The Great Escape

Within the dark expanse of Yao Huang's psyche, the Tailed Beast and its Jinchuuriki sat across from each other, seemingly engaged in an important discussion.

"Gau Kuo... Gao... Ko... Kokuo?"

"Finally."

The white beast made a clapping motion with its front hooves.

The kid's pronunciation of its name was catastrophic. As a proud Tailed Beast, Kokuo wouldn't budge on this matter. It forced the kid to keep repeating its name until it was deemed passable.

Still sounded a bit off, but eh.

For Yao Huang, it was just the problem of separating which part of his memory should be used when he opened this crappy mouth. Sounds easy in theory, but it was a different story when he actually had to do it. No matter how hard he wanted it to, his older soul would always become the default just by instinct alone.

No wonder reincarnated souls had to drink the Five-Fragrance Tea... it was to prevent this kind of confusion upon birth!

"Kokuo, let me ask you this... where are we?"

He couldn't gather qi at the moment, so he had no way to trace his location. As the saying goes, when you got lost in Chang'an, you better not be shy and ask the locals!

"We are in the underground chamber of the Anbu headquarter in Iwagakure."

Kokuo replied smoothly.

"...?"

Yao Huang rubbed his chin.

A village... hidden by rocks. That was what the word 'Iwagakure' meant, based on this automatic translator in his head. What a weird name for a village. Was that an alias?

"Err... how far is it from Chang'an? Or Luoyang?"

"What?"

It was Kokuo's turn to give him the blank look.

Yao Huang suddenly got a bad premonition. Either Kokuo was oblivious to the outside world or he had been flung so far into the future that everything he knew had changed.

Both options were equally bad.

"..."

After massaging the phantom headache in his head, Yao Huang arrived at a decision.

The most important thing was to escape from this room. Everything else can be discussed after that. Anyway, since Kokuo knew the name of this place, the spirit beast should be able to at least guide him out of the village.

"Let's get out of this room first."

Yao Huang snapped his fingers, catching Kokuo's attention. The white beast nodded in agreement.

"This One shall ask first, do you have a plan?"

"A plan..."

He stared at the pair of blue-green eyes. He remembered that Kokuo had said something about taking over its host's body. Judging from its tone, it seemed that it had become a regular occurrence.

"Have you ever attempted to escape before?"

Kokuo snorted.

"What a silly question. This One had longed for freedom from the very beginning."

Attempts were a matter of course.

"What did you do?"

"An easy task. This One overpowered the Jinchuuriki's will, allowing This One to control them as if they were puppets with This One's chakra. Breaking the humans' pathetic seals is an easy task. From there, it's just a matter of blasting through the door and get away as far as This One could."

"If it was easy, then why are you still here…?"

Kokuo clammed its mouth shut while averting its gaze.

"..."

In fact, it was because Kokuo had done everything with such a forceful manner that its escape attempts had always failed.

Since it was still sealed, it couldn't fully utilize its chakra, resulting in imperfect control of its Jinchuuriki. Not to mention that although they were human sacrifices, those ninjas still held their village in their hearts, hindering Kokuo's movements even further.

In the end, it would exhaust itself in the process, resulting in another capture.

However, it was different this time.

The kid had ripped off the seal, giving the beast access to its entirety of chakra. The kid also didn't seem to have any attachment to Iwagakure. If it were to unleash its full power this time, it might just work!

"Kid, pass control to This One," Kokuo said. "This One shall destroy this building and set us free."

"Hmm... hold on for a bit."

Yao Huang tsk-ed. This spirit beast was too impatient. Well, it was understandable.

"Destroying the building is fine, but that will attract too much attention. We shouldn't paint such a big target on our back."

"Ugh."

The white beast scowled.

"What idea do you have in mind then?"

"Well..."

Returning back to the real world, Yao Huang pointed at the steel door that was blocking their freedom.

"This room is only accessible through that entrance. Even though this room is so dark, there's barely any light seeping in through the gap. Since it's sealed so tightly, won't the occupants die from lack of air? And yet, I'm still alive and well."

It means that there was another opening in there, enough for air to pass through!

Yao Huang licked his finger, and then lifted his hand in the air to feel the flow of air.

"...There."

Ignoring the pain on his body, he walked in the darkness until he encountered a wall. The air was entering from a certain point above him. Although it was faint, he could definitely see a trace of light.

It was most likely a ventilation shaft.

Escaping through the door was a dangerous gamble. The opponents held the home advantage, while Yao Huang had zero knowledge of this place. They might even lure them even deeper into the building, charging head-on into their traps.

However, those shafts had nowhere else to go but outside. That would reduce the number of complications in his plan, which would provide a higher chance of success.

"I'll leave the rest to you."

Kokuo turned his gaze toward the kid.

"Are you sure? Don't you fear that This One will take over your body permanently?"

Yao Huang nodded with a confident smile on his face.

"A dignified spirit beast such as you will never renege on their promise."

"Interesting!"

Kokuo's image turned into a small white ball, which then burrowed into Yao Huang's chest.

"Remember this well, human. This One shall give you a peek of the true strength of a Tailed Beast!"

A sudden burst of high-intensity energy flared up throughout his body.

It was different from qi. The energy glows in dark, reddish color, and it seemed to have a will of its own. It enveloped Yao Huang's body from head to toe like an invisible cloak.

His vision turned acute, allowing him to see the features of the room even in the blinding darkness. His muscles felt more taut, growing stronger at an unbelievable pace. Something was urging him, corroding on his willpower without mercy. It took all of his concentration just to hold his psyche from breaking apart.

"You're still hanging on. Impressive! This One is pleased!"

Yao Huang could feel Kokuo within himself.

It was as if both human and Tailed Beast had merged together. If they were to show weakness even a little bit, one's will would be devoured by the other.

"What is... this?"

Before he knew it, he had been standing on all four.

Dense, reddish chakra enclosed his entire body, creating a shape similar to a horse. Five horns made of chakra protruded out of his head, while five swaying tails spread out from his back. The ground couldn't handle the immense pressure emanating from his body, causing it to slowly sank down, forming a small crater.

Even a beginner in chakra like Yao Huang could tell that right now, his body was boiling with power. Raw, primal power!

His body stomped the ground with his hands and feet, creating the illusory sound of hooves. The ground was crushed into dust as he aimed his chakra horns toward the air duct above.

---

Above the ground, the Iwagakure Anbu were lounging in their headquarter, enjoying a short break between shifts while sipping their tea.

Their peace was abruptly interrupted by a thunderous explosion.

"What's that? The Five-Tails?!"

"No, it's from the opposite side..."

Based on past attempts, the Five-Tails would always escape through the front door of the sealing chamber. The explosion, however, came from the rear. Could it be-

"Intruders?! Are they trying to kidnap the temporary vessel?"

"Contact the squad guarding outside! Secure the vessel at all costs!"

Sadly, their guess was slightly off the mark, because it was not the doing of an outside agent. It was actually the Five-Tails itself!

Like a flash of red lightning, the chakra-covered Yao Huang drilled through the rocks as if they were water. With a loud crash, he broke through the surface, the excess force launching him several feet into the sky.

The sun was shining brightly in the infinite blue expanse. Below him stood numerous towers made out of rock spires, with the biggest and tallest one in the center of the formation.

"So many mountains!"

Yao Huang couldn't contain his surprise. This kind of landscape... could it be...

"The land of the U-Tsang?"

"The land of what?"

Kokuo coughed. The kid's attitude was acceptable, but that mouth sometimes spewed out incomprehensible words. It really had to check the kid's head some other time for lasting damage.

"Take a look, kid. This is the village carved on the mountains of the Land of Earth, Iwagakure."

Kokuo's words were searing with the flame of hatred. Oh, how it wished to level this village with the earth, sending those wretched ninjas to hell for the crime of enslaving a Tailed Beast! Even when freedom was at hand, this grudge wouldn't be so easy to withhold!

Thankfully, the kid's will was there, anchoring the beast to reality.

"Patience. Our escape comes first."

Revenge was a dish best served cold, that was what his experience had told him. On the other hand, retreat should be struck while the iron was still hot!

"Hmph," Kokuo snorted. "Escaping is fine and all, but where should we go from here?"

"Let's see... you want to see the forests, don't you?"

If this was the land of U-Tsang, that means they wouldn't see fertile land for quite a while. It would be better to go south-east, toward the central plains. From there, they could proceed south.

Judging from the position of the sun, south-east should be...

"There."

Kokuo lifted its head, staring at the indistinguishable patch of green in the distance.

"Let's go!"

The reddish chakra began to move at rapid speed, growing hotter with each passing second.

"Eh?"

Yao Huang's body temperature soared in an instant to the point that the air surrounding him was distorted by the heat.

Wait, wait, what was happening?

"Fear not, human!"

Kokuo roared, overjoyed to be able to unleash its true potential.

<Boil Release!>

The reddish chakra boiled like hot water, causing Yao Huang to feel that he was being cooked alive. However, he didn't feel the pain that should have followed.

His limbs, which were now shaped like hooves, clapped in the air, producing a sonic boom. At the same time, his body surged forward like an arrow toward the green patch in the far distance.

"Hahaha… Hahahahaha!"

Laughing out loud like an excited kid, Kokuo kept on galloping forward, increasing their speed even further until they became a shooting star that split the clouds in two as it maneuvered past rough, mountainous terrains.

Truthfully, Yao Huang wanted to complain about this reckless behavior, but he didn't have the heart to. After all, he could understand the spirit beast's excitement.

After such a long time of imprisonment, it finally could fly in the sky once again, as free as the birds!

Kokuo was beside himself with glee. Below them was a sea of trees. The emerald-green luster was reflected in the Tailed Beast's eyes as fond memories filled its soul with warmth.

Sadly, the blissful moment didn't last long.

"We got company."

A number of people clad in red outfits and brown flak jackets poured out of the forest right behind Yao Huang. Although their speed wasn't up to par, they were awfully persistent. No matter how many times Kokuo swerved through the maze of trees, it still couldn't shake them off.

"Pursuers? So soon?" Yao Huang pondered. "I think it's more likely that they've been here from the start."

They were most likely patrol guards. Although still troublesome in a way, they should be more manageable compared to the elites back in the village.

"We should kill them."

Kokuo growled, perhaps with a vengeful motive of its own.

"No, not now."

Yao Huang, however, had another concern.

Perhaps it would be trivial to eliminate them with Kokuo's power, but those guards should be aware of this fact as well. Since they were still in close pursuit, it means that they had forfeited their survival for the sake of capturing the two. Even if they failed, they would buy enough time for their pursuers to catch up.

No matter what era, the hardest enemy to fight against was a suicide squad.

As he was mulling over this problem, the forest suddenly opened up into a wide ravine with a giant stone bridge connecting the two edges.

He suddenly got an idea.

"Venerable spirit beast, do you have a way to destroy this bridge?"

"Piece of cake!"

Jet-black spheres made out of condensed chakra began to coalesce around Yao Huang's body. As he crossed through the bridge, Kokuo shot those spheres out.

"Wait! Retreat!"

The Iwagakure ninjas were a step too late to notice the menacing spheres. Before they could withdraw, the spheres smashed onto the bridge. At the moment of impact, the spheres erupted into a deafening explosion, evaporating everything within its swelling radius.

The earth trembled as the bridge, losing its middle section, slowly collapsed from its own weight.

"...Wow."

Yao Huang had no word. The destructive power of that ability was on par with the highest-level mystic arts, alright?! He couldn't help but tremble a bit inside.

What kind of monster had he awakened?

"Hey. Let's go! This One is still not satisfied yet!"

He stared at the white beast, who was eyeing the dense forest ahead with such an animated expression.

"..."

What monster? It was more like an excited puppy...