Orochimaru was, after all, a loyal and excellent ninja. How could he forget his good friend Kurama about such a good thing?
Thus, after a puff of white smoke, the Nine-Tails, just summoned from Konoha, witnessed the intertwined entanglement between the Six-Tails, Saiken, and the Wood Dragon.
"Hahahaha..."
The Nine-Tails was chuckling, blowing bubbles in the seabed, and laughing so hard it stumbled.
"Orochimaru, ahaha..."
"If you hadn't said anything, I would have barely recognized that fellow Saiken! Hahaha..."
"It's killing me with laughter!"
"After living together for so long, I never knew that guy had such a hobby."
"Holding a wooden dragon..."
"Hehehe... No, I have to tell all the Tailed Beasts about this!"
The Nine-Tails was also one who enjoyed stirring up trouble. It immediately prepared to open the online meeting space left by the Sage of Six Paths for the Nine Tailed Beasts to share this astonishing good news with all of them.
"Wait!"
Orochimaru stifled his laughter and quickly stopped the Nine-Tails from doing something that would cause the Six-Tails to be instantly mortified.
"Kurama, the Six-Tails is currently in a state of mental pollution. If you do this, the Six-Tails will probably hate me when it wakes up!"
As he spoke, Orochimaru gestured to the dark chakra tendrils that were absorbing the negative energy from Saiken.
It was clear that the Six-Tails would wake up not long from now.
"Hmm..."
"That's true..."
Perhaps feeling that Orochimaru's words made sense, the Nine-Tails finally stopped laughing.
However, the Nine-Tails was still the Nine-Tails. Its malicious nature was universally acknowledged among the Nine Tailed Beasts.
Its eyes rolled, and a wicked idea suddenly popped into its head.
"Ah, right!"
"I remember that there's a senjutsu in Ryūchidō that can record images, right? It's called..."
"Is it called 'Mind Wave'?"
"Orochimaru, can you use it?"
Orochimaru was quite surprised by the Nine-Tails' good memory and nodded with a smile.
"I only saw the White Snake Sage use it once in Ryūchidō, and you remember it so clearly. That's rare."
"Mind Wave! I actually know a little bit about that!"
Seeing that Orochimaru admitted he could use the Mind Wave, the Nine-Tails' eyes lit up as it stared at Saiken, who was currently entangled with the Wood Dragon.
"Hurry and record this scene. If the Six-Tails doesn't listen to me one day, I'll use this to scare it!"
Orochimaru's mouth twitched. After serious consideration, he found that the Nine-Tails' suggestion was indeed a good idea.
"Alright then!"
"But first, let's agree that you can't say I helped you with this!"
The Nine-Tails nodded eagerly in agreement.
"I promise not to betray you in front of the Six-Tails, alright?"
"Hurry up! It'll be too late once it reacts!"
Under the Nine-Tails' repeated urging and promises, Orochimaru decided to trust it this once.
The senjutsu chakra flowed in his eyes, and he easily recorded the scene before him.
"Sage Art - Mind Wave!"
A ghostly image emerged from the entwined bodies of the Six-Tails and the Wood Dragon, slowly coalescing into a clear picture above.
The wriggling body of the Six-Tails, the strange sounds of friction against the rigid wooden dragon's body...
These eye-watering scenes were perfectly imprinted by Orochimaru using the Mind Wave.
With a beckoning gesture, the image dispersed into a ball of senjutsu chakra, which Orochimaru collected in his hand.
The Nine-Tails eagerly came closer, snatched it, and swallowed it.
"Heh, that's great!"
"From now on, if anything like this happens, inform me immediately."
"Perhaps in the future, I can collect all sorts of interesting things that happen to the Tailed Beasts, and then one day..."
"Ah hehe..."
Coincidentally, just as the Nine-Tails swallowed the Mind Wave recording Saiken's embarrassing moment, the void entwined around Saiken sent back a signal that the negative energy had been completely absorbed.
Orochimaru's mind moved, and he retracted the dark chakra.
"Kurama, it's waking up!"
The Nine-Tails nodded with a mischievous grin, eagerly awaiting what would happen next.
"Huh?"
A confused, androgynous voice sounded. Saiken, bewildered, sensed the Wood Dragon entangled with its body.
"Is this Hashirama Senju's Wood Style?"
"What powerful life force!"
The Nine-Tails chuckled and ran to Saiken's side, poking the Six-Tails, who was wondering why it was once again bound by Wood Style.
"Hey! Old Six, look here!"
The name "Old Six" startled Saiken. Its tentacles swayed slightly, and it immediately recognized the chakra fluctuations from the Nine-Tails.
"Kurama?"
"Why are you here?"
"And why am I here? And bound by Hashirama Senju's Wood Dragon Technique?"
Speaking of Hashirama's Wood Style, the Nine-Tails was also quite puzzled.
How could Orochimaru use Wood Style after only two days?
Didn't he say he had already sent out all of Ashura's chakra?
This guy must be holding back!
And what about that mark on his forehead, a black circle with a dot inside? When did it appear? What did it represent?
The Nine-Tails didn't know any of this.
But it didn't matter. The Nine-Tails declared that the current focus was not on trivial matters.
"Saiken, don't ask so many questions for now. I have something good for you, do you want to see it?"
Before Orochimaru could object, the Nine-Tails pulled out the ball of senjutsu chakra it had just swallowed and mysteriously brought it close to Saiken's tentacles.
"What good thing?"
"Such pure natural energy, Kurama, is it a gift for me?"
"Thank you!"
Saiken, not yet sensing the Nine-Tails' deep malice, thought it was receiving a gift from its elder brother as soon as it woke up!
It politely thanked the Nine-Tails!
If it were anyone else, seeing how well-behaved Saiken was, they would probably feel too embarrassed to continue teasing it.
But who was the Nine-Tails?
The words "embarrassed" and "shy" were not in its vocabulary!
"Hehe, you'll know once you see it!"
The Nine-Tails grinned wickedly, and a ball of chakra appeared on its paw, activating the contents of the Mind Wave.
"Want... to mate... like..."
"Life force..."
Although Saiken couldn't see the image, it could hear the murmurs that only Tailed Beasts could understand...
At this moment, the Nine-Tails' integrity and Saiken's sanity shattered simultaneously, beyond any hope of piecing them back together.
The Six-Tails, Saiken, lay stunned on the Wood Dragon, its two pairs of tentacles as if petrified, remaining motionless for a long time.
"Huh? Saiken, are you asleep?"
"Or did you faint from the surprise?"
The Nine-Tails contentedly put away the precious visual data and seemed to ask the petrified Saiken with feigned concern.
"Ku-ra-ma!"
Saiken roared, and spat a glob of viscous saliva at the Nine-Tails.
"Go to hell!"
The Nine-Tails hadn't expected such a strong reaction from Saiken. Caught off guard, it was splattered with the highly corrosive saliva all over its face.
"Aow!"
The Nine-Tails let out a miserable cry, glaring at the Six-Tails in exasperation.
"You fellow, it was just a joke, and you're taking it seriously!"
Saiken ignored it and spat out another large mouthful of acid.
Orochimaru watched the untrustworthy Nine-Tails with a mournful expression.
What happened to keeping it a secret for personal collection?
It pulled it out immediately to provoke it. This guy was getting more shameless by the day!
"Not only did you not help at all, but you just caused trouble for me!"
"I shouldn't have called you here. What a hassle..."
"Wood Style - Yakushi Nyoi!"
Orochimaru let out a low cry. The Wood Dragon entwined around the Six-Tails twisted, instantly transforming into a tall wooden statue.
The wooden statue extended its palms, each bearing a large hand with the word "座" (zuò) in black. With one hand each, it gripped the two battling giant beasts.
The Nine-Tails let out a pained squeak as it was squeezed by the wooden statue, its limbs going limp.
The Six-Tails wasn't much better off. Its slippery body struggled, but it couldn't escape the wooden statue's grasp.
The vast chakra within both Tailed Beasts was like being connected to a high-powered water pump, one without a valve, and it was being siphoned out by the wooden statue.
"Stop fooling around!"
"Kurama, I originally wanted you to help persuade the Six-Tails to leave this sea area and live in Konoha's Forest of Death, so you and the Four-Tails would have another playmate."
"But your performance today..."
"I have to consider whether I'll bring you out with me again in the future!"
The Nine-Tails awkwardly scratched its head with its paw.
"This..."
"I, this..."
"Orochimaru, you know, I sometimes can't control my temper..."
Finding a flimsy excuse for its recent misdeeds, the Nine-Tails then cried out dramatically.
"Let me go quickly! It's too uncomfortable being held by Wood Style, my chakra is almost drained!"
Orochimaru had no good solution for this shameless fellow. He shook his head helplessly and casually threw the Nine-Tails to the seabed.
"Saiken, did you hear what I said?"
"Return to Konoha with Kurama. It will explain to you why I did this."
Unable to resist Orochimaru's Wood Style restraint and still holding a grudge against the Nine-Tails, Saiken simply remained silent.
Orochimaru glared at the Nine-Tails and controlled the wooden statue to pull Saiken closer. The light of a sealing jutsu flashed in his hand. He sealed the Six-Tails, which was almost exhausted by the wooden statue, into a ball of senjutsu chakra using the Four Symbols Seal.
He casually tossed the Poké Ball-like chakra ball to the Nine-Tails and said with a stern face.
"Dispel the summoning jutsu and take Saiken back to Konoha!"
"When I encounter the Three-Tails later, I'll call you again."
"Oh!"
"Then... I'll be going back. Don't forget to call me when the time comes!"
The Nine-Tails, looking crestfallen, took the Saiken Poké Ball from Orochimaru, obediently dispelled the summoning jutsu, and returned to Konoha.
"Sigh!"
"Kurama is becoming more and more disobedient. I need to find an opportunity to teach it a lesson."
"After the trip to the Land of Water is over, perhaps I should go to the Graveyard of Mountains."