The ground split open, and a massive amount of sand surged forth. Shukaku's colossal body once again appeared before me.
"What do you want by calling me out?" Shukaku asked curiously, head tilted to one side. "Planning our next battle already?"
"You seem eager," I said. "Enjoyed our little rampage today, did you?"
Shukaku's sand mouth curved into what might have been a grin. "Did you see how those Suna ninjas scattered seeing me? Hahaha!"
"Yes, your performance was certainly memorable," I replied with a slight smile. "But actually, you're free now. Go wherever you like."
To be honest, I actually had a soft spot for this big tanuki. He wasn't noisy or troublesome, could assist in battle, and our interactions thus far had been pleasant—I even fed him sometimes.
Not fallen Suna ninjas, mind you, just regular tanuki food like fruit and fish... only in mountain-sized portions. It always made me wonder why a being made of pure chakra would suddenly decide to eat anything at all.
Shukaku didn't actually need food.
Chakra entities didn't get hungry like humans do, yet he'd occasionally demand these enormous feasts like it was some kind of bizarre hobby. This led to another puzzling question: did he need to... relieve himself?
And if so, what would a tailed beast's droppings even look like? Glowing chakra pellets? A miniature Tailed Beast Ball?
Anyway, I understood how precious freedom was to a sentient being, and no matter how useful our alliance had been, keeping Shukaku bound to me against his will would make me no better than the jinchūriki system I found so distasteful.
Even pragmatism had its limits, unless... well, there were exceptions to everything.
What I didn't expect was Shukaku staring at me wide-eyed and blurting out, "Are you kicking me out?"
I was confused by his train of thought and carefully responded, "What do you mean?"
Shukaku plopped onto the ground. "I'm staying with you. Didn't you say we're partners now?"
"Uh, I meant 'partners' as in allies, but... sure, why not?"
Although we had initially teamed up out of necessity, we had since fought side by side on the battlefield, making us comrades in arms. So I agreed to his request.
"If you want to stay with me, you're more than welcome."
I noticed Shukaku grinning broadly, his eyes narrowed into slits, and his tail wagging uncontrollably. He seemed completely lost in some private fantasy. Occasional snickers escaped him, and his paws made small grabbing motions in the air.
Whatever he was imagining, it had to be quite the scenario.
No response. The tanuki continued his silent celebration, completely oblivious.
Finally, I leapt onto his head and gave it a good punch. Sand particles exploded outward from the impact point, briefly forming a crown-like pattern in the air.
"Shukaku! Snap out of it!"
"Welcome back to the Bad Place. Enjoyed your little vacation to the Good Place?"
"I was just... planning strategic future operations." Shukaku replied with a poker face.
"You can follow me, but you're way too big. My house can't fit you."
"Are you calling me fat?" Shukaku asked, sounding offended.
"Not fat. Just approximately the size of a small building... Oh, yeah, you are fat, at least for my house."
"Your human dwellings are just cramped," he conceded, though his tails twitched with irritation.
But then, I recalled that tailed beasts could change their size. I remembered that Kurama had significantly shrunk after Minato used the Dead Demon Consuming Seal to split its chakra in half. Size manipulation didn't seem to be an inherent limitation but rather a function of chakra distribution. So, If Kurama could be halved and contained, surely Shukaku has similar flexibility.
"There must be a way to address this size discrepancy without resorting to traditional sealing methods," I mused aloud, hoping Shukaku would catch my hint.
"Oh, that's easy. I'll just transfer most of my chakra to you," Shukaku said nonchalantly.
"How do you plan to do that?" I asked curiously as I jumped off his head.
Shukaku didn't respond further verbally. Instead, he smirked confidently and formed the Rat hand seal.
A blue glow enveloped his body, starting as a faint aura before intensifying to a brilliant radiance that illuminated the entire clearing. Then, an enormous stream of chakra surged skyward. The pillar of energy was so dense it seemed almost solid.
"Wow," I quickly activated my Rikugan, observing everything. Chakra... It was beautiful. Colors that had no name in human language flashed across my vision.
It looked as if a mighty river of energy was pouring into me, shimmering like a distant stars. The chakra felt different from my own—wilder, yet strangely harmonious as it merged with my system.
Then, the mood was broken as a series of black, tadpole-like sealing patterns crawled over the chakra flow, slowly compressing the massive energy.
The patterns multiplied and interwove, forming increasingly complex designs that pulsed with each heartbeat.
Finally, a unique sealing mark formed on my abdomen.
Why unique? Because it was unlike the Uzumaki clan's signature spiral seals. This was Shukaku's own seal.
The pattern, resembling the dark blue cursed seal on his body, looked like a blooming flower with twelve delicate petals. At its center, a small diamond housed a miniature representation of Shukaku's eye, giving the unsettling impression that it occasionally blinked when I wasn't looking directly at it.
Guess I couldn't apply for government jobs now. Or visit hot springs without causing a panic. Or go swimming at public pools. Or change shirts in front of others... ehm, why did I even need to change shirts in front of others anyway?
At the same time, with a "poof," Shukaku's gigantic body shrank dramatically. He was now about the size of a regular chinchilla.
"Done!" he shouted, but unlike the deep voice he had when he was large, his voice now had a higher pitch. To me, it sounded a lot like a duck.
"That's quite the voice you have there."
"What? What's wrong with my voice?" Shukaku demanded indignantly.
"Nothing at all. It's like Donald D.'s—you know, distinctive and memorable," I assured him innocently.
Shukaku eyed me suspiciously. "You're mocking me, aren't you?"
"No, Donald was just very popular and..." I trailed off, seeing his expression darken.
After a moment of glaring, Shukaku suddenly changed the subject. "I've given you 90% of my chakra. Feel free to use it however you want," he said generously, waving a tiny paw.
"That's remarkably generous. Are you sure you can spare so much?" I asked, impressed by his offer.
"The great Shukaku is nothing if not magnanimous!" he proclaimed proudly. "Besides, I'll regenerate it eventually."
I knew that a tailed beast's chakra wasn't inexhaustible. If a tailed beast used up too much chakra, it would need time to replenish it. However, since it was extremely rare for a tailed beast to completely deplete its chakra, the myth that their chakra was limitless had spread across the shinobi world.
I felt the seal and chakra within my body and opened my system interface to check my status—and to log in for the day like a good boy.
[Name: Aotsuki Ryouma]
[Skills: Transfer Seal - Ōtoshi (One-time Use), Magnet Release (Unlocking development), Grand Flame Rasengan, Burning Wind Explosion, Flying Finger Gun: Rasengan, Rasengan Spheres, Bullet Rain, Thunder Gun...]
[Wish Rewards: Rikugan, Full Counter]
[Mail: No New Messages]
Unlike a jinchūriki, I didn't just seal Shukaku's chakra but had it gifted to me. This meant I had full control over the chakra, surpassing his own authority. However, I couldn't use certain tailed beast abilities, such as Tailed Beast Ball or chakra cloaks, like other jinchūriki could. Yet how was I so certain about these limitations? Was it because of the Rikugan's analysis ability or something the system had indirectly revealed?
Anyway, the only exception was Magnet Release, which was an inherent trait of his chakra. This would give me control over magnetic forces—affecting metals, manipulating iron sand, and potentially even influencing the iron in blood... ok, maybe not.
Magnets didn't attract iron in blood because the iron was spread throughout the body in small quantities. Furthermore, hemoglobin molecules, which contained iron, actually repelled magnets when attached to oxygen. And blood was mostly composed of water anyway, which itself had diamagnetic properties that repelled magnetic fields.
Although I couldn't achieve the deep physical and mental bond jinchūriki shared with their tailed beasts, the arrangement had its benefits—both Shukaku and I retained our privacy. Moreover, the seal imposed no restrictions and could be undone at any time, avoiding any "death equals mutual destruction" scenarios.
"Impressive work, Shukaku. Where did you learn such advanced sealing techniques?" I asked, genuinely curious. It was no empty flattery. I had assumed it was an innate ability, but that didn't seem to be the case.
Hearing my compliment, Shukaku crossed his stubby arms and puffed out his chest proudly. Despite his diminutive size, his ego remained as massive as his original form.
"Now you see how awesome I am. Well, since we're partners, I guess I can tell you."
I glanced at the setting sun. It was getting late.
"We should head back," I said thoughtfully. Squatting down, I extended my right hand toward Shukaku. "Can you tell me about it on the way back?"
With his newly pitched "duck voice," Shukaku let out an odd screech, climbing up my outstretched hand to perch on my shoulder.
So, as we walked back to the camp, he spoke, "Let me tell you, it was a long, long time ago. Back then..."