"Yo, Matatabi-chan, long time no see."
"It's been ages since we last met. Man, it really felt like years crawling by."
The first to speak was still Chōmei.
The moment he saw Matatabi, all the shock in his mind disappeared, leaving only pure joy.
With six massive wings gently flapping, he flew right up to Matatabi, nearly close enough to cling to her.
"Whap!"
A blue-flamed paw slammed down, swatting Chōmei—bugs, wings, and all—flying off into the distance.
"Chōmei, behave yourself! Did I build this space so you could come harass me?"
"Hmph!"
Matatabi spat at Chōmei in annoyance, blue flames whooshing out and nearly roasting him through.
Gekko Chizan watched the two Tailed Beasts acting all chummy and felt utterly speechless.
Meanwhile, Yugito, curious because it was her first time building such a communication platform, kept looking around, marveling at everything before letting out an awed sigh.
"So this is the space we created? Amazing!"
"Chōmei! Don't bully Matatabi! Or I'll beat you up!"
Yugito wasn't afraid of Chōmei at all.
Because of Gekko Chizan, she had slowly begun seeing Matatabi as one of her closest companions.
After all, as a jinchūriki, a Tailed Beast was part of her.
Matatabi, too, had grown fond of Yugito.
Hearing her words, she gave a small smile, then slowly crouched down and used a front paw to pick Yugito up, placing her on top of her head.
One girl, one cat—both now waited quietly for Gekko Chizan to begin telling his story.
Seeing that Matatabi and Yugito were ready, Gekko Chizan quickly stopped Chōmei.
"Chōmei, calm down for a while. It's meeting time now."
"You can talk all you want afterward."
Chōmei steadied himself, then awkwardly floated behind Gekko Chizan, copying Matatabi by crouching down.
But Gekko Chizan didn't hop onto his head.
Instead, he slowly walked to stand before Matatabi and began speaking.
"I know everything about the Nine Tailed Beasts. You don't need to ask where I learned it—I just know."
"And I know more than you do."
"Sage of Six Paths split the Ten Tails' strength into nine Tailed Beasts—you. That means if all your strength comes together again, the Ten Tails will be revived."
"And when Uchiha Madara fought Senju Hashirama, he faked his death and obtained the First Hokage's cells."
"With the powers of both Senju and Uchiha, he awakened the Rinnegan and moved closer to the power of the Sage of Six Paths."
Matatabi and Chōmei's faces grew increasingly serious.
Gekko Chizan clearly knew a lot—and they knew it too.
After all, they were fragments of the Ten Tails' strength, and the Sage of Six Paths was their creator—in simple terms, their father.
"Wait, sensei, if Uchiha Madara didn't die… how old would he even be now?"
"He'd be an old man by now—could he even move? No way, right?"
Yugito's question was the same one Matatabi and Chōmei had.
They didn't believe a human could live so long—an immortal old man? Impossible.
Gekko Chizan sneered and continued.
"Hashirama's cells gave him the Wood Release bloodline—and some extra life force too. That let him awaken the power of the Sage of Six Paths."
"And with that power, the first thing he did was use it to create the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path from the husk left after the Tailed Beasts were stripped away."
"As long as it supplied him with strength, he wouldn't die unless he killed himself."
"Of course, it came at the cost of his freedom. The Demonic Statue limits his movements."
Hearing about the Demonic Statue, Matatabi and Chōmei's faces grew even darker.
Only Yugito looked utterly lost—this was far beyond her.
"You don't need to ask—I know what you want to say."
"The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path is the Ten Tails' husk, just without the Ten Tails' chakra."
"It's basically one of the Tailed Beasts' ultimate nemeses. It's similar to a Tailed Beast's true body. If someone with the power of the Sage of Six Paths activates it… it's a disaster for the Tailed Beasts—a disaster they can't possibly resist."
When Gekko Chizan finished speaking, silence fell over the space.
Even Yugito gaped in shock.
As a jinchūriki, she knew full well how strong Matatabi was.
And yet… just a husk could overwhelm them? How were they supposed to fight that?
"Chizan, if it's really as you say… then our situation looks grim."
"If all else fails, why don't we run? As long as he can't find us, problem solved, right?"
"I can fly—I could take Matatabi and Yugito with me."
"As long as we don't get caught, his power of the Six Paths wouldn't be complete, and the threat wouldn't be so big."
After a long silence, Chōmei voiced his thoughts.
As someone who hated fighting, his first instinct was escape.
After all, he could fly. He was fast and mobile. If all they did was run, even someone with the Six Paths' power couldn't do much to him.
Gekko Chizan rolled his eyes.
"Planning to hide for the rest of your life?"
"And don't you know what the Uchiha can do? At full power, Susanoo has wings."
"Picture this—you and I flying ahead, and behind us, some glowing giant with wings chasing us nonstop. How fun would that be?"
Chōmei instantly deflated like a wilted eggplant.
He knew Susanoo well—that was the Uchiha's ultimate strength.
He figured just one Susanoo could finish him off.
Sure, he could fly—but his combat power? Yeah… not much to say there.
Matatabi fell silent too.
Her strength wasn't great either—she didn't even rank among the stronger Tailed Beasts.
"So what do you suggest? If that day really comes… do we just accept our fate?"
Matatabi's voice was heavy with worry.
But she wasn't ready to give up. She felt sure Gekko Chizan had a plan.
Otherwise, why would he have kidnapped Yugito from Kumogakure?
In that moment, she finally understood why Gekko Chizan, also a jinchūriki, had taken Yugito.
"Of course not. Believe it or not, Uchiha Madara has already made his move against me and Chōmei."
"Not directly—but he used his Sharingan to control the Third Mizukage."
"Naturally, we killed the Third Mizukage."
"If he's already started moving, then it means his plan is underway. To survive, we have to fight back."
"That's why I brought Yugito here. I need strength—strength to stand against Uchiha Madara."