This brute.
Senju Yukika sighed.
"Do you believe me when I say that if I put her down and let you two fight one-on-one, you'd lose?"
"Is it really that bad?" Shēngshu twisted his mouth doubtfully.
"Taking her alive is worth far more than killing her."
Grabbing Yugito's chin, Yukika remained calm and composed.
If Orochimaru hadn't caused such a ruckus on the other side, drawing away the ninja guarding Yugito, capturing her would've been far more troublesome. Compared to stealing confidential intel from the Hidden Cloud during chaos, Yukika naturally chose to abduct the Two-Tails Jinchūriki instead.
"Do you know something?"
Lifting her chin a bit, Yukika looked directly into the girl's eyes.
"Tailed Beasts used to belong solely to the Senju clan."
"All I'm doing now is reclaiming what's rightfully ours."
Senju…
Yugito seemed to understand now.
Senju clan.
A Leaf shinobi!
So that's who this man is.
But… wasn't he afraid that his actions would escalate war between the Hidden Leaf and Hidden Cloud?
Yukika wasn't worried about that in the slightest. In fact, he was hoping the Hidden Cloud would declare all-out war.
That would be the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen's headache, not his.
Once, Senju Hashirama distributed the Tailed Beasts among the villages, but Yukika, when he rose to power, publicly opposed Hashirama's decision.
Now, as the head of the Senju clan, Yukika believed he had every right to reclaim those beasts. At worst, he'd compensate them… though truthfully, he didn't feel like giving them a single coin.
Whatever the outcome, when he brought Yugito back to the Hidden Leaf, it would be a tremendous achievement.
And the fact that the leader of the Senju clan personally infiltrated enemy territory and returned victorious would greatly boost his reputation, solidifying his hold on the clan and future ambitions.
Even more, taking Yugito had another purpose.
A Jinchūriki.
Sarutobi, Danzo…
Surely they'd want her.
But too bad—she belonged to the Senju.
Feeling a rush of satisfaction, Yukika couldn't help himself—he planted a smacking kiss on Yugito's cheek before lifting her back onto his shoulder in one smooth motion.
It was a declaration.
A declaration of ownership.
The Tailed Beast was now his.
Whoa!
Could this be our future sister-in-law?!
Shēngshu finally realized what was going on.
If that's the case… he'd just called her a wench and suggested killing her for revenge.
Awkward!
Quickly collecting himself, Shēngshu scurried over with a guilty smile and bowed in front of the bound Yugito.
"Sister-in-law, please don't take what I said earlier to heart."
Sister-in-law?!
What even was this situation?
Yugito rolled her eyes hard enough to get dizzy.
...
The mission continued.
The Eight-Tails was still rampaging wildly.
But when a tall, imposing man finally stood before it, the beast's rampage began to slow.
The Third Raikage.
And his face burned with rage.
He felt like he'd been played—worse, played well.
The mighty Raikage, deceived by a single letter. He'd shifted all his focus to protecting the Intelligence Division, neglecting the village's greatest strategic asset.
The Tailed Beast!
The whole reason he'd returned to the village was to discuss with Killer B about how to best utilize the power of the Jinchūriki on the battlefield—to bring more glory to the Hidden Cloud.
But lately, B had been…