Although Hatake Sakumo had defeated Sasori, winning had not come easily.
His body was nearly drained of chakra.
The genius puppet master before him was indeed powerful—the first ninja to ever push him to this limit.
Red Sand Sasori.
Hatake Sakumo would remember that name.
His short sword was already pressed against Sasori's regeneration core. Just a little more force, and it would be over.
Sasori would die.
Sakumo exhaled deeply, glancing up at the sky.
"Go."
"You're letting me go?"
Sasori's eyes widened in disbelief as he looked at Konoha's White Fang.
"That's right. You mean nothing to me."
"If you let me go, I'll only become stronger and come back to kill you."
"Good. I look forward to it."
Sakumo sheathed his blade.
Sasori wasn't the type to beg for his life. He had already lost. That was fact. There was no need for empty words.
"Hmph. Letting me live will be the biggest mistake of your life, Konoha's White Fang. You'll regret this."
Sasori turned and walked away.
Regret? Biggest mistake?
Sakumo merely chuckled.
The biggest mistake of his life had already been made—saving those ungrateful cowards in Konoha who later turned their backs on him.
But that mistake had been corrected.
Thanks to Kurama, he had turned his fate around.
Otherwise, Sakumo had no regrets.
Letting Sasori go was just another challenge.
A reminder that there were still people in this world worth fighting.
Life would be far too dull otherwise.
After the battle, Sakumo dusted off his hands and walked toward Kurama.
"Lord Kurama, what do you think of me letting Red Sand Sasori live?"
"What do I think?"
Kurama smirked.
"This was your fight, not mine. Do whatever you want. But if you had lost and died, I wouldn't have interfered."
Sakumo blinked, momentarily stunned.
"Ehh…" He let out a nervous chuckle. "Good thing I won, then. Otherwise, I might've thought you came just to watch me die."
The battle had caused enough noise to attract attention. Soon, Konoha shinobi started arriving.
Anbu.
Kakashi.
Rin.
Obito.
All of them rushed to the scene.
"Father, what happened here?"
The entire area—dozens of meters across—was in ruins. Signs of a fierce battle were everywhere.
Kurama, however, stood untouched, his robes still pristine.
Kakashi, being ever observant, noticed his father's clothes were torn. Clearly, Sakumo had been in the thick of it.
"Oh, nothing much, Kakashi. I just killed a small fry."
Sakumo grinned, jumping up and down to show that he was fine.
Kurama raised an eyebrow.
Calling Sasori a 'small fry'?
If Red Sand Sasori was a minion, then who did White Fang consider a real opponent?
The God of Shinobi, Hashirama Senju?
Madara Uchiha?
Or maybe someone on the level of the Sage of Six Paths?
Sakumo was clearly putting on a show for his son.
Rin approached Kurama, concern in her eyes.
"Kurama-sensei, are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Rin. See?"
Kurama spread his hands and casually ruffled her hair.
Rin's face turned bright red, flustered yet clearly pleased.
Obito, standing off to the side, was about to explode.
"Damn you, Kurama! You bastard teacher, you're taking advantage of Rin!"
Fury burned inside him.
Rin was the goddess of his heart.
The amount of tissues in his room could attest to that.
With Sasori out of the picture, Kurama returned home.
As he stepped inside, he found Kushina, Mikoto, and Karura busy in the kitchen.
"You're… cooking?"
"Lord Kurama! You're back!" Karura said enthusiastically. "We're making a feast!"
And so, the four of them had a luxurious dinner.
That night.
Tsunade hadn't returned.
Kurama was just about to settle in when he heard soft footsteps outside his door.
When he opened it, he saw Mikoto and Kushina standing there.
"Hey, hey… What are you two doing?"
Kushina smirked and shoved Mikoto inside before stepping in herself, shutting the door behind her.
Mikoto said nothing, her face flushed with embarrassment.
"You're not getting away tonight."
Time passed. Things changed.
Uchiha Obito and Nohara Rin had become Chūnin.
Hatake Kakashi had already made Jōnin due to his exceptional performance.
The first of his generation to do so.
Kurama no longer served as their Jōnin sensei.
Instead, he led his own elite squad.
One particular mission took them deep into the Land of Earth.
"Kurama-sensei, we've arrived in Iwagakure territory," Rin reported.
Their objective: capture the Five-Tails.
Its Jinchūriki was a Rock shinobi.
The situation was amusing in a way. Kurama had originally learned about the Four-Tails' Jinchūriki from Cloud shinobi.
Now, it was those same Cloud shinobi who had tracked down the Five-Tails.
The Third Raikage had been thrilled when he heard Kurama had captured the Four-Tails' host.
After all, Cloud had no tailed beasts.
And if they couldn't have one, then no one else should either.
The more other villages lost their tailed beasts, the more advantage Cloud gained.
Kurama's mission aligned with their interests, so they provided information eagerly.
"A, any updates on the other Jinchūriki?"
The massive Cloud shinobi, A, shook his head. "The Six-Tails is in the Land of Water, but we don't know if it's wild or sealed inside a host."
"And the Seven-Tails?"
"That one's even harder to track. It's outside the Five Great Nations. We don't even know if a Jinchūriki exists."
The Third Raikage tapped his fingers against his desk. "Keep digging. Report back when you learn more."
Cloud was putting significant resources into tracking down tailed beasts.
Almost more effort than Kurama himself.
"Brother Kurama," the Raikage said with a smirk. "We at Cloud will do everything we can to help you find the tailed beasts. Don't let us down."
Kurama simply smirked back.
Forging ties with Kurama, in the Raikage's mind, was a wise move.
According to Anbu intelligence, Rock's Five-Tails Jinchūriki, Han, was currently on a mission.
The target was moving with a squad.
A team of at least three.
No more than ten.
They had left Iwagakure but were still within Earth Country.
Under the full moon, Kurama and his team lay in wait.
"Kurama-sensei, will the target really show?" Rin asked curiously.
"What's wrong, don't trust me?"
"No, no! I was just surprised."
Her flustered expression was undeniably cute.
Kurama, however, had already sensed several abnormal chakra signatures approaching.
He grinned.
"The prey has arrived."
--------
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