A few days later, at Konoha's main gate…
"I'll miss you."
"I'll always remember you."
"I'll come back to see you."
Hearing her younger brother Gaara deliver his lines in such a straightforward way, Temari was at a loss for words.
What am I supposed to say in return?
Link patted Gaara on the shoulder. "If you end up losing control of Shukaku again, come see me." He figured once Gaara returned to Sunagakure, they might remove Konoha's sealing on him.
Sunagakure's skill in sealing techniques is actually quite decent. If they really wanted to seal a Tailed Beast, they had multiple methods. The problem is that a jinchūriki's seal has to leak the beast's chakra for the host to use it.
Currently, the only seal that can transform a Tailed Beast's chakra into one's own is the Eight Trigrams Seal. Anyone else wanting to use beast chakra first has to reconcile with the beast.
Even Naruto ended up taking that "reconciliation" path in the end.
Konoha didn't urgently need a power that was out of control, so they directly blocked Gaara's beast. But Sunagakure was in dire straits. The birth of the Fourth Kazekage's three children was specifically to produce a jinchūriki; it wasn't until the third child that Chiyo declared him "suitable."
Temari is only one year and three months older than Kankurō, which means Karura (their mother) practically finished her postnatal confinement only to become pregnant again almost immediately. Otherwise, she wouldn't have died right after giving birth prematurely to Gaara.
All kinds of thoughts drifted through Link's mind. His tone softened slightly:
"If Shukaku bullies you, remember how I can cut off its chakra, right? At that point, let me talk with it."
"Mm!" Gaara's serious face brightened into a slow smile.
Temari pretended not to hear any of that. She looked at Link and said, "When I get back to my village…will you miss me?"
"Uhm…" Link paused. Why are these kids in the Naruto world always so dramatic?
"Sis, save it." Kankurō waved a hand in mild exasperation, though his eyes were full of reluctance. "Link-sensei, hold on to a few puppets for me— I'll save up and come buy them."
"What're you going on about?!" Temari raised her Giant Fan and thwack—slammed it on her brother's head.
Gaara stood by, looking helpless, letting out a small sigh.
Arguing noisily among themselves, the three siblings departed.
Watching their backs, Link felt a tinge of complicated emotion—another goodbye. He had no clue when they might meet again.
He'd once considered whether he should become a jinchūriki, but his chakra level alone ruled that out.
Many people misunderstand, thinking it's because you're a jinchūriki that you have massive chakra. In reality, only people with massive chakra can qualify to be a jinchūriki.
When a jinchūriki uses Tailed Beast chakra, the beast is also trying to snatch chakra from them. Until reconciliation, the host and beast constantly wrestle over chakra, and chakra can only be captured by chakra. So having a massive reserve of chakra is essential.
Unless a Tailed Beast willingly offers up its strength—which is when you become a "Perfect Jinchūriki"—anyone with little chakra simply can't handle it. The hardware requirements don't match.
What Link wanted was a "Naruto-brand battery pack": the later version of Naruto who made peace with the Nine-Tails, so instead of losing his chakra, he gained all of Kurama's power, capable of supplying the entire Allied Shinobi Forces—the Kurama-mode Naruto who even tripled Kakashi's Kamui. Link could only imagine how awesome that would be for him.
[Maybe I can try raising Gaara into a battery pack. If simple reconciliation doesn't work, I could always use the Sharingan to control him…]
So he mused. He'd already given up on boosting his own chakra growth. At his current rate, he wouldn't reach any quantum leap by the war's end. He needed a strategy.
[In the manga, Sasori and Deidara were tasked with capturing Shukaku. Now Sasori's defected from Akatsuki. Maybe there's a chance to…]
He collected his thoughts and turned away from the gate. There was plenty more to do, and Gaara's "battery" plan could wait.
Back at his home, Link activated his Substitution.
"Snap!"
His battered camera spat out a photo, half-dead. It showed the back view of a woman wearing a deep green jacket, seated at a bar table. At the edge, you could vaguely see the establishment's name: [Hyaku-Yaku].
Holding the photo, Link felt the bar setting looked familiar, like he'd seen it somewhere.
Hyaku-Yaku… Hyaku-Yaku in Tanzaku Town?!
So Tsunade was still in Tanzaku Town?
He was a bit surprised—this was already February, and the "Big Gambler" was still wandering in Tanzaku Town?
Anyway, since he'd discovered her location, he needed to prepare to leave right away. Link left a few shadows to tidy the house, then opened the Eight Gates mode, used it to summon a new Stand, afterward swallowed a soldier pill, lay in bed for an hour recovering about half his strength, then dashed to the Mission Assignment Desk.
[I should upgrade my soldier pills, too—I've been getting hungrier.]
Continuously overtaxing his body, then healing it, meant he needed a lot more calories, especially sweet and meaty foods.
Incidentally, maybe it was removing his weights, or halting his intense physical training—or the repeated stress from using the Eight Gates? Anyway, his height had quietly gone up by two centimeters. He might hit 150 cm in the first half of the year!
…
"Young Link, you've been pushing yourself quite a bit lately, haven't you?" the Third Hokage said with concern. He sat flipping through mission scrolls, and couldn't help but notice Link's constantly fatigued look each day.
"It's fine," Link waved it off. The Eight Gates left some after-effects, so looking drained was unavoidable. But in terms of combat power, he'd more than doubled. Skipping further details, he asked, "Lord Third, are there any missions to Tanzaku Town?"
"Hm…" The Third Hokage considered, flipping down to some lesser-known documents. "Yes, there is—actually, yes there is."
"Although it's only a D-rank mission. A cat from an inn in Tanzaku Town has gone missing. They want someone to find it."
"That's perfect," Link snatched it without hesitation.
"?" The Third Hokage glanced at him, speaking earnestly: "A ninja must learn to endure everything. That includes the three shinobi taboos: alcohol, women, and money." Handing the request over, he added, "Don't forget that."
…Is he serious?
Link looked at him silently, recalling the "legendary Sannin" known for gambling, drinking, and more. He just said, "Thank you, Lord Third," and left.
He had to hurry—if Tsunade left, it'd be a problem. Getting "Hermit Purple" to show her location wasn't easy. If he missed her now, who knew when he'd find her next.
Departing Konoha's gate, Link had his shadows carry him. The speed of "Eight Gates" shadows was far greater than his own, and more importantly, it saved him stamina. Having used the ultra-powered Substitution left him half-exhausted for hours. Letting the shadows do the moving was much better.
"Mm~" Link felt sitting on the shadows' hands was uncomfortable. Their hands were the same size as his own; great for massages, but not so much for carrying. The posture was awkward. So, at a nearby "funfun" street, he stopped, pulled out his wallet, and bought a chair. Sitting on it, he had the shadows carry the chair while they ran.
[This…is pretty nice, he mused.]
The Eight Gates shadows still had limited stamina; to preserve their power for potential fights, after ten minutes he swapped them for normal shadows. Link had over a hundred normal shadows, so they could rotate every so often, able to carry him 24/7 if needed.
Halfway along, Link realized that even just sitting in a chair got uncomfortable after a while—he wanted to switch positions. Plus, the chair was flimsy; traveling at high speed caused it to creak alarmingly. Maybe something sturdier, like a metal hospital bed, would be better? And add a roof maybe…
But a "lid" would basically be a coffin, right?
He came to his senses: a chair was still best. Next time he'd order a sturdier custom one.
Though the shadows matched his physical power, speeding along with a chair was no joke—still, eventually the chair gave out before reaching Tanzaku Town. He had the shadows bury the broken "transport," then first reported in at the client's inn.
Their missing target was a house cat named "Shu" that had been gone for two days. After hearing from the innkeeper about the cat's usual haunts, Link took the mission slip, found a secluded spot, and used Rashōmon to summon Nawaki. Together they started searching the town for the cat.
Shu the cat (in Link's mind, an allusion to Tsunade).
…
Tanzaku Town – inside a gambling hall, at the slot machines…
"Ding ding ding…"
[7] [7] [7]
"Another jackpot, Lady Tsunade!" Shizune cheered loudly.
But Tsunade herself, arms folded, wore a calm expression. She felt something was…off.
Various signs suggested trouble. Lately, the "legendary sucker," Tsunade, had been winning non-stop at any gambling method she tried. At first, she assumed she was doomed—winning was a sign of impending disaster for her. She'd mentally prepared to fight. Yet she'd kept winning all the way until now. If disaster was coming…
"It might mean the end of the world," Tsunade muttered under her breath.
"Hmm?" Shizune, hugging Tonton, asked, "What was that? Good news, though—we might finally clear your debts…"
Had the casino not been on high alert against them, they likely would've repaid everything by now.
Am I actually on a lucky streak? Tsunade mused, absently touching her necklace. She started daydreaming a bit, when a man with a stony face strode over.
"Excuse me, ladies." He addressed them, "We don't welcome you here."
No casino wants someone winning constantly. They had only snuck in this time, and after a mere three slot-machine jackpots, they were getting kicked out.
Whether the casino would refuse to exchange her chips for cash?
The "Big Gambler" just smiled without saying a word.
~~~
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