The same roar, the same sky-shaking force, and the same enormous crater.
Only this time, they were not on the sea. There was no seawater rushing in to fill the pit.
And Kurama was not Gyūki.
After taking Jie's giant Rasengan head-on, Gyūki had been left half-dead. But when the dust around the crater settled, Kurama was still standing.
Its crimson fur was a mess, and countless wounds covered its body. It looked miserable, but its aura had only weakened. Compared with Gyūki, Kurama was in far better shape.
More importantly, its recovery was terrifying.
In just a few breaths, the wounds across its body began closing before Jie's eyes. By the time he crossed the distance between them and reached Kurama, most of its injuries had already healed.
Other than its messy fur and unstable breathing, it barely looked as if it had just taken that attack directly.
"The full Nine-Tails really is strong."
Jie looked at Kurama with a bit of admiration.
Even one half of Kurama was already terrifying, but the complete Nine-Tails had balance as well as raw chakra. Its recovery was on a completely different level.
Unfortunately for Kurama, Jie had obtained that kind of recovery long ago.
He had even surpassed it.
So no matter how strong Kurama's recovery was, in front of Jie, it was still not enough.
Jie glanced around at the surrounding forest and nodded in satisfaction.
Perhaps because Kurama lived here, there were no humans within nearly a hundred kilometers. A deserted place like this was perfect for sealing the tailed beasts.
No one would disturb him.
The early stages of sealing were always the slowest.
In Jie's memory, Pain had needed three days and all of Akatsuki's help to seal Shukaku. Madara, on the other hand, had used the Gedo Statue to suppress the Eight-Tails almost instantly.
Part of that difference came from strength, but part of it came from the Gedo Statue itself.
To Jie, the reason was simple.
The Gedo Statue was an empty shell, and the tailed beasts were the chakra torn from it. The more chakra it recovered, the faster it could devour the rest.
At first, the sealing had to move step by step, starting from the One-Tail and going upward. But once the Gedo Statue absorbed the One-Tail through Seven-Tails, it would regain enough strength to suppress the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails directly.
And now, the One-Tail through Eight-Tails had all fallen into Jie's hands.
The last one, Kurama, was right in front of him.
Together with the Rinnegan, everything needed to revive the Ten-Tails was already in place.
Looking at Kurama at the bottom of the crater, Jie smiled faintly.
The Rinnegan's rings slowly surfaced in his eyes.
Then six tomoe appeared within them.
"Kurama, do you still remember where you tailed beasts came from?"
"You all know that the Sage of Six Paths split the Ten-Tails' chakra and used Yin-Yang Release to create the nine tailed beasts."
"But I doubt any of you have seen what remained of the Ten-Tails."
As he spoke, Jie slowly began forming hand seals.
His movements were not fast.
In fact, even a genin fresh out of the academy could probably form these seals faster than him.
But with Kurama's eyesight, it recognized the technique at once.
A common C-rank ninjutsu.
The Summoning Technique.
Combined with what Jie had just said, Kurama instantly understood what he was about to summon.
But it was already too late.
"Summoning Technique: Gedo Statue!"
A huge cloud of white smoke erupted, swallowing Jie's figure at once.
Because of the smoke, Kurama could not immediately see the statue's true appearance.
But the moment it appeared, every instinct in Kurama screamed danger.
"The Gedo Statue?"
"Is that the source of all tailed beasts?"
Kurama stared at the smoke-covered figure, its whole body tense.
"What an unpleasant feeling."
Among the nine tailed beasts, only Kurama and Shukaku were still conscious outside the Gedo Statue.
The others had already been sealed away.
For Kurama, the appearance of the Gedo Statue meant great danger.
For Shukaku, it felt like staring at its own grave.
For the first time, Shukaku felt a little lucky that it had ended up as Jie's pet. If it had to face the Gedo Statue alone, it doubted it would even have the strength to resist.
The wind blew past, and the white smoke quickly dispersed.
The withered, monstrous Gedo Statue appeared before Kurama and Shukaku.
Its aura was already disturbing enough, but what truly unsettled the two tailed beasts were the nine closed eyes on its face.
One look was enough for Kurama and Shukaku to feel the threat behind those closed eyes.
Jie studied the Gedo Statue and nodded.
Although this was a different timeline, the two Gedo Statues looked almost the same. The only difference was that this one had never fought Jie before, so its arm was still intact.
The Gedo Statue really was worthy of being the Ten-Tails' shell.
Even a severed arm had allowed Orochimaru's Hashirama-cell research to make enormous progress in Jie's original timeline. With it, Orochimaru had finally created a safe and effective Hashirama-cell serum, giving Fugaku and Itachi a way to deal with the Mangekyō Sharingan's side effects.
But that was a matter for his own timeline.
Right now, the important thing was Kurama.
Jie looked toward the Nine-Tails at the bottom of the crater.
The final condition had been gathered.
Now all that remained was to seal it.
But the tailed beasts were not the only ones shaken by the Gedo Statue's appearance.
Someone else was watching from the darkness.
Black Zetsu.
Ever since he learned that Jie intended to capture the tailed beasts, Black Zetsu had been following him from the shadows. He had watched Jie capture several tailed beasts with his own eyes.
But Jie moved too quickly for Black Zetsu to keep up. After chasing him for a while, Black Zetsu simply came to Kurama's location and waited.
If Jie truly intended to gather every tailed beast, then Kurama was unavoidable.
And as the strongest of the nine, Kurama was also the best chance to test Jie's true strength.
After several days of waiting, Black Zetsu finally saw Jie arrive.
That meteor-like Rasengan had already forced him to reevaluate Jie.
Then Jie revealed the Rinnegan.
And now, he had even summoned the Gedo Statue.
Feeling the familiar aura from the statue, Black Zetsu went silent.
For a thousand years, he had manipulated the ninja world from the shadows, all for the sake of reviving his mother.
He needed the reincarnations of Indra and Asura. He needed the Rinnegan. He needed the Gedo Statue. He needed the tailed beasts.
Only then would his mother have a chance to return.
After waiting for so long, he had finally found the pieces he needed.
Uchiha Madara.
Senju Hashirama.
They were supposed to be the ones who awakened the Rinnegan.
But before Black Zetsu had even made his move, someone else had already obtained that power, captured the tailed beasts, and summoned the Gedo Statue.
Jie was doing almost exactly what Black Zetsu wanted, but that was the problem.
Jie was not one of his pieces.
Black Zetsu did not believe he could control someone like Jie, especially not when Jie already possessed the Rinnegan.
If Jie revived the Ten-Tails and took its power for himself, then reviving Mother might become impossible.
The situation was dangerous.
But after surviving in the shadows for a thousand years, Black Zetsu was not someone who panicked easily.
A risky plan began taking shape in his mind.
Jie had ruined Black Zetsu's plan, but he had also brought the final step within reach.
"Sealing the tailed beasts and awakening the Ten-Tails will still take time."
"I cannot let Uchiha Jie steal Mother's power."
"I need help."
After silently making up his mind, Black Zetsu sank back into the darkness and quickly left in the other direction.
Everything would depend on this.
'Mother, I will save you.'
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