Chapter 26 Prequel Mission 2: Kidnapping the Outer Statue

Zhenyan was thinking about the many things he needed to do when he returned, but his feet unknowingly followed Heijue to the deepest part of the underground.

"We're here." Hei Jue suddenly spoke.

Zhenyan blinked and came back to his senses. He saw a strange wooden statue standing in the dim light. The wooden statue looked like a human and a tree, with ten tails behind it. It looked quite Ke-style...

Black Zetsu had already explained to Shingen before that this thing was originally a sacred tree that gave birth to chakra fruits. After Kaguya Otsutsuki was sealed, the Six Paths Sage extracted the chakra from the sacred tree and separated the nine tailed beasts. Only an empty shell was left of the sacred tree, which was also the empty shell of the Ten Tails, and this empty shell was the Outer Path Demon Statue in front of them.

Shinyan looked at the dead golem in front of him and asked Hei Zetsu, "Can this thing really suppress the Tailed Beast?"

"The Outer Path Statue can spit out chakra chains, and the chakra chains can completely seal the Tailed Beast." Hei Zetsu explained, "But now the Outer Path Statue has been drained. If you want to use the Outer Path Statue's ability, you need to consume the user's own chakra."

This is also the reason why Black Zetsu had Shingon transplant the Rinnegan, because even if it is just an empty shell, the Outer Path Statue is not an easy thing to control. When Nagato forcibly summoned the Outer Path Statue in order to avenge his friend Yahiko, his chakra was almost drained, and his body has not fully recovered until now.

Zhenyan said nothing more, but walked to the feet of the Outer Path Golem. He took a look at the Outer Path Golem's feet, which were the same as those of humans, and stepped on them. Then he stretched out his hand and placed it on the golem's legs to sense it...

“Hungry…hungry…hungry…hungry…hungry…”

Shingon suddenly understood this voice, and at the same time, the chakra in his body began to flow uncontrollably toward the Outer Path Demon Statue...

Zhenyan was completely unprepared, and when he reacted and tried to withdraw his hand, he found that his hand had been firmly sucked in...

"Hey, leave some for me!" Zhenyan tried to communicate with the Outer Golem.

However, the only feedback I got was: “Hungry…hungry…hungry…hungry…hungry…”

"I know you are hungry." Zhenyan said again, "Do you know the big fox? It is Kyuubi. Come with me and I will take you to a feast."

The speed at which the Outer Path Golem absorbed chakra suddenly slowed down for a moment, and then a new voice came from its mind: "Eat... eat... eat... eat... eat... eat..."

Zhenyan couldn't help but turn around and ask Hei Jue: "This thing is here, doesn't the Xiao organization usually feed it?"

Black Zetsu: "...Now is not the time to catch the Tailed Beast yet."

"Without the tailed beast, you can feed some other chakra first. Look how hungry the child is..." Zhenyan felt like he was about to be beaten dry.

"Come with me, so I can take you to a feast." Zhenyan said patiently, "Also, you have to save some chakra for me, otherwise I won't have the strength to take you away."

"A feast..." The Outer Golem was a little hesitant. The human who summoned it before also said that he would catch a tail beast for it, but after so many years, it didn't even get to eat a single hair of the tail beast...

"Yes, a feast." Zhenyan affirmed. Nine-tailed Fox has nine tails, so it should be no problem to return one tail at a time. Thinking of this, Zhenyan said, "Come home with me, and I will take you to pluck the fox's tail."

"Tail...tail..."

I don't know if it was because it absorbed Manson's chakra and restored its vitality, but the Outer Path Statue suddenly moved. Manson was still standing on the back of the Outer Path Statue's feet, and his body began to shake.

"Let me go down first!" Zhenyan felt dizzy.

The Outer Path Demon Statue did not stop trembling, but it stopped absorbing Mana's chakra. Mana planned to jump down by himself, but before he could withdraw his hand, his hand was once again connected to the Outer Path Demon Statue. However, this time it was different from the chakra being extracted. Mana felt something drilling into his palm...

Meanwhile, Nagato, who was discussing with Obito how to divert the Fourth Hokage's attention, suddenly froze...

"What's wrong?" Noticing Nagato's strangeness, Konan asked with concern.

Nagato looked solemn. He carefully sensed it again before speaking: "The Outer Path Golem has lost contact with me..."

Zhenyan first looked at the empty space in front of him, then looked at his palm, and finally asked Hei Jue for confirmation: "Did I eat the Outer Path Demon Statue?"

Hei Zetsu had not expected the situation before him to happen.

Although the current Outer Path Demon Statue, that is, the Ten-Tails, is still an empty shell, but Zhenyan has indeed become the Ten-Tails Jinchūriki...

The Outer Path Demon Statue is related to the ultimate goal of the Akatsuki organization. When this abnormality occurred, Nagato and Obito naturally rushed over to check the situation as soon as possible.

At this time, Zhenyan had already left, and Heijue was the only one left in the empty underground.

Obito glanced at the place where the Outer Path Demon Statue was originally located, and asked Black Zetsu: "What happened here?"

"I found someone who can control the Outer Path Golem." Hei Jue said. Just like his previous idea, he still did not intend to expose Zhenyan's true identity, because Zhenyan was his backup.

What's more, the Xiao organization has been established for many years and is still in the preparation stage. As soon as Zhenyan made a move, the outer demon statue took the initiative to follow.

In addition, Shingon also proposed a method of asking the tailed beast for chakra in batches. Although this method may not be feasible, Shingon is working hard to revive Kaguya Otsutsuki, and he is working twice as hard. On the other hand, Shingon also did not forget to build Konoha and prepare for Kaguya Otsutsuki's retirement in the future...

It can be said that apart from Kaguya Otsutsuki, Shingen is the person that Hei Zetsu trusts the most.

"That new guy?" The first thing Obito thought of was the strangely behaving Shingen.

"What newcomer?" Nagato asked.

"I found a talented newcomer." Hei Jue said.

"What is the identity of that newcomer?" Obito couldn't help but question. He recalled Shingon's words and actions, and always felt that Hei Zetsu's brain was broken, so he easily believed such a person...

Hei Zetsu: "You will know when the time comes."

Obito didn't like this feeling of being out of control, and he said to Black Zetsu, "Zetsu, don't forget your identity."

Originally, Uchiha Madara left Black Zetsu behind so that Black Zetsu could assist him, but now Black Zetsu is acting on his own.

Black Zetsu looked at the two of them, but he was thinking about the fact that the Akatsuki organization was delayed in action and was discovered by the Fourth Hokage. He was more certain of the wisdom of his choice of truth: "I did the most right thing to do."

Obito found it very unusual that Black Zetsu protected a newcomer so much, and he tried hard to recall the scene of his previous meeting with Shingon.

Zhenyan was wearing the same mask as him, and said that the mask was given to him by his uncle. At that time, he only thought that the "uncle" Zhenyan mentioned was his family members, but he overlooked a problem, that is, only Heijue and Baijue knew where he stored his clothes and masks, so Zhenyan's "uncle" might not refer to his family members, but to Heijue? ...

When Uchiha Madara left Black Zetsu, he said that Black Zetsu represented his consciousness, and the two could be seen as a special kind of kinship. And Shingon, like Madara, also had the ability to control the Outer Path Demon Statue...

So, Managao is actually Madara's illegitimate child?

...

Zhenyan didn't know that because of his act of kidnapping the Heterodox Golem, he had been made into an illegitimate child by the human brain. At this time, he and Bai Jue were rushing back, because the Heterodox Golem had been hungry for who knows how many years and kept conveying his hungry thoughts to him...

He could only return to Konoha as soon as possible and let the giant fox pay back some of his chakra debt first.

The Hidden Rain Village was quite far away from Konoha, and he and Shirazetsu did not return to Konoha until dark. When they arrived at the Valley of the End, Shingon asked Shirazetsu to go back to Zabuza first, and he returned to the village alone.

However, he had not taken a few steps when he stopped again.

Perhaps because of the fusion of the Outer Path Golem, Zhenyan's perception ability has been greatly enhanced. He stopped where he was and turned to look in the direction of the Valley of the End Waterfall. In his perception, there was a person there...

Who would be here so late at night?

Zhenyan was puzzled and went over to check the situation.

However, when he walked to the bottom of the waterfall, he did not see anyone. He closed his eyes and sensed carefully, and finally found a hidden cave behind the stone statue of Uchiha Madara.

Shinyan poked his head in, stared at the inside of the cave, and opened his Sharingan to observe, but it was still pitch black. However, he vaguely caught some sounds, as if someone was talking.

Zhenyan felt that the voice sounded familiar. He hesitated for a moment and decided to go in to check the situation.

The structure inside the cave was somewhat complicated and did not lead all the way to the end. Zhenyan turned two corners and the road ahead became wider, but the voices he heard at the beginning suddenly disappeared.

Shingon had not yet adapted to the darkness in the cave and could only barely make out the outlines of things. He stopped where he was and was about to speak when a gust of wind suddenly blew over and he was met with a pair of bright red Sharingan.

Shingon was stunned for a moment, then a look of surprise appeared on his face: "Itachi."

Itachi's hand that reached out to Shingon suddenly withdrew...

"Itachi, why are you here?" asked Shinon.

Itachi did not answer, and suddenly someone lit a torch behind him. Shingon looked over and saw two familiar faces, Uchiha Feng and Uchiha Gin.

"Brother Feng, Brother Yin, you are here too." Zhenyan greeted them with a smile. With the help of the firelight, he discovered that there were some things in the cave. They were the goods that Uchiha had been selling all year round.

"You guys..." Zhenyan looked at the pile of goods and suddenly realized, "Are you here to guard the goods?"

This cave is very cool and is perfect for storing goods.

"Ah... yes!" Uchiha Feng also smiled, but his expression was a little unnatural, "Makoto, it's so late, why are you here?"

"Ah..." This time it was Zhenyan who felt guilty.

Konoha needs to report before leaving the village. When he went to the Hidden Rain Village before, the reason he gave was to go to the clan land outside the village, that is, where Zabuza was. Now he came back so late, it was indeed a bit suspicious...

However, the people in front of him were not strangers, so Zhenyan laughed and said, "I thought the moonlight tonight was nice, so I came out to see the scenery."

The demon statue inside his body was still crying out for hunger. Zhenyan glanced at it and said, "Well... I'm going to go back first. I won't disturb you guys on your night shift."

Uchiha Feng and Uchiha Gin quickly responded, but Shingon turned around and took two steps, then turned back.

Zhenyan looked at Itachi, whose wrinkles had not faded after not seeing him for a few days, and who now had dark circles under his eyes. He asked, "Itachi, have you had dinner yet? Do you want me to bring some over?"

Itachi's eyes fell on Shingon, and his tense expression relaxed a little. He said, "We have already eaten, you can go back first."

"Then I'll leave first!" Zhenyan waved his hand and this time he really left.

After Zhenyan left, the atmosphere in the cave suddenly became tense.

Itachi looked at the pile of goods and said coldly: "Why do you do this?"

Uchiha's goods were robbed again, and Konoha took this matter very seriously. The Acting Hokage ordered the Anbu to conduct a focused investigation. Itachi, who joined the Anbu, happened to be a member of the Uchiha clan, so the Acting Hokage let Itachi be in charge of this matter.

Itachi followed the trail all the way, and with the convenience of his status as the eldest son of the Uchiha clan leader, he soon found out the truth. The Uchiha's goods were not robbed at all, and everything was staged by the Uchiha's internal personnel...

Hearing Itachi's questioning, Uchiha Feng and Uchiha Gin did not feel guilty about being discovered, but spoke angrily: "We just want to make a big deal out of this."

"The original incident was not spread, but we all know that the development plan was proposed by Shingon, and our Uchiha was the first to conduct the trial. Later, other families joined in and enjoyed the same treatment as us. Why should we suppress the Uchiha just because they were the first?"

The second time the cargo was robbed, it was indeed directed and acted by Uchiha himself, but the first time, Uchiha was really robbed. Even with the Root escort, the Uchiha's cargo was still robbed. It is hard not to guess that the Root was deliberately targeting them.

"If you have any questions about the results of the investigation, you can report it to the Hokage." Itachi said.

"The power of the Root is no weaker than that of the Anbu. If the Root is intentionally hiding something, what can the Hokage find out?" Uchiha Feng said again, "Besides, who can guarantee that the Hokage is fair?"

Today's Uchiha clan members have lost their trust in Konoha's top leaders.

"That's right!" Uchiha Gin followed closely and echoed, "We will not only rob this time, but also the next time, and the next time... We want to see how the Root responsible for the escort will explain to the Uchiha!"

Itachi frowned upon hearing this...

...

Shingon, who had already left, had no idea what happened in the cave. After returning to Konoha, he did not go home immediately, but went directly to find Naruto.

After knocking on the door, Shingon was waiting outside. After waiting for a while, Kakashi came over to open the door.

Shingo greeted Kakashi and walked in directly, and immediately saw Naruto with a wound on his face...

"How did this happen?" Zhenyan asked.

Hearing Shingen's question, Naruto stood up from the sofa. He looked angry and a little guilty. He defended himself by saying, "They were the first to say that the giant fox was a demon fox..."

Although the current Hokage has been dealing with the rumor issue, rumors cannot be stopped immediately by a single order. There are always people who hear rumors and spread them.

Today at the Ninja School, a brave kid pointed at Naruto and called him a demon fox. Naruto used the Shingon teaching of "speaking with sincerity" to reason with the kid, but the kid not only covered his ears and refused to listen, but also told him to shut up. Naruto naturally refused, and the two started fighting. As a result, the kid was beaten black and blue, while Naruto only had a few scratches on his face.

Shingon walked up to Naruto, touched his head and said, "It's not your fault."

When you meet someone who is unreasonable, the basic verbal persuasion is indeed not enough, it is time to upgrade your skills.

Thinking of this, Zhenyan said to Naruto: "Next time, Brother Zhenyan will teach you a more powerful move."

Naruto's eyes immediately lit up: "What is it?"

"The previous sincere confrontation was to reason with the other party and convince the other party. If you meet someone who can't be reasoned with, then you can use the upgraded version of mouth-to-mouth combat next." Zhenyan had wanted to combine fire escape and research an upgraded version of mouth-to-mouth combat before, and now he just had an inspiration, "The upgraded version of mouth-to-mouth combat is the wind and fire wheel technique."

"The purpose of the Fire Wheel technique is to educate the opponent. The Fire Wheel turns. Those who use their sharp tongue to hurt others one day will eventually burn themselves."

"And the direction of this technique is to focus on the opponent's weaknesses, so that the opponent can deeply experience what it means to be fried in oil and fire, what it means to be ashamed, and what it means to be ashamed and angry to death..."

Kakashi couldn't help but twitch his lips. He picked up the medicine box and interrupted Shingon's serious nonsense.

"Apply the medicine first." Kakashi said.

Naruto touched his face and said carelessly, "It doesn't hurt anymore."

Shinon looked at Naruto's wounds and found that the wounds on Naruto's face had begun to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye...

It was not surprising for Shingon, as he could heal wounds quickly when using chakra, but Naruto's situation was different because he sensed the Nine-Tails' chakra.

Thinking of the purpose of his visit, Shingen immediately grabbed Naruto's hand and entered the sealed space following the Nine-Tails' chakra.

Seeing the long-lost giant fox, Zhenyan greeted him warmly: "Hello, Xiaojiu, I brought Xiaoshi to see you!"

Jiu Lama: “…………”!