Chapter 99: When the Little Raccoon Meets Little Axle - The White Eyed Princess of Konoha

Chapter 99: When the Little Raccoon Meets Little Axle Gaara's gaze sharply shifted to the girl with the white eyes chasing after Sasuke. Or rather, it was Shukaku within Gaara, directing his eyes toward Hinata. The nine-tailed beasts... all originated from the Ten-Tails. Back when they formed the Ten-Tails, they perhaps had no self-awareness, no memories. But when the Sage of the Six Paths separated them from the Ten-Tails, each beast inherited some memories from their former self. These were memories etched deeply into their souls. For instance... a certain woman with white eyes, much like Hinata's! The first time Shukaku encountered Hinata was in the Forest of Death. Unlike other ninjas of the Hyūga clan, due to a wish made before traversing realities, Hinata's Otsutsuki bloodline had already awakened within her, starting its self-revival. In that forest, Shukaku sensed the power of the Ōtsutsuki clan and dared not emerge. There was a faint presence of the God Tree's power within Hinata's body. If the Byakugan is an inheritance from the Ōtsutsuki, then the Sharingan is an inheritance from the God Tree. Hence, although Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki was the elder brother, his younger brother, Hamura Ōtsutsuki, rightly belonged to a pure-blooded Ōtsutsuki lineage. This means the Hyūga family could be considered the main family line of the Ōtsutsuki. Despite Kaguya Ōtsutsuki being the progenitor of chakra, her Byakugan never evolved into the Tenseigan. Thus, some power from the God Tree is indeed inherent in the Tenseigan. If the Rinnegan is activated primarily by the power of the God Tree, supplemented by the Ōtsutsuki power, then the Tenseigan awakens mainly through the power of the Ōtsutsuki, supplemented by the God Tree. When Kaguya consumed the God Tree's fruit, its power instantly became dominant, thus she awakened the Rinne Sharingan with nine tomoe. Initially, in the Forest of Death, Shukaku was frightened to sense both 'Ōtsutsuki' and 'God Tree' powers in Hinata. However, after a few encounters between Gaara and Hinata, Shukaku realized Hinata's power was still quite weak. "Ha ha ha ha!" Gaara burst into raucous laughter. Whether it was Gaara or Shukaku laughing, it was hard to tell. As Hinata and her group of six reached Sasuke, Sasuke looked at Hinata and asked, "This guy seems off. What should we do?" "Byakugan!" Hinata focused her chakra into her Byakugan, and without turning her head, the visual prowess penetrated the Eight Trigrams Seal on Naruto's body to see Kurama in the metaphorical sewer. She had noticed the cracks in the Eight Trigrams Seal during her match with Naruto. Hinata took Naruto's hand. Naruto blushed intensely, looking at Hinata, shyly saying, "Hinata, you..." Ignoring him, Hinata instructed the others, "All of you, join hands!" Although confused, Sasuke and the others linked hands with Hinata and Naruto. Hinata whispered, "Calling the little fox, calling the little fox! Please... lend us some of your power!" Inside Naruto, Kurama sensed Hinata's ocular chakra and immediately roared, "Damn it! It's you!" Hinata blinked and, with an adorable voice, said, "Little fox, calm down! Lend us a bit of power, we need to deal with Shukaku." "Please, I beg you!" "We just need some shadow clones to share the power!" Adorable Prosecution Action! Kurama: "..." Fight who? Shukaku? That filthy, purple-patterned raccoon who always called me 'stinky fox'? 'Boom!' A surge of chakra burst from Naruto, enveloping Hinata, Sasuke, Shikamaru, Kiba, Rock Lee, and Shino with a red, demonic fox cloak instantly. "Tsk!" Kurama pouted pridefully, closing his eyes, choosing not to respond to Hinata anymore. Hinata smiled sweetly and said, "Thanks, little fox! I'll come to play with you sometime!" Kurama, this tsundere, indeed couldn't resist the power of cuteness, obediently lending his power. Perhaps it also had something to do with a previous beating he received from her! On the opposing side, Shukaku was thrown off balance. It seemed I've run into that stinky fox, not just one, but several of them. Could it be that my Jinchuriki is surrounded by those stinky foxes? Sage of the Six Paths, I must report, Kurama is definitely cheating! Shukaku: Should I let my Jinchuriki get beaten up by them so that I can be free? Actually, if this had been another tailed beast, Shukaku might have been tempted to let Gaara get defeated. But Kurama was different. Kurama once offended Shukaku, and not just once, but constantly. Kurama claimed that the tailed beasts' strength was ranked by the number of tails. Fine! Shukaku admitted Kurama was the strongest, but emphatically declared he was definitely not the weakest. But the crux was that in the eyes of Kurama, even in his complete form, only the Eight-Tails was noteworthy. The other seven beasts were treated as weaklings. Kurama thought of himself as the strongest, the Eight-Tails second, and didn’t give a hoot about the other 'weaklings'. Gaara emitted a sharp, screeching howl, "Kill them!" Feeling the tremendous chakra within, Sasuke and others were astounded... "This is…" Hinata explained, "This is the hidden power within Naruto. We are just borrowing it for a while." Naruto scratched his head, confused, "But... if it's my hidden power, why can all of you use it while I can't?" True enough! Hinata and the five others donned the demonic fox cloaks, while Naruto, the genuine Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, wasn't lent even a bit of power by Kurama! Hinata patted Naruto, comforting him, "Maybe Kurama doesn’t like you. But if you make friends with him, perhaps he’ll lend you power too!" Naruto nodded in vigorous agreement and went to call for Kurama. "Shino! Protect Naruto!" Hinata shouted, then commanded, "Everyone, let's go!" As Hinata had contemplated prior to pursuing Gaara, she already had a plan to deal with him. Using some adorable antics to borrow Kurama’s power. With Kurama's chakra, even rookies like Shikamaru, Shino, Rock Lee, and Kiba could unleash extraordinary strength. If Kurama hadn't lent his powers, they would have simply retreated. Fortunately, despite Kurama's aloof nature, he couldn't resist the force of charm and, hearing that their target was Shukaku, was quite agreeable. Next, they must not give Gaara the chance to fully transform into his tailed beast form. Just as they had faced Kurama before, they'd send Shukaku back into seclusion, leaving Gaara vulnerable. Then, they could take Gaara back to Konoha—and perhaps earn some rewards from the Sand Village.