Chapter 221: Extracting the Tailed Beast

Chapter 221: Extracting the Tailed Beast

In a dimly lit cave.

The enormous Gedo Statue sat hunched, its ten massive fingers each supporting the presence of seven individuals, either in illusionary or physical forms, standing motionless with hands forming seals.

At the center of the seven, the unconscious Han, the Jinchuriki of the Five-Tails, floated midair. The chakra belonging to the Five-Tails continuously seeped out from Han's body, flowing into the mouth of the Gedo Statue.

One of the Gedo Statue's tightly shut eyes gradually showed signs of opening.

Apart from the sound of the chakra flowing, the entire cave was eerily silent.

At a certain moment, Deidara, in his holographic form, looked around boredly and yawned while maintaining his hand seals, finally unable to resist complaining:

"I thought with a new leader, Akatsuki would have some fresh tricks. Didn't expect the first mission to be the same old thing. Boring! Just sitting here, there's no artistic value at all. Hmph."

Hearing this, Sasori, who was on Deidara's left, ignored him completely and continued focusing on his task with eyes closed.

On Deidara's right, Kisame, also in his holographic form, grinned: "Be content, Deidara. It used to take two days for the Gedo Statue to absorb a tailed beast. Now, with the new leader, it only takes a day. That's quite an improvement."

"Yeah, it saves time to make some extra money," agreed Kakuzu, who was physically present, as he opened his eyes.

With a new leader, it was necessary to show a bit of attitude.

As the oldest veteran, Kakuzu understood this well.

Nearby, hearing the conversation, Uchiha Izumi and Uchiha Kei, both physically present, opened their eyes as well, curiously observing the members of Akatsuki.

They had only known about this mysterious and powerful organization from intelligence, even learning that Uchiha Itachi, who slaughtered the Uchiha clan, had joined them as a member.

They never expected to be fighting these people one day and now standing alongside them, working together.

It was quite unexpected.

One could say fate works in mysterious ways.

The team carrying out the tailed beast extraction mission this time consisted of Uchiha Izumi, Uchiha Kei, and Kakuzu in their physical forms, and Deidara, Sasori, and Kisame in their holographic forms.

The last person present was a clone of Hagoromo Gengetsu.

As for Sasuke, due to the distance and the lack of an Akatsuki ring made with Rinnegan power, he couldn't participate in the tailed beast extraction mission and had returned earlier.

Standing on the thumb of the Gedo Statue where Pain used to stand, Hagoromo Gengetsu's clone slowly opened his eyes, revealing a pair of purple, whirlpool-like Rinnegan.

Hagoromo Gengetsu's true body did not possess the Rinnegan.

He knew one thing very well.

If he were to perform Infinite Tsukuyomi in the future, he would have to become the Jinchuriki of the Ten-Tails, absorb the power of the God Tree, and open the Eye of the Moon, which is the third eye on the forehead, a combination of the Rinnegan's patterns and the Sharingan's red color and tomoe— the Rinne Sharingan.

Only then could he cast Infinite Tsukuyomi onto the moon to cover the entire world.

However, there was a problem—the Rinne Sharingan belonged to Kaguya Otsutsuki.

In the original story, Madara awakened the Rinne Sharingan by obtaining Kaguya's power.

Even without Black Zetsu's betrayal, Madara, after absorbing all the God Tree's power and awakening the Rinne Sharingan, would eventually be replaced by Kaguya.

Hagoromo Gengetsu had no interest in injecting strange powers into his body.

Since it was destined to be a discarded piece, he decided to let his clone perform Infinite Tsukuyomi.

For this, he had specially enhanced his clone, and now, replacing Shisui's Mangekyōu Sharingan with the Rinnegan, allowing the clone to quickly master the Rinnegan and the Gedo Statue.

As for controlling the Gedo Statue like Madara and absorbing the tailed beasts as easily as drinking water, pulling all nine tailed beasts back into the Gedo Statue in a short time to reconstitute the Ten-Tails:

It's not that Hagoromo Gengetsu's clone couldn't do it.

Even his true body couldn't do it.

This wasn't a matter of strength.

As the true owner of the Rinnegan and the original possessor of the Gedo Statue, Madara's authority over the Rinnegan and the Gedo Statue far surpassed Nagato's and even his current clone, who could never reach such heights, no matter how hard he trained.

Of course, if Hagoromo Gengetsu's true body joined the extraction team, the process would be much faster.

However, he had other matters to attend to, so he left this task to his clone.

Listening to his subordinates chatting, Hagoromo Gengetsu's clone interjected:

"It's not one day. This time, the tailed beast extraction will take two days. Soon, the Six-Tails Jinchuriki will arrive."

"Another tailed beast so soon, as expected of leader Hagoromo, the efficiency is impressive," said Kisame cheerfully.

The main reason he submitted to Hagoromo Gengetsu was the Eye of the Moon Plan.

Seeing the plan progressing rapidly, he naturally felt pleased.

Deidara pouted at this.

Although displeased, faced with Hagoromo Gengetsu, especially now with the Rinnegan, he felt doubly pressured and didn't dare to refuse.

As for Kakuzu and Sasori, the two newly recruited members had no objections.

Uchiha Izumi and Uchiha Kei were always obedient.

Thus, the overtime work was successful.

Mount Katsuragi.

When Hagoromo Gengetsu's true body returned here, Hotaru, Utakata, and Tonbee were obediently staying indoors.

"Prepare to move," Hagoromo Gengetsu ordered directly.

"Huh?" Hotaru and Tonbee looked puzzled.

Hagoromo Gengetsu didn't elaborate, but he gave them two choices.

Without hesitation, Tonbee quickly pulled Hotaru to pack their belongings.

It didn't matter if there was no one left on Mount Katsuragi, as long as Miss Hotaru was present, the Tsuchigumo Clan would still exist wherever they went.

"Not bad, at least they're somewhat useful," Hagoromo Gengetsu nodded, watching Tonbee busying around.

Soon, various factions of the ninja world would come to investigate the battle that took place near Mount Katsuragi, making the usually secluded Tsuchigumo Clan quite lively for a while.

Hagoromo Gengetsu wasn't worried about Hotaru revealing anything.

However, if a great war were to break out in the future, the Tsuchigumo Clan, now in the ninja world's spotlight, would likely be dragged into the battlefield like in the Third Ninja War.

After all, the Fury of Heaven technique was too powerful and wide-ranging.

To avoid any sudden conflicts, Hagoromo Gengetsu decided to take Hotaru away in advance, making her one of his own.

Thus, the fate of the Tsuchigumo Clan was decided.

Now, only the Six-Tails Jinchuriki remained.

Hagoromo Gengetsu looked at Utakata and said calmly:

"I'll take the Six-Tails inside you."

Utakata's face changed instantly.

Without a tailed beast, a Jinchuriki meant only one thing: death.

No Jinchuriki, no matter how much they disliked the tailed beast inside them, would agree to such a thing.

But this was Hagoromo Gengetsu in front of him.

Understanding the gap in their power, Utakata slowly unclenched his fists, preparing to accept his fate with a look of resignation when Hagoromo Gengetsu's voice echoed again in his ears:

"Even without the tailed beast, you can live."

Instantly!

Utakata lifted his head forcefully, his eyes shining with hope.