Time

With Isobu defeated, Takara breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the unconscious three-tailed beast floating in front of him. He had successfully achieved his goal, although not without some setbacks.

Furthermore, how the hell was something absurdly large like that floating without sinking?

He watched sadly as Ranni's puppet fragmented and broke into pieces that sank into the moon reflected in the water, and grimaced beneath his mask; he had expected something like this, after all, the materials it was made of were not exactly durable, and the amount of chakra he used completely degraded the puppet's body.

He had some single-use puppets, but he really wished Ranni could hold on for another attempt, especially because he couldn't come up with another one.

Oh well, you can't have everything in this life.

With the help of his puppets, he moved Isobu to a safe place and sealed it as he did with Kurama. Then, he dispelled the temporary barrier he had created and vanished any trace of his presence in the area.

After making sure he left nothing behind, he started a fire and left.

Now that he had a second biju, he needed to hurry back to his village and think about his next move. Besides, he would use the information and resources he obtained from capturing Isobu to advance his research.

While he suspected that Isobu's egg might be nearby, he still couldn't access Sage Mode and couldn't overcome the barrier he was sure would also be present.

Maybe he could try to volunteer for the delegation that would have to go to Konoha to discuss compensation for the attack they carried out?

No, it was a bad idea.

He was the last one who saw Naruto, Konoha's jinchuuriki, before "having to flee because of Otogakure's attack" as he reported and acted. The information he took from Orochimaru's village was deceptive to begin with, and although he was now a chunin, if Konoha demanded his head to examine his memories among the compensation demands, he had no doubt that Suna would probably accept if it meant paying less. Even Chiyo would grit her teeth and not act, so he had to be as inconspicuous as possible until that event passed.

Moreover, he didn't think that after such a short period of time, Suna ninjas would be well received and they would probably be under continuous scrutiny or even disappear if he decided to go.

Dragged into Konoha's darkness.

Should he contact Orochimaru?

He had the souls of his arms with him, so he certainly had something the snake desired.

Perhaps too much...

But it would be quite stupid to ask Tsunade's former teammate about the slug contract or the location of her land; Orochimaru would suspect that, no, he would be sure that he had something to do with Tsunade's disappearance.

And now as a renegade ninja of Konoha who killed his sensei, who knew if he would seek revenge for his former companion?

Maybe he should interrogate him about natural energy; that would naturally lead the conversation towards the only beings that can teach Sage Mode.

Trading the souls of his arms for the location of the Three Sage Lands would not only give him an excuse for how he found the place, but since he obtained the information from an "old friend" of Tsunade's, perhaps Katsuyu would be more receptive to his request.

It could also happen the other way around, but right now, he's a bit short on options and he has to find ways to move forward.

Yes, it could be said that he would lose a lot in this transaction, but Orochimaru would at least remember that it was he who lifted him out of misery...

Wait, should he ask for help in capturing some jinchurikis?

No, better not, if he asked for something like that, perhaps Orochimaru would deduce that he took Naruto and framed him, or he could sell this information to Akatsuki. Better to limit the matter to showing interest in natural energy.

As for his next capture, the possible targets were Roshi, Utakata, and Fu.

The first two were missing from his village, so he could take them without arousing suspicion as long as he didn't create a huge uproar.

As for Fu, he could simply attack Takigakure and, in passing, take the Hero's Water. He was curious about what would happen if his puppets animated by Chiyo's technique or the ones resurrected by Edo Tensei took it.

Would the puppets lose life too?

Would there be no side effects on the resurrected because they are already dead?

If so, it would be an excellent way to increase chakra production.

The problematic jinchurikis would be Han, Yugito, and Killer B.

But if things progress smoothly, by then he'll have six of the nine tailed beasts in addition to their chakra.

"With the eggs of the one, three, and nine-tailed beasts, I should have enough chakra to finally control that power," Takara exclaimed excitedly and unconsciously brought a hand to his abdomen, where beneath the bandages lay an Eight Trigrams Seal.

The only people besides him who knew of its existence were Maki and Pakura.

He didn't know if it was because of his appearance, but the Pakura of this world seemed to act in a rather different way from what he knew despite ending up the same way.

When Takara was still inside Pakura, he somehow discovered the existence of Roran and the Ryumyaku, proceeding to seal a portion of his power in her baby.

After so long, he came to the conclusion that the options that appeared back then when he arrived in this world had to have some reason or basis, beyond the common trait associated with madness.

An example would be the template of the Ice King, which appeared because of his Yuki clan lineage.

And because of the Ryumyaku, the template of Nox appeared.

Because alongside the power of the Ryumyaku, came a fragment of the power of time!

How could he wield the power of a Xelor without the ability to mess with time?