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The Six-Tails stared at Midorima for a long time before finally speaking. "Are you serious?"
"?" Midorima was puzzled.
"No reason. What benefit is there for you in sealing me up?" The Six-Tails asked.
Midorima seriously considered the Six-Tails' question. "Seems like... no direct benefit."
"Then it's settled. Don't seal me. You go do whatever you need to do," the Six-Tails said.
"No, no, no," Midorima pointed at the surroundings of the Six-Tails. "After all the mess you've caused, do you think they'll just let you off? No way. Besides, I only said sealing you has no 'direct benefit' for me. I didn't say there would be no consequences."
"Are there indirect benefits then?" The Six-Tails grew wary.
"No benefits, actually. Quite a few drawbacks, though. By the way, you know you were controlled by someone, right?"
The Six-Tails remained silent. This wasn't exactly something to be proud of.
"That guy went to Konoha a few years ago and used the same method to control the Nine-Tails. It caused massive destruction. Today, he used the same trick, but on you. And now, because of you, Kirigakure is in ruins."
"The Nine-Tails? What does he want?"
"Nothing important. Just plans to collect all nine Tailed Beasts and form the 'Ten-Tails.'"
The Six-Tails immediately became "serious." "Impossible? Even if he collects all nine, we can't combine into the Ten-Tails."
"The Rinnegan... and the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. Are you familiar with them?" Midorima asked.
The Six-Tails was silent for a long moment before speaking again. "How do you know about these things?"
"By risking my life to gather this information, of course. Hurry up, my time is valuable. Are you willing to become someone else's jinchūriki, or do you want to be caught by that guy and thrown into the Demonic Statue?" Midorima urged.
"Why should I trust you?"
"I don't expect you to trust me. Wait, that guy just controlled you. You don't think I'm incapable, do you? Besides, merging with a jinchūriki is something you've probably experienced before."
"Tch. Humans are such despicable creatures... I hate you humans the most!" The Six-Tails was in the middle of complaining when it suddenly caught the meaning of Midorima's words. It exclaimed in surprise, "Wait, you don't want to become a jinchūriki?"
Midorima shook his head.
Once a Tailed Beast entered a body, it was essentially a "symbiotic" relationship. They rose and fell together.
Although the Tailed Beast could rapidly increase his chakra, there was a prerequisite: the Tailed Beast and jinchūriki had to be perfectly compatible, like the Eight-Tails and Killer B, or Naruto and the Nine-Tails.
Otherwise, the boost to one's strength from the Tailed Beast might not be as significant as imagined.
Of course, if one could truly unleash the full power of the Tailed Beast, the enhancement could be terrifying.
Moreover, there were even more dangerous drawbacks.
Leaving aside whether Kirigakure would agree to him becoming a jinchūriki—after all, jinchūriki in every major village were core figures, either the Kage's wife, son, or brother. From every angle, Midorima wasn't a suitable candidate—even if he did become one, the "Akatsuki" would swarm him like flies.
Midorima liked to operate in the shadows. He didn't want to become a target, constantly pursued.
And judging by the original storyline, he probably wouldn't be able to escape anyway.
"You must be lying to me, right?" The Six-Tails was wary of this young man.
He was different from anyone it had known before.
Midorima frowned, looking at the Six-Tails. "Why are you so chatty? Oh, could it be you're scared?"
"Scared? What do you mean, scared?" The Six-Tails didn't agree with Midorima's words.
Midorima sneered. "After all, you were put under genjutsu. If he told you to follow him, you'd probably foolishly go along."
"Impossible. Don't underestimate people... uh, Tailed Beasts." The Six-Tails said coldly. "I'm angry, you understand? I don't care how many humans die. But that guy put me under genjutsu. I find that... unacceptable."
Midorima was momentarily stunned.
The Six-Tails' current anger was clearly much more visceral.
"Since you don't trust humans." Midorima spread his hands. "I don't think we can cooperate."
"You think I want to? But you don't want me to leave either, right? If you let me go, I'll leave immediately. No one in Kirigakure now can stop me!"
Midorima couldn't refute that. It was true.
Just then, someone suddenly threw a stone, hitting the Six-Tails.
The stone wasn't big. Hitting the Six-Tails was like a tickle. But it made the Six-Tails exceptionally furious.
It was a child, about six or seven years old, not far away—less than ten meters.
The boy was crying. When he saw the Six-Tails look at him, he sat down on the ground.
How is there a child here!?
Midorima was shocked. Behind the boy, he saw a woman's body. Half of it had been corroded by acid, exposing bone.
Had the woman been hit by the liquid while trying to save him?
Seeing the Six-Tails turn its gaze towards the child, Midorima didn't have time to think. He immediately used the "Eight Trigrams Sealing Style" to seal the Six-Tails into his own body.
"You liar! Everything you said before was a lie to me!?" The Six-Tails raged.
"You've already killed too many!" Midorima gritted his teeth.
Sealing a Tailed Beast was best done with assistance.
Doing it alone, regardless of the difficulty, carried an incredibly high risk of failure.
However, the lLast Line of Defense" of the [Cell Lab] and the "First Hokage's cells" gave him the luxury to be capricious and take this risk.
But becoming a jinchūriki was not part of his plan.
Although having a Tailed Beast would give him abundant chakra, allowing him to use large-scale techniques without worrying about chakra consumption, and even giving him the capital to use large-scale Wood Release, it also made him a target for the "Akatsuki."
And when the Six-Tails entered his body, he immediately felt it filled with intense hatred.
It seemed the Tailed Beasts' animosity towards humans was extremely difficult to control.
The Six-Tails repeatedly tried to corode Midorima's consciousness, but he successfully blocked each attempt.
"Do you think you'll have the last laugh?" The Six-Tails raged.
"Sorry, becoming a jinchūriki wasn't my plan. But I do need your power. Whether facing 'Madara' or Pain, your strength is indispensable. Moreover..." Midorima took a deep breath. "From the moment you were sealed inside me, we've been in a symbiotic relationship. We rise and fall together. If I die, you'll be caught by the 'Akatsuki' and become material for merging the 'Ten-Tails.'"
"Why should I trust you!" The Six-Tails fumed. "You just said you didn't want to become a jinchūriki, and then, while I wasn't paying attention, you sealed me. Humans, you're all greedy!"
"..."
Midorima frowned and stopped engaging with the Six-Tails. But he also understood that to achieve reconciliation with it, he might need to meet with Killer B.