Chapter 174 - 172: The Bijû Conference Call

"Another day in this godforsaken prison," Shukaku murmured to himself, missing the days when he was free in the desert and 'beating' Kurama from time to time. Believe it.

It had definitely happened. Multiple times. Kurama just refused to acknowledge it, which was exactly what a loser would do.

The space he was trapped in now was full of blue water and surrounded by massive rock spears, which was the extreme opposite of his beloved desert.

He knew that soon enough, that bastard of a monk would come and greet him like he did every single day since being sealed inside. Bunpuku was, without question, the least hateful human Shukaku had ever come in contact with.

But that didn't erase the fundamental fact: Shukaku was imprisoned inside him. And for Shukaku, that was the only thing that mattered.

"No, wait a minute." As he sat waiting for Bunpuku's usual greeting, something surprising caught his attention. He could feel the presence of two other Bijuu in their connected plane.

Now, Bijuu communicating from time to time wasn't unusual. It happened when someone was bored enough to reach out. But it depended heavily on who was doing the reaching.

The two presences he felt were Kurama and Isobu. The two most isolated, antisocial, 'leave me alone or I'll blast you' Bijuu in existence. Especially that stinky fox Kurama, whom Shukaku hadn't 'beaten' in far too long.

He didn't even have time to plan a suitably dramatic entrance before an invitation hit him like a wave.

"Hahaha! It seems you can't wait to see this great one!" He shouted into the void of his prison before his consciousness receded.

•••

Shukaku materialized in the shared plane with all the subtlety of a sandstorm, fully prepared to make an entrance that would remind the two exactly who they were dealing with. Then he saw the old woman standing next to Kurama voluntarily.

His brain stuttered.

But before he could even formulate an insult, the others started arriving.

In the span of two seconds, every single one of them appeared without exception.

Mito, who genuinely believed she had seen, heard, and read everything the ninja world had to offer, was forced to admit that when all nine Tailed Beasts stood together, they were, objectively, extremely imposing. The sheer weight of their collective presence pressed down on the mental plane like a storm front.

And then Akiko arrived.

Isobu had forcibly dragged her in, which was significantly harder than it should have been since he'd done it without asking permission first.

"Isob—" she started, instinctively reaching for the name Azula had used, but the word died in her throat the moment she registered what she was actually looking at.

All nine Tailed Beasts together and unsealed in this space. Including Kurama, who was definitely not supposed to be unsealed, who was standing next to his Jinchuriki like a particularly grumpy bodyguard instead of a prisoner.

Her mouth opened. Closed. Opened again. The word that had been trying to escape her throat miscarried entirely.

"Wow, it seems everyone is here!" Chōmei, the Seven-Tails, exclaimed with all the enthusiasm of a child at a birthday party. "Lucky Seven is so excited to see you all!"

"We are also very excited to see you," Saiken replied immediately, because Saiken always replied immediately, and always with 'we,' which confused approximately everyone who had ever met them.

The warm, almost familial atmosphere that was about to settle over the gathering lasted approximately half a second.

"Stinky fox!" Shukaku bellowed, pointing a claw at Kurama with enough force to cause a sand tremor. "So you're still alive? Hashirama didn't finish you off?"

He was, of course, referring to that time when Hashirama had hunted down every single one Bijû with Shukaku himself being the exception, and Kurama, very notably, had not shown up to the subsequent 'we all got caught' support group.

How could Kurama, who had first been controlled by Madara like a puppet, then choked like a misbehaving kitten by Hashirama's Wood Dragon, possibly have been in the mood to commiserate?

Kurama didn't bother explaining. He just snorted. "Hmph. Stupid weak raccoon. You still haven't grown a second tail. As annoying as ever."

He who had spent the past decade observing—fine, eavesdropping on Azula's particular gift for verbal evisceration had become something of a top-tier insult artist himself.

And sure enough, when he mentioned the number of tails, it drove directly into Shukaku's deepest, most sensitive sore spot. He was the only one with a single tail, the least of everyone.

"YOU—"

Although the cursing between Kurama and Shukaku appeared unsightly, for the other Bijuu it only brought back memories of the old days, when the connection between them had been strong and Shukaku challenged Kurama to a fight approximately every other breakfast.

From Mito's perspective, it was almost endearing. The younger brother who refused to accept that the older brother was bigger, stronger, and absolutely insufferable about it.

"Alright, everyone." Gyūki's voice cut through the chaos like a blade through water. "There's no need to be so agitated after such a long time apart."

The Eight-Tails was one of the steadiest among them, and apart from Kurama, who respected almost no one, the others unconsciously treated him like an older brother.

Even Shukaku had a grudging sliver of respect for him, since Gyūki didn't mock him at every turn the way Kurama did.

Shukaku snorted, turning his massive head away. "Hmph. I was just passing time. He's the one provoking me."

"Passing time?" Kurama's eyes gleamed. "I never knew you had such a special hobby. Liking being imprisoned?"

And just like that, Shukaku completely forgot Gyūki existed. "At least it's better than looking at a certain stinky fox every day!"

"At least I have more than one tail."

"I WILL BURY YOU IN SAND, YOU GLORIFIED FUR SCARF!"

From the edge of the gathering, Akiko watched the literal forces of nature bicker like children and did what any self-respecting ninja would do in the presence of nine immortal chakra monsters: she started gathering intelligence.

The Nine-Tails is called Kurama. Very... strange personality. Arrogant, but not exactly. The One-Tail is Shukaku, definitely the loudest and childish. The Seven-Tails calls itself Lucky Seven. The Six-Tails uses 'we' pronouns for some reason. The Eight-Tails appears to be the only one with any authority over the others...

It was almost instinctive, imprinting every scrap of information into her memory. She might never get another opportunity like this.

Then her gaze landed on the only other human present, and she froze.

Mito Uzumaki.

Just a few months ago, when the Uzumaki and Uchiha had descended on Kiri, Mito had left a deep impression on her. Even Azula had seemed to respect her genuinely, not just politically but personally. Afterward, Akiko had done her research and learned the woman was Hashirama's wife.

But the Mito she remembered had not looked old. The Mito standing before her now looked ancient and fragile. Like a strong wind might carry her away.

'Did she use some kind of Forbidden Jutsu? Or was she using one back then, to appear at her peak?' Akiko had no answers, only questions, and she knew better than to ask them here.

The Tailed Beasts, despite their millennia of existence and their tendency to bicker like toddlers, were extremely perceptive when it came to humans.

They noticed the way Akiko, despite her calm exterior, was studying them like specimens. They also noticed the way Mito, despite standing in the presence of nine immortal beings, seemed completely at ease.

"What are humans doing in this place?" Son Gokū's voice rumbled across the space. The Four-Tails had his arms crossed, his expression severe. He had been silent until now, but clearly the question had been eating at him. "This is a gathering of Bijuu. Why are they here?"

Kurama answered with a tone that left no room for argument. "She is Mito Uzumaki. The wife of Hashirama, and my Jinchuriki."

Before anyone could react to the bombshell that was Hashirama's wife standing calmly in their midst, he continued, nodding toward Akiko. "She is Isobu's Jinchuriki. The Fourth Mizukage, if I recall correctly."

The Tailed Beasts, having spent generations imprisoned inside humans, understood perfectly well what the title of Mizukage meant.

A Kage, a leader of one of the five great villages. In any other context, she would have been the most significant human in the room.

But 'Hashirama's wife' was a much bigger target.

The hatred that rippled through the gathering was palpable. Hashirama Senju. The man who had started all of this.

During the Warring States era, when a Tailed Beast was sealed, the lifespan of the powerhouse who captured them was rarely long enough to matter. A decade, maybe two at most, then they died, and the beast went free for another century or so before some other ambitious fool tried their luck.

There was no stable method to pass a Tailed Beast from one generation to the next.

But since Hashirama and the founding of the villages, everything had changed. Most of them were already on their second Jinchuriki. Some were on their third.

If this system remained stable, if the villages continued passing them down like family heirlooms, they could remain imprisoned for thousands of years. Forever, essentially.

And the woman standing in front of them was married to the man who started it all.

"Kurama." Son Gokū's voice was low and unhappy. "Explain what is happening. Now."

But there was no one grumpier among the Bijuu than Kurama, and he met the Four-Tails' glare with his own.

Nonetheless, he answered.

"It concerns the future. And the Ten-Tails."

The silence that followed was absolute. Even Shukaku stopped breathing.

"Someone is trying to revive it," Kurama continued, his voice dropping into something grim and heavy. "And that someone has the Rinnegan."