Seeing Yuzuru keep staring at her, Hotaru finally could not hold back anymore.
"Um, Lord Yuzuru... thank you for saving me just now."
Yuzuru smiled and nodded. "You're not hurt, are you?"
"I'm fine."
Hotaru struggled to her feet and bowed to him.
Yuzuru pointed at Shiranami. "That secret technique he mentioned just now... what is it?"
Hotaru did not dare hide anything and could only answer honestly. "Shiranami is a rogue ninja from our Tsuchigumo clan. He wanted to forcibly seize our clan's secret technique, Fury."
Hearing that, a look of realization appeared on Yuzuru's face.
"So you're from the Tsuchigumo clan."
"Now that I think about it, the Tsuchigumo clan has been protected by Konoha for generations. When I attacked the Land of Wind back then, I even passed by Mount Katsuragi. I just didn't expect that you were no longer living there."
After hearing Yuzuru's words, Hotaru did not know how to answer for a moment.
The Tsuchigumo clan had indeed once been under Konoha's protection, but ever since the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, came to power, the two sides had no further contact.
Later, other forces began coveting the Tsuchigumo clan, nearly driving them to extinction.
By now, Hotaru might be the only member of the entire Tsuchigumo clan left.
Seeing that she remained silent, Yuzuru continued, "I heard that the secret technique Fury can store power and cause an explosion across a range of several hundred kilometers. Is that true?"
Hotaru immediately waved her hands and explained, "That's just a rumor that got exaggerated with every retelling. Even after storing power for a long time, Fury's explosion radius is only a few kilometers at most."
"And using Fury also requires the caster to pay with their life."
After hearing Hotaru's explanation, Yuzuru nodded thoughtfully.
Although Fury was not as absurd as the rumors claimed, being able to cause an explosion across several kilometers was already terrifying.
If it were used in a terrorist attack, it would be enough to give any ruler a massive headache.
Seeing Yuzuru staring at her without saying anything, Hotaru felt a little panicked and hurriedly said, "Lord Yuzuru, I'm the only member of the Tsuchigumo clan left now. You don't need to worry..."
Yuzuru smiled and said slowly, "Don't worry. I'm not interested in the secret technique inside you."
Hotaru quietly let out a breath of relief, then could not help asking curiously, "Lord Yuzuru, why are you here then?"
"I came to find Utakata."
After hearing Yuzuru's answer, Hotaru's heart sank.
Sure enough...
She knew it. Someone like Yuzuru could not possibly appear in such a remote place for no reason.
Although he did not say it outright, Hotaru could guess it with her backside.
Rather than saying he had come to find her teacher, it would be more accurate to say he had come for the Tailed Beast inside her teacher!
Thinking of this, Hotaru began praying for Utakata in her heart.
'Teacher, you absolutely must not come back!'
Unfortunately, heaven did not grant her wish. Near dusk, footsteps sounded in the corridor.
Immediately afterward, Utakata pushed open the door and walked in.
The instant he saw Yuzuru, Utakata activated the Body Flicker Technique and vanished from the spot.
Yuzuru laughed, then disappeared as well.
Hotaru hurriedly ran outside, but where could she still see either of them?
————
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"Damn it. I was still targeted after all."
Utakata moved swiftly through the dense forest, his expression incomparably dark.
If he had not seen wrong just now, the man in the room should have been Yuzuru.
He had not expected the other party to personally come looking for him.
And so quickly, too!
He had only stayed in that small town for a single day, yet the other party had already found his way to his door.
If he had known this would happen, he would never have appeared anywhere with people around...
In truth, Utakata could not entirely be blamed for being careless.
After defecting from Kirigakure, he had been wandering the shinobi world.
Calling it wandering sounded nice, but in reality, he had simply been hiding from place to place.
Back then, however, the shinobi world had been chaotic everywhere. As long as he avoided prosperous and developed areas, very few people could discover his tracks.
After enough time passed, Utakata had gradually figured out his own set of methods for evading capture.
But who could have imagined that merely showing his face in a border town would lead to Yuzuru appearing directly before him the very next day?
After running at full speed for a while, Utakata suddenly stopped.
On a large tree ahead of him, Yuzuru was already waiting.
"You're Utakata, right? I have something I want to discuss with you."
Hearing that, Utakata forced a faint smile onto his face. "May I ask what His Imperial Majesty wishes to discuss with me?"
Yuzuru smiled as well. "Lending me the Tailed Beast inside you."
This time, Utakata could not even maintain the fake smile on his face.
Lending him the Tailed Beast inside his body?
Wasn't that the same as asking him to die?
After all, once a jinchuriki lost their Tailed Beast, there was only one road left: death!
Utakata gripped the long pipe at his waist and asked while thinking of a plan, "His Imperial Majesty is now the wealthiest man in the world and possesses enough power to suppress the entire shinobi world. Why do you need a single Tailed Beast from me?"
"You wouldn't understand even if I told you." Yuzuru did not explain any further. "You just need to obediently come back to Konoha with me."
Hearing this, Utakata said in a low voice, "And if I refuse?"
"Then I can only make you suffer a little."
Before Yuzuru's voice had even faded, Utakata had already attacked first.
"Water Release: Bubble Jutsu!"
Countless bubbles instantly swallowed Yuzuru, then exploded at the same time.
The tremendous force directly flattened a hundred-meter radius of the dense forest.
Yet amid the smoke and dust, Yuzuru walked out completely unharmed.
Seeing this, Utakata's pupils shrank, and he continued his attack. "Wisdom Wolf Decay!"
A large amount of acid surged from his mouth, but all of it passed straight through Yuzuru's body.
The Yuzuru before him was like an illusion. No attack had any effect on him.
"How is this possible..."
"So this... this is the power of the strongest person in the current shinobi world?"
As the man with the Six-Tails sealed inside him, Utakata could be considered a Kage-level expert no matter how one looked at it.
Even if he could not roam the shinobi world completely unchecked, there were still very few people who could be his match.
But now, facing Yuzuru, Utakata felt pressure as heavy as a mountain.
Even the sound of his slow footsteps approaching felt like death drums beating against Utakata's heart.
Suddenly...
Utakata saw a pair of scarlet Mangekyō Sharingan. Immediately afterward, he lost consciousness.
At the same time, within the sealed world inside his body, the same pair of Mangekyō Sharingan coldly stared at the Six-Tails, Saiken.
"Do not help him break free from the Genjutsu. Understood?"
"Yes, Lord Yuzuru."