Saving the Uchiha clan starts with becoming the clan leader.

Killer Bee and the two Yugito became neighbors. The two Jinchūriki were settled next to Sogen's tent. After all, they were Jinchūriki, which was incomparable to the Cloud Ninja who were stuffed into the temporary prison. Moreover, because the Cloud Ninja surrendered and the war ended, Sogen gave these two special prisoners a little preferential treatment. After all, they were important bargaining chips to negotiate with the Cloud Ninja!

Their range of activity was expanded, no longer confined to that small tent.

As long as they don't leave their residence by more than 20 meters, they can wander around freely, even visiting each other's homes without any restrictions. After all, the war is over, and they have been informed that Konoha is negotiating with the Cloud Village. If the negotiations go smoothly, they may be able to return to the Cloud Village soon.

Therefore,

Both Jinchūriki seemed honest and had no intention of causing any trouble.

"Gentlemen, sunbathing?"

Zongxian looked at the two Cloud Ninja Jinchuriki sitting outside the tent. Today was a rare sunny day, with no snow or dark clouds, only an endless blue sky and a bright, blinding sun hanging high in the sky.

Killer Bee and Yugito Nii seemed to have gotten small stools from the guards, and the two of them sat on the stools like the lower-year students of the Konoha Ninja Academy.

"What's the matter?"

Kirabi ignored Zongxian's greeting, clenching his fists, looking somewhat excited and impatient. "Has the negotiation yielded results?"

"That's right, the negotiations just ended."

Zongxian smiled and nodded. "You will soon regain your freedom. Don't worry, I won't go back on my word. I'm just here as a precaution, after all, I need to remove the seal on you... You two had better not cause trouble at this time, otherwise don't blame me for breaking the agreement. Your Raikage will probably shed tears of blood then."

After speaking,

Ignoring Killer Bee and Yugito Nii's reactions, he called out to the sealing team who had come with him. A group of people surrounded Killer Bee, and under Sogen's gaze, Killer Bee clenched and unclenched his fists several times before finally letting go, allowing the members of Konoha's sealing team to do as they pleased.

Unlike the various troubles involved in sealing, breaking the seal is relatively simple, provided the Jinchuriki doesn't go berserk and lose control. However, with Sogen here, there's no need to worry about the two tailed beasts causing trouble. And the reason he's so kind as to help Killer Bee and the two Yugito remove the seals placed on them...

This was not part of the negotiated agreement; it was done for the sake of secrecy!

The sealing techniques for sealing tailed beasts are top secrets in any village, and such important secrets would not be given to the Cloud Ninja for nothing. You should know that the sealing techniques of Konoha are derived from the various sealing techniques of the Uzumaki clan and are definitely first-class in the ninja world. In comparison, Killer Bee's 'Iron Seal' is nothing.

The seal on Killer Bee was quickly removed, but he found he still couldn't contact the Eight-Tails. No matter how many times he called out to Hachi in his heart, the Eight-Tails didn't respond. He looked up at Sogen.

"I······"

As soon as he opened his mouth, his eyes met those of Sogen, and then his consciousness instantly went silent, and he entered the mental world that he knew all too well. He saw the Eight-Tails, who was imprisoned in an iron cage and sleeping soundly, and he also saw Uchiha Sogen standing in front of the iron cage.

Killer Bee's consciousness took a deep breath. "Are you planning to use this method to take Hachi away?"

"Take it away?"

Zongxian paused for a moment, looking at Killer Bee who seemed to be facing a formidable enemy, and realized what Killer Bee was talking about... He couldn't help but burst into laughter, "Don't worry, I already said I wouldn't do anything like that. Your Kumogakure made it very clear in the treaty that what Konoha needs to hand over is not just a Kumogakure ninja named Killer Bee, but also the Eight-Tails inside you, which also needs to be handed over to the Kumogakure ninja intact."

"I'm here to break the illusion of this giant octopus."

The moment the words fell, Killer Bee faintly heard a sound like breaking glass. Then, the Eight-Tails, whose eyes were tightly closed, slowly opened them. Its consciousness was still somewhat hazy, but when it saw those scarlet eyes, the Eight-Tails' bull-like eyes widened instantly.

"Damn Uchiha!!!"

It let out an angry roar.

His body slammed into the iron cage. Outside the cage, Zongxian remained calm and didn't seem to care about the Eight-Tails' angry curses. However, Killer Bee, who was standing not far away, changed his expression. This iron cage was not a real iron cage, but a manifestation of the power sealed in this spiritual world.

The act of ramming the iron cage is equivalent to struggling to break through the power of the 'Iron Seal'.

"Ah Ba! Ah Ba! Calm down, don't be impulsive!"

Kirabi's call worked.

The Eight-Tails quickly realized that its actions were futile. Even though it was a tailed beast that had lived for a thousand years, it was still no match for the human who had inherited the power of the Six Paths Elder. No matter how angry it was, it had no way to deal with Sogen.

anger,

It has no effect.

On the contrary, some outrageous actions might hurt Killer Bee, so the Eight-Tails quickly calmed down, turned its gaze to Killer Bee, and asked, "Beetle, what's going on? How much time has passed?"

"Konoha won, we lost, but... we might soon regain our freedom!"

"Regain your freedom? You're letting me and Bi leave?"

Eight-Tails looked at Sogen in astonishment. He didn't care about the outcome of the war between humans. He was just surprised that he and Bee would regain their freedom. After all, based on the survival experience of the past thousand years, once these tailed beasts were controlled by the Uchiha, they could not get rid of the control so easily unless the Uchiha died!

"Let's wait and see!"

Zongxian said with a smile.

[Chapter 222. I won't be so soft-hearted now!]

"Killer Bee-senpai?! Yugito-senpai?"

"Darui?"

Killer Bee was initially taken aback, thinking that Darui had already died in battle. After the initial surprise came joy. There weren't many people in Kumogakure who could impress Killer Bee in terms of strength, especially among the younger generation. Darui was an exceptionally outstanding individual among these few.

This is the person who will be able to take over the mantle of the Hidden Cloud Village in the future!

"It's good that you're alive, it's good that you're alive." Killer Bee reached out and patted Darui on the shoulder to comfort him. Seeing that Darui was alive made him feel a little better!

"I'm fine."

Darui's eyes also betrayed his astonishment. It was not surprising that Killer Bee was standing here. He had already heard about Killer Bee being captured by Konoha, but he had never heard that Yugito had also been captured... However, it was not hard to understand why he was defeated!

Both Jinchūriki fell into the hands of Konoha.

What could the Cloud Ninja use to resist that monster called Susanoo? He had personally witnessed the fierce battle between that emerald green Susanoo and the fully transformed Two-Tails. Its terrifying destructive power, capable of altering the terrain with a mere gesture, was nothing short of a natural disaster!

Those are weapons of war of the same caliber as the Tailed Beasts.

"Killer Bee, did the village make a deal with Konoha? What's going on here?" Darui asked. He looked around and saw that they had been taken to a training ground after leaving the temporary prison. Many Cloud Ninja were gathered around, including the senior who had lost one arm and one leg and was imprisoned next to him.

"What? I didn't tell you?"

Killer Bee blinked in confusion.

"The one who took us out of prison was the White Fang's son, Hatake Kakashi. He only said that we would be free soon, but he didn't say anything about the specifics." As he spoke, Darui tried to refine the chakra in his body. Although the handcuffs and shackles had been removed, the chakra-suppressing drugs he had taken had not yet completely lost their effect.

The failure to refine chakra caused Darui's brow to furrow even more.

He didn't plan to do anything big at this time.

The lack of chakra always leaves one with an indescribable sense of powerlessness, like a fish on a chopping board, completely at the mercy of others.

"Kakashi Hatake?" Killer Bee muttered the name, seemingly having no recollection of it, and didn't pay it any mind. He continued, "But you guessed right, the village made a deal with Konoha, and we... are all Konoha's bargaining chips!"

Killer Bee's heart was heavy when he said this. What price did his older brother pay to make Konoha let them go?

He was filled with worries and frustrations, yet he couldn't confide in anyone. If he were to say these things, it would definitely put a lot of psychological pressure on everyone. Moreover, he had no solid evidence to prove anything; it was all just his speculation.

"trade?"

Darui was not surprised by this answer.

However, as a smart man, he realized the problem. Since it was a transaction, both parties had to offer equivalent value, or at least in each other's eyes, something of equal value. What kind of treasure could compare to two perfect Jinchuriki?

Thinking of this,

Darui's expression grew increasingly grim, but Killer Bee made a "shh" gesture. He knew that some things shouldn't be said carelessly, so he could only keep a straight face and remain silent, silently wondering what price the village had paid to reach this deal with Konoha!

Every single captured Cloud Ninja was gathered on the training ground.

There were a dozen or so Konoha ninjas guarding the area, but it was just for show. Killer Bee and Yugito Nii alone were not something these dozen or so people could handle. However... if they dared to make a move at this time, it would only give Muneaki a reasonable excuse to imprison them again.

"Everyone has arrived, Lord Raikage, Mr. Tsuchidai."

"That's all?"

"That's right. All the captured Cloud Ninjas are here since the start of the war. Don't worry about me holding onto them. They're no longer of any value to me. Keeping them would be a waste of food and manpower. Even if they were used as experimental subjects... unfortunately, I don't plan to research those inhumane forbidden techniques for the time being. Besides, the ninja world has never lacked experimental subjects!"

Not far from the training ground,

It is a tall watchtower.

Zongxian stood upstairs, his elbows resting on the cold wooden railing, looking down at the training ground where many Cloud Ninja were gathered.

Standing beside him were Ai, Tutai, and hope's shadow clones.

The negotiations have come to an end, and the process of executing the deal has quickly begun. The Fourth Raikage personally came to welcome back his unfortunate captured comrades. Of course, given that the negotiating party was Uchiha Mugen, they did not dare to send their real body, but only sent shadow clones.

“…Killer Bee…Darui, and Yugito…” Tsuchida, like Sogen, leaned over the railing, counting the names and numbers of the many Cloud Ninja in the training ground below. After counting them all, his distressed expression softened slightly.

The number was more than he had expected.

Most importantly, the few Cloud Ninjas that the Raikage specifically mentioned were all on the training ground. They didn't look too good, but they hadn't been tortured either. At least they didn't look seriously injured. As for whether the Konoha ninjas had done anything to them internally... that's up to Hijiri.

With Sogen's tacit approval, Nozomi used sensory ninjutsu.

In that instant, hope felt an extremely terrifying pressure emanating from Sogen. It was different from the immense and boundless chakra of the tailed beasts. While Uchiha Sogen's chakra was not as vast as that of the tailed beasts, it was like an active volcano in the middle of an eruption. The extremely aggressive aura frightened Xi so much that he immediately changed his sensory focus and concentrated his attention on the Cloud Ninja below.

After a thorough examination

hope avoided Zongxian's gaze and said softly, "It's nothing serious."

It's not a big deal, but it definitely has a lot of minor problems.

After all, these Cloud Ninja were prisoners, not guests invited back. Fortunately, the Konoha ninja were highly skilled in interrogation and did not take pleasure in torturing the prisoners' bodies. They were better at extracting the information they wanted directly from the Cloud Ninja's minds.

"When can we take them away?"

Ai asked with a straight face.

"Anytime is fine."

"Including now?"

"If Lord Raikage would like to try the food of Konoha, you are welcome to stay and have a meal with us. I can give the order to have my servants prepare a more lavish lunch."

"No need, I don't have much of an appetite right now. I'll take them away now."

Ai acted immediately, vaulting over the railing and jumping down from the watchtower. He strode toward Killer Bee, who was standing in the training field. Seeing this, Xi immediately followed the Raikage, his excited gaze fixed on his friend Darui. If the Raikage hadn't been there, he would have rushed over long ago.

The narrow space of the watchtower became much more spacious as people left one after another.

Zongxian looked curiously at the only Cloud Ninja who hadn't left. "Mr. Tsuchidai, is there something you need to do?"

"Clan head Uchiha, you're letting them go so easily... Aren't you worried we'll renege on our debt later?" Tsuchida looked at Sogen and uttered these shameless words without batting an eye, making his refusal to pay seem so righteous. This caused Uchiha Futaba, who was standing not far behind Sogen, to widen her eyes, her dark eyes turning bloodshot, as if she were ready to strike down this treacherous old man at any moment!

"Futaba!"

Zongxian gave a soft shout.

As her secretary and bodyguard, Uchiha Futaba pursed her lips, lowered her right hand from the hilt of her sword, and the crimson in her eyes faded, returning to their deep, lacquer-like color.

"I don't know what you're trying to achieve by asking this question, Mr. Tutai... Logically speaking, this is not a question that a smart person like you would ask. But since you've asked, I'll be frank. Defaulting on debts is generally something that only people or groups in a strong position would do. The weak... have no right to default on debts!"