Bunpuku stared intently at the crimson mark Fumori Masaki showed him, and hearing Shukaku's voice in his mental world, he couldn't help but feel surprised.
Previously, Shukaku had mentioned feeling the chakra of Son Goku, the Four-Tails. At that time, Bunpuku and Shukaku had many speculations, wondering if the Hidden Leaf Village had done something tricky when they captured the Four-Tails Jinchuriki, similar to what Kin-Gin Brothers had done.
Bunpuku had initially not intended to pursue it, as it might be related to the secrets of the ninja village. As the leader of another ninja village, he shouldn't inquire about it. However, he never expected that Fumori Masaki would suddenly reveal this secret to him, calling it a 'pact.'
"What is that?" Bunpuku asked quickly, as Shukaku seemed to know about the mark.
"It's a mark woven from the chakra of a Tailed Beast, similar to the jutsu used by you humans, with special properties," Shukaku answered Bunpuku's question. "It can generate the chakra of Son Goku, allowing contact with other Tailed Beasts."
"In other words, as long as your chakra makes contact with it, you can communicate with the Four-Tails, uh, Son Goku?" Bunpuku asked in his mind. He had initially wanted to say Four-Tails, but remembering Shukaku said Son Goku didn't like being called Four-Tails, he still referred to him as Son Goku even though Four-Tails wasn't present.
"That's pretty much it," Shukaku said. "How does this guy have this? This isn't something you can do just by extracting a Tailed Beast from a Jinchuriki; we Tailed Beasts have to genuinely give it out."
"So, Mr. Fumori must have come into contact with Son Goku when he captured the Four-Tails Jinchuriki, gained his trust, and then received this mark," Bunpuku said. "The pact he mentioned, could it be a pact with Son Goku?"
..."That's possible," Shukaku couldn't be sure at the moment, but seeing the mark that required a Tailed Beast's active cooperation to form, it felt this possibility was quite high. This thing wasn't something that could be conjured up casually; even genjutsu control wouldn't grant Tailed Beast chakra in this manner.
"Well, do you want to try it? Maybe you can meet Son Goku," Bunpuku asked. After hearing Shukaku say that this mark required the Tailed Beast's active cooperation, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. This meant that the Hidden Leaf Village wasn't using any underhanded methods to obtain Tailed Beast chakra. He didn't think that, given the Tailed Beasts' resistance to humans, they would entrust such a method without trust.
Thinking this way, the pact between Fumori Masaki and Son Goku became intriguing. Regardless, Fumori Masaki's credibility was not damaged by this, which was beyond doubt. Therefore, Bunpuku felt that allowing Shukaku's chakra to make contact and communicate with Son Goku was not impossible.
Shukaku hesitated for a moment but then nodded slightly. Seeing the mark, it became a bit impatient, as this would allow it to meet other Tailed Beasts. In the past, because Tailed Beasts generally didn't trust humans, they almost never used this method. Even if someone could obtain it, they might not be able to meet other Tailed Beasts. After the Tailed Beasts scattered across the ninja world, apart from those with good relationships, many hadn't seen each other for a long time.
The relationship between Shukaku and Son Goku wasn't particularly good. However, because of Shukaku's mischievous nature, compared to other Tailed Beasts who lived a comfortable life on the continent until they were captured by Hashirama Senju, Shukaku had been sealed in a temple for a much longer time.
At the time of the Tailed Beast distribution, the Land of Wind was the only one that didn't need to purchase a Tailed Beast from the Hidden Leaf Village. Their country already had the One-Tails, Shukaku; at most, they would buy one. However, the Hidden Sand Village chose to purchase land from the Land of Fire instead of Tailed Beast power.
Fumori Masaki looked at the momentarily silent Bunpuku, not in a hurry. When he saw Bunpuku raise his head slightly, he asked, "Have you discussed it with Shukaku?" He understood that Bunpuku had been talking to Shukaku earlier.
"Mr. Kazamori, what should I do? Should I use Shukaku's chakra to make contact?" Bunpuku asked.
"That's right," Fumori Masaki nodded slightly.
"I probably shouldn't know about your pact with Son Goku, should I?" Bunpuku asked again.
"It's not impossible," Fumori Masaki pondered for a moment. He didn't ask why Bunpuku knew Son Goku's name, knowing without a doubt that Shukaku had told him. After considering his upcoming conversation with Son Goku, he felt it wouldn't hurt to let Bunpuku listen in.
"Then thank you very much, Mr. Kazamori," Bunpuku bowed slightly. He didn't know what Fumori Masaki's pact with Son Goku was, but the fact that Fumori Masaki allowed him to listen showed his sincerity.
"Just infuse your chakra, mixed with the Tailed Beast chakra," Fumori Masaki extended his hand. He didn't have the Mangekyo Sharingan, so he couldn't directly connect their mental spaces, but he could facilitate it. For example, by injecting chakra into Shukaku's chakra, which was to be connected, Bunpuku's chakra clone could enter Fumori Masaki's mental space.
Just like Minato Namikaze's chakra left in Naruto's Eight Trigrams Seal, even if his own soul was sealed, his chakra clone could manifest in the mental space and meet Naruto again. Although it was just a chakra afterimage and not a true shadow of the soul, it could still accomplish many things.
And Bunpuku, by retrieving his chakra, could also know what was happening in the mental space. To some extent, the principle of this method was similar to Shadow Clones, but the conditions were more stringent. If there was no method to connect and place chakra, it couldn't be used, and it required mutual trust.
It was precisely because of this that Bunpuku was completely convinced by Fumori Masaki's sincerity. He spoke to Shukaku within him, then extended his hand and clasped Fumori Masaki's. His chakra, mixed with Shukaku's chakra, flowed into the crimson mark.
Almost simultaneously, deep within Roshi, who was in the Hidden Stone Village, the Four-Tails Son Goku, who had been dozing, suddenly opened his eyes and looked up at the sky—though in the mental world, one couldn't see the real blue sky—He felt the mark he had left for Fumori Masaki being touched. Besides a relatively unfamiliar chakra, there was another chakra that was too familiar. Wasn't it that tanuki, Shukaku?
"Heh heh, Fumori Masaki, you finally found that guy Shukaku. This guy is quite trustworthy," Son Goku, the Four-Tails, said contentedly.
In these past days, Son Goku, the Four-Tails, had personally witnessed Fumori Masaki's promises being fulfilled one by one. The Hidden Stone Village's prisoners and Jinchuriki had all been released. And according to Roshi, the Hidden Leaf Village's terms were exactly as Fumori Masaki had stated at the time. This proved that Fumori Masaki's words were credible.
Therefore, Son Goku, the Four-Tails, also began to look forward to it. He wondered if Fumori Masaki could find the One-Tails Jinchuriki next and connect Shukaku's chakra to the mark. This way, he could project a mental clone of himself into the mark through the chakra connection, and thus meet him.
After waiting for some time, Son Goku, the Four-Tails, finally got what he wanted. He eagerly began to respond. As a result, the mark on Fumori Masaki's hand glowed red. The Four-Tails' chakra began to generate after absorbing the surrounding natural energy, and the Four-Tails' chakra, like Minato Namikaze's chakra sealed within Naruto, could create Son Goku's consciousness, and then transmit this information back.
In Fumori Masaki's mental space—which felt vibrant, with a sky like a pure sapphire and a ground covered in countless flowers and plants, giving a sense of boundless expanse—the figures of Fumori Masaki, Bunpuku, Shukaku, and Son Goku the Four-Tails appeared simultaneously.
"Oh, so this is your mental space?" Son Goku, the Four-Tails, nodded slightly the moment he saw Fumori Masaki, acknowledging his trustworthiness. He then looked around, as this was the first time he had seen a mental world like this. Roshi's mental world was completely different, but it might also be because Son Goku, the Four-Tails' power was too strong, causing the environment of the mental world to be influenced by it. In Roshi's mental world, the traces of Son Goku, the Four-Tails, were very obvious.
"Haha, you stinky monkey, it's really you!" At this moment, Shukaku's rather sharp voice rang out. It looked very happy, but its words were rather unpleasant.
"Shut up! You stinky tanuki, I didn't expect to see your ugly face," Son Goku, the Four-Tails, retorted unceremoniously, his voice carrying the cries of a monkey. "But, it looks like you're doing pretty well, you're in good spirits."
"My Jinchuriki is doing quite well, how about yours?" Shukaku asked.
"Not so great. Our relationship used to be quite strained, but now it's somewhat eased, though not particularly good," Son Goku, the Four-Tails, glanced at Fumori Masaki. If it weren't for his conversation with Fumori Masaki, he might not have intended to improve his relationship with the Jinchuriki. Now, it might still be like strangers, as it was in the past.
"Are you Son Goku? Nice to meet you, I am Shukaku's Jinchuriki, my name is Bunpuku," Bunpuku said, bowing slightly to Son Goku, the Four-Tails.
Son Goku, the Four-Tails, then noticed there were others present. Hearing Bunpuku introduce himself as Shukaku's Jinchuriki, he showed a surprised expression and said, "You're Shukaku's Jinchuriki? You're here too, huh. Heh, Fumori Masaki is quite trustworthy, isn't he? How is it, isn't that scoundrel Shukaku very difficult to deal with?"
"What do you mean 'difficult to deal with,' you stinky monkey, watch your language!" Shukaku yelled indignantly from the side.
"You scoundrel have no right to say that!" Son Goku, the Four-Tails, shouted. "Everyone knows that among us Tailed Beasts, you're the one with the rudest language!"
"That's not true at all!" Shukaku shrieked loudly.
Bunpuku smiled wryly and shook his head. Although in his opinion, Shukaku was also a good kid, he had to admit that Shukaku's personality was quite mischievous, and his tone would carry a bit of roughness. On this point, Son Goku, the Four-Tails, was indeed right.
"Forget it, I won't argue with you, you tanuki," Son Goku, the Four-Tails, pouted, then looked at Fumori Masaki. "Fumori Masaki, you have indeed fulfilled your promise to me. I trust you, and I will do what I promised you before."
"Thank you," Fumori Masaki nodded slightly. Since Son Goku, the Four-Tails, was willing to give his chakra, he should be able to gain some insights from the Tailed Beast's chakra. Moreover, research on the use of natural energy might see further expansion, so his efforts would have been worthwhile.
"What kind of pact do you have with him, you stinky monkey?" Shukaku asked, somewhat curiously.
Son Goku, the Four-Tails, couldn't be bothered with Shukaku and grumbled to himself, "Seriously, I should have known better and had Fumori Masaki find other Tailed Beasts, not this stinky tanuki."
Tailed Beasts have excellent hearing. Son Goku, the Four-Tails' murmurs did not escape Shukaku's ears. Shukaku once again cried out in dissatisfaction, while Son Goku, the Four-Tails, still couldn't be bothered to pay attention to it.
"Shukaku, Son Goku is like your brother. Since he's your brother, you should be kinder, otherwise, conflicts will arise," Bunpuku said to Shukaku.
"I know, but… never mind. Anyway, Son Goku, what exactly is your pact with him?" Shukaku mumbled, then spoke up.
Son Goku, the Four-Tails, looked at Bunpuku with some surprise. It was well known that Shukaku was notorious for its mischief within their Tailed Beast family, so it was truly astonishing that Bunpuku could make Shukaku's tone soften with just a single sentence. Looking at it this way, it might not be a bad thing that Shukaku encountered this Jinchuriki.
However, whether or not to reveal the specific content of the pact still depended on Fumori Masaki's intentions. Son Goku, the Four-Tails, knew that there were some things humans couldn't tell others. He cast a questioning gaze towards Fumori Masaki.
Fumori Masaki thought about it and felt that revealing some information wouldn't hurt. How to use the power of the Tailed Beasts in the future would also require the consensus of the alliance. Moreover, in the future, other ninja villages would eventually need to possess the technology for using natural energy. If there was a unified approach, there would be no need to rebuild for other countries; other countries would help themselves..
Fumori Masaki didn't feel there would be too much of a threat. Firstly, he trusted Bunpuku's character, and no conflicts would arise during Bunpuku's tenure. Secondly, the Hidden Sand Village was in ruins, and they were too busy restoring their own strength to research methods for using natural energy. Furthermore, the Hidden Leaf Village had the Nine-Tails and the important resource of the underground Dragon Veins. In the future, the Hidden Leaf Village might not be the only ninja village with methods for using natural energy, but it would certainly be the strongest. With the Hidden Leaf Village's comprehensive capabilities, coupled with its resources, they might even develop methods akin to nuclear weapons. If that could truly be achieved, it would be a crucial guarantee for maintaining peace in the ninja world. Even if not, with the Hidden Leaf Village's advantages, other countries couldn't catch up. Supplemented by other political tactics, the possibility of posing a threat to the Hidden Leaf Village was very low.
"Let's have a good talk, Mr. Bunpuku, and also Son Goku, Shukaku," Fumori Masaki said to them.