Chapter 509: Call Me Father-in-Law
Inside the mysterious ruins of Turtle Island.
"Great Ancestor, please stop repeating yourself and make some breakfast. I'm starving!"
"Get lost!" Ryo barked the words again, falling into deep contemplation. Just a moment ago, a highly anomalous fluctuation had faintly rippled through his chakra. It felt exactly like...
"Wood Style: Spore Clone (Mokuton: Hōshi Bunshin)!"
Half a minute crawled past.
"Great Ancestor?" Naruto cast a deeply worried gaze toward his form. Disaster, the Great Ancestor must have completely slept himself silly!
"The Spore Clone cannot be activated; it has been completely insulated by some kind of barrier technique," Ryo pursed his lips. "Yesterday was the Six Kage Summit. Right now, Gaara should either be preparing to return to the Land of Wind or already mid-route. There is zero logical reason for him to enter a location capable of entirely insulating my chakra... Did something catastrophic break through?"
"The pool of individuals capable of entirely cutting off my Spore Clones is exceptionally small." Ryo calculated the details for two seconds. Orochimaru's deathly pale snake face and Teuchi's wrinkled, chrysanthemum-like face concurrently flashed across his mind's eye...
"Eh? The Spore Clone has been completely erased!" Ryo was startled. As expected, it's that absolute underhanded bastard Teuchi again! Capturing the Eight-Tails wasn't sufficient? Exactly what on earth is his ultimate objective?!
Ryo wove a Body Flicker and flashed out of existence.
Naruto stood thoroughly dazed for a moment, before happily patting his belly. The Great Ancestor finally consented to execute a breakfast rotation; I am so incredibly hungry... Let's seize this window of duration to converse a fraction more alongside the Nine-Tails. Securing its vocal output wasn't a low-effort execution; I must strike while the iron is hot and unleash my absolute limits!
The Nine-Tails: "..."
Concurrently, within a specific subterranean pocket dimension situated along the immediate perimeter of the Land of Rain.
Orochimaru observed with immense, scientific interest as Teuchi systematically dissolved the Kotodama gourd marking etched onto the back of Gaara's hand: "For the premier owner of Ichiraku Ramen to secretly operate as a high-tier shinobi, capable of effortlessly dismantling Senior Ryo's specialized formulations... this truly constitutes an exceptionally magnificent surprise."
Tenji's brow twisted into a fierce, dense knot: "Ichiraku Ramen... Teuchi? The exact individual whom Ryo Uzumaki ordered the Akatsuki organization to black-flag with a global bounty sheet a solid six years ago?"
Teuchi chuckled softly, casting his gaze toward the completely unconscious Gaara resting before them. Turning his head to square up against Tenji and Orochimaru, he delivered a light, tactical cough: "Allow my presence to administer a brief self-introduction. In unvarnished truth, Teuchi operates strictly as a superficial pseudonym. My authentic, sovereign designation is... Ichiraku Otsutsuki!"
"Otsutsuki?" Tenji's dual eyes violently snapped wide open, a torrent of sharp ripples cascading straight through his Rinnegan.
"Oh?" Orochimaru elegantly darted his tongue out to lick his lips.
Teuchi gave a firm nod, reaching inside his robes to extract a high-tier sealing scroll: "Young man, celebrating our absolute first face-to-face intersection, allow my presence to bestow a premier introductory gift straight into your hands."
Tenji refrained from extending his arm to accept the item: "The Eight-Tails is securely sealed inside this matrix, I presume. To think that specific abduction was entirely orchestrated by your hands... Explicitly state your primary objective!"
Teuchi smiled gently: "Young man, monitor the parameters of your etiquette and show a fraction more reverence toward an ancient elder; my surname is explicitly Otsutsuki, after all. I harbor absolute zero malicious intent targeting your cluster; tracking your coordinates down down down was single-mindedly to rescue my thoroughly pitiful, orphaned daughter."
"Manager Teuchi, sifting through my active intelligence banks, I distinctly recall your biological daughter being designated as Ayame—a completely, thoroughly ordinary commoner civilian. Exactly what structural anomaly struck her matrix?" Orochimaru inquired with his characteristic raspy cadence.
Teuchi given a localized pause: "Ayame operates strictly as my absolute most untalented, minor daughter. Wielding an exceptionally prolonged longevity baseline, the aggregate tally of my daughters is naturally a fraction high... The target entity I single-mindedly desire to rescue is fundamentally not her."
Orochimaru strictly withheld any active verbal validation, shifting his slitted gaze straight toward Tenji.
Tenji took a deep, sweeping breath, falling into rapid mental calculation. He was completely incapable of parsing the absolute depth of the entity standing before him. Yet, evaluating the unvarnished reality that Teuchi had seamlessly unraveled Ryo's personal formula, it was glaringly obvious this man was monumentally dangerous to provoke. However, the Eight-Tails...
Lifting his arm to accept the scroll, Tenji executed a rapid diagnostic sweep to verify that the matrix cloaked zero hidden traps, before giving a firm nod: "I shall conscientiously accept this scroll. As for the logistical fact that you masqueraded under my organization's moniker to capture the Eight-Tails, I shall completely refrain from pursuing further retributive calculations down the line. Moving past that, whether your biological daughter retains her active life force or concludes her lifetime parameters is fundamentally irrelevant to my cause..."
"Are your parameters completely certain regarding that statement?" Teuchi chuckled smoothly, his dual eyes narrowing into a tiny, slitted arc.
Tenji similarly squinted his eyes, his internal cognitive parameters locking into an absolute defensive, combat-ready alert. He rapidly mobilized his chakra flow, perfectly poised to unleash an offensive sequence.
"My surname is explicitly Otsutsuki, you know."
"Exactly what relevance does that parameter command?"
"Hurry up and address me as Father-in-Law!"
"...Father-in-Law?"
"Ah!" Teuchi nodded with immense satisfaction. "My thoroughly untalented daughter, Kaguya Otsutsuki, was historically subjected to a high-powered封印 block orchestrated by her very own biological sons. I single-mindedly intend to violently break her seal to rescue her vessel; are your parameters completely certain you refuse to couple your forces alongside my wing? Stripped of my presence shielding your flanks, I wager your cluster lacks the absolute capacity to match Ryo Uzumaki in a straight fight, correct?"
Orochimaru elegantly licked his lips. Spectacularly entertaining...
Tenji took a deep, sweeping breath, desperately requiring his cognitive processing to cool down for several brief moments. The raw volume of structural intelligence crashing into his brain was a fraction too astronomical...
"You are explicitly detailing... that your entity constitutes the biological father of Kaguya?!"
Teuchi's eyes subtly darted left and right: "Precisely."
"What technical methodology do you intend to deploy to verify this claim?"
Teuchi hesitated for a solid two seconds: "Does the unvarnished reality that my gaze is currently radiating a monumentally dense, sweeping torrent of paternal warmth directly toward your vessel fail to verify the logistics? Advance, child, hurry up and address me as Father-in-Law!"
Tenji: ???
Orochimaru smoothly interjected with his raspy tone: "Tenji, prioritize executing the immediate extraction rotation targeting the One-Tail. Discerning whether Teuchi genuinely functions as your sovereign Father-in-Law is an enterprise we can comfortably evaluate over a prolonged duration. If we delay the logistics further on this coordinate block, the Senior is highly probable to hunt down our tracking seals."
"Evaluate what on earth? Operating as your sovereign Father-in-Law, is it structurally possible for my presence to harvest an unfair benefit or what? For your cluster to harbor this tier of absolute skepticism targeting your Father-in-Law explicitly proves I must meticulously evaluate whether I should even permit my daughter to reside alongside your flanks subsequent to her rescue!" Teuchi puffed out his cheeks in deep irritation, explicitly broadcasting his internal dissatisfaction.
Tenji given a brief pause, subsequently leaning his torso down to initiate the tail beast extraction rotation, while maintaining a highly vigilant surveillance grid to lock down Teuchi's movements.
Teuchi simply stood to the side, wearing a beaming, radiant smile as he observed the extraction block. A brief moment later, his brow suddenly generated a sharp twitch.
Orochimaru elegantly licked his lips: "The environment is turning monumentally boisterous; another active wave of entities has successfully touched down along the immediate perimeter. Furthermore, the trackers correspond to Chiyo and Sasori of the Red Sand native to the Hidden Sand... are they currently locked in an active combat sequence?"
Stepping out from Turtle Island, Ryo had continuously executed a relentless string of maximum-velocity Body Flickers across the distance. Having just breached the perimeter blocks of the Land of Rain, he darted straight toward the designated villa blocks where the Six Kage maintained their temporary residence.
"Every single Kage representing alternative major villages has already cleanly executed their departure routes? They commenced their exit tracks last night, meaning currently, the Hidden Sand delegation should logically be positioned... Mmm? Temari and Kankuro's chakra signatures are still securely locked inside the villa? Strictly Gaara's signature is missing from active tracking!"
Ryo's brow twisted into a subtle knot, flashing straight inside the Hidden Sand Village Villa. The interior was packed with an intensely anomalous, silent tranquility; every single room radiated a highly stable, uniform chakra wave, indicating the occupants hadn't logged an active wake-up sequence yet.
Ryo was briefly startled, cleanly flashing straight into the upper floor to track down Kankuro's coordinates, strictly to parse out that the youth was locked in a deep, heavy slumber.
"What on earth... Gaara has completely vanished from active tracking, yet this brat is still logging a slumber block? Wake up immediately for the Great Ancestor!"
"Mmm?" A fraction of a second later, Ryo knit his brows, extending his arm to manually roll back Kankuro's eyelids: "A comatose state?"
His physical frame given a brief pause, Ryo wove a secondary flash of movement to step straight inside Temari's bedroom block, parsing out that she was similarly locked in an identical template of deep, heavy slumber, compounding the detail that she hadn't even stripped her outer apparel layers before collapsing...
"Deploying chemical knockout agents strictly to abduct Gaara? Teuchi has genuinely squandered the Great Ancestor's absolute face yet again!"
Unleashing a wave of high-powered medical ninjutsu, a brief moment later, Temari let out a soft, low groan, slowly forcing her conscious parameters back online. Fully parsing Ryo's visual presence standing directly before her face, a look of absolute astonishment blanketed her countenance.
"...Senior?!"
"Maintain your baseline composure, listen to my prose down to the letter. Do you retain the active memory parameters regarding precisely what transpired right before your vessel drifted into this slumber block?"
Temari shook her head in absolute, blank bewilderment: "Senior, at this early hour of the morning, exactly why on earth has your presence invaded the interior of my private room?"
"Gaara has vanished from active tracking."
"WHAT?!" Temari's cognitive parameters instantly snapped into complete alertness, violently bolting upright to a sitting position. Catching sight of the blanket sliding down past her shoulders, she frantically clamped her arms across her chest parameters to shield her vitals, before freezing a micro-second later to verify that her outer clothes remained perfectly and neatly aligned.
"Ah, correct! Subsequent to concluding our dinner block yesterday evening, my vessel tracked a monumentally intense... wave of drowsiness!" Temari murmured softly to herself. "Detestable, it was definitively that absolute bastard; our forces exercised far too much casual carelessness!"
Ryo knit his brows into a narrow slit: "Exactly who?"
"Senior, the supreme leader governing the Land of Rain—Yahiko—commands a severe structural complication! Yesterday evening's custom dinner feast was personally delivered by his hands. We consumed the meal collectively together, across which he continuously interrogated Gaara regarding his unvarnished thoughts concerning absolute peace, while concurrently spouting a massive torrent of highly bizarre prose..."
Ryo took a deep, sweeping breath: "Are your parameters completely certain regarding that statement?"
Temari gave an exceptionally firm nod: "It was undeniably him!"
Ryo let out a soft, low sigh: "Refrain from fueling frantic impatience first. Prioritize traveling out to roust Kankuro and the alternative elite Jonin from their comatose state. The Patriarch of the Dark Akatsuki commands an extraordinarily high-tier mastery over advanced transformation methodologies; yesterday evening's Yahiko was highly probable to be a proxy clone fabricated entirely under his disguise."
Temari stood completely frozen: "An advanced transformation methodology?"
Ryo gave a firm nod, his countenance entirely blanketed by a trace of deep, silent abstraction.
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