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

Chapter 391 Tailed Beast Trading?

Go and meet with the Shadow of Darkness?

You old geezer, you probably want me to go to your Konoha and die!

Lao Zi's face immediately turned as black as the bottom of a pot, as if a thick layer of black volcanic rock had been covering his face.

As the Jinchuriki of the Four-Tails, and possessing the incredibly powerful Kekkei Genkai [Lava Release], Roshi has roamed the ninja world for so many years without encountering any truly formidable opponents.

Even the two Libras, Onoki, were not taken seriously by Ozaki.

Onoki's Dust Release is indeed very strong, but its excessively long preparation time and excessive chakra consumption are flaws that cannot be eliminated.

And the shadow of darkness?

That guy is a monster!

Even in Lao Zi's heart, he knew that he was no match for the Dark Shadow on his own!

Even now.

Even if it becomes a shadow of earth.

Whenever Lao Zi recalls the scene of fighting Nara Ranka in the Land of Grass, he feels a sense of fear and unease.

It's not that he's not strong, it's just that Nara Ranka is just too strong!

Old Purple had also specifically collected information about the time when the Dark Shadow was stationed in the Land of Hot Springs.

According to his analysis and speculation, the Dark Shadow, who was stationed in the Land of Hot Water, had made considerable progress in overall strength compared to when he roamed the Land of Grass.

This already terrifyingly strong ninja is still in the golden stage of developing his strength...

The thought of such a person is terrifying.

Old Zi didn't care what others thought.

He had made up his mind that unless he encountered a large-scale brawl or something similar, he would never oppose the Shadow of Darkness again...

In front of the Third Hokage, they demanded the Five-Tails, which originally belonged to Iwagakure.

This is what Old Purple, as the Fourth Tsuchikage, is supposed to do.

Do you want him to confront Nara Kankei?

None of the doors!

"snort!"

Old Zi ended the conversation with a cold snort.

Hiruzen Sarutobi then shifted his gaze to the faces of Troy, Yagura Karatachi, and Rasa.

Troy and Yagura avoided each other's gazes.

As the second victim of the Dark Shadow, Troy and Yagura were well aware of just how powerful that ninja was.

Other ninjas couldn't even handle a Jinchuriki.

Even standing in front of a Jinchuriki, one would be intimidated by the evil and terrifying Tailed Beast Chakra emanating from the Jinchuriki.

Nara Rinka, on the other hand, actually captured the Five-Tails, Eight-Tails, and Three-Tails on the front lines.

The closer a ninja's strength is to that of a normal Jinchuriki (Kage level), the more they realize just how valuable "direct capture" truly is.

At least Troy and Yagura Katsuki don't think they can do that.

There's no need to even define the battleground as a "battlefield".

Even in a normal one-on-one situation, they would have a hard time dealing with a Tailed Beast or a Jinchuriki.

The only shadow that didn't avoid Hiruzen Sarutobi's gaze was Rasa.

As the Fourth Kazekage of Sunagakure, Rasa had heard many rumors about the Dark Shadow, but he had never personally experienced the other's strength.

And those achievements and rumors surrounding Nara's victory...

Things like defeating ninja forces, repelling the Kage of a ninja village, or capturing tailed beasts.

Of all these things, only the "capture of the tailed beasts" is somewhat convincing.

Can……

Is capturing a tailed beast a remarkable achievement worth making a big fuss about?

Luo Sha can do it too!

Bunfuku, the previous Jinchūriki of Shukaku, the One-Tailed Beast, was too old and nearing the end of his life to continue fulfilling his duties as a Jinchūriki.

The Sand Village under Rasa's rule has already quietly carried out the sealing and transfer of the One-Tailed Shukaku.

(At the same time, Rasa and his wife Garuda were actively trying to have children in order to produce offspring capable of bearing the chakra of the One-Tailed Beast. Unfortunately, their first two children were not physically strong enough to bear the chakra of the tailed beast.)

During the sealing and transfer of Shukaku, the violent Shukaku naturally went berserk at times.

However, Rasa still managed to forcefully suppress the rampaging Shukaku!

In the desert, a place perfectly suited for Shukaku to demonstrate its strength.

Rasa used the secret technique of gold dust to suppress the rampaging Shukaku head-on.

The Fourth Kazekage suppressed the Tailed Beasts.

How much weaker is it compared to the shadow of darkness?

Luo Sha wasn't so overconfident that he thought he could beat Nara Lan Gui.

After all, the reputation the Dark Shadow had earned during World War III was indeed terrifying.

Luo Sha simply wanted to express—

I, the Fourth Kazekage, am incredibly strong!

Rasa was not intimidated by the reputation of the Dark Shadow, and since the other party was not in the meeting room at the moment, he naturally could not show any sign of backing down because of Hiruzen Sarutobi's words.

Compared to the impotent and furious Tsuchikage, and the Raikage and Mizukage who were intimidated by Nara Rinka's reputation.

The calm demeanor displayed by the Kazekage at this moment made Hiruzen Sarutobi look at him with new respect.

"The Fourth Kazekage... Gold Sand Technique... Offense and Defense in One..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's mind was filled with thoughts about Rasa's abilities.

"Perhaps the Third Kazekage has truly found a suitable successor!"

The intentions of the three villages of Iwa, Kumo, and Kirigakure to seize back the Tailed Beasts were completely disrupted by a ninja who was not present at the Five Kage Summit.

The name of the Dark Shadow was captured, along with the strange and unsettling demeanor of Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Rōshi and the others also realized that it was basically impossible to take back the Tailed Beasts from Konoha by using trickery.

Then we'll have to find another way...

Just like the first Five-Shadow Conference back then.

At that time, apart from Konoha, only Sunagakure possessed a One-Tailed Beast.

The tailed beasts held by the Hidden Cloud Village, Hidden Stone Village, and Hidden Mist Village were all purchased from the Hidden Leaf Village.

The Dark Shadow's glorious record of forcefully taking down tailed beasts on the front lines.

Lao Zi and the others accepted it.

However, it's not impossible for them to replicate what the First Hokage did back then and buy back the Tailed Beasts from Konoha!

Faced with the Tsuchikage and others' rapidly changing attitude, Hiruzen Sarutobi's attitude also softened.

No one likes war.

If a problem can be solved peacefully, then it should be solved peacefully.

Moreover, Konoha currently possesses far too many tailed beasts.

Nine tails, eight tails, five tails, three tails.

This does not include the Two-Tails, which Hiruzen Sarutobi was unaware of.

The power of the tailed beasts is indeed enough to intimidate other countries.

However, it must be acknowledged that behind the immense power of the Tailed Beasts lies an extremely high level of risk.

Although Konoha has not yet experienced any events related to "Tailed Beast Rampage".

However, the tailed beasts of Kumogakure, especially the Eight-Tails, have indeed gone berserk multiple times in history.

Hiruzen Sarutobi could not completely ignore the risk of the Eight-Tails going berserk.

to be honest.

When Hashirama Senju was still alive, this god of ninjas could suppress all the tailed beasts with one hand.

But later generations were indeed not up to par.

At this time, nearly half of the tailed beasts had gathered in Konoha Village.

In Hiruzen Sarutobi's view, the potential risks were indeed too high...

It's not entirely out of the question for other villages to take this opportunity to buy back the tailed beasts.

Konoha also lost many resources in the Third Shinobi World War.

If you can take this opportunity to recover a significant amount of losses, it would be a great option.

The Nine-Tails is the strongest tailed beast that Konoha has possessed since ancient times, so it is naturally not allowed to be sold.

As for the Five-Tails... Hiruzen Sarutobi has no say in the matter.

The Three-Tails has already entered Kakashi Hatake's stomach.

At this point, the only thing we can talk about is the Eight-Tails...

However, it seems that the Eight-Tails was also captured from the battlefield by Nara Rangatsu...

Thinking of this, Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly felt a bit bald.

Was his idea just now a little too optimistic?

According to Ashin's timeline.

Temari's birth date is August 23, Konoha 48.

Kankuro was born on May 15th, Konoha 49.

Gaara's birth date is January 19th, Konoha Year 51.

According to chapter 547 of the manga, Gaara is suspected to be a premature baby.

But Temari is only one year older than Kankuro.

The birth dates of Temari and Kankuro are less than nine months apart.

In other words, Kankuro was most likely also a premature baby.

Unless Sunagakure has mastered some special production method...

Here, what Ashin wants to say is not about premature birth, but about the time when the Jinchuriki of the One-Tailed Beast changed in Sunagakure. The earliest time should be traced back to Konoha 48, which is the time when Temari was born.

The strongest evidence comes from chapter 547 of the manga.

On the day Gaara was born, Granny Chiyo said, "It wasn't until the third person that we finally found the right one."

Gaara is the third.

The first two possibilities are only Temari and Kankuro.

Speaking of which...

According to the "Uzumaki hair color theory," all red-haired ninjas possess Uzumaki clan blood.

Was Rasa also a ninja of the Uzumaki clan?

Therefore, Gaara, who also inherited "red hair," possessed the talent and qualifications (and chakra) to become a Jinchūriki.

(End of this chapter)