The reason Uchiha Yuan specifically brought Shisui along was to let him witness the power of a Tailed Beast. A wild Tailed Beast, one not paired with a jinchūriki, wasn't something an average Kage-level ninja could handle. Seeing such a high-level battle early on would be beneficial to Shisui's growth.
An hour later, Uchiha Yuan and Uchiha Shisui arrived at the meeting point, and the three of them left Konoha together.
On the way, Uchiha Yuan couldn't help but think: last time he visited Takigakure, he ran into the Four-Tails; this time it was the Seven-Tails. This place really seemed to have a fate entwined with Tailed Beasts.
Unfortunately, based on what he remembered from the original series, the quality of Takigakure's ninja wasn't impressive.
Among them, the more powerful ones were Kakuzu and the Seven-Tails' jinchūriki, Fū.
Takigakure's next leader, Shibuki, and his teacher—the rogue ninja Suien—were probably only elite jōnin level at best. Uchiha Yuan felt they wouldn't be of much help in this mission to capture the Seven-Tails.
A few hours later, Shigeru led Uchiha Yuan and Shisui to a massive waterfall. Yuan found it familiar—it was the same place he had visited with Namikaze Minato during a previous mission, though they hadn't gone inside.
Shigeru formed hand seals and activated a secret technique on the waterfall. Its flow gradually slowed until a pitch-black cave was revealed.
Shigeru jumped into the cave first, followed closely by Yuan and Shisui.
The cave had torches burning every few meters, but there were no guards.
They walked forward and soon exited the cave, arriving inside Takigakure.
Shigeru asked Yuan and Shisui to wait a moment while he ran into the central building of the village.
Upon entering the village, Uchiha Yuan activated his Mind's Eye technique. He originally intended to sense the overall strength of the Takigakure ninjas.
As he expected, the village's overall strength wasn't impressive. Only about a dozen people had chakra levels comparable to jōnin.
There were plenty of genin and chūnin, but in large-scale warfare, those were just cannon fodder. The outcome was decided by the jōnin.
Frankly, a village like this wasn't qualified to possess a Tailed Beast.
Then again, that made sense. Otherwise, how could a Tailed Beast without a host have thrown them into such chaos?
Aside from that, Uchiha Yuan's Mind's Eye also located the Seven-Tails.
Its body resembled an insect, with both larval and adult forms. The Seven-Tails had turned itself into a larva and hidden underground.
With such massive chakra, the moment Yuan activated his technique, the Seven-Tails stood out like a beacon in the night.
A few minutes later, Takigakure's leader arrived, led by Shigeru.
Yuan glanced at the leader—he looked to be in his forties, younger than the Third Hokage.
The village leader greeted Yuan warmly.
After a short exchange, Yuan understood the reason for this enthusiasm. From the leader's words, it was clear Takigakure was exhausted from the repeated harassment and destruction caused by the Seven-Tails.
They just wanted Yuan to deal with it quickly and bring peace back to the village.
The Takigakure ninja were too weak to help. This mission, officially framed as a joint effort, was in reality entirely up to Yuan.
Yuan sighed and said to the village leader, "I've already located the Seven-Tails."
"What? You've already found it?"
"Yes. Please evacuate the villagers. The Seven-Tails is hiding right beneath the village."
The leader's face changed dramatically.
The fight would happen inside the village. That made his heart ache, but he quickly resolved himself: if destroying the village was necessary to get rid of the Seven-Tails, so be it—it could always be rebuilt.
He immediately ran off to organize the evacuation.
"Senior Yuan, how did you find the Seven-Tails so quickly?" Shisui asked curiously.
"Because its chakra is too enormous. Even while hiding underground, it was too obvious—it couldn't stay hidden from me."
"But didn't Takigakure fail to detect it?"
"That's probably because it's buried very deep—more than 200 meters down. Regular sensory ninja wouldn't notice it."
"I see. Oh, by the way, Senior Yuan—I've always wondered: is a Tailed Beast's chakra amount determined by its number of tails?" Shisui asked.
"It seems so. From the ones I've encountered so far, the One-Tail has the least chakra, and the Nine-Tails has the most. The Seven-Tails probably ranks third in chakra volume."
"So are their strength levels also based on tail count?" Shisui continued asking.
"Of course not. It's just like with humans—chakra volume doesn't equal strength."
"Then, in your opinion, how would you rank the Tailed Beasts by strength?" Shisui asked.
"The strongest is definitely the Nine-Tails. In terms of both chakra volume and combat power, it's unrivaled.
Next would be the Eight-Tails. Then the Four-Tails—its Lava Release has incredible destructive power.
After that, the Six-Tails—its acidic mist is a major threat.
Next is the Seven-Tails. With its massive chakra and flight ability, it's hard to deal with.
The remaining four are about equal: the Two-Tails is fast; the Five-Tails has a wide variety of chakra attributes; and the Three-Tails and One-Tail are powerful in specific environments," Yuan explained.
Takigakure's evacuation was fast—within ten minutes, all villagers and ninjas had cleared out.
Seeing that the area was now empty, Yuan began the operation.
He walked a few steps southwest and stood right above the Seven-Tails.
Activating Lightning Release Chakra Mode, he unleashed raging chakra that struck the sleeping Seven-Tails head-on.
The Seven-Tails was instantly jolted awake and burst out of the ground.
Feeling the terrifying chakra from the giant insect before him, Shisui couldn't help but tremble.
"Scared already? The Nine-Tails' chakra dwarfs this guy's," Yuan said with a smile.
The Seven-Tails looked at the lightning-cloaked Yuan and immediately understood it was he who attacked.
Its chakra surged, and in an instant, it shifted from its larval form into the full Seven-Tails form seen in the original series.
"This is the first time I've seen such a huge bug. Honestly, you're really ugly!" Yuan said, watching the winged beast float midair.
Enraged by the insult, the Seven-Tails charged straight at Yuan.
(To Be Continued...)