23 Chapter 22 : Tail Beasts

[Two-Tails Matatabi: Second brother? Who have you asked? What did big brother say?]

[One-Tail Shukaku: According to birth order, this dude is the eldest, then the second, and the old eight, you're second youngest!]

[Eight-Tails Gyūki: Nonsense! The ranking is obviously based on tail count. Let's not argue about one or two tails.]

[Seven-Tails Chōmei: I agree with second brother Gyūki!]

[Six-Tails Saiken: I agree too, tails determine strength!]

[Five-Tails Kokuō: I'm destined to be fifth. I'll eat melons quietly and not talk.]

[Four-Tails Son Goku: How dull.]

[Eight-Tails Gyūki: Shukaku, can't defeat me, so you want to be the boss?]

[One-Tail Shukaku: Nonsense, I sort of got defeated, but not this time.]

[Nine-Tails Yang: This old man can beat you even with one and a half tails, stop babbling, stinky tanuki.]

[One-Tail Shukaku: That's preposterous. You were split in two by a mere human. You should leave the group.]

[Nine-Tails Yang: You brat, you have no idea how strong Namikaze Minato is. Flying Thunder God Technique plus Dead Demon Consuming Seal. I've killed at least these people, you can't even touch their sleeves.]

[One-Tail Shukaku: Who wouldn't brag about it?]

The Tailed Beasts appeared together, arguing about their ranking and strength.

This scene left people across the ninja world somewhat puzzled.

For those unfamiliar with Tailed Beasts, it's meaningless. For those who've heard rumours, they found it playful.

This is the so-called great weapon of war?

And these Tailed Beasts seem to have names.

"It seems the Tailed Beasts hold secrets too!"

Orochimaru subconsciously licked his lips.

"Having a name is no big deal."

The Fourth Raikage, seated in the village with two perfect Jinchūriki, felt bored.

In comparison, he believed he should figure out a way to deal with Konoha's geniuses.

The Konoha roster is filled with too many bloodline limit.

"We need to figure out a way to deal with him." Onoki thought to himself.

"Three-Tails!" Mei Terumi's eyes gleamed.

With Yagura's death, the Three-Tails had vanished.

If she could retrieve and seal it in a Jinchūriki, the Mist Village would gain a high-end combat asset.

She might also get some relief and find a husband.

[One-Tail Shukaku: I remembered, weren't you all caught by Senju Hashirama? Regardless of field advantage and attributes, let him assess our strength. Would that be fair enough?]

Shukaku felt triumphant with this move.

Of the Nine Tailed Beasts, he was the only one who hadn't fallen to Senju Hashirama's might. Was he the only weak one?

Other Tail Beasts: ...a bad feeling.

[Senju Hashirama: Well, it's a tough one for me. I caught four, Madara caught the other four.]

[One-Tail Shukaku: No problem, rank the four you caught, then let Madara rank the rest. Can't we get a general idea that way?]

[Senju Hashirama: You're right, let me think... I can't really decide, but I do feel like the Nine-Tails is stronger. I caught the other Tailed Beasts with one hand each, but I needed two hands for the Nine-Tails.]

[One-Tail Shukaku: ? ? ?]

[Uchiha Madara: What kind of strength do a group of cattle possess? Just staring at them all? Weaklings don't deserve to be ranked.]

[...]

The entire ninja world was bewildered.

Did they hear that right? A human was speaking?

Those were Tailed Beasts.

Did they need a hand or an eye to control them?

Did they even have hands?

If they weren't speaking so confidently, they'd sound like they were bragging.

"One hand, one eye?" A shiver ran down A's spine.

Having dealt with the Eight-Tails, he had some inkling of the strength of these two god-tier beings.

The Nine Tailed Beasts fell silent for a moment, as if they'd never spoken.

They were all aware that they had been pinned down and defeated by Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara.

The world was relentless!

"Don't involve me, don't involve me!"

Inside Gaara, Shukaku closed his eyes and meditated.

He knew the other Eight-Tails had been captured, but he wasn't sure of the details.

Unintentionally, he had walked into a trap.

Only he remained, facing the Eight Tails' disgraced expressions.

Survive this, and he, the only Tailed Beast unscathed by Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara, would be the boss.

But sometimes, reality wasn't as beautiful as one's thoughts.

[Senju Hashirama: Speaking of which, I also wanted to recapture the Nine Tails and redivide the Tailed Beasts. But One-Tail Shukaku has been sealed in the Sunagakure temple since ancient times. It'd be embarrassing to take it back and redistribute it. So, I let it be. I knew that someday Shukaku would ask me to assess the Nine Tails' strength. We should have a friendly match.]

A friendly match?

Countless hearts were screaming, "Can a match involving Tailed Beasts really be friendly?"

However, Senju Hashirama's words indicated he had wanted to divide the Tailed Beasts before, not into nine but eight. The remaining one, One-Tail Shukaku... Had it been sealed in Sunagakure since ancient times?

Did that make Shukaku the weakest?

After all, Senju Hashirama didn't even need to lift a finger!

Shukaku: I'm outta here!

*puff!*

Uchiha Obito's expression remained unchanged, but laughter echoed in his mind.

These Nine Tailed Beasts had become society's punching bags. They probably wouldn't be speaking for a while.

At that moment, Naruto looked up at the sky, scratching his head. "Strange, it's been a while. The Bloodline Limit List still isn't out?"

His words acted as a switch, and everyone instinctively looked up at the sky or focused on the gold list.

The higher-ups were talking too much, occasionally dropping crucial hints. Everyone was attentive. The discussions were getting too deep, causing them to forget the time.

Naruto's reminder got them back on track.

20th Place: Yamato (Wood Release Bloodline Limit Intermediate Level)

Option 1: Upgrade Wood Style

Option 2: Preliminary Mastery of the Sage Art (Shikkotsu Forest Version)

[4:44]

Halfway through the countdown.

And the name on the list... Wood Style again!?