Chapter 78

[A/N: I updated the MC's Status page, just give me the time to upload the images.]

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"Takigakure has such a great territory..." I let out as I was flying far above the ground at night while cloaking myself with chakra to stay invisible

Below me was a thick forest, so dense that light could barely go through while anyone wouldn't be able to force their way inside because of how overgrown it was.

And Takigakure was here, far above a cliff, surrounded by thick trees while a giant central tree was enveloping the whole village from above.

The only way inside was through a cavern system behind the giant waterfall that came from the village's giant lake.

No wonder they weren't successfully invaded once since they built their village, even fire couldn't be used properly because of the moistness of the area.

Only someone with Wood Release could make his way through the trees... I wonder who could do it, eh.

But honestly, they could call themselves 'hidden village' for sure, unlike others like Konoha or Iwa which are not so well hidden in comparison.

'Time to do some friendly kidnapping' I thought before descending on top of the giant central trees' thick leaves and branches

Before entering, I decided to do something I haven't done in a while and settled my hand on the tree before closing my eyes.

I decided to analyze the tree's entire DNA so I could reproduce it with my Wood Release later, although I would need to alter some of it so it wouldn't be as massive and also make it able to generate Hero Water more frequently, and with fewer drawbacks too.

Once every hundred years, this tree produced a specialized liquid called 'Hero Water' which allowed a shinobi to get a ten-fold increase in chakra for a short period.

But this shortened the user's life span proportional to the number of times his chakra increased, meaning that it took around ten years worth of life span.

Since I had an unlimited life span, I could use it without caring about the negative consequences, and ten times my chakra capacity would make me able to surround the whole planet and potentially more if I released the massive chakra I sealed within myself.

I still wanted to make it drinkable for others even if it ends up giving a lesser increase in chakra, I could make multiple trees anyway, and making it a tool for trusted shinobi on my side would be great.

Nevertheless, once I was done I then made the tree create an opening for me so I could enter Takigakure without anyone noticing since they only guarded the cave entrance, thinking that it was impossible to enter from anywhere else without making sounds.

I then decided to sneakily move to a small restaurant located south of the village, one of the few places that were still illuminated and greeted customers.

But I wouldn't go as a client, I only wanted to hear some gossip and maybe interrogate one of the customers when they leave the restaurant.

I wanted to be sure that Fū, and surely all Jinchūriki of the Seven-Tails in this village, was mistreated, ostracized, and loathed by everyone.

After all, I didn't know if Takigakure was exactly like shown in the anime or taken after the manga, a huge difference existed between the two, mainly around Fū's life here.

"Did you know? Yesterday afternoon, kids from the orphanage came back crying and completely beaten up from the orphanage's forest garden." one of the customers at the bar with an alcoholic drink in his hand told his companion who filled his own glass

"Again? That thing already injured the other children last week, the matron even asked the leader to take responsibility and throw it inside a cell but he refused to go near it." the man who had now served his friend replied as they clinked their glasses together

"Him? Heh, as if he would dare to do something, he's the most coward shinobi I ever saw... A pity that our last leader died when that beast wreaked havoc last time." his friend added as he started to gulp his entire glass at once

"I heard that every time the beast is freed they have to seal it again at the cost of their life... But with that man? I'm afraid the next time it comes out will be the last because he will leave the village as soon as it happens." the other man replied as he was disgusted by Takigakure's current leader

"We would be better without it, not once was Takigakure successfully assaulted, and most of our losses come from that monster rampaging around." the first man replied as he slammed his glass on the bar

"It's just a monster in human skin, and if we can't kill it then we should at least prevent it from doing something, right? I have a herbalist friend, I'm sure he can make some paralyzing shit... And if that's not enough, we should disable it by cutting the tendons." the now alcoholized companion suggested

"You idiot, nobody would want to give it barely enough food and water to survive! Though, if we find someone, your plan doesn't sound bad at all... If we can keep it barely alive for the next fifty years we would be dead from old age before it happens again!" the first guy exclaimed as he started to chuckle, quickly followed by his comrade

'A monster in human skin huh... No wonder they take such a form, humans are worse than anything else' I thought as I was disgusted by humanity itself and how ignorant they were

I won't kill them, not yet, but I will send clones around the village to see if that thinking is shared by everyone or not.

If that's the case then I don't mind making a whole village mysteriously die from dangerous and painful pathogens.

And they live in a place that can be perfectly quarantined since they only have one escape route, I just need to block the cave, and in a couple of months, the village will be completely lifeless.

I will teleport away those that do not harbor wrong beliefs towards Fū and pray for their survival outside.

'Can I even call myself human now..?' I thought as my strength was already above anyone else and I would become even stronger in two years

Nevertheless, I stopped wondering about life and made clones before closing my eyes to sense Chōmei's chakra and therefore Fū's location.

'She's here? But... There's nothing' I thought as I sensed her in the middle of a small forest within the village, staying inside of a cave if it could even be called so considering its size

Teleporting to the entrance, I entered the cave and saw a small girl with mint green hair, orange eyes, and tanned skin... But her clothes were ragged, her body was obviously wounded but she seemingly bandaged herself with what she could, and she looked malnourished as she had nearly no fat on her bones.

What was surprising however was how she was happily humming while sorting some kinds of berries, as if her situation didn't bother her at all.

"Excuse me but... Are you living here?" I asked as I deliberately made myself noticeable

"Hm? Oh, a visitor!" she joyfully exclaimed as she was scanning me from head to toe and was surely curious because of my outfit

"You're not from here, are you?" she asked as she came near me with some berries and presented them to me which was honestly confusing

"No, I'm not from this village... And you didn't reply to me, are you living here?" I asked again as she brought the wooden plate she used to carry the berries as high as possible because of our height difference

"Here, eat some." she said with a smile and so I took two of them before saying "Thanks." and ate them since I didn't want to discourage her

"Hehe, mommy always told me to be kind to others! Ah! You asked me if I lived here, well, I do!" she said before taking two berries for herself and savoring them

"How did you get all those wounds?" I asked as I pointed at several bandages she had around her body

"Hum, I'm kind of clumsy and I end up tripping a lot outside." she replied as she scratched her cheek embarrassedly but her thoughts were saying otherwise

'She doesn't want to admit that the other children are beating her up while she never retaliates... But then why did they come back injured yesterday, was that a lie from them?' I thought as I read her mind to know the truth

"You're lying to me." I first declared as her body stiffened "These are not wounds from falling at all, and I heard the rumors... Was it the other kids?" I added while she kept smiling but with less enthusiasm as she shortly replied "Y-Yes."

"And you didn't do anything to them?" I asked as I furrowed my brows but she exclaimed "No! Mommy told me to never harm the weak no matter what!"

"You must really love your mommy." I blurted out since she talked about her multiple times as she fidgeted and mumbled "Hn... She told me to always smile!" as her smile was still present but she was mentally exhausted after holding back her sorrow for so long behind this facade

'This...' I thought before kneeling and surprising her as she blurted out "W-What are you.?!" as I started to hug her while rubbing her back before saying "It's great to smile all the time, however, when it's getting too overwhelming for you, it's not a crime to cry and let it go..."

She didn't answer and I couldn't see her face but I knew that my words finally broke the last wall she built within her mind as she trembled and sobbed within my embrace.

This girl was too kind for her own good... And people shunned her, left a one-year-old child live alone in a dirty cave once her mother died but she never gave up and followed her mother's words to the letter, although it would only harm her the longer she lived.

'I need to find her mother's grave' I thought as talking to her mother by temporarily reincarnating her would make it easier for me to take Fū with me

After all, as much as she was hated in this village, I sensed that she wouldn't leave the place that held the only memories she had of her mother.

'Mmh?' I thought as I no longer sensed her body trembling and instead heard some loud snoring as she fell asleep with reddened eyes, drained from crying for ten minutes long

Laying my hand on her forehead, I used a Genjutsu to make her slumber so she wouldn't wake up easily before taking some of the Seven-Tails' chakra from her, warning the giant insect of my presence.

One of the clones I sent around the village then located a grave not far from the cave which should be Fū's mother's resting place.

Teleporting to this clone while carrying Fū between my arms, I then asked my clone to dig the grave and find anything that could be used for Impure World Reincarnation from the corpse which luckily still had some strands of hair.

Another clone then came with an unconscious shinobi from Takigakure who will be used for the Kinjutsu since it still needed a living body as the main component.

"Let's begin." I said as I wrote the formulas around the attached living body and used the strands of hair to activate it, making the body in front of me burn into dust before reshaping itself

Once the shaping process was over, I was in front of a small woman with long light green hair and blue eyes with complete white clothes that contrasted with her natural tanned skin.

'Seems like Fū will suffer the same fate as her mother' I thought as I saw how nonexistent her chest was, heck, even Sakura as a child had more 'fat' than her

"Where am I?" the woman in front of me exclaimed before locking her gaze on Fū who she quickly recognized as her daughter and, after seeing her current weakened complexion, frowned before shouting "What are you doing with my daughter!" as she rushed at me only to be stopped by vines sprouting from the ground, ensnaring her arms and legs

"DO NOT TOUCH HER!" she shouted as she tried to force her way out of the vines' grasp while I sighed and massaged my temples before looking straight into her eyes as I added "I do not have the time nor the patience to beat the crap out of you until you listen to me... So you will kindly shut up and hear what I have to say, understood?" as my eyes shone to make her more prone to listening

"Good." I added as she stopped her frenzy attitude, not really by choice before I approached her with Fū still soundly sleeping between my arms

"The current state of your daughter has nothing to do with me at all... You can see for yourself." I said as I generated a shadow arm from my back before grabbing the woman's head as I added "The sudden flow of information may be a bit painful."

'Well, it's deadly but she can't die anyway' I thought as she couldn't scream because her mouth was blocked by the shadow arm's hand

I was able to steal memories with numerous methods nowadays, but I thought about reversing some of the methods instead, making my target receive chosen memories from me.

Unfortunately, the technique would just make the target's brain explode, not figuratively, because of the huge rush of information sent to it at once.

And what I revealed to her was the memories of Fū starting from the day she died and left her alone.

"M-My baby girl... How could they..." she mumbled as I took back my shadow arm, revealing a tearful face and a gaze full of tenderness for her daughter

"While I can't allow you to wake her up because she would get her hopes shattered when she realizes that you are not 'living' right now, I can make the two of you converse within her dreams... On one condition." I declared as I allowed her to touch her daughter, taking off the vines that previously hindered her

"What do you want?" she asked as she saw in Fū's most recent memories my interaction with her inside of the cave and was slightly less aggressive with me

"I want you to convince your daughter to leave this rotten village with me, something that she wouldn't do because you are resting here, no matter how difficult it is for her to continue living in this place." I explained as she gently caressed her daughter's face

"Giving my daughter to the One-Winged Devil?" she blurted out as my eyebrow twitched at my surname but I replied "I may be called so by almost everyone outside of Konoha, but I am not necessarily cruel. Sinful, certainly, but I always had a soft spot for kids, far before I got my own daughter... I'm not the type of man who can leave such a pitiful child alone while I have the power and capability to give her a better life, even more when she deserves it."

She frowned at my answer, not because she disagreed but because she knew how right I was about Takigakure and how Fū would have to live the rest of her life alone and abused.

"It's mostly my fault if she's been enduring this long... Fine, but you better keep your words and take great care of her, I will bring you to the grave with me if you don't." she said as she gave me a challenging gaze

'She got guts' I thought as I smirked before explaining "Then, lay one of your hands on her forehead, close your eyes, and I will do the rest... Just know that it will be over in a few seconds for me but you will be within her dreams for far longer so you can take your time."

Nodding at my words, she laid her right hand on Fū's forehead and closed her eyes just as I asked, I then laid my hand on hers which made her quiver for a second but she stayed calm the moment she sensed my chakra flowing through her and her daughter.

What I did was intrude both of us inside of Fū's mindscape, however, I deliberately stayed away and prevented Chōmei from appearing as well to give the mother-daughter duo some well-needed space.

In fact, I was the one facing the Seven-Tails in another part of Fū's mind.

"Nice to meet you, Chōmei." I said as in front of me was a flying giant armored rhinoceros beetle completely bound by weird hair-like bandages which surely was the method used by Takigakure to seal the tailed beast

"Oh! You're finally here Yuchi... Yuki... Yachi... What's your name again? Matatabi told me about it but I forgot, tee hee." Chōmei exclaimed with a surprising child-like voice and a happy go lucky attitude I will have to bear for a while

"You were close at first, it's Yuichi, Yuichi Senju." I explained as I was analyzing the technique that was incapacitating her

"That's the name Matatabi told me! Anyway, I've been waiting for you after hearing three of my siblings boasting about their new lives with their respective hosts! I'm tired of being stuck here without being able to fly around..." Chōmei explained as she couldn't move her wings at all and was pretty much grounded because of the seal

"Ah, I already planned to make a better mindscape as well as more freedom within this girl's mind... As long as you help her, of course." I explained which made her nod before I reversed the seal on her to replace it with my own, allowing her to fly slightly above the ground for now

"Aaah~ My wings were getting too itchy, thanks!" Chōmei said as the buzzing sound of her wings was louder than I expected but was surely caused by both her gigantic size and the number of wings, or 'tails' she had and used

"You're welcome." I replied with a smile, still unaware of how long I would be staying here

*A few 'fake' hours later*

'Damn, and here I believed that all Tailed Beasts were not talkative' I thought as Chōmei proved to be a huge chatterbox who always found new random topics whenever the previous one was over

Nevertheless, Fū's mother opened her eyes and looked around her before staring at her daughter's face who was now smiling while being asleep.

"Seems like you two had a great time together." I said as I took off my hand while she nodded and dried her tears

"Thank you for allowing me to talk with my daughter once more, truly." Fū's mother told me as her body started to shine and leave the host I used

'Oh? Seems like the emotions she felt were enough to make her pass away again' I thought as it was one of the rare ways to stop 'Impure World Reincarnation'

"You're welcome, and your daughter will be in good hands, I promised so." I declared as she was slowly fading away but still had the time to say "I believe you... But if I ever found out that you lied to me somehow, I will come back from the afterlife and take you with me to hell." as her face adorned a dangerous smile before completely vanishing

'Hopefully, Fū doesn't take after her mother personality-wise when she grows up... At least I don't think she will' I thought as I teleported back to the Ancor Vantian which was hovering quite far away from Takigakure

It was finally time for me to come back to Konoha after roaming for one month, and, albeit I left the village alone, I would be coming back with quite a lot of people.

Whatever would happen to Takigakure starting from today was no longer my problem...