[Nine-Tails: You damn! There's no way in hell I'm getting softened by love! I'll slap you to death with my tail, tear you apart with my claws, and bite you dead at the end!]
[You want me to reconcile with that stinking woman Kushina? Go eat shit! Every single day it's either hanging me up or locking me down! Not in this lifetime!]
Gekko Chizan listened to the system imitate the Nine-Tails' tone as it spoke, and fell silent for a moment.
He had to admit, the system's imitation was vivid—almost amusing. But seeing Kushina's face growing darker and darker, he immediately understood that what the Nine-Tails actually said must have been even more exaggerated. Otherwise, her expression wouldn't be this bad.
...
"Are you okay, Kushina?"
"Why does your face look so bad?"
Minato, worried sick about his beloved wife, couldn't help but ask when he saw her expression. The only response he got was:
"Don't talk. I'm having a friendly conversation with the Nine-Tails!"
This "friendly" was truly friendly—so friendly that Gekko Chizan could practically imagine the poor Nine-Tails being hoisted up by glowing chains and whipped. Tsk tsk, how pitiful.
Still, Gekko Chizan's words had indeed sunk into Kushina's heart.
She needed power—power to protect the people she loved, her husband and her son. And the Nine-Tails was undoubtedly the best choice.
Nine-Tails: Don't even think about it! I'd rather jump off here myself—…forget it! I'm not fighting this violent lunatic woman!
Kushina: Hmph! Love—do you even know what love is? Hitting is affection, scolding is love! Come here and accept my love!
Gekko Chizan couldn't help but imagine the love-hate relationship between Kushina and the Nine-Tails.
So in the end, for a jinchūriki, the jinchūriki and the tailed beast were true love.
...
But the moment Gekko Chizan and Chōmei locked eyes, one man and one insect turned their heads in perfect unison and spat.
The Nine-Tails topic was skipped. Next came another major problem.
The Uchiha problem.
Since this incident involved the Uchiha clan, both Namikaze Minato and Sarutobi Hiruzen felt a splitting headache over it.
Gekko Chizan found this extremely puzzling, so he proactively volunteered and went out himself.
...
"Can he really handle it?? Why do I feel so doubtful…"
"You're not the only one—I don't think it's reliable either…"
The two generations of Hokage exchanged a look, their eyes filled with worry.
After all, Gekko Chizan's various past actions… sigh, it was hard to put into words.
Just as old man Sarutobi reached into his robe again, intending to take a puff of his pipe to ease the pressure, he grabbed nothing—only pulling out a piece of paper. After reading what was written on it, the veins on his forehead popped out, and his worry instantly turned into furious shouting:
"My pipe! That was top-grade wood!"
Because the note read: Old geezer, I hid your pipe. As the Hokage, you should know the village best. Go find it—it's in the village! If you can't find it, then don't smoke!
...
Gekko Chizan, already having left Minato's house, looked at the pipe in his hand and curled his lips in disdain.
"Old geezer, I won't let you smoke. Hmph."
"A pipe? Go look for it!"
He tossed the pipe upward, and a crystal eagle instantly appeared, snatched the pipe, and flew straight toward the Hokage Rock.
[Ding! Detected that the host has taken Sarutobi Hiruzen's favorite pipe and hidden it inside the Third Hokage's forward-facing nostril. How vicious! Special reward granted: one Vajra Umbrella!]
What? A Vajra Umbrella???
Gekko Chizan was stunned. He reached into his robe, and a scroll had already appeared in his arms.
As the scroll unfurled, a Vajra Umbrella abruptly appeared before him.
Good grief—he realized he'd misunderstood at first, but looking at the umbrella in his hands, he felt he might have been right after all.
"System, is this thing what I think it is?"
Even so, Gekko Chizan still asked, after all—it was system-produced.
[Ding! Of course not. The Vajra Umbrella has been completely modified into a Naruto-version ninja tool.]
[Inject chakra to deploy a chakra shield. The Vajra Umbrella cannot be destroyed by Crystal Release or other bloodline limits, perfectly embodying the word "vajra."]
Oh? Not even Crystal Release can crystallize it?
Gekko Chizan hurriedly gathered chakra and infused it into the umbrella. As it opened, a blue barrier instantly appeared.
It looked similar to Chiyo's Puppet Technique: Mechanical Light Shield Block, but with a much larger area.
Not bad. Gekko Chizan put it away, planning to give it to Pakura later.
After all, his own strength didn't require such a tool.
Speaking of tools, Gekko Chizan suddenly thought of the Six Paths' ninja tools.
The Gold Rope, the Seven-Star Sword, the Crimson Gourd, the Amber Purifying Jar, and the Banana Fan.
But now only the Amber Purifying Jar remained. The other four had vanished along with Kinkaku and Ginkaku—buried straight into their coffins.
Gekko Chizan wasn't greedy; he just felt that the time had come to team up with Orochimaru for a big move. After all, letting such miraculous tools rot underground wasn't appropriate.
But for now, he needed to deal with the Uchiha first.
...
The Uchiha clan compound hadn't suffered any damage from the Nine-Tails' rampage and remained intact.
Gekko Chizan walked straight up and knocked on the door of Uchiha Fugaku's house.
"Hm? You're Chizan-sama?"
"Are you here to see my father?"
The one who opened the door wasn't Fugaku, but a very handsome little kid.
Uchiha Itachi! Tsk tsk—but right now he was still just a kid. No tear troughs when he was young; those only appeared later. Gekko Chizan looked at the boy and slightly curled his lips.
"Itachi, where's Fugaku?"
"Father isn't home. He went with the clan members to repair the outer walls of the village."
Oh? Fugaku isn't home!?
What a great opportunity.
"Is that so? Then where's your mother?"
"Mother is with my little brother, putting him to sleep. Chizan-sama????"
Before he could finish speaking, Gekko Chizan directly grabbed Uchiha Itachi, shut the door, and vanished with Flying Thunder God.
...
When they reappeared, they were already in a forest.
"This… is this the Flying Thunder God Technique my father talked about?"
"Is this the Forest of Death?"
The sudden change of scenery made Uchiha Itachi widen his eyes, but he didn't panic at all, instead showing remarkable composure.
"Hm? Itachi? Captain Chizan?"
"Why are you here?"
Gekko Chizan hadn't spoken yet, because two people were already staring at them with wide eyes.
They were Kakashi and Shisui.
"Hehehe…"
Hearing his captain's laughter and looking at Itachi beside him, Shisui seemed to understand something.
"Captain, don't tell me you took advantage of Clan Head Fugaku being away and abducted Itachi?"
"Nonsense, how is that abducting him? I specially brought you a new little companion!"