Chapter 86 — Building the Ten-Tails Barehanded

Half an hour earlier.

A grotesque figure dressed like a third-rate rapper entered the Leaf.

Dark skin, pale yellow hair, and a pair of black sunglasses…

This oddity, who looked every inch the nameless extra, was called Killer B.

He was the partner and sworn brother of the Fourth Raikage, and at the same time the jinchūriki of the Eight-Tails. Capable of perfectly controlling the Eight-Tails' power, his own strength was formidable as well, though his temperament was as innocent and carefree as a child's.

"Yo, B has come to the Leaf! The Leaf welcomes B! But where, oh where, is the rap master?" Killer B unleashed his cringe-inducing rapping skills, causing the pedestrians around him to quietly edge away to a safe distance.

At that moment, Wang Xu, strolling along the Leaf's movie street, suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"Finally here."

Wang Xu snapped his fingers.

A single pale-yellow hair appeared between his fingers.

Within this strand of hair resided two utterly distinct chakra signatures.

With a flicker of thought, Killer B's hair was instantly reduced to elementary particles invisible to the naked eye.

The Eight-Tails jinchūriki, whose only hobby besides rapping was rapping, had never once entered "Radiance League," which had put a slight damper on Wang Huai'an's progress.

Still, it was only a minor obstacle—a bit of effort, and it was completely resolved.

"The chakra similar to A's can be ruled out. That leaves this remaining trace, which should be the Eight-Tails' signature."

The corner of Wang Xu's mouth curved upward slightly.

So many schemes and plans, a net woven one mission at a time—at last, it was time to reel it in!

Gaara, jinchūriki of the One-Tail Shukaku in the Sand, and Naruto Uzumaki, jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails Kurama in the Leaf—these two Reincarnators had long been under Wang Xu's command.

As for Yugito Nii, jinchūriki of the Two-Tails Matatabi; Yagura, the Fourth Mizukage and jinchūriki of the Three-Tails Isobu; Rōshi, jinchūriki of the Four-Tails Son Gokū; Han, jinchūriki of the Five-Tails Kokuō; Utakata, jinchūriki of the Six-Tails Saiken; and Fū, jinchūriki of the Seven-Tails Chōmei…

Whether these people were alive or dead, Wang Xu had gathered data on their signatures through the various means employed by the Reincarnators.

No flesh or blood was needed—not even hair. Even a worn-out piece of clothing, and the flakes of skin upon it invisible to the eye, was enough for Wang Xu to reverse-engineer the chakra signature of a tailed beast.

The instant Killer B arrived in the Leaf, it meant that the chakra signature data of all nine tailed beasts had been fully collected.

"Deducing the signature of the Chakra Fruit will take considerable time, but a thing like the Ten-Tails…"

Wang Xu smiled faintly and spread his hands.

In the original timeline, the appearance of the Ten-Tails did not require all nine tailed beasts intact.

And to create the Ten-Tails, he did not need even a single one.

The mind turned, and the thought became action.

Nine distinct signatures surfaced within his palm.

Matter and energy from heaven and earth converged, forming a violent, surging chakra tornado.

At first, the tornado blotted out the sky, carrying an incomparable aura of destruction, as though it could annihilate the Leaf entirely the very next second.

As time passed, its aura grew ever more terrifying, yet its volume shrank smaller and smaller.

Gradually, it transformed into the form of a colossal tree-man with nine eyes.

The Ten-Tails was born!

It was not in its complete form; it possessed no intelligence whatsoever, only the instinct to destroy and plunder.

Only after the Ten-Tails merged with the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path could it descend upon the world once more in the guise of the "Divine Tree"!

……

"There's no mistake! This is the Ten-Tails' signature!"

Uchiha Madara's gaze was dark and brooding, his expression so grim it looked as though water might drip from it.

Obito removed his helmet, narrowed his eyes slightly, and nodded: "I'll go contact Nagato."

The Ten-Tails' appearance was utterly inexplicable, defying all common sense.

Only after meeting Nagato would he know what on earth had happened.

Obito's Mangekyō Sharingan spun rapidly, crimson and pitch-black interweaving into a single wicked, shadowy mass.

His form twisted into a vortex, and with this Mangekyō as the point of origin, he was drawn inside.

Moments later.

Within Akatsuki's Secret Base No. 1, in the Village Hidden in the Rain.

A distorted singularity formed out of thin air, and Obito emerged from it.

"The Ten-Tails has appeared! The Infinite Tsukuyomi plan can now begin ahead of schedule!"

Having said this, Obito found that Nagato was not paying him the slightest attention.

Even Konan, usually the more reliable of the two, was wearing a game helmet.

The two of them were fighting side by side in the virtual world of "Radiance League"—or rather, teaming up to curb-stomp noobs.

The Six Paths of Pain plus Nagato's true body and Konan—an 8v2…

They won however they pleased, in whatever style they pleased.

Obito could not comprehend what Nagato and Konan found so enjoyable about it.

The corner of his mouth twitched slightly, and the muscles of his face began to contort—clearly brewing a storm of fury.

Still, after all these years, Obito had at least cultivated some self-restraint.

He endured, and he waited.

Half an hour later, Nagato and Konan removed their game helmets, faces wreathed in smiles.

"'Zabuza' and 'Haku' are quite interesting—ten losses in a row and they still haven't given up the fight." Konan covered her mouth, laughing like a cat that had sneaked a bite of dried fish.

Nagato's expression was placid, betraying no obvious delight, but his eyes, curved into crescent moons, gave away his true feelings.

"I just said…"

Obito drew a deep breath, dripping with resentment: "The Ten-Tails has appeared!"

"Oh."

Nagato glanced at him expressionlessly: "And so?"

This attitude nearly made Obito explode with rage.

Obito stared at those Rinnegan and clenched his fists.

I'll endure it!

He gritted his teeth and did his best to keep his tone calm and composed: "The Infinite Tsukuyomi plan can begin ahead of schedule!"

"I refuse."

With just three words, Nagato demolished all the years of forbearance Obito had cultivated.

Obito's nostrils flared, his breathing grew heavy, and his eyes turned vicious as he said, word by word: "What did you say?"

The game-addicted youth Nagato Uzumaki stared at him expressionlessly for a while, then delivered his cold reply: "'Radiance League' is peace and the future. Sorry, I no longer approve of your Infinite Tsukuyomi plan!"

The so-called peace wrought by the Infinite Tsukuyomi was not necessarily any more real than the world within the virtual game.

Nagato did not say this out of mere perfunctoriness; there was indeed a measure of sincerity in it.

The Leaf today had far, far too many things that opened one's eyes.

Nagato had glimpsed an infinite future, and he no longer relied entirely on the beautiful, false future the other man had painted.

The elevation of society's productive forces meant that people's material lives would be greatly enriched, and internal conflicts within the nations would be substantially reduced.

That meant the Five Great Nations would no longer need to casually wage war on weaker countries in order to divert their internal contradictions.

Peace did not necessarily require reliance on military force.

Wisdom could even create a more beautiful state of affairs.

"Hmph… In that case, the next time we meet, we shall be enemies."

When words fail to convince, half a sentence is already too many. Obito gave a cold laugh, his form shifting as he slipped into the void and vanished without a trace…