Relying on the last remnants of chakra, Tushi dragged himself to a hidden cave on the island. The moment he entered, he activated a hidden breath technique to suppress his presence.
Outside, the furious roars of the Three-Tails shook the earth, causing tremors to ripple through the cave walls.
"This guy is really pissed off."
Just from the commotion, Tushi could tell how enraged the Three-Tails had become.
The massive beast was indeed seething. He had been peacefully sleeping when a human arrived, demanding he move elsewhere, only to then attack him, break off his tail, and suddenly vanish without a trace. To make matters worse, he couldn't even sense where his opponent had gone.
Unable to find Tushi, the Three-Tails turned his anger toward the other ninjas daring to approach. Since they all wore similar attire, they became the unfortunate recipients of his rage.
Wait a minute… Where's my tail?
It was only after his rampage subsided that the Three-Tails realized—his severed tail was missing!
Hearing that the outside turmoil had finally died down, Tushi let out a breath of relief.
"I need to restore my chakra quickly."
Activating his body's natural restorative abilities, he began refining chakra again.
"This is insane… Using a clone to capture a Tailed Beast? Honestly, this was way too difficult."
At first, the Three-Tails hadn't fought seriously, allowing Tushi to barely hold his own. But after getting hit by a Rasenshuriken, the beast flew into a rage, significantly increasing its combat prowess.
"So he was holding back the whole time... If that's his casual state, I'd be finished if he actually got serious."
Grumbling internally, Tushi focused on recovering his chakra. His preparations from last time had paid off—he had specifically designed a stronger storage scroll so that it wouldn't explode upon sealing volatile substances like magma or a Tailed Beast's chakra.
This time, he had prepared a scroll capable of sealing a Tailed Beast's tail.
Fortunately, the scroll contained a powerful isolation seal, preventing the Three-Tails from sensing the severed limb. If the beast realized where it was, things would become troublesome.
"I need to relocate before resealing it."
Since he was still on the Three-Tails' island, taking the tail out for resealing would risk detection.
Using the Body Flicker Technique, Tushi swiftly left the island, running at top speed.
During his escape, he even employed the Water Surface Walking Technique to disguise his movements, minimizing the chance of being tracked.
Two minutes later, on a nearby island, Tushi took out the nearly destroyed storage scroll.
Looking at the tattered parchment, he winced.
"Damn it... These things aren't cheap."
He had crafted the scroll using high-grade materials, even borrowing funds from Ma Jia for the project.
"Still, it served its purpose. That's all that matters."
At that moment, he fully grasped the significance of his success—he had obtained a fragment of a Tailed Beast!
A tail from the Three-Tails!
In his past-life memories, Tailed Beast limbs were rumored to hold special properties. The chakra of the Nine-Tails, for instance, had even been used to create pseudo-Jinchūriki.
"It wasn't my fault that the mission went sideways—the Three-Tails was just way too strong. The fact that I managed to take even a single tail is already a win."
Since the main body only needed Tailed Beast chakra to power a grand array, this tail should be sufficient.
Without wasting time, Tushi opened the old scroll, released the tail, and transferred it into a fresh one using a more stable sealing technique. He then reinforced it with a Five-Elements Seal to prevent chakra leakage.
"Some of the Three-Tails' chakra escaped just now. It's not safe here anymore—I need to move."
Storing the new scroll securely, he identified his direction and set off toward the main body's base.
To avoid being tracked, he traveled underwater, using a unique Water Release technique that allowed him to breathe beneath the surface. By manipulating water's solubility properties, he extracted oxygen from it, effectively simulating an underwater breathing technique.
"People underestimate non-combat abilities, but look—I'm using them now."
As Tushi made his way toward the base, the news of his battle with the Three-Tails had already spread across the ninja world.
Tailed Beasts always attracted attention, especially from the Great Ninja Villages, which never stopped monitoring their movements. Many ninjas had witnessed the battle from a distance. Though the Three-Tails had killed several of them in his rampage, a few managed to escape and spread word of what they had seen.
The description of Tushi soon gained traction: "A mysterious ninja with the Lava Release Kekkei Genkai."
As reports accumulated, his identity was eventually pieced together.
Iwagakure was the first to recognize him.
After all, Tushi had stolen secret techniques from their village twice and was still on their wanted list. They knew more about him than anyone else.
The intelligence circulating now described not just his Lava Release ability, but also his general appearance and build. Some had managed to catch glimpses of him during the battle, or perhaps when he was resealing the tail and some of the Three-Tails' chakra had leaked.
The entire ninja world was abuzz.
A previously unknown ninja had suddenly emerged with enough strength to battle a Tailed Beast. The Five Great Nations took immediate notice.
The Three-Tails had been gravely injured, even losing a tail, and yet this mysterious figure had managed to escape unscathed from a Tailed Beast Bomb.
This ninja was at least at the peak of Kage-level strength!
Terrifying!
How had Iwagakure allowed such a powerful individual to go rogue? And more importantly, why had he stolen from them?
Previously, people had questioned how a mere Jōnin could have escaped the Four-Tails' Jinchūriki, Roshi. Now, the answer was clear—Tushi's true strength had been hidden all along.
Or perhaps…
Was Iwagakure hiding something?
This suspicion became the consensus among the other four Great Nations.
So, Iwagakure—supposedly straightforward and transparent—had actually been concealing a peak Kage-level powerhouse?
The Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, was on the verge of spitting blood.
"Damn it! If I'd known, I never would have put out that bounty!"
Now, no matter how much he protested, the damage was done.
Tushi was already being seen as an Iwagakure asset, whether they liked it or not.
And that wasn't even the worst part.
Kirigakure publicly accused Iwagakure of violating the Five Kage Agreement by attacking the Three-Tails, an act that supposedly threatened world peace.
At this point, Iwagakure was barely holding itself together.
Ōnoki seethed with hatred toward Tushi.
"If I ever catch that bastard, I'll make him pay—even if it costs me everything."
"And seriously, why did you hide your strength all this time? If you'd just revealed it, we would have given you any secret technique you wanted!"
Ōnoki refused to believe that Tushi had developed his abilities only in recent years. This guy must have been hiding his power all along.
And the Lava Release? It all made sense now—he must have stolen Roshi's training notes to refine his technique further.
Regardless of Ōnoki's theories, the other nations remained wary of Iwagakure.
"They've been secretly nurturing a powerhouse… This changes everything."
Meanwhile, Konoha's Danzo ordered the Root to infiltrate Iwagakure, hoping to dig up more intelligence on Tushi.
Tushi, however, remained blissfully unaware.
At that moment, he and Uchiha Kiyo were simply analyzing the Three-Tails' tail at their base.
If he had known that he was now being regarded as a peak Kage-level shinobi, he would have coughed up blood from sheer frustration.
"I can barely unleash peak Kage-level damage—and only if my opponent stands still and lets me hit them!"
"Ontology, you've doomed me!"
Uchiha Kiyo: "How is this my fault? Blame the rumors. Besides, this is probably Danzo's doing. He's always the first to stir up trouble."
Danzo: "??? How did I get blamed for this?!"
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