Damn, this curse really works.
Gekko Chizan stared at the names and circles drawn on the ground, completely stunned.
As expected—never doubt anything produced by the system. It might not sound reliable at first, but the results are always solid.
Another case of diarrhea, another broken bone—just thinking of Uchiha Madara's old, decrepit face almost made Gekko Chizan burst out laughing.
Looks like he was going to be busy the next few days.
But just as he was about to start his next "draw a circle and curse you," the familiar notification rang out again.
[Ding! Host, please note: Curse Technique – Draw a Circle and Curse You has a cooldown of three days after each use. Additionally, the curse effect only brings misfortune—it cannot cause death. Host, please remember this clearly.]
Gekko Chizan: ...dream shattered!
Also, what the hell does this "Tailed Beast Synchronization" mean?
System? Care to explain?
[Ding! Tailed Beast Synchronization, as the name suggests, allows the Seven-Tails Chōmei inside the host's body to manifest in an energy form simultaneously with you!]
[Once manifested, all abilities can be used. However, chakra will be split in half, with both you and the Seven-Tails Chōmei each controlling one half of the tailed beast's chakra!]
Terrifying! Absolutely terrifying! Didn't this basically mean Chōmei could fight alongside him in perfect sync?
One plus one equals two? No! Him plus Chōmei was one plus one equals ten! After all, a person is a person, a tailed beast is a tailed beast—fighting separately, their combined power was even more overwhelming!
Take himself for example. Without entering half-tailed beast mode, he could still use ninjutsu and kekkei genkai in battle. But once in half-tailed beast mode, he couldn't use ninjutsu anymore. Now, with synchronization, that flaw was perfectly solved—he only needed to fight clad in the beast cloak.
All the rest of the tailed beast's powerful attacks could be handled by Chōmei.
But of course, there was a drawback: the division of tailed beast chakra. One man and one beast shared the same pool of Chōmei's chakra. If the battle dragged on too long, the chakra consumption would be enormous.
Soon he found himself shivering with his arms wrapped around himself. After battle, everything returns to calm.
But the weather wasn't calm at all. He was standing on the land of the Land of Frost.
A country of snow and ice—cold, bitterly cold!
To keep from freezing to death, he coated his whole body with chakra and ran deeper into the Land of Frost.
Just like the Land of Birds, the Land of Frost was a country without war. But the Five Great Nations treated it very well—because the country was vast.
Though it was an icy wasteland, its marine resources were abundant, making it a valuable trading partner for the Five Great Nations.
After nearly an hour of freezing, he finally entered a town. Without hesitation, he bought himself a thick winter coat.
The instant he put it on, warmth flooded him.
While eating to replenish his energy, he discussed things with Chōmei.
"Chōmei, I think we've already been exposed..."
"No way! Chizan, don't scare me like that! I don't want to end up locked back in that cave in Takigakure with you!"
Chōmei was so startled that the food he was chewing tumbled from his mouth—though he caught it at the last second before it hit the ground.
Even so, it was obvious just how rattled he was.
That food was just given to him by Gekko Chizan, and he hadn't eaten yet—he couldn't let it go to waste.
In the real world, Gekko Chizan took a bite of meat. In his inner world, he sighed.
"Chōmei, you should know about the Ten-Tails, right?"
"Or should I say... the God Tree?"
The food Chōmei had just stuffed into his mouth fell again. He still caught it quickly, but this time his expression was even more panicked.
"Chizan, how do you know about that?"
"At your age, you shouldn't know about the Ten-Tails. No—at this time, no one should know about it at all."
"That was something from even before us nine tailed beasts existed."
Another sigh.
Gekko Chizan looked at Chōmei speechlessly. Was the issue really how he knew? The real question was—what do we do now?
"Chōmei, don't worry about how I know. You already know what my Transparent Release can do. Hidden scrolls and sealed records are like children's storybooks to me—I read them whenever I want, got it?"
"Right now, what we should talk about is Uchiha Madara... and the Ten-Tails."
A flawless little PUA session—except these words were coming from Gekko Chizan, directed at his partner Chōmei.
(T/N: PUA - manipulative or emotionally abusive behavior)
That alone felt... a bit off.
Gekko Chizan: Am I really PUA'ing him? No, I'm just making sure Chōmei doesn't let his thoughts wander off into nonsense.
"You're right. With your Transparent Release, is there anywhere you can't go?"
"You even managed to drag me out of that cave. Fine, keep talking."
See? What a successful PUA.
Gekko Chizan grinned, about to continue, when the system notification rang again.
[Ding! The host has actually PUA'd the loyal Seven-Tails Chōmei—truly heartless! Shameful! Despicable! As a special reward, tailed beast synchronization chakra consumption is reduced by 10%!]
[Ding! Originally, Tailed Beast Synchronization split the Seven-Tails Chōmei's chakra into halves. With this enhancement, chakra consumption will now be significantly reduced—up to a maximum of 50%!]
Nice! What an absolutely nice reward! Gekko Chizan almost couldn't resist PUA'ing Chōmei nonstop from now on.
But being the good guy who cared about his partner, he restrained himself.
At least not now. After all, with PUA, you had to play the long game.
Chōmei: ...Do you even hear yourself?
Returning to the main point, Gekko Chizan began his explanation.
"The nine tailed beasts were born from the Ten-Tails being split apart. And now, Uchiha Madara has already made a move against us."
"That's a big problem."
"You saw those concentric circles—the Rinnegan."
"From my analysis, Uchiha Madara intends to gather all nine tailed beasts and resurrect the Ten-Tails, to achieve some greater purpose."
By now, Chōmei was immune to shock—he'd been through too many jolts in one sitting.
But hearing the words "resurrect the Ten-Tails" still made him shiver.
Because he knew better than anyone how terrifying the Ten-Tails was—though he'd only heard it from the Sage of Six Paths himself.
After all, it was the Sage who subdued the Ten-Tails, became its jinchūriki, and split its strength into nine, creating the nine tailed beasts.
And now that the Rinnegan had reappeared, it meant the Sage's power still lingered in this world.
That meant what Chizan was saying wasn't baseless.
Seeing Chōmei fall silent, Gekko Chizan continued his performance.
"Uchiha Madara, the man who should already be long dead, has reappeared."
"And as an Uchiha, he's actually mastered the power of the Rinnegan. This proves that his battle with the First Hokage didn't end in death. He may have lost, but he gained even greater power."
"He's been lying in wait ever since, biding his time."