New Developments

'Okay then . . . I'm actually wondering what they could possibly want . . .' Shiki though after receiving the message.

Arriving at the agreed upon meeting spot, Shiki found Yagura and Mei waiting for him.

"Hello again. I have to admit I didn't expect to hear from you so soon. I thought you'd be quite busy settling the unrest caused by this unfortunate civil war." Shiki greeted.

"You're absolutely right right Shiki-san but there are urgent matters to discuss." Mei replied.

Shiki raised his brow at this.

"Let's hear it then." He said.

"We'd like a more integrated relationship with Mugetsu." Mei continued.

"How so?" Shiki asked for clarification.

"Most of the newly formed government of Kiri is advocating for us to keep ourselves separated from Mugetsu, an ally but not a fully invested one, much less a subordinate relationship." Mei explained.

"But Yagura-sama and I disagree with that course of action." She confessed.

"However, Yagura-sama's survival must remain a secret and even as the Mizukage, I cannot ignore the rest of the council." Mei continued.

"That's why were taking matters into our own hands." Yagura said

"We wish to fully join Mugetsu. We'll swear all the oath needed from your members and hope that by doing so we can guide the more independent members of Kiri down the right path, one that won't lead to the village standing against you." He finished.

"Hmm . . ." Shiki started to ponder.

'Having both of them join can bring me a lot of benefits . . . Kiri's control will be that much tighter as well . . . Having a jinchuuriki on my side might even help me in . . . other ways. This might result in some changes to my final plan buto bad ones by any stretch . . .' He considered.

"Very well then, swear the oath." Shiki accepted their request to join and had them swear the oath to join the organization, with a Soul Contract Tag.

"Alright. Since you're both full members now, you should get the usual tour of our Hq and the benefit package that everyone who joins the Core Member roster gets." Shiki informed.

"I have to admit. I am looking forward to seeing the inner workings of an organization that rose to the level of world power in such a short timespan." Mei commented.

"Same here." Yagura agreed.

"Great. Because you're about to." Shiki declared before teleporting all of them to the Desert Fortress.

Needless to say, whatever it was that the Kiri duo was expecting, it certainly did not reach the level of what they actually saw, it wasn't even close.

"I now know why Mugetsu could rise to the level of a world power so fast." Mei declared.

"True. No matter how good the leadership is, there are always limitations in terms of resources but with this . . . well, I feel our decision to join was for smarter than we initially thought." Yagura supported.

"Alright, you got the tour and the enhancement so Mei can go back and resume your work. I'll see you soon." Shiki directed.

"Got it. As the Mizukage, I can't really be away for long at a time like this." Mei agreed before leaving.

"As for you Yagura, we have to talk." Shiki continued.

"Sure. What about?"

"I want to talk with Isobu." Shiki declared.

*

Meanwhile, at another location, a masked man with a sharingan was speaking to pair of shinobi and kunoichi about the recent events in the Land of Water . . .

"It seems control of Kirigakure has been lost, along with the Three Tails." An orange haired man spoke calmly to the masked man.

"Yes, it seems Mugetsu interfered with our business once again." The masked man replied.

"As for the Three Tails, its capture its not urgent. All the beasts need to be acquired in order so we have time for it to resurface after the death of the 4th Mizukage." He continued.

"What about Mugetsu?" The kunoichi accompanying the orange haired man, a blue haired woman, asked."

"Hmm . . . They are becoming far too troublesome lately but we have learned of their leader's identity however." The masked man replied.

"The Reaper, a former Konohagakure Anbu member. It seems he had been developing the organization even before his election." He revealed.

"Konohagakure . . ." The orange haired man muttered.

"It seems we need to plan a counterattack on them." The masked man continued, ignoring the mutterings.

"Mugetsu cannot be allowed to continue interfering with our plans." He declared.

"I will take care of it . . ." The oranged haired man slowly said.

"Do not underestimate Mugetsu, all of their top members are tough pills to swallow." The masked man warned.

"There's no need for concern. Pain has never lost a battle." The blue haired woman interjected.

*chuckle* "I guess that is true isn't it." The masked man replied before disappearing into nothing.

*

Back to Shiki who was as of yet unaware of the Akatsuki's planned response, even if he suspected it would happen. He was now in Yagura's mindspace, facing a giant turtle shaped monster, the Three Tails, also known as Isobu.

"You can't be serious!" Isobu said with disbelief.

"Oh but I am." Shiki replied.

"You're insane! An utter lunatic!" Isobu insisted.

"Maybe so, but so often does the line between madness and genius blur." Shiki shrugged.

"You're also a narcissistic bastard." Isobu fired back.

"Can't really argue with that one." Shiki gave it to Isobu.

"So let me get this straight . . ." The tailed beast tried to recap.

"Go ahead." Shiki replied.

"That Akatsuki organization that was controlling Yagura and me want to capture me and my siblings in order to revive the Ten Tails that the Six Paths old man sealed into himself before splitting it into us on his deathbed." Isobu started.

"Yep."

"Seems like a stupid idea to me but I've learned that humans tend to have those more often that not so it's plenty believable, specially considering that one of them has the old man's eyes. But . . ." Isobu paused.

"You actually want them to succeed, after which you're planning on capturing it because its true form is actually the old man's mother and you want to ask her about her clan, a clan of aliens from among the stars, is coming to this world to finish what she started and take all of its chakra away."

"Do you realize how delusional that sounds!?" Isobu questioned.

"Yes I do but the Soul Contract doesn't really allow neither of us to lie. Besides, I assure you I have made preparations to weaken her like draining half of each of you siblings' powers." Shiki explained.

"Wait, that was you!?" Isobu was shocked.

"Yeah, I'm pretty good right?" Shiki bragged.

"You planning on giving it back?" The tailed beast asked.

"Not really but I could take almost everything if I wanted so you should know I don't really mean any harm to you all. I just didn't want to leave things up to chance, I need assurances. Even if you don't cooperate I have ways of getting things done." Shiki said.

"In other words, if we don't cooperate, you'll do it without us and in a way we might like even less." Isobu inquired.

"Pretty much." Shiki admitted.

"Look, you've mostly convinced me but I need to talk with the others." Isobu said.

"Go ahead. I'll be visiting the other jinchuuriki though so you just need to tell them the basics and I'll explain the rest we I actually meet them." Shiki acquiesced.

"Alright. You've got yourself a deal. I sure hope your crazy plan works. Especially the part that saves our hide from certain doom by becoming a part of the Ten Tails." Isobu conceded.

"Excellent! And don't worry, everything is under control." Shiki assured.

And so, a secret deal had be settled between Shiki and Isobu and soon, the deal would be extended to the rest of the tailed beasts.

'That went better than expected.' Shiki thought to himself, Yagura of course, knew the whole thing but his oath of joining meant that he would have to comply regardless so he just let Isobu make his own decision.

Now, to supplement the illusion that Yagura was dead and to give the Akatsuki a Three Tails to capture without losing Yagura, a plan was set in motion.

Isobu would be extracted while all the enhancements Yagura received upon joining Mugetsu would keep him alive long enough for a suitable replacement to take its place, thus saving his life. That replacement, would be the Tailed Beast Image of Isobu present in the Tailed Beast scroll.

"So how is this going to go?" Yagura asked.

"You'll unlock the seal and I'll extract Isobu and deliver him to wherever he wishes to go, after that, I'll seal the image in it place. Take care though, controlling the power will not be nearly as easy without the assistance of your partner." Shiki explained.

"Got it." Yagura replied as he took a deep breath.

The procedure was tough to endure for the former Mizukage but nothing he couldn't handle and it was undertaken without incident.

In the Yagura, after saying his goodbyes, Yagura decided to spend some time getting used to his new set of abilities using the fortresses training rooms while Isobu was taken to the lake he was actually found in during Shippuden.

Apparently it was one of its favourite places for whatever reason.

Now that that was all taken care of however, Shiki turned his attention to other matters, namely, the S-Grade Zetsu Serum.

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P.a.t.r.e.o.n is officially up!

The link is: https://www.p.a.t.r.e.o.n.com/lusoba without the extra dots of course.

You'll get to read up to FOUR week ahead, a full month, but I'll still post here.

There's also my other novel Archon of DanMachi, do check it out!

I would greatly appreciate any support since this is going to be my breadwinner.