Chapter 74: Dead, but Not Completely Dead

Kurama, unsurprisingly, died

But he wasn't completely dead. In the sealed space, watching the last scene from his shadow clone, Kurama fell silent, then burst into a rant.

"Well done, Fourth Raikage! No sense of decency, using the One-Fingered Assault to ambush an old beast like me!"

"Where's that Two-Fingered Assault you promised? Deceiving me, ambushing me like this!"

"I'm telling you, admit your mistake, or watch out for my Lightning…Tailed Beast Bomb!"

Meanwhile, Naruto, who was busy trying to learn Rasengan from Jiraiya, suddenly froze and then collapsed onto the couch, clutching his chest with a pained expression as if he'd just taken a heavy beating.

Seeing this, Jiraiya and Tsunade paused, rushing over to Naruto. Tsunade placed her hand on his chest, her green chakra glowing from her palm, and then frowned.

Jiraiya's heart sank. "What is it? Is it an old injury flaring up?"

"No," Tsunade shook her head, her expression turning slightly puzzled. "He's pretty skilled at the Shadow Clone Jutsu, isn't he?"

Jiraiya blinked, nodded instinctively, then suddenly caught on. "Are you saying…he felt the feedback from his shadow clone being dispersed?"

The reason Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu is classified as a forbidden technique is that each shadow clone sends back its feelings, memories, and pain to the main body, and this feedback is unavoidable.

If there are only a few clones, most ninja can handle the feedback. For instance, Kakashi barely feels anything when one of his clones is destroyed. But if there are too many clones, and they're all destroyed at once, the flood of memories and sensations can overwhelm the main body.

That's why Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu is forbidden, but regular Shadow Clone Jutsu isn't.

The pain from shadow clone feedback is usually undetectable to the naked eye, but medical ninjutsu can identify it. Chakra disturbances and sensory pain can't lie; even if Kurama erased the clone's awareness to keep Naruto from gaining those memories, the sensations still feed back to him.

"That's right," Tsunade nodded, slowly returning to her seat. "The main body feels it when a shadow clone is destroyed, but typically, the feedback isn't too painful, so most ninja can ignore it. But what he just felt wasn't mild. I don't know who caused it, but to send back that level of pain, they had to be at least a Jonin."

Kurama stayed silent, hiding in the background.

Honestly, being taken out by a One-Fingered Assault is quite an experience. Naruto probably won't hold it against him.

"Kurama…" Despite the searing pain in his chest and the feeling of Kurama's chakra gnawing at him, Naruto lay on the couch, raising his voice hoarsely.

"You jerk!"

Kurama looked up at the sky. See? Naruto's so happy.

"Jonin-level destructive power… could it be the Akatsuki?" Jiraiya muttered to himself. "But Naruto has no reason to seek out the Akatsuki, and I set up security around here. If the Akatsuki were nearby, I'd know."

"Or maybe…" Jiraiya looked toward Naruto's stomach. "Kurama?"

Why? Why would Kurama control Naruto's shadow clone to leave? Is he trying to do something? Or contact someone? Like he said before, to reach out to the other Tailed Beasts? But why not tell me? The only thing this does is make me suspicious.

Jiraiya couldn't figure it out. He even considered the possibility that it wasn't Kurama. But he couldn't come up with any other explanation.

Naruto had no reason to send out a shadow clone just to get it killed. But Kurama? Jiraiya had plenty of reason to believe that he'd have connections with the other Tailed Beasts. With a reaction like this, maybe the clone really was killed by another Tailed Beast.

…

Elsewhere, where lightning and auroras collided, the ground had split open, and the entire area had turned to desert, leaving only a massive crater in the center.

A stood in the crater with a dark expression, feeling the Nine-Tails' lingering chakra. "Damn Nine-Tails—it was only a shadow clone."

Just a shadow clone with that kind of power—what if it had been the real thing? A had to think about it. Why was the Nine-Tails here in the Land of Thunder? Could it mean Konohagakure was preparing for war?

From the latest intel, it seemed like the One-Tail Shukaku from Sunagakure Village had been defeated by the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. Could it be that Konohagakure thinks they can control the Nine-Tails' power and are ready for war?

A clenched his fist. "If they want a fight, let's fight! What's there to fear from Konohagakure now?"

Just as he finished speaking, dozens of figures appeared around the edge of the crater, staring down at him. The sand covered their ankles, and they swallowed instinctively.

Darui rubbed the back of his head as he approached Raikage, looking around in surprise. 

"Raikage-sama, is the one fighting you really the Nine-Tails?"

"Yeah." Raikage nodded. "That guy gives me a bad feeling. He will eventually become an enemy of Kumogakure Village; we have to eliminate him."

Seeing Raikage's furious expression, Darui felt a bit helpless. 

"Raikage-sama, the Nine-Tails is a Tailed Beast of Konohagakure. If we make a move against him, it will lead to war. Even if war breaks out, you'll have to face the new Hokage of Konohagakure. The Nine-Tails can only be dealt with by Killer Bee-sama."

According to the intel, the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki could already use the Nine-Tails' power to defeat the One-Tail. This meant that the Jinchuriki was likely a perfect Jinchuriki like Killer Bee. Even if he wasn't a perfect Jinchuriki, he should be pretty close.

In this situation, no one could say for sure whether Killer Bee could handle the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki. 

Most ninjas believed the Nine-Tails was stronger than most Tailed Beasts; otherwise, the First Hokage wouldn't have left just the Nine-Tails to balance the power.

"Prepare for war!" Raikage said without hesitation. 

"I'll take care of that guy; you all hold off Konohagakure's shadow."

Raikage's eyes were filled with killing intent, as if he was caught up in his own imagination.

Darui felt equally helpless. 

"Raikage-sama, the enemy's shadow is likely the legendary Sannin, Sage Jiraiya. With our strength, it will be hard to stop him. If we try to force it, the cost will be too high."

Just like the Third Raikage, Iwagakure Village couldn't just kill him; they lost thousands of ninjas trying to stop him, and in the end, the Third Raikage wore himself out rather than being killed.

They were confident that even Sage Jiraiya wouldn't match the Third Raikage, but being called a sage meant Jiraiya's strength wasn't simple either. It would be impossible to stop him without a huge cost.

Even if the Fourth Raikage defeated the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, how would they fight the war afterward? 

Wasn't that a sure loss?

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