Chapter 74: Turtle Soup
Takara looked at Schwi's puppet, which remained motionless no matter how much chakra he infused or how many half-melted parts he replaced, letting out a sigh of regret.
"At least I managed to obtain not just the two-tailed beasts, but I even picked up Matatabi's egg," he consoled himself.
After rescuing Killer B, who was on the brink of death (he didn't even know how he did it), and surveying the surroundings, Takara noticed something odd in the melted part of the mountain. After investigating a bit, he discovered the egg inside.
Was it its original hiding place, only emerging when the attack happened?
Was Kumogakure hiding it nearby in case Yugito fell during a mission?
He had no idea, but he took it anyway.
All that was left was Gyuki's egg and Kokuo's egg.
He spent a few hours looking around with the few puppets that survived the bombardment (yes, the puppets were still fighting to hold people off and received friendly fire), but there was no trace of a single survivor.
He regretted a bit that the Raikage's office was destroyed as well, as there might have been useful documents.
In any case, he knew the approximate location of the giant turtle Genbu.
To be honest, Takara almost expected the damn turtle to somehow know what had happened, but after three days of searching the sea, he finally located it.
For a moment, he even thought it might have sunk into the sea to hide for a while—didn't it do that because of the ecosystem formed on its back?
Genbu didn't seem to want to welcome a stranger, but it didn't matter, as with its colossal size it simply couldn't take measures against something as small and agile as him.
It was interesting that there were still Kumo ninjas on its back, unaware of their village's fate—maybe they were stationary lookouts?
In any case, they couldn't find him no matter how hard they searched, and it took Takara less than an hour to find his target, though it was behind a certain waterfall he didn't want to deal with.
He summoned Haku and froze the waterfall before breaking through the ice wall with a single strike.
"The aesthetic sense of those who carved this place is simply dreadful," he commented aloud as he flew around, trying to pinpoint where the trace of Gyuki's egg was coming from.
It didn't matter if it was the statues, murals, or other decorations; they seemed more suited to become part of a haunted house than an important temple for perfecting jinchuriki.
"Hmm, it feels stronger down the right path..."
Takara could hear some noises coming from the entrance as he advanced through the ruins. Probably the last Kumo ninjas discovered the frozen waterfall and were trying to enter to find the culprit.
He wasn't worried. Setting aside that Haku was still blocking the path, even if they entered, he could take them out using the Truth-Seeking Balls.
He didn't even need to use his time manipulation powers on those losers!
"It seems to be this place," Takara stopped in front of a room whose interior was completely glowing with some kind of energy. "Gyuki's egg is right beneath this room."
Was it being used as a battery, imitating the people of Konoha?
"Wow, the people of Kumo really can steal anything. They're known for taking bloodline limits, but it seems they'll also shamelessly copy some ideas."
He released some noxins, but they couldn't find a passage or staircase leading down to the egg's position.
Was it in some kind of hidden room?
"Wait, I remember that the Konoha Forest of Death was being influenced by the energy of the Kyubi egg"Takara suddenly realized something"Did Genbu manage to grow so big and live to this day because he also passively fed on the Kyubi egg? Gyuki egg?
It seemed quite feasible...
Although that meant that this egg would arrive here generations and would most likely kill Genbu upon extracting it, as it could also be the reason why he is able to continue living.
"I don't know if the meat of a turtle like that is still edible," she wondered absently.
The Truth Seeking Balls transformed into all kinds of heavy excavation machinery, digging through the ruins without worrying about destroying a historical construction.
The island, or rather the giant turtle, shook as if it had realized what it was doing and noticed that the ground level was beginning to drop from its flight level.
"Are you panicking and prioritizing his life?
Normal enough, but if she hoped to use seawater to stop him, his hopes were destined to be destroyed.
Takara made a time bubble where time inside passes faster than time outside and in less than two minutes, he was able to reach the egg.
"Just as she suspected, there are all kinds of veins and flesh attached to the biju egg.
He himself wielded the needle sword to directly sever any connection, not caring if there was any meat stuck to the egg, and stored it in his workshop for later sealing, during which he would recycle the Eight-Tails.
After canceling the time bubble and resuming the flow of normal time, Takara could visibly see how the surrounding flesh, lively until a second ago, began to dry out and turn gray.
Madara must have felt something like that when he disconnected from the tube on his back?
Forming a large black drill with the Truth Seeking Balls, he pierced the roof of the ruins and after picking up the Haku puppet that was surrounded by some broken ice human statues, he left the "island" that would sink into the sea. never to be seen again.
He was now closer than ever to finishing his plan, but at the same time, he was still far from finishing it because he didn't have the slightest clue as to where the remaining biju egg was.
Should he go back to exploring the Land of Water or think of another plan?
One second…
"Didn't Katsuyu say he knew where they were?"
He just had to ask her and cross his fingers!