Mito recalled what the Five-Tails had just mentioned and asked, "Five-Tails, what cooperation were you talking about with Tōshirō?"
The Five-Tails was still bitter about being beaten down by Mito's Adamantine Sealing Chains, and refused to answer: "You think I'll just tell you just because you asked? Says who?!"
Tōshirō cut in with a sheepish smile, trying to smooth things over. "Lady Mito, don't mind him. That's just how he is. Let me explain instead."
"Go ahead, I'm quite curious about this whole situation."
Mito genuinely wanted to see what Tōshirō had done to make a tailed beast act like this.
Tōshirō quickly organized his thoughts: "Simply put, I made a deal with Little Five. If I can defeat him head-on within seven years, he'll stop resisting and live peacefully with me."
Live together peacefully?Mito chuckled, "Why does that sound like you're talking about a married couple?"
Tōshirō pulled a bitter face. "It's not like I want it that way either. But unless I die, Little Five is going to be living inside me for the rest of my life."
Mito: …
"But luckily tailed beasts don't have a gender. Otherwise, just thinking about getting intimate with Tsunade while a peeping beast is hanging around… that's worse than death."
Mito: …
The Five-Tails snapped, "Tch, boring. Like I'd be interested in watching that."
Mito followed up, "So what happens if you lose?"
Tōshirō responded casually, "What else? Then Little Five can do whatever he wants with me."
"And what does that have to do with you releasing the Five-Tails?"
Tōshirō grinned. "Well, if I didn't show some sincerity, Lady Mito, do you think he'd be acting so docile?"
Mito glanced at the quiet Five-Tails beside her. Clearly, there was more to it than just that. "There must be another reason too."
"As expected of Lady Mito. Your insight is razor-sharp."Tōshirō took the chance to butter her up, then went on to roughly repeat the sweet talk and negotiation tactics he had used to convince the Five-Tails—leaving out the bits that probably weren't helpful to share.
After listening, Mito still seemed concerned. "Even with all that, I still don't feel entirely at ease. Just to be cautious, I think it would be better if we…"
She didn't finish her sentence, but the meaning was obvious—she thought the Five-Tails should be sealed again.
The Five-Tails wasn't stupid. He heard the implication loud and clear. Fury radiated from him, his five tails whipping violently behind him.
Tōshirō glanced over at him. "Little Five, calm down."
The Five-Tails glared. "Calm down?! You mean let myself be sealed again?"
"I won't let that happen. Please trust me—I'll persuade Lady Mito to change her mind."
Tōshirō activated the art of talk-no-jutsu, and it actually had a bit of an effect. The Five-Tails decided to wait and see—curious about how this Jinchūriki planned to convince the former Nine-Tails' Jinchūriki.
Mito stared at Tōshirō silently, waiting for what he'd say next. Like the Five-Tails, she was interested in hearing how he planned to persuade her.
As the wife of the First Hokage, she couldn't afford to act emotionally like Tōshirō. More often than not, her responsibility was to the safety of the village.
With the Five-Tails standing right beside her, Tōshirō had to choose his words very carefully.
"Lady Mito," Tōshirō began, "I remember you once said that to control a tailed beast's power, love is essential."
Mito nodded. "I did say that."
Tōshirō continued, "But I think that's not quite accurate."
Mito raised an eyebrow. "It's not?"
Tōshirō rephrased her words from his own perspective: "Rather than saying love is the key to controlling a tailed beast, I think a better word would be understanding—or rather, harvest."
"Harvest?"
Mito lowered her gaze thoughtfully, chewing on his words.
Same idea. Different words. Totally different result.
Tōshirō's way of putting it… carried weight.
Even though it was just a simple change of wording, the effect was far better than before.
"Control" carried a connotation of domination—it brought to mind unpleasant ideas like enslavement. In contrast, the word "harvest" evoked more positive concepts, such as friendship or love.
It was much more pleasant to hear compared to what had been said earlier.
Mito gave Tōshirō a meaningful look.
When it came to handling the tailed beasts, the child in front of her was clearly walking a path no one had ever taken before.
In the past, people sought to capture tailed beasts to control and enslave their power. But Tōshirō sought instead to dissolve their long-standing hatred… to befriend them. Needless to say, such a path was… well, difficult?
Mito recalled the image of Tōshirō bickering with the Five-Tails and her expression turned oddly amused. "There's a reason Tsunade ended up falling for you."
"Was that a compliment?" Tōshirō grinned shamelessly, acting innocent while taking full advantage.
Mito showed a helpless expression and shook her head. Then she turned toward the Five-Tails, her expression turning solemn. "This time, for Tōshirō's sake, I'll let you go without sealing you. But if you show even a hint of betrayal, don't blame me for sealing you up again."
Tōshirō immediately picked up on it—Mito had just backed him up. She was giving the Five-Tails a reason to respect him. Hands on his hips, he smirked triumphantly: "Haha! See that, Little Five? I told you I'd handle it for you!"
The Five-Tails turned his head aside, acting tsundere and pretending not to appreciate it.
Just as things were heading toward a happy resolution, an ill-timed voice suddenly interrupted:
"Hey, Five-Tails, don't tell me you actually fell for those flowery lies from a human?"
Following the voice, they saw an enormous orange fox locked in a cage. Its size was no less intimidating than the Five-Tails—it towered like a mountain. The chakra it radiated was vast, and the malice rolling off it was even stronger than the Five-Tails'.
The Five-Tails noticed the big fox and called out its name: "Nine-Tails."
The Nine-Tails' bloodshot eyes gleamed with malice. "Five-Tails… you've fallen. To think you'd actually submit to a brat."
Faced with ridicule, the Five-Tails shot back, "Try getting out of that cage before you talk to me."
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The Nine-Tails slammed his claws against the bars, eyes bulging with rage. "Can't believe you got fooled by some sweet talk! You've brought shame to us tailed beasts!"
The commotion was deafening. Tōshirō rubbed his ears—this Nine-Tails was really an angry one.
Compared to him, the Five-Tails was practically an angel. If it were the Nine-Tails sealed inside him instead, there was no way Tōshirō would've dared to handle him like he did the Five-Tails.
Their temperaments were just too different.
Mito glanced at the Five-Tails behind Tōshirō, then turned to look at the Nine-Tails behind herself. She let out a long breath and sighed inwardly—So this is what it feels like to compare Jinchūriki… I really dropped the ball.
To keep the Nine-Tails from further influencing Tōshirō, she severed the connection to the spiritual plane.
Tōshirō blinked, snapping back to reality.
A bitter expression spread across Mito's face. "I had originally wanted to teach you how to control a tailed beast… but now it seems that would be entirely unnecessary."
Tōshirō opened his mouth, hesitating slightly. "Lady Mito, I have a rather shameless request."
Mito was taken aback.
Tōshirō spoke in a lowered voice, "Could you… not tell the village elders about this?"
The look in Mito's eyes seemed to ask, Why?
Tōshirō sighed. "How should I put it… my situation is a bit unique. If this got out, it'd definitely cause an uproar. I know the Third Hokage is a good man and would probably support me. But as for the others… I'm not so sure. I don't want to put Lord Hokage in a difficult position."
(End of Chapter)
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