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Running into the Five-Tails was something completely and utterly outside Kagaya's expectations. For a moment, he had no idea what to do. Should he wait for that colossal creature up ahead to leave on its own? Or should he go over and say hello?
But before Kagaya could make a decision, the Five-Tails in the distance spoke first.
"A human?"
The Five-Tails turned its head to look at Kagaya, who was standing on a tree branch. Its voice carried a note of surprise and wariness.
With the advancement of chakra over the ages, the Five-Tails had sensed that humans were growing stronger and stronger. As a result, it had begun deliberately avoiding them. In truth, given its own power, even if humans had become stronger, the vast majority still wouldn't be a match for it. But these humans were, after all, the recipients of the chakra teachings passed down by the Sage of Six Paths. As Tailed Beasts, they would not lightly harm humans.
So, the Tailed Beasts had all chosen to withdraw from the world, and the Five-Tails was no different.
Over countless years, the Five-Tails had encountered many people. Yet, those people almost invariably fled the instant they spotted it from afar. Therefore, even though the Five-Tails had actually come across many humans, it had hardly ever interacted with them.
Now, here was a person who had clearly seen the Five-Tails, yet remained calmly in place, neither running away nor advancing. This naturally struck the Five-Tails as very strange.
"Whew."
Kagaya breathed a sigh of relief. The fact that the distant Five-Tails had spoken gave Kagaya a clear signal: this Tailed Beast was capable of communication. That was excellent!
Unaware of the true history, Kagaya's impression of the Tailed Beasts was still shaped by their later-era personalities, where they deeply despised humans. That was precisely why he had hesitated moments ago about whether to approach and greet it.
With his current strength, Kagaya naturally wasn't afraid of being killed by a Tailed Beast. But a Tailed Beast was still a Tailed Beast. Even something as powerful as a fully formed Susanoo was only described in terms of being "a match for" a Tailed Beast in the official settings. As such, Kagaya had never dared to underestimate any of them.
When it came down to it, there was no grudge or enmity between him and the Five-Tails. Why would he want to pick a fight? What if, after the battle, Kagaya ended up bedridden for several months again? Wouldn't that be a colossal loss?
Now that he could sense this Tailed Beast was open to conversation, it was naturally a joyous outcome for everyone.
"Hello, Five-Tails."
Kagaya leaped forward a few times, bringing himself closer to the Five-Tails to make conversation easier.
The Five-Tails suddenly paused, then turned its head to glance at the five tails behind it.
"Five-Tails, is it? Is that how you humans refer to me? That's a rather simple and straightforward way of naming. It suits you humans quite well."
The Tailed Beasts had true names. In times long past, they addressed one another by their true names. Designations like "Five-Tails" did not exist. That kind of nomenclature came later, born from the contact between humans and Tailed Beasts. The Tailed Beasts generally disdained telling humans their true names, so humans, needing some way to refer to them, began calling them by the number of their tails. One-Tail, Two-Tails, Three-Tails, and so on, originated from this.
In the current era, the Tailed Beasts had yet to make widespread contact with humanity. Terms like "Five-Tails" were still quite rare.
Kagaya gave an awkward, sheepish smile. He knew the Tailed Beasts had names. Not addressing them by name and instead calling them by a nickname right upon meeting was indeed somewhat impolite. But there was no helping it—the Five-Tails had far too little screen time in the original story. Kagaya couldn't remember its true name at all.
"Um... I'd like to pass through here. Is that alright?"
The Five-Tails' head, which closely resembled that of a dolphin, nodded slightly. Then it spoke.
"Naturally, that is permissible. I bear no grudge against you. If you merely wish to pass through, there's no problem whatsoever. However, before that, I wish to ask you a question. Aren't you afraid of me, boy?"
Kagaya shrugged. "If I were scared, I'd have run away long ago."
"That, I do know. What I'm asking is: why are you not afraid of me?"
The Five-Tails' voice was a very gentle, feminine voice. It spoke neither hurriedly nor slowly, and listening to it made one involuntarily relax.
Kagaya thought for a moment. Why wasn't he afraid of the Five-Tails?
"It's probably... because of my strength."
At this, a spark of immense interest suddenly lit up in the Five-Tails' eyes. Its voice remained as gentle as ever, but now it carried a faintly appraising tone.
"Do you mean to say... you are confident you could escape from me?"
Kagaya immediately grew vigilant. What was going on with this Five-Tails? Was it really going to keep questioning him? Asking whether he could escape? Could it be that it was thinking of attacking him?
Although Kagaya didn't dislike Tailed Beasts, the impression that Tailed Beasts hated humans was deeply engraved in his mind. One should never harbor the intent to harm others, but one must always guard against harm from others!
Kagaya narrowed his eyes slightly.
"More than that!"
Those two words carried immense weight. Kagaya's original intent was to subtly intimidate the Five-Tails, to let it know it shouldn't casually start a fight with him. Let's all just coexist peacefully.
But what Kagaya saw was the interest in the Five-Tails' eyes growing even more intense!
"More than that? Are you serious? Do you truly believe you possess the power to match me?"
Kagaya had absolutely no idea that in this era, the Tailed Beasts did not hate humans. The Five-Tails had no intention of attacking Kagaya whatsoever. It was purely that, after years without human contact, suddenly encountering a human who dared to converse with it had stirred up quite a bit of curiosity. After all, the Tailed Beasts were no ordinary wild animals. They possessed intellect and thought. Curiosity was unavoidable.
Kagaya took a deep breath. He couldn't quite figure out what the interest in the Five-Tails' eyes meant. Was it an interest in fighting? Or was it purely disdain, an interest in toying with him?
"More or less."
As he spoke, Kagaya's originally black pupils rapidly shifted to crimson. The Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan manifested!
!!!
In an instant, within the Five-Tails' perception, the utterly unremarkable brat from a second ago transformed into something else entirely. Like a death god from the depths of hell, an icy, emotionless gaze fell upon it, devoid of the slightest trace of warmth.
What cold eyes!!
Most importantly, an unrelenting sense of danger kept surging from the very depths of the Five-Tails' being.
This level of danger... the Five-Tails was experiencing it for the very first time!
For a fleeting moment, it was as if a colossal character for "death" had been projected directly into the Five-Tails' vision!
But very quickly, in the next second, the icy gaze vanished. That unprecedented sense of peril also receded from the depths of the Five-Tails' being, as if nothing had ever happened.
The Five-Tails instinctively stepped backward. Its gentle, feminine voice, in this moment, couldn't help but brim with shock.
"Unbelievable. Just what degree of power do you possess, to be able to make me feel such an immense sense of crisis?! Wait! Just now, your eyes... those eyes... they are... As I thought, you are a descendant of that person. No wonder you could instill such a great sense of crisis in me."
Kagaya smiled faintly.
"Can I pass through now?"
The Five-Tails fell silent for a moment, then spoke.
"I presume your power should be more than sufficient to subdue me. You have no need to ask for my permission."
Kagaya replied helplessly. "If every single matter had to be resolved with fists, I'd have long since collapsed from exhaustion and never survived until now. Since this is your territory, I naturally ought to ask for your opinion before passing through."
The Five-Tails countered. "And what if I had not agreed?"
Kagaya thought it over, then answered.
"Then I'd ask again. If, in the end, there was truly no other way, I'd just take a detour."
Right now, the one thing Kagaya had in spades was time. He genuinely had no interest in fighting the Five-Tails. It would be exhausting and thankless.
There were two potential sources of value to be extracted from the Five-Tails. First, controlling it and, in imitation of Madara in the future, utilizing an Armored Susanoo. But Kagaya didn't need to fight anyone right now. In this era, aside from Madara and Hashirama, he didn't need to borrow any external power to defeat anyone else. So why forcibly control the Five-Tails and needlessly provoke such an unkillable monster? There was no need. Truly, no need.
The second extractable value was forcibly sealing the Five-Tails within himself and becoming its Jinchuriki.
This was an even bigger headache. While becoming a Jinchuriki could provide Kagaya with massive, even inexhaustible, chakra reserves, the other problem was that if the Tailed Beast didn't genuinely cooperate, one couldn't unleash its full power. At most, one could draw out about thirty percent. Furthermore, once someone became a Jinchuriki, if the Tailed Beast was ever extracted, they would die immediately!
That was a fatal weak point!
If the Five-Tails and Kagaya had an excellent relationship, like the Eight-Tails and Killer B, then Kagaya might have been willing to risk that fatal weak point and become a Jinchuriki.
But the problem was, the Five-Tails had only just met him. What relationship was there to speak of? If he forcibly became a Jinchuriki, was a mere thirty percent of the Five-Tails' power truly worth the risk of adding a fatal weak point?
Honestly, it more or less wasn't worth it.
And the most fatal point of all was that Kagaya didn't know any sealing jutsu. Even if he wanted to become a Jinchuriki, there was no way!
In summary, Kagaya truly had no designs whatsoever on the Five-Tails. If he could avoid fighting, he would. The Five-Tails, or anything else, was all secondary. The Senjutsu of Ryuchi Cave up ahead—that was the real goal.
The Five-Tails smiled slightly. "You are a very interesting human."
Kagaya scratched his head.
"Interesting?"
The Five-Tails spoke. "Though I rarely interact with humans, it isn't as though I never have. Every human I've encountered before has always viewed me as... how should I put it... as a mindless monster. A mere beast. But you are somewhat different. You are the first person I've met who has treated me as an intelligent being."
Kagaya rolled his eyes. If someone had finished watching the story of Naruto and still thought of the Tailed Beasts as mindless beasts, that would truly be the bizarre thing!
"Alright. You might find it surprising, but personally, I think it's perfectly normal. Now, can I pass through?"
The Five-Tails' eyes held a hint of amusement.
"You always could. It's just that you've been standing there talking with me all this time. I never once said you couldn't pass."
Kagaya: "..."
Kagaya really wanted to shout back: You're so powerful—I had to be on guard against you, didn't I?!
But after thinking it over, he held it in.
Kagaya leaped up and resumed his rapid traversal between the tree branches.
The Five-Tails glanced at Kagaya once more, then said nothing further and continued on its own way.
And then...
BOOM!
With a thunderous tremor of the earth, Kagaya solidly face-planted into the dirt.
"You're doing that on purpose!"
The Five-Tails turned an innocent gaze in Kagaya's direction, though by now, because Kagaya had fallen to the ground and was obscured by the trees, the Five-Tails could no longer see his body.
"What's the matter? Interesting little one."
Kagaya rubbed his slightly aching face, jumped up to a higher branch, and spoke.
"Do you not realize that every single step you casually take generates tremors like an earthquake for everything around you?"
The Five-Tails suddenly understood.
"Ah, yes. But I've long since grown accustomed to it. I no longer even feel it."
Kagaya: "..."
That was true. It had been walking for who knows how many years. The vibrations caused by its own movements were definitely something it had gotten used to long ago.
The problem was, Kagaya absolutely wasn't used to it. Every time the Five-Tails moved, the ground around it quaked and shuddered. If Kagaya's attention slipped even slightly, he'd end up eating dirt.
So, Kagaya attempted to ask.
"In that case... how about you go first?"
The Five-Tails shook its head.
"No. You go first."
Like its voice, this Tailed Beast seemed exceptionally gentle. It bore no resemblance at all to the hateful, berserk image Kagaya had of the Tailed Beasts in his mind.
"Could it be that the Five-Tails already received Naruto's Talk-no-Jutsu baptism back in the Warring States era? That shouldn't be possible..."
Kagaya muttered in an extremely quiet voice.
The Tailed Beast before him was far too easy to get along with. It made Kagaya somewhat suspicious of its authenticity.
If this were the Fourth Great Ninja War, and if Naruto were nearby, then no matter how gentle a Tailed Beast acted, it wouldn't be strange. Naruto's Talk-no-Jutsu was practically super effective against them!
But the problem was, Naruto hadn't even been born yet, had he? What, could Naruto use his Talk-no-Jutsu across time and space? Impossible, right?
The Five-Tails heard Kagaya speaking, but because his voice was too low, it couldn't make out the words. It reflexively inquired.
"What did you say?"
Kagaya shook his head.
"Nothing. Never mind. I'll be going first, then."
No matter what was really going on with the Five-Tails, right now, Senjutsu was the most important thing. He'd ignore it for now and get moving first.
The Five-Tails spoke up again at that moment.
"Oh my, I thought you might exchange a few polite refusals with me and insist I go first. Since you're in such a hurry, you must have some important business, right?"
Kagaya spoke while running. "Before that, I want to ask you something: why are you so talkative?"
The Five-Tails smiled gently. "Having met someone so willing to converse with me for the very first time, I couldn't help but want to talk a little more."
"So... you've just been pent up?"
"Pent up? Not exactly. I am different from you humans. If you humans don't speak with others, after a long while you may find it unbearable. But I am different. Even if I were to never speak again for all eternity, I would feel no discomfort."
"Then why do you still have so much to say?"
"Hmm... how should I put it? In your human terms, would you call this... curiosity?"
"Alright. I get it."
"Returning to my earlier question: are you in a hurry?"
"Yes."
"What manner of urgent business is it?"
Hearing this question, Kagaya rolled his eyes yet again.
"Hey, hey. You know it's urgent, and you're still asking so openly and brazenly? Do you think that's appropriate?"
The Five-Tails replied in its gentle voice, unhurried and unbothered.
"Urgent matters do not necessarily equate to secrets that must not be told, do they?"
Kagaya was instantly stumped.
"That... that is true."
The Five-Tails teased. "Then, what's wrong with me asking?"
Kagaya spoke helplessly. "Fine. I'll be frank. I just don't want to tell you about this matter."
The Five-Tails inquired.
"Why don't you want to tell me? A beast won't leak your secrets, you know. You can freely tell me; it's no problem."
Kagaya reflexively shot back. "Everything you say is correct. The problem is—you're not a beast!"
The Five-Tails blinked.
"Is that so?"
"Isn't it?"
"Oh."
The conversation ceased just like that. Kagaya continued on his way. The Five-Tails remained standing where it was, quietly watching him.
Because the Tailed Beasts' physical forms were simply far too massive, when fully manifested, they were almost as large as a fully formed Susanoo. The only difference was that the Susanoo was taller, while the Tailed Beasts, being quadrupedal, weren't as tall but were significantly longer than a Susanoo.
At his current speed, it would take Kagaya roughly half an hour to run beyond the Five-Tails' zone of influence. Even more terrifying than a fully formed Susanoo! After all, in terms of length, a fully manifested Tailed Beast far surpassed a fully formed Susanoo.
Suddenly, the Five-Tails spoke.
"Is the place you are going to... inhabited by people?"
Kagaya answered casually.
"No one there."
The Five-Tails' gentle voice took on a hint of amusement.
"In that case... shall I come with you?"
Kagaya instantly halted in his tracks. Then, his eyes flew wide open. He slowly turned his head to look at the Five-Tails. After holding it in for a long while, he finally squeezed out a single sentence.
"Just a moment ago, you were saying you wouldn't leak secrets! And now you want to use your gigantic body to broadcast my whereabouts?!"
The Five-Tails: "..."
*******
A/N: Regarding the sizes of the Tailed Beasts and Susanoo: In the original work, due to factors like artistic perspective and scene composition, their sizes can sometimes appear larger or smaller. In animation, this isn't a major issue, but in a novel, it becomes a plot inconsistency. So here, referencing the later-period Naruto and Sasuke, I am setting the Tailed Beasts' size to be roughly equivalent to that of a fully formed Susanoo.