"Captain… for you. This contains Hiashi Hyuga's Byakugan."
Nonō handed over the scroll and adjusted her round-frame glasses.
Yu took the scroll from her, and Nonō let out a long sigh of relief, feeling as though she had finally completed a very difficult task.
She had been afraid this pair of Byakugan would be lost or stolen while in her possession.
POOF—
Yu unsealed the scroll. A pair of Byakugan, still full of color, materialized in the center of the sealing array.
After a quick glance—
Yu handed the scroll back to Nonō.
"Put them in."
Nonō's pupils contracted at his words. Her lips parted slightly, and her graceful face filled with shock and disbelief. She suspected she had misheard.
"These are Byakugan, you know!"
"You're just giving them away?"
Ao and Mei were equally astonished by Yu's action. Their eyes remained locked on the white, faintly lavender-tinted eyeballs inside the scroll's sealing array.
Ao swallowed hard.
He thought to himself—
Is following Yu really that rewarding?
"…"
Tsunade and Shizune, who had both witnessed the entire process of Nonō retrieving Hiashi's Byakugan, were also stunned that Yu would gift them to this woman.
"Heh… So the real lucky one is her," Orochimaru commented after glancing at Nonō, shaking his head in admiration.
Back when he had worked under Danzō, he had known Nonō well.
Now that Danzō was dead—
From Orochimaru's perspective, Nonō, as a medical-nin and intelligence-nin, had finally found the right leader and emerged from the shadows by siding with Yu.
Yu looked at the still-hesitating Nonō and calmly shoved the scroll into her hands.
"Just think of it as another way to help me keep them safe."
"Captain… this… this is too valuable…"
Nonō was at a complete loss.
Tamayo couldn't help but joke:
"All of us have Sharingan, and you've got nearsighted eyes—hurry up and swap them already! It'll probably boost your medical ninjutsu too!"
Everyone burst into a mix of laughter and sighs.
This time, Tamao had a point—on rainy days, Nonō was practically blind. She couldn't tell humans from animals five meters away. Expecting her to fight was too much; even not holding the team back was impressive.
Since Yu couldn't use the Byakugan himself, it would be better to put them to use. Having a Byakugan user in the squad would make mission work much more efficient.
°°°
Hungry for more chaps? Then check out our pătreon!
Link: Påtreon.com/BaphometFiction
I post 20 advanced chapters of this fanfic there.
If you do subscribe, please do so in the web patreon, not the ios app.