Chapter 67: How to Use a Jinchuriki
Orochimaru looked down at the ground, his mind racing.
Not only has my infiltration failed, but the Eight-Tails has the Sharingan. This mission is a bust.
Before he left, the village had given him a genjutsu pill. When ingested, it would affect both the Jinchuriki and the tailed beast, causing the beast to break its seal. But now, that seemed like a very difficult task.
Blue Bee looked at Orochimaru with his crimson Sharingan. "This feeling is new," he said. "I don't like these eyes very much, but they make my enemies afraid to look at me."
The sound of splashing water grew louder, and seven figures of varying shapes and sizes emerged from the thick fog.
"It seems the real guests have arrived."
Blue Bee leaped from the island turtle. As if by telepathy, the turtle began to swim away, eventually sinking into the bottomless sea.
He stood on the surface of the water, ignoring the wary Orochimaru, and waited for the seven figures to appear.
They stopped, their eyes darting between Blue Bee and Orochimaru.
"An ambush?" one of them said. "How did our position get leaked? But to only send two men to ambush us... are they underestimating us?"
The leader of the group drew a massive, barbed blade.
"No," Blue Bee said. "It's just me. But the fact that you've appeared in this direction means the village's concerns were justified. Instead of attacking Konoha, the Mist decided to cause trouble for the Cloud. What were you thinking?"
The leader of the group held his greatsword in front of him. "We just follow orders," he said. "The reasoning is for the higher-ups to worry about."
"A pure ninja," Blue Bee murmured.
He looked at the seven figures before him, and the scheming Orochimaru, and his mind drifted back.
Four years ago.
"Bee," A said, "aren't you coming back to the village?"
On the massive head of the island turtle, Blue Bee calmly watched the sunset over the sea.
"A," he said, "I still haven't found myself. I still haven't accepted myself."
"You've been thinking about this useless stuff since you were young," the Third Raikage said with a sigh. "I really regret making you a Jinchuriki."
Blue Bee's skill was undeniable. He was the "B" of their generation's A-B combo. But after becoming a Jinchuriki, he had keenly felt the villagers' fear and disgust. Day after day, it had worn him down, and he had chosen to live alone on the island turtle, rarely returning to the village, a self-imposed exile.
As his best friend, A understood his sensitive nature and hadn't pushed him. It was a time of peace, so he had allowed it. But he had never imagined it would last for so many years.
"A," Blue Bee said, "I heard you had another son."
"You heard late. My second son is already leading the charge."
Blue Bee just smiled, assuming he was joking. The boy probably wasn't even in the Academy yet.
"But that's not why you're here, is it, A? If you've come to persuade me, don't bother. I'm still a ninja of the village. If you need me, I'll be there. But if not, just let me watch the sea with the turtle."
The Third Raikage shook his head and took out a jar.
Inside, two crimson eyes were floating in a greenish liquid.
Blue Bee's eyes narrowed.
"This is the Sharingan," A said. "You've heard of the Uchiha clan of Konoha. These eyes were a gift from a... friend... in Konoha. They were tampered with, but that's been taken care of."
He continued, "The Sharingan possesses powerful genjutsu and dynamic vision. But it has a fatal flaw. For a non-Uchiha, transplanting it will severely drain their chakra, and it can't be turned off, constantly consuming the user's energy."
"But for a Jinchuriki," Blue Bee interrupted, "that's not a problem, is it? No matter how much chakra it consumes, it's meaningless to a Jinchuriki. Is that what you're trying to say, A? Such an ugly, evil color. First, a cursed beast is sealed inside me, and now I'm supposed to transplant cursed eyes?" A look of deep sorrow crossed his face.
"BLUE BEE!"
The Third Raikage's roar shattered his complex emotions.
"You are a ninja! A ninja of the Hidden Cloud Village, and my brother! Why are you so weak?! All your suffering comes from the fear of the beast inside you losing control! It is written in the ancient texts that these eyes can suppress the tailed beasts! They can help you control the monster inside you, so that it will never harm our comrades! Isn't that what you've always wanted?!"
A's words shook him to his core.
"You are a ninja! Remember that! If you can't live in peace with the beast inside you, then control it! Suppress it! Conquer it! Don't just sit here and feel sorry for yourself! You have the Iron Armor Seal, and now these eyes that can suppress the tailed beasts. The village's sealing jutsu research is growing stronger every day. One day, you will be able to live a normal life. But only if you stop staring at the sea all day, you idiot!"
Blue Bee stared at him, then finally, a smile broke through his sadness.
"Maybe you're right," he said. "I am a ninja. Running away won't solve anything."
A nodded in satisfaction and embraced his partner. "That's right, Bee!"
"By the way, A," Blue Bee asked, "which book did you read that said the Sharingan can suppress the tailed beasts?"
"...I'm not sure. My youngest son saw it. He likes to read."
"...Hey, hey, are you serious? Is that reliable?"
That night, after the transplant surgery, Blue Bee entered his inner world.
In a massive, dark cage, the eight-tailed, ox-headed monster looked at him. "Have you come to torture yourself again?"
"No," he said. "I've come to ask you one last time. Will you cooperate with me? Will you stop causing trouble? For all these years, I have hated you, and I'm sure you have hated me."
In his inner world, Blue Bee opened his eyes. The crimson, three-tomoe Sharingan stared at the Eight-Tails.
"But the fact that we are one is irreversible."
"How do you have those ominous eyes?!" the Eight-Tails roared.
"Eight-Tails," he said, his voice firm, "I will ask you one last time. Will you cooperate with me?"
Present Day
As the island turtle disappeared into the depths, only Blue Bee, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, and Orochimaru were left on the surface of the sea.
Blue Bee's aura began to climb.
A dark red tailed beast cloak appeared, eight tails dancing in the air. The massive chakra made the air around them shimmer with heat. A white, ox-headed bone mask formed over his head. He looked like a ferocious monster.
"On the open sea like this," he said, "there's no risk of collateral damage. It's the perfect place for a Jinchuriki to fight."
With that, the red monster opened its mouth, and a black Tailed Beast Ball began to form.
In the 38th year of Konoha, the ambitious Hidden Mist sent the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist to launch a surprise attack on the Land of Lightning. They were met by the prepared Eight-Tails Jinchuriki. Orochimaru, with his own ulterior motives, also happened to find the island turtle at this time.
The three sides clashed on the open sea. Blue Bee unleashed the full power of the tailed beast without restraint. Three of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen were killed. Blue Bee captured the greatsword, Samehada. Orochimaru was seriously injured but managed to escape, further proving that he was the hardest man in the ninja world to kill.
After the battle, the Mist's intentions were exposed. They sent a force to launch a frontal assault on the Land of Lightning, but before the army had even gone far, they received the devastating news that their own village was being attacked by a Tailed Beast Ball.
Blue Bee, with the help of the island turtle, was moving through the deep sea, patrolling the Mist's coastline, and periodically surfacing to fire a Tailed Beast Ball at their village from dozens of kilometers away.
The Third Mizukage led several pursuit teams, but Blue Bee would fire and move, his pattern unpredictable. The Mizukage returned empty-handed several times. His own Jinchuriki was unable to counter the attacks, and the Hidden Mist suffered heavy losses. In the end, they were forced to send an envoy to the Cloud to sue for peace.
A major crisis had been resolved almost as soon as it began.
Blue Bee, by single-handedly holding off an entire village, had earned the recognition of the entire Hidden Cloud and was hailed as a war hero. This was the first time since Hashirama Senju had distributed the tailed beasts that a Jinchuriki had been used as a stable and effective military force. In the past, they had been a bittersweet candy that the villages couldn't eat but were reluctant to spit out, a beautiful but volatile gas canister that they were afraid to use.
After this battle, all the great villages realized the importance of a stable Jinchuriki and began to invest heavily in this area.
Orochimaru, his mission a failure, returned to Konoha and was then sent to the Land of Rain.