Naruto: Unlocking Kaido Template

"Clang!"

The sickle struck a rock, and the splashing water echoed with a dull sound. Still, this method wasn't going to catch the Three-Tails.

"Tch, did that thing slip into another dimension? Wild tailed beasts are always a pain in the ass." Hidan frowned. He really didn't want to admit it, but yeah, this was gonna be another pain.

He swam upward through the lake, arms flailing like a goose that had been plucked and tossed into water—definitely not a graceful sight.

"We gotta find a way to lure the Three-Tails out. Charging into some alternate dimension just to fight it? Not a great idea." Hidan flicked his soaked necklace aside, the symbol of his evil god dangling as he slicked his silver hair back into a loose bun.

"Looks like senpai forgot how to use his brain again. Should we switch targets, then?" Tobi said, twisting and contorting his body with exaggerated clown-like antics. Even circus performers couldn't match his ridiculous movements.

Hidan didn't bother replying. Thinking wasn't his forte. He barely even remembered the mission details half the time. He was a brute, a musclehead. If he ever got put in charge of a mission, the entire squad would probably die before lunch.

---

At the same time, Yakushi Kabuto, always one to enjoy grave-digging more than combat, ran into an old face.

He was holed up in a cave—cold, damp, dark. Maybe it was Orochimaru's influence, but Kabuto's hideouts always had this funeral-home vibe. Then again, he was basically running a one-man corpse retrieval business.

A woman with bluish-purple hair stood at the entrance. She wore a light green robe, her figure wrapped in a shimmering aura of pink crystals. Her face was stone cold, eyes locked on Kabuto with visible disdain.

Kabuto, wearing a crimson hooded cloak, was hunched over a small notebook. He was jotting down corpse locations and tagging them with rough notes.

The two just stood there in silence, an awkward and heavy tension building between them.

Closing the notebook, Kabuto straightened up and gripped a small metal spatula in his hand. His eyes narrowed slightly.

"Guren, why are you here?" he asked.

He knew her well—Guren, once a candidate for Orochimaru's next vessel. But ever since Orochimaru brought Uzumaki Zixu into the lab, Guren grew hostile. She thought Zixu wasn't worthy of Orochimaru's admiration. That jealousy slowly faded, though, after she secretly witnessed Zixu's terrifying abilities.

"We don't have ties anymore," Kabuto said flatly. "Everyone's gone off to do their own thing. Why are you here looking for me?"

Guren rolled her shoulders, scattering pink crystal fragments to the floor.

"You're here for the Three-Tails, aren't you?" she asked sharply. Guren was the ice queen type—stoic, sharp-tongued, and not one for pleasantries. She had no intention of sugarcoating anything just because Kabuto used to be a colleague.

"Three-Tails? Why would I want that thing?" Kabuto raised an eyebrow. "It's just a beast. Not half as interesting as digging up ancient corpses."

"Orochimaru-sama wouldn't—" Guren started, but Kabuto cut in.

"Impossible. Orochimaru-sama's moved past the tailed beasts. He's pursuing a higher evolution now. I don't know what it is exactly, but it sure as hell isn't the Three-Tails."

Guren narrowed her eyes, clearly not buying it. But Kabuto shrugged.

"Believe what you want. I don't feel like fighting here. Too many eyes around. I've got work to do, and you showing up just makes things harder."

She stared him down a bit longer, then scoffed. The red crystals surrounding her shattered, and without another word, she turned and left.

Kabuto watched her go, then pushed his slipping glasses up the bridge of his nose, thoughtful.

"That was weird... she seemed pretty focused on the Three-Tails. That thing's just a living weapon—who the hell would care about it emotionally? What's her angle?"

But he shook the thought off.

"Whatever. Doesn't interfere with grave-digging, so it's none of my business."

---

Guren didn't head straight back. She wandered through the ruins, weaving between trees and rocks. After ensuring no summon beasts or trackers were tailing her, she relaxed and changed direction toward her hideout.

What she didn't know was that she was being followed—by a shadow clone of Uzumaki Zixu.

Zixu himself couldn't leave Sky City, the airborne fortress of the Uzumaki Clan in Whirlpool Country. He needed him to operate the massive war engine. Unless it was urgent, the original Zixu wasn't going anywhere.

Besides, Sky City could vaporize enemies from orbit with chakra-powered lasers. No need for him to move an inch.

But for smaller operations, he dispatched his clones—perfect substitutes with enough power to get things done.

"Just as the original predicted... Akatsuki's moving to collect the tailed beasts. The Three-Tails is the easiest catch—it's wild and alone." Zixu's clone crouched on a tree branch, eyes on Guren as she moved below.

He'd confirmed it: Guren had ties to the Three-Tails. The beast was hiding in a separate dimension, and it wasn't going to come out with brute force. Still, Zixu had no idea that the Akatsuki had already reached the lake where the Three-Tails was sealed.

To him, protecting the Three-Tails meant seizing it before Akatsuki did.

So in his mind:

"Stop Akatsuki = save Three-Tails = beat it up and take it = now it's mine = Akatsuki's trying to rob me = I'm just defending myself."

In other words, the Three-Tails already belonged to him.

He trailed Guren until she arrived at a small wooden cabin nestled deep in the woods. Outside bloomed rows of pink camellias, fresh and shy like a young girl stepping into the world for the first time—curious, timid, and full of innocence.

A boy with chestnut-brown hair and soft purple eyes crouched by the camellias, eyes fixated on the flowers like they were the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

Guren paused. She scanned the area again and, once sure no one was watching, opened the door and stepped quietly to the boy's side.

"Youkimaru, I'm back," she said softly.

Her tone, once ice-cold with Kabuto, melted into something warm and gentle. Her entire aura changed—motherly, protective.

The boy, Youkimaru, looked up and smiled, radiating a purity that couldn't be faked.

"Mm-hmm," he hummed.

The clone observing from afar tilted his head. He couldn't make sense of their connection. Was this about the Three-Tails? Didn't seem like it.

As he pondered, a tree nearby began to shift unnaturally. Slowly...a human face emerged from its trunk.

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