Uchiha's personal opinion

At this time, Shinnosuke Sarutobi's ninja army also headed north to conduct a search.

He adopted a similar method to Uchiha Tokumitsu, temporarily turning the sensory ninjas and reconnaissance ninjas into small teams, and sending them northward in a grid search.

Meanwhile, the elite forces of the Sarutobi Shogunate and the Konoha Jonin who participated in the battle gathered together.

There's no other way. The Sarutobi Shogunate is different from the Tokukō Shogunate. They don't have as many experts to oversee things. If they don't gather their limited number of elite Jonin, they won't be able to capture the Jinchūriki even if they find him.

"The Uchiha ninja army has also headed south?"

However, the news that the Tokugawa Shogunate's search party had begun its southward march made him frown.

In terms of strength, the Sarutobi Shogunate was far inferior to the Tokumitsu Shogunate; in terms of battle achievements, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki was defeated by Uchiha Tokumitsu and his forces.

The reason he was able to so brazenly command the ninja army to conduct a large-scale search was because the Tokugawa Shogunate's ninja army had wiped out the southward-bound ninja army of Kumogakure in the Land of Lightning.

From any perspective, he had no reason to obstruct the actions of the Tokukō Shogunate.

Moreover... given Uchiha Tokumitsu's habits, if anyone dared to obstruct him, he would probably be beheaded on the spot...

"Order all units to speed up the search! Send more ninja troops from the rear to provide support!"

After thinking it over, Sarutobi Shinnosuke realized he had no other choice but to exploit his ninjas.

"As ordered!"

The ninja who was given the order departed.

"Eight Tails..."

Sarutobi Shinnosuke's heart was burning with passion.

"Uchiha Tokumitsu!"

Then another surge of hatred welled up in his heart.

Chapter 229 Hunting the Minotaur

"Have all the ninja units arrived?"

Sarutobi Shinnosuke stood on a rock wall, quietly looking down at a cave in the distance.

"The eastern and southern directions are in place, while the western and northern directions are still waiting for the sealing team to arrive."

A Jonin named Sarutobi, who bore a somewhat similar appearance, reported this.

"...Tell them to speed things up!"

Sarutobi Shinnosuke was also quite nervous.

Because the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki is deep inside the cave right in front of us!

"Also, tell each department not to make too much noise! ​​So as not to let the Jinchuriki discover the headquarters' ambush!"

Sarutobi Shinnosuke added another sentence.

The first to find the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki were the Hyuga ninjas under the Sarutobi Shogunate.

Overjoyed, Sarutobi Shinnosuke, not wanting the news to leak out, immediately detained the Hyuga ninja who came to report. He then personally led his troops to the target area. After confirming that the intelligence was correct, he quickly dispatched a large number of ninja troops to set up a tight encirclement.

Even though he knew that the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki was already seriously injured, Sarutobi Shinnosuke still dared not be careless. He not only mobilized all the elites of the Sarutobi clan, but also brought in the Hokage's elite ninja clans such as the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, Shimura, Utatane, and Mitomon.

As for the other participating ninja clans who were not closely related to the Hokage lineage, Sarutobi Shinnosuke did not trust them, so he chose to transfer them all north to continue the meaningless "search and inspection missions".

Although his trusted Jonin subtly expressed his opinion, believing that such actions would lead to dissatisfaction among other ninja clans after the war, Sarutobi Shinnosuke remained obstinate.

He knew that this move would inevitably provoke dissatisfaction from various ethnic groups afterward, but so what?

With the Tailed Beasts in hand, even the Uchiha clan is no match for them!

At that time, even someone as arrogant as Hatake Sakumo and as fierce as Uchiha Tokumitsu would have to bow down before him!

For some reason, Shinnosuke Sarutobi subconsciously forgot that the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki was actually defeated and forced to flee by Tokumitsu Uchiha...

……

"Hey, is someone coming?"

Burubi, who was half asleep, was awakened by a series of chakra fluctuations from the Eight-Tails, Gyūki.

The fact that he was so anxious and disregarded his physical condition to activate his chakra meant that an enemy was approaching.

"Many people..."

The deep voice of the Eight-Tailed Gyūki echoed in Burubi's mind: "The tentacles deployed on the perimeter tell me that there are people in all directions."

"Unfortunately... my body can no longer escape underground..."

Brubi tried to get up, but her legs still wouldn't give way, and she couldn't even support herself by leaning against the stalactites to stand upright.

"Once your body has problems, you will no longer be able to resist the erosion of the tailed beast's chakra."

The Eight-Tailed Gyūki's voice rang out again: "If you can't receive treatment, you'll die soon!"

"……treat?"

Brubi gave a self-deprecating laugh: "If I had had the chance to get treatment, would I have ended up in this situation?"

The Eight-Tailed Gyūki did not continue speaking.

"Ox-Demon... after your defeat, you deliberately ran south, didn't you?"

Brubi said haltingly, "Otherwise, with your abilities, escaping back to the village wouldn't be difficult..."

"...There's a strange person spreading poison to the north!"

After a while, the deep voice of the Eight-Tailed Gyūki rang in Burubi's mind again: "I'm afraid you'll die from poisoning!"

"But...you're the one who led me to escape the battlefield by crawling through holes and going underground..."

Brubi chuckled, then coughed.

After coughing for a while, Brubi vomited a stream of blood, which also contained black blood clots.

"...Your internal organs are already damaged; I only managed to protect them with my chakra."

The Eight-Tailed Gyūki said, "But since your own chakra has been completely exhausted, you are unable to resist the corrosive effects of the Tailed Beast's chakra."

"So, no matter what, I can't escape death~"

Brubi sniffed.

After a bout of coughing, his nose started bleeding again.

"Yes, it's hopeless."

The Eight-Tailed Gyūki's voice was unusually somber: "If you had returned to the village that day, you might have survived, but now..."

"I understand!"

Brubi sniffed again and raised her hand to wipe away the increasingly rapid nosebleed.

"But...why?"

He was very puzzled.

Although she failed to pass the Turtle Island True Burst Trial and become a perfect Jinchuriki, this was mainly because Furubi failed to defeat "another version of herself" during the trial. Furubi and the Eight-Tails have always had a good relationship, and the Eight-Tails has always cooperated very well in every battle and rarely goes berserk.

"free."

Without the slightest hesitation, the Eight-Tailed Gyūki stated bluntly, "The freedom I desire is something you cannot give me, so..."

"Brubi, maybe you're a good person, but I'm sorry!"

"I don't want to be caught by those red-eyed lunatics, nor do I want to continue to be trapped in this dark and hopeless seal!"

"From the moment you fell into a coma and I took control of your body, I longed to regain my freedom!"

"Whether it's the air, the sand, the trees, or the sunlight, everything about it fascinates me!"

"So... do you understand now, Briubi..."

After the Eight-Tailed Gyūki finished speaking, Burubi just sat there blankly, without reacting.

"They are ready..."

After an unknown amount of time, the voice of the Eight-Tailed Gyūki echoed in Burubi's mind again: "You even set up a steel ground barrier. Even if your body is fine, I can't take you with me..."

"I see……"

Brubi closed her eyes slightly.

Perhaps it was a final burst of lucidity before death, for his mind was exceptionally clear at that moment.

"Is it the Uchiha clan?"

"Brubi asked."

"...It shouldn't be, the tentacles didn't sense their dark and gloomy chakra characteristics."

"The Eight-Tailed Gyūki replied."

"Pity……"

Brubi sighed, "Then... I'll leave the rest to you..."

"as you wish!"

As the Eight-Tails Gyūki spoke, streams of dark red Tailed Beast chakra surged from Burubi's body, quickly forming the shape of a Tailed Beast.

Buru, trapped in the tailed beast's chakra, was like a rag doll being tortured, her skin torn and bleeding profusely.

"Go..."

Brubi gathered his last bit of chakra and pressed it onto the runes of the Iron Armor Seal.

He used the chakra he gained with his last breath to completely break the seal on the Eight-Tails.

"Moo!!!"

With the seal broken and the tailed beast's chakra surging out, the Eight-Tails Gyūki was officially freed from its confinement!

Brubi was also reduced to dust in the surging tide of tailed beast chakra.

"free!"

The eight-tailed ox-demon unleashed a deafening roar.