Kazuyama let out a light laugh and nodded.
He was just a guest here and had no intention of interfering, and out of respect for the peace in the Land of Birds, he chose to be mindful. After all, countries were rare.
That evening, Kazuyama leaned against the edge of the hot spring, letting out a satisfied sigh.
"How long has it been? How long since I last truly relaxed? Ah, this feels amazing!"
"At a time , if... Hiss... What am I even thinking?"
Shaking his head, he finally pushed those strange thoughts away, but his mind drifted back to Konoha.
After all, there was a certain beauty waiting for him there. Thinking of her, he couldn't help but smile—a bright, satisfied grin.
"Kazuyama, you look so damn pervy right now."
"Thinking about Pakura, aren't you?"
"Hahaha! If you really can't take it, I'll lend you some chakra so you can just teleport back to Konoha."
Hearing Chōmei's teasing, Kazuyama felt a wave of embarrassment.
This damn Chōmei—he was getting bolder by the day.
Still, the Flying Thunder God Technique was an option, though he couldn't use it to go straight back to Konoha.
With that thought, he got up, gathered his things, and headed out into the night, eventually finding a pharmacy.
He bought out their entire stock of snakeberries, sweeping up everything in this shop at the heart of the Land of Birds.
"Chōmei, lend me some chakra. I'm going to see if I can teleport straight to Turtle Island."
Chōmei was stunned. "Wait, what? Straight to Turtle Island?"
This was the Land of Birds—situated between the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth. To reach Turtle Island, he'd have to cross the entire Land of Fire.
"Kazuyama, you're joking, right?"
"Do I look like I'm joking? I've mastered the Flying Thunder God. As long as I have enough chakra, I'm confident I can make the jump. I just don't know how much chakra it'll take."
That was a fair concern. After all, the chakra required was directly proportional to the distance traveled. The farther the jump, the heavier the cost.
"If I give you too much chakra, you'll enter Tailed Beast Cloak mode. That won't be a problem?"
Kazuyama chuckled, completely unconcerned.
"Chōmei, we're not on a battlefield. This is a peaceful land. Worst case, we just step out of town before using it."
Hearing that, Chōmei relaxed. Right—so long as they didn't use Tailed Beast chakra in front of civilians, there was nothing to worry about.
With that settled, Kazuyama took his bag of snakeberries and slipped into the forest outside the town under the cover of night.
"Chōmei, five tails' worth of chakra—better to be safe than sorry."
"Got it! No problem!"
A surge of crimson chakra erupted as five tails unfurled behind Kazuyama.
"Ah, I have to admit, every time this chakra rushes through me, it feels incredible."
"Chōmei, I'm taking off."
As soon as he finished speaking, Kazuyama vanished from sight...
At the same time, on Turtle Island...
"Yugito, your training today was impressive. You're naturally talented in ninjutsu and taijutsu, but when it comes to genjutsu..."
"Ugh, it's complicated. I don't know if it's just a coincidence, but Ryūchi Cave's senjutsu leans heavily toward genjutsu."
"And yet, every ninja associated with Ryūchi Cave is absolutely terrible at it."
Tagitsuhime didn't bother hiding her frustration.
After all, genjutsu was her specialty, but neither Kazuyama nor Yugito had any real aptitude for it.
"Genjutsu? Pfft. Ninjutsu and taijutsu are way more practical."
"Besides, I have Matatabi. Most genjutsu won't even work on me. And if I do get caught, I can just have Matatabi use chakra to snap me out of it."
That was another advantage of being a Jinchūriki—having access to both their own chakra and their Tailed Beast's.
If they got trapped in genjutsu, they could use an external chakra surge to break free.
But there was a catch—they had to be a perfect Jinchūriki. After all, if they weren't in sync with their Tailed Beast, why would it bother helping them?
Yugito had only just begun establishing a connection with Matatabi. While she wasn't on Kazuyama's level, she was far stronger than before.
"Hmph. Listen up, little Yugito—strength isn't something you can depend on others for."
"You only truly succeed when you reach that level on your own, understa—"
Before Tagitsuhime could finish, she sensed an overwhelming chakra signature appear in the distance.
A voice echoed through the air, full of exasperation.
"Ugh, I knew it. The distance was too far to guarantee precision—I nearly ended up in the ocean."
"Looks like ultra-long-distance teleportation requires extremely fine chakra control."
The voice belonged to Kazuyama, though his current state was different from before.
The five tails behind him had shrunk to four.
Clearly, the teleportation had drained an entire tail's worth of chakra.
It made him marvel once again at a certain blond idiot.
Seriously... That guy's Uzumaki genes completely overpowered his Gekkō lineage. What a freak of nature—there was no competing with that.
"Whoa! Snakeberries!"
In an instant, the red python transformed into its true form, coiling its tail around all five baskets of snakeberries and pulling them into its embrace.
Its serpentine pupils turned into heart shapes.
"Good evening, Tagitsuhime."
"Hey, Yugito. You seem to be doing well."
The moment Kazuyama arrived, Yugito's hands morphed into claws as she lunged at him.
"Take this! Cat Claw!"
Razor-sharp claws extended from her fingers, an odd sight on such a small girl.
But Kazuyama knew better than to underestimate them—those claws were one of Matatabi's abilities.
"Fighting me the moment we meet, huh?" This update ıs available on 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝✦𝘧𝙞𝙧𝙚✦𝕟𝕖𝕥
"Kid, I'm your sensei. And besides..."
With a flick of his crimson tail, a powerful wave of chakra blasted Yugito backward.
"Did you not see my giant, glowing tail?"
Chōmei's chakra was impossible to miss, but Yugito had been too eager to attack.
Even if it was her sensei, she wanted to test herself. She was proud of how much she had improved lately.
"You seem pretty confident. Alright, I'll spar with you."
Kazuyama dispelled his Tailed Beast chakra and casually gestured for her to come at him again.
"Hmph! Stupid sensei! I'll show you how much I've grown!"
"Alright, I'm watching."