I, who just wanted to be lazy, was forced to become the Hokage.

Chapter 254 Dealing with the Three-Tailed Beast!

Nara Rinka had no interest in the power of the Three-Tails.

But as the saying goes, "They've already been arrested."

After a moment's consideration, Nara Rinkachi decided to follow the example of the First and Second Hokage and distribute (sell) the Tailed Beasts to maximize his own gains.

"Oh, this..."

After hearing the clan chief's suggestion, Nara Shikaku looked somewhat dazed.

As the leader of the Konoha Jonin team, Nara Shikaku had access to a large amount of high-level secret information.

The records of the "First Five Kage Summit" that took place in Konoha in its early years happened to be within Nara Shikaku's knowledge.

After the First Hokage captured the eight tailed beasts.

Aside from leaving the Nine-Tails, whose power was simply too great, in Konoha's hands.

The First Hokage originally intended to give the remaining seven tailed beasts to the other four ninja villages for free.

Later, only after the Second Hokage insisted did the other three villages pay to buy the Tailed Beasts.

The Hidden Cloud Village bought the Two-Tails and Eight-Tails, the Hidden Stone Village bought the Four-Tails and Five-Tails, and the Hidden Mist Village bought the Three-Tails and Six-Tails.

Having already acquired the One-Tailed Beast, Sunagakure rejected the proposal to purchase it.

The remaining seven tailed beasts were bought by Takigakure.

To put it bluntly, Nara Shikaku felt that the First Generation's ideas were rather naive.

Distributing and selling the seven tailed beasts to the other ninja villages not only provided Konoha with a large amount of funds for its early development, but also brought a very precious period of peace to the ninja world.

However, the dispersal of the tailed beasts sowed the seeds for the later Shinobi World Wars.

From the perspective of hindsight.

After the first Five Kage Summit, the ninja world fell into a rare period of peace. Was it really because everyone was afraid of each other and dared not make a move because of the "Tailed Beast threat"?

Absolutely not!

It's simply because Konoha has the First Hokage!

Are the Tailed Beasts very strong?

If the Tailed Beasts were truly that powerful, the First Hokage wouldn't have been able to capture all eight of them so easily.

Imagine if Konoha had kept all eight tailed beasts except for the One-Tailed Beast under its control, would any other village have dared to challenge Konoha's dominant position?

Even with the passing of the First Hokage, Konoha Village, with its eight tailed beasts, is still powerful enough to easily defeat the other four villages.

Well, we've gotten a bit off-topic.

Closer to home.

In Nara Shikaku's memory, the practice of "buying and selling tailed beasts" did indeed exist.

But what about selling the tailed beasts you captured to your own village?

There has never been such a precedent before!

"Chief, I think that selling the Three-Tails to the village... this matter needs to be considered more carefully."

Nara Shikaku hesitated for a long time before finally managing to speak.

"After all, we are all part of Konoha, and doing business with the village is really a bit..."

Nara Ranke raised an eyebrow. "So, Shikaku-nii, do you think we should just 'donate' the Three-Tails to the village for free?"

"Of course, we can't do that!"

Nara Shikaku instinctively denied it.

"That's a tailed beast..."

"Very well, you should make the decision about the Three-Tails yourself, clan leader."

Nara Shikaku felt that he had just asked for trouble.

The conflicts between villages and families are never easy problems to resolve.

Almost every ninja from a ninja clan will inevitably encounter the same question when they come into contact with related matters: should they side with their clan or their village?

Before the rise of Nara Rangsuke, the Nara clan had always played a role of blending in with the world in Konoha, not standing out or showing off their talents, and always maintaining an attitude of non-contention towards the outside world.

However, after Nara Rinka rose to prominence, a top-tier ninja with exceptional strength suddenly appeared in the Nara clan, who was in no way inferior to the "Kage" of other villages.

Under these circumstances, it would become extremely difficult for the Nara clan to remain peaceful and detached from worldly affairs.

The current "three-tail problem" is a good example of this.

Nara captured the Three-Tails, and Konoha happened to need the Three-Tails' power.

If the Nara clan were to give away the Three-Tails to the village for free, they would definitely suffer a great loss.

However, if the Three-Tails were to be brought back into the private hands of the Nara clan, the village would certainly be uneasy.

How to strike a balance between the family and the village in the face of the "Three-Tail Problem" is indeed a problem.

"From this perspective, the clan chief's suggestion to sell the Three-Tails to the village isn't a bad idea after all..."

Nara Shikaku silently overturned his previous thought.

Even the closest relationships between families and villages require sufficient transparency on certain issues!

"Let's set off together now, Brother Shikaku."

Nara Rinka gestured to the General Staff.

"Solving the Three-Tails problem as soon as possible will save me a lot of trouble."

Nara Shikaku nodded slightly, quickly formed hand seals, and released a Shadow Clone, instructing it to write an analysis report on the Land of Hot Springs campaign.

Seeing this, Nara Rinka also left a [shadow clone] in the camp to prevent any unexpected events from happening.

A moment later, a shadow creature sped out from the Konoha camp and flew swiftly to the coastal border of the Land of Hot Springs.

From a distance, the pure white five-tailed Mu-ou lay prostrate on the edge of the beach, while the three-tailed Isobu, not far away, had most of its body submerged in the seawater.

Uchiha Kagami, who was in charge of guarding the Three-Tails, appeared as small as a grain of sand compared to the enormous size of the two tailed beasts.

Nara Rinka manipulated the [Shadow Creature] and landed next to the Five-Tailed King.

"Lan Gui, you've arrived."

Gouwei Muwang nodded to Nara Rinka, who had just arrived.

Meanwhile, Uchiha Kagami, who remained at the scene, greeted the two Nara ninjas.

Nara Rinka first responded to the greeting from the Five-Tails Kokuou, and then looked at Uchiha Kagami.

"Kagami-senpai, has the Three-Tails regained consciousness?"

"The Three-Tails regained consciousness in the early hours of this morning."

Uchiha Kagami reported to his superior with meticulous care.

"I used illusion magic in time to control it and prevent it from going out of control."

"Hmm...it seems I went too easy on them yesterday."

Nara Ranka shook his head.

"Kyo-senpai, for your sake—Shikaku-nii, would you like to step aside? If the Three-Tails' genjutsu control is broken later, there might be a small conflict."

Nara Shikaku's eyelids twitched slightly, and without hesitation, he used [Shadow Beast Imitation Painting] to fly a great distance away on his own.

"That's about it."

Nara Rinka nodded, then looked at Uchiha Kagami.

"Senior Mirror, please release the Three-Tails' illusion control... and then, give me and King Mu some private space."

Uchiha Kagami realized that Nara Rinkazu was planning to do something to the Three-Tails.

Considering the opponent's strength, he was not worried about their safety at all.

After withdrawing the Yin Release chakra from the body of the Three-Tails Isobu, Uchiha Kagami immediately used "Yata no Yata" to fly back to Nara Shikaku's side.

Mitsuo Isobu's tough eyelids twitched a few times, and then he opened his single eye.

The moment he opened his eyes, the Three-Tails Isobu saw the Five-Tails Kokuo right in front of him, along with the ninja above his head, and his anger erupted like a volcano.

"Damn it—"

"Three-tailed Isobutsu."

Nara Rinka called out the other person's name in a cold tone.

"Speak properly while I'm still in the mood to talk to you."

It was as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over Mitsuo Isobu's anger.

But what made it calm down was neither Nara Rinka's attitude nor the beating it received last night.

Instead, it was Nara Rangka who called out its name.

How did you know...?

The Three-Tailed Isobu stared at Nara Rinka, then looked at the Five-Tailed Kokuo.

"King Mu told you that, right?"

"King Mu did indeed tell me your name."

Nara Rinka sat cross-legged on the head of the Five-Tailed King Kokuo and calmly communicated with the Three-Tailed King Isobu.

Although I'm not interested in your name.

"Arrogant fellow!"

Mio Isobu muttered something; it didn't like the attitude Nara Rangatsu was displaying at this moment.

But at this moment, the Three-Tailed Fox recalled the Thunder Kirin from last night...

Although the other party is arrogant, it must be admitted that they have the confidence and strength to back up their arrogance.

"King Mu, what exactly is going on with you?"

Instead of going to see Nara's laurel tree, the Three-Tailed Isobu asked the Five-Tailed King.

"You don't look like you're sealed away."

The Five-Tailed King Mu said calmly, "With the help of Lan Gui, I have broken free from the seal and regained my freedom."

"free?"

The Three-Tailed Iso glanced at Nara Rangsuke, who was sitting cross-legged on the head of the Five-Tailed Kokuo.

"The freedom you speak of, you mean associating with these ninjas?"

"Not all ninjas are like that."

Five-Tailed King Mu shook his head.

"For me, Langui is special."

"King Mu, I'm a little embarrassed by what you're saying."

Nara Rinka smiled and patted the head of the five-tailed beast Kokuou, then put on a cold expression and looked at the three-tailed beast Isobu.

"Isobu, for the sake of King Mu, I am willing to give you a chance for peaceful dialogue."

"You talk as if I'm afraid of you!"

The thick tail behind the three-tailed isobu shook, stirring the shallow seawater, and its mood immediately calmed down.

"Behind me... is the ocean?!"

As a turtle—no, as a tailed beast skilled in water-style techniques—Isobu, the Three-Tailed Beast, can unleash a level of power far exceeding its normal state in large-scale aquatic environments.

Mio Isobu, who believed he had a "home advantage," spoke with great confidence.

"I'm only willing to chat with you for a while because of King Mu."

Mio Isobu, thinking he had done nothing, paddled with his two thick hind legs, stirring up the shallow sea behind him into a murky mess.

"Tell me, what do you want to do!"

"What I want to do is very simple."

Nara Rinka said calmly.

"I want to do exactly what the First Hokage did back then."

"Also, stop digging in the sand with your short legs. I'll give you one more chance."

"Let's go to the sea behind us and have a one-on-one match."

First update.

The second update will be around 3 or 4 AM.

(End of this chapter)