Unlike Kakashi Hatake and Obito, the ninjas from Takigakure had already turned into cautious campers after entering the Forest of Death. They strictly followed a survival-first approach, avoiding unnecessary confrontation and managing to evade wave after wave of opposing teams.
The Seven-Tails' abilities were indeed well suited for concealment. Its scale-based techniques could distort vision and confuse enemies easily, and the girl named Fuu also possessed a similar trait.
Fuu's two teammates were Shibu and Sheshui. They were not related by blood, only coincidentally sharing similar sounding names. Shibu was also the future leader of Takigakure, though he was still quite young at this stage. As for Sheshui, Hayashi was not familiar with him, but at first glance, his appearance felt strangely familiar.
If this guy were to change his long blue hair to orange, he would almost resemble the Human Path of the Six Paths of Pain.
This team was clearly not ordinary. Each member had unique abilities. Unfortunately, their luck was not on their side. After hiding for so long without encountering any prey, they ended up being discovered by Hayashi instead.
Standing at the entrance of the cave where the three were hiding, Hayashi spoke calmly.
"Come out, I've already found you."
Fuu and the others were shocked. They could not understand how a ninja could bypass all their traps and locate them so precisely.
Even so, they remained inside the cave, refusing to come out.
"If you don't come out, I'll set this place on fire," Hayashi said as he formed hand seals. A small fireball gathered and shot forward.
Feeling the rising temperature outside, Fuu quickly shouted in panic, "Don't, don't, we're coming out right now."
However, the moment her voice fell, a figure suddenly rushed out from behind Hayashi. Sheshui held a kunai and aimed directly at his back.
Hayashi shifted his body slightly, dodging the attack with ease.
At the same time, Shibu burst out from the ground, his short blade already half drawn.
Hayashi did not move. Only his Three Tomoe Sharingan appeared.
It was just a glance, yet it made Shibu feel an overwhelming chill crawl up his spine, as if death itself was waiting the moment his blade fully left its sheath.
Shibu's hand trembled slightly.
Even when facing the village leader, he had never felt such pressure before.
Fuu crawled out from the cave entrance, looking at the Konoha jonin in front of her with unease, not daring to move.
She stammered softly, "Lord Konoha jonin, is there something you want from us?"
Hayashi smiled lightly and said, "Don't be nervous, I'll take you somewhere."
After that, he knocked Shibu and Sheshui unconscious using genjutsu. He left behind a shadow clone, then took Fuu away using the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Everything happened silently, without anyone noticing.
Obtaining the Seven-Tails' chakra could not be done in Konoha. If a tailed beast went out of control inside the village, the destruction would be unimaginable. Even though Hayashi was not afraid of the consequences, explaining it afterward would be troublesome.
A member of the Uchiha clan targeting Takigakure's tailed beast would immediately draw suspicion. Danzo would certainly use it as leverage, and even the Third Hokage would have difficulty ignoring it.
For that reason, Hayashi chose a location far away from any villages.
Amid rolling yellow sand, the two reappeared near Rōran.
This place was remote and uninhabited, with no ninjas nearby, making it ideal for what was about to happen.
Although Fuu was young, she was not overly timid. After realizing who Hayashi was, she recognized him as the famous Konoha Lightning Flash.
Someone of that level should not have any ill intentions toward her, or so she thought.
If Hayashi knew what she was thinking, he would only find it naive.
Fame did not guarantee safety. The Sannin of Konoha all had reputations, yet none of them could be called harmless.
Tsunade had a tendency to use child labor, Jiraiya often gathered questionable material, and Orochimaru was known for unethical human experimentation. Reputation alone meant nothing.
Hayashi was not connected to any of them, but what he was about to do was not suitable for a child to witness. He placed Fuu under a genjutsu, causing her to lose consciousness.
He then began loosening the seal.
He did not fully release it, only opening a small gap to allow the tailed beast chakra to leak out gradually.
This ensured Fuu would not die, while also preventing the tailed beast from going completely berserk.
As Fuu lay unconscious on the ground, Hayashi immediately deployed a barrier technique.
The barrier continuously absorbed the leaking tailed beast chakra and guided it into a sealing scroll.
In a sense, the process resembled controlled extraction, like regulated transfer rather than full release.
Of course, this was not something small. It was more like draining a massive reservoir at once.
As the seal weakened, the Seven-Tails' chakra began to surge outward.
A moment later, an enormous burst of chakra flooded the barrier space.
A piercing sound filled the air, resembling insect wings vibrating at extreme frequency, magnified countless times.
The Seven-Tails, Chōmei, appeared in its true form, resembling a fusion of beetle and dragonfly rather than a traditional beast.
It was more fitting to describe it as a tailed insect.
The Sage of Six Paths truly had unusual imagination.
If all tailed beasts had been designed differently, perhaps their fate would have been entirely different.
"Human…"
That was the first word Chōmei spoke as its chakra stabilized.
Hayashi originally expected hostility, similar to Shukaku's temper, but instead Chōmei immediately asked about the other tailed beasts, Shukaku and Kurama.
That reaction surprised him slightly.
He leaned into the conversation casually.
"That's right, I know them. We are quite familiar. I even had breakfast with Shukaku earlier today."
Chōmei froze for a moment.
"You are acquainted with them?"
It was rare to encounter a tailed beast with such a composed temperament, so Hayashi continued speaking to draw out information.
"Our relationship is complicated," Chōmei said cautiously, glancing at Fuu lying on the ground. "Human, why are you extracting my chakra?"
"I am taking your chakra clone so you can meet Shukaku and Kurama," Hayashi replied without hesitation.
The explanation was the same one he had used before, but Chōmei did not accept it.
Instead, its expression changed slightly, as if remembering something far more ancient and dangerous.
A heavy sense of resistance rose within it.
With a sudden roar, Chōmei attacked. One of its tails swept forward like a storm, reinforced by chakra that distorted the air around it.
Its scales also scattered, interfering with vision and perception.
"I thought we could talk this through peacefully," Hayashi said quietly, his Sharingan shifting into Mangekyō form.
The atmosphere changed instantly.
After that, the process became much smoother.
Hayashi did not extract the full chakra amount he had claimed earlier. That would have taken too long.
Once a sufficient portion was collected, he sealed the container marked with the character "Seven" and stored it inside Dabai.
Fuu was later returned to the Forest of Death, and her memory was sealed.
To ensure Takigakure's stability, Hayashi also adjusted the seal on her body, reinforcing it further with several additional layers.
In the end, he left seven separate seals on her.
As the saying goes, actions speak louder than credit. Hayashi considered the outcome satisfactory.
However, this would later cause significant trouble.
A certain organization in the ninja world would spend months attempting to undo those seals, nearly causing internal collapse due to the complexity involved.