Chapter 106: Strategizing

"Hey, Kurama?"

Baishi called out to the Nine-Tails.

The beast's ears twitched, but it didn't bother opening its eyes.

'This is what they mean by unwavering resolve, huh?'

Baishi sighed inwardly but wasn't ready to give up. His voice turned coaxing, "Kurama, don't you want to leave? Maybe give it another try. Who knows? This time, you might succeed."

His voice grew quieter, as if even he didn't believe his own words.

The Nine-Tails, however, opened its eyes, staring at Baishi with a sharp gaze. Though silent, its message was clear: Do you take me for a fool?

Meanwhile, the Tailed Beast Cloak on Baishi's body gradually receded, leaving only two tails behind. The reduction wasn't due to any cooperation from Kurama; the beast's chakra reserves were simply too vast to be entirely contained. Even with deliberate restraint, some inevitably seeped out, manifesting as the two tails.

'But what good are just two tails?'

Baishi mulled over the situation. Convincing Kurama to cooperate seemed increasingly unlikely, leaving him with one option: forcefully seize its chakra and take control.

'How can I extract Kurama's chakra?'

He pondered deeply for a moment before smacking his palm in realization. "How could I forget about this?"

In his memories, when Naruto wanted Kurama's chakra, the beast refused to cooperate. That's when Kushina Uzumaki intervened, using Adamantine Sealing Chains to restrain it. Following this, she extracted its chakra by force.

"Maybe I can use the same method."

The Adamantine Sealing Chains were a powerful Uzumaki Clan technique, especially effective against tailed beasts, which are essentially concentrated forms of chakra.

Even in her weakened state, Kushina had used the chains to effortlessly subdue Kurama, a testament to the technique's potency.

If Baishi could similarly restrain the Nine-Tails, extracting its chakra would be a relatively simple task.

Although he could rely on Wood Release techniques to suppress the beast, that would draw far too much attention. He had no intention of turning such a process into a public spectacle. The Adamantine Sealing Chains, on the other hand, could be used discreetly within the sealed space created by the Eight Trigrams Seal.

If he further refined the setup by combining the two techniques, the result would be an even more robust sealing method, transforming Kurama into a truly obedient "chakra battery."

The thought alone made Baishi giddy, but he quickly calmed himself, murmuring, "Hold on, I don't even have the technique yet."

Feeling the abundant chakra circulating within his body, Baishi expanded his perception and locked onto a marker along the coastline several dozen kilometers away.

With a flash of the Flying Thunder God Technique, he disappeared.

---

Fire Country, Eastern Coast

Baishi reappeared next to the stone etched with a tree-like marker. Only ten minutes had passed since he was last here.

After scanning the surroundings and confirming it was safe, he sat down cross-legged and activated the S-rank spirit technique, Spiritualization Technique.

A glowing, translucent form emerged from his head—a spectral projection of his soul.

Instantly, his perception extended over a hundred kilometers, mapping every soul within range. After ensuring there were no familiar presences, Baishi filtered out unnecessary distractions and focused on key targets.

He sensed the positions of Minato Namikaze, Jiraiya, and others, courtesy of having recorded their chakra signatures previously.

"They're moving closer to me?"

To his surprise, Minato and Jiraiya were headed in his direction, albeit slightly off course.

"Wait, that's the route to the Land of Waves... So, they're planning to intercept me?"

Recalling his earlier encounter with Jiraiya near the Land of Waves, Baishi immediately pieced together their strategy.

"They're trying to block my escape... and likely planning to head for Moon Island as well."

He nodded in understanding. "Makes sense. The Nine-Tails was their only strategic weapon. Now that it's gone, it's akin to losing a nuclear deterrent.

"With the world still unstable post-war, news of this will undoubtedly embolden the other villages to take drastic actions. They'll do everything possible to retrieve the Nine-Tails before that happens."

His perception shifted to another familiar presence.

"And then there's Obito..."

Obito was trailing Minato and Jiraiya at a distance, clearly stalking them. Baishi deduced his target was also him.

As for why Obito hadn't teleported directly to him, the answer was simple—he couldn't.

Obito's Kamui required a chakra imprint to lock onto specific targets. Since Baishi lacked such an imprint, Obito had no choice but to follow Minato and Jiraiya.

Meanwhile, no trace of Zetsu could be found, no matter how much Baishi searched.

He quickly dismissed this as a limitation of the Spiritualization Technique, which could only detect the souls of living beings.

Zetsu—whether Black or White—didn't qualify as human in the traditional sense. Black Zetsu was merely Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's will given form, while White Zetsu were former humans trapped in an endless illusion, their souls likely long since degraded.

Unable to sense them was unsurprising.

Still, none of this mattered. What did matter was that the absence of these figures in Konoha created an opportunity—a chance for Baishi to slip back into the village amidst the chaos.

Why take the risk? For one reason alone: the Adamantine Sealing Chains.

There were three potential ways to acquire the technique:

The first was the Scroll of Seals. However, Baishi doubted this would work.

In his memories, Naruto had easily stolen the scroll, but the circumstances surrounding that event always felt staged, as though orchestrated.

With Hiruzen Sarutobi currently presiding over the village, any attempt to steal the scroll could end with Baishi facing a Reaper Death Seal. That was a risk he wasn't willing to take.

The second option was Kushina Uzumaki.

Though she had been stripped of Kurama, Kushina's Uzumaki resilience meant she was likely still alive. After all, the Nine-Tails' rampage had occurred less than thirty minutes ago. With Konoha's medical resources, she wouldn't succumb so easily.

But this plan also had its flaws. Kushina was a fiery personality unlikely to yield easily, and she was undoubtedly under heavy protection.

That left Baishi with the third option.

He turned his gaze toward the distant Konoha, as though peering through the forests to the village's streets—where a certain man roamed.

Orochimaru.

In his memories, Karin had learned the Adamantine Sealing Chains. Given her circumstances, it was almost certain that Orochimaru had taught her.

This meant Orochimaru likely possessed the technique himself.

Even if he didn't, Baishi could collaborate with him to obtain it. Tonight's events would surely intrigue Orochimaru enough to dig deeper into their secrets.

(End of Chapter)

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