As situations unfolded across various villages, Konoha was also preparing a plan of its own!
"The Tailed Beast Capture Plan!"
Naruto addressed the assembled group.
Among those present were familiar faces.
Sasuke was naturally included; with so many targets this time, they couldn't afford to be short on manpower.
"All the tailed beasts have appeared!"
"Except for the One-Tail, which Gaara secured early on, the other eight have all manifested."
Naruto looked at everyone.
"Are the tailed beasts causing trouble again?"
"I thought I had distributed all the tailed beasts among the five great nations so they could suppress them together!"
The speaker was, of course, Hashirama.
Shikamaru turned to Hashirama. "First Hokage, that was indeed the case back then, but now all the tailed beasts are gathered within the Sixth Hokage's body."
Hearing this, Hashirama looked at Naruto with surprise. In the short time he'd been around, Hashirama hadn't perceived Naruto as someone who overly valued power.
Why would he possess all the tailed beasts...?
This thought left Hashirama quite puzzled as he looked at Naruto.
Naruto sighed, a hint of helplessness in his voice, and explained, "I didn't capture these tailed beasts myself. Due to the Fourth Great Ninja War, and the need to confront Sasuke, the Sage of Six Paths infused all the tailed beasts into me."
"Consequently, the tailed beasts from all the villages now reside within me."
Upon hearing this, Hashirama first looked at Sasuke with considerable surprise, then back at Naruto.
"Aren't you two good friends?"
Sasuke responded with a touch of exasperation, "Weren't you and Madara good friends once too?"
Madara, standing nearby, wore a slightly odd expression and subtly curled his lip in displeasure.
Sasuke's retort made Hashirama realize his question might have been a bit foolish.
"Alright! Well, it's good that you two are friends now. It's okay to have disagreements; losing isn't the end of the world, especially since Naruto possesses the power of all the tailed beasts!"
Sasuke was again taken aback. "Who told you I lost?"
Hashirama was confused.
Wait a minute!
Naruto obtained all the tailed beast chakra with the Sage of Six Paths' help.
And he still didn't lose?
That seemed impossible. Even though Hashirama considered himself strong, he doubted he could confidently claim victory against Madara if Madara had simultaneously gathered all the tailed beast chakra.
Sasuke faced Naruto, who had gathered all the tailed beast chakra, and he didn't lose?
Could that be right?
Hashirama shook his head, thinking Sasuke was probably just too embarrassed to admit defeat.
However, Naruto interjected, his tone still laced with helplessness, "Although I did receive all the tailed beast chakra with the Sage of Six Paths' assistance, I still lost to Sasuke."
This answer surprised not only Hashirama but also Asura.
With their father's help, Naruto still lost to Sasuke.
Back then, Asura had also received his father's aid to defeat his brother.
Yet, in a similar situation with Naruto and Sasuke, Sasuke emerged victorious.
This kid...
What kind of power does he possess to overcome an opponent as formidable as Naruto?
Indra observed the calm demeanor of Sasuke, who displayed no pride in having defeated Naruto.
Indeed!
In Sasuke's world, such things held little importance.
He didn't care about them at all, and perhaps that was the key.
That's why Sasuke could so readily defeat his opponent, even when that opponent had received divine assistance.
Reflecting on this, Indra glanced at Asura beside him.
He realized he might have been too narrow-minded in the past.
There were undoubtedly more significant pursuits.
"In short, due to certain circumstances, all the tailed beasts in our world are currently inside me!"
"And these tailed beasts that have appeared now don't belong to our world at all."
"Therefore, we must capture them all, and then Sasuke can send them back to their respective time periods!"
"Otherwise, if the timeline is disrupted, the consequences could be unimaginable."
As Naruto finished speaking, the others looked at him intently.
"So, what's the plan?" Asura inquired.
Naruto began to lay it out: "There are a total of eight tailed beasts: the Seven-Tail in Konoha, the Nine-Tail in Kirigakure, the Eight-Tail in Sunagakure, the Six-Tail in Kumogakure, the Two-Tail in Amegakure, and the Four-Tail in the Land of Iron."
"We need to capture all of them as quickly as possible."
With that, Naruto surveyed the individuals present.
Naruto, Sasuke, Hashirama, Madara, Asura, Indra.
Any one of these six could easily capture a tailed beast on their own.
There was no question about that.
And with eight tailed beasts, even if each person took responsibility for one, there would still be two remaining.
However, according to Shikamaru's strategy:
The remaining two tailed beasts were most likely the Two-Tail and the Four-Tail, as these two hadn't appeared within the five great nations.
Each village's primary objective would naturally be the tailed beast that appeared within its own borders.
After all, whether considering distance or in comparison to other tailed beasts, it was the most logical choice for them.
Therefore, prioritizing the capture of their own tailed beast was inevitable.
"The major ninja villages will undoubtedly prioritize capturing the tailed beast within their own country!"
"So, in that case, the tailed beasts in the Land of Rain and the Land of Iron don't need to be our immediate focus!"
"But if we have enough manpower, we can capture them simultaneously!"
As he said this, Naruto glanced at Itachi Uchiha, Kakashi Hatake, Sakumo Hatake, and Neji Hyuga who stood nearby.
If the six, including Sasuke, each took on one tailed beast, then these four, divided into two teams, each capturing one, would perfectly cover all eight.
Hearing this, the others nodded in agreement.
"If the tailed beasts fall into the hands of other villages, it will definitely lead to new conflicts!"
Naruto said, a sense of helplessness creeping in.
Looking at everyone, he continued, "So we must secure all the tailed beasts before they do!"
Speaking of this, there was another potential issue. If Konoha were to capture eight more tailed beasts...
It would undoubtedly cause resentment among the other villages.
Adding the nine-tails already within Naruto, Konoha would effectively possess seventeen tailed beasts.
Under such circumstances, other villages would become even more wary of Konoha.
Their distrust of Konoha would only intensify.
However, Naruto had already considered a solution to this problem!
"If the major villages are dissatisfied with who ultimately possesses the tailed beasts, then I can return the tailed beasts within me to them."
Hearing these words, the others looked at Naruto with even greater admiration.
Naruto was clearly not driven by a lust for power. The tailed beasts represented a power many ninjas could only dream of, yet Naruto was willing to relinquish them without hesitation.
This demonstrated a remarkable level of magnanimity.
"Alright, since that's settled, let's each choose a target!"
As he said this, Sasuke's gaze settled on the Nine-Tail.
Among all the tailed beasts, the Nine-Tail possessed the greatest power, but even the strongest tailed beast was ultimately insignificant.
His purpose in going to Kirigakure was... Ao!
A member of the Kara organization's outer circle, to see if they could glean any information from him regarding whether the Kara organization had taken the corpse of Otsutsuki Urashiki.
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