"Hey? You wait..."
"Splash!"
"You stinky fox, if you keep this up, I'm going to get mad..."
"Splash!"
"I'm really going to get angry..."
"Splash!"
...
"Little thing, are you done so quickly?"
The Nine-Tails withdrew its claws, looking at the increasingly weak stream of water before it with disdain.
The Water Transformation Secret Technique could indeed grant immunity to physical attacks, but it had its limitations.
For instance, using Fire Style to directly evaporate the water; using Ice Style to freeze the water flow; using Lightning Style to paralyze it...
Or, like the Nine-Tails, by exceeding the recovery speed of the Water Transformation Secret Technique with destructive speed, it could forcibly deplete the chakra within Hozuki Mangetsu's body...
Hozuki Mangetsu finally understood now.
He could never have imagined why his teacher would possess such a malevolent spirit beast.
It called itself "Old Man" but showed no shame when doing malicious deeds.
"I surrender!"
Hozuki Mangetsu poked his head out of the water, dejectedly declaring his defeat.
"Caw caw!"
"Little thing, even that kid Shizune didn't dare to act so presumptuously before Old Man before he learned Wood Style."
"How long have you been with Orochimaru, yet you want Old Man to be your summoning beast right from the start? Utterly laughable!"
The Nine-Tails bared its teeth and taunted for a while, but it did not further destroy Hozuki Mangetsu's slowly recovering body.
There was plenty of time; there would be no lack of opportunities to torment this kid!
Sensing the malice in the Nine-Tails' heart, Hozuki Mangetsu shivered and looked at Orochimaru for help.
"Teacher, save me!"
"This fox wants to wait until my chakra recovers before continuing to torment me like this!"
Orochimaru's lips twitched twice, and he let out a soft sigh.
"Alas..."
"Mangetsu, are you feeling like you've seen the world now?"
"Yes, yes! I have!"
"I don't want to see anything else!"
Hozuki Mangetsu nodded hurriedly.
"Kurama, next time you discipline my disciples, remember to hide your emotions."
"Mangetsu here has a wisp of my Void Origin sealed within him, so, you understand..."
Orochimaru instructed the Nine-Tails with a knowing look and then flew towards the center of the four islands.
The Nine-Tails' eyes narrowed, and a powerful killing intent surged from the depths of its heart, directly targeting Hozuki Mangetsu, who had just regained his human form.
Hozuki Mangetsu's body stiffened, nearly melting back into a puddle of water from the sheer terror of this killing intent.
"Ah ha ha ha..."
The Nine-Tails looked at Hozuki Mangetsu's pathetic state. Its previously serious expression crumbled, and it began to laugh heartily, slapping the ground with its claws.
It seemed even more fun this way!
Orochimaru ignored the little 'interaction' between the Nine-Tails and Hozuki Mangetsu as they 'bonded', and after sensing the immense chakra slumbering in the center of the sea, he slowly descended onto the water's surface.
"The Sage of Six Paths' method of creating the Tailed Beasts is indeed formidable. Each Tailed Beast retains the same habits as creatures of the same species."
"Aside from their larger size and greater chakra reserves, the Three-Tails Isobu seems no different from an ordinary turtle."
Muttering to himself, Orochimaru decided to wake the slumbering giant below.
"Sage Art – Inorganic Reincarnation!"
He pressed his palm lightly onto the water's surface, and his surging Sage Mode chakra took control of the water beneath.
Dragon-like water pillars, transformed from the water flow, swarmed and entwined around Isobu's shell. With a powerful upward pull, the water surface began to boil, gurgling and erupting with large masses of spray.
"Splash!"
A sound of water bursting that echoed across the sea erupted, and a monstrous wave like a leviathan emerging from the water surged upwards.
Isobu's massive body, which had been retracted within its shell, shot out from the bottom of the water like a cannonball.
The sudden sense of weightlessness jolted Isobu from its slumber. Its colossal head emerged from its shell, its small eyes flashing with ferocity as it let out an enraged roar.
"Roar!"
Hozuki Mangetsu, who had been playing a 'guess what I'm thinking' game with the Nine-Tails, was startled. He turned his head to look in the direction of the roar. Upon seeing what his teacher was pulling out of the water with water currents, his jaw dropped in astonishment.
"This..."
"What a huge turtle!"
The Nine-Tails instinctively shielded Hozuki Mangetsu's body with its own and looked up at the enraged, roaring Isobu, its eyes filled with emotion.
"Even Isobu, who is usually a docile fellow who dislikes conflict, has lost its reason. How many tragedies has the Hidden Mist Village suffered over the years..."
Hozuki Mangetsu was bewildered by the Nine-Tails' sudden change in demeanor and its words of lament.
Why was this creature suddenly so compassionate?
"Little one, how many people has Orochimaru killed in the Hidden Mist?"
Hozuki Mangetsu blinked and replied softly,
"O-one!"
A hint of admiration flashed in the Nine-Tails' eyes, and it nodded gently.
"This guy has truly changed!"
"Consider yourselves fortunate for your village!"
"Those guys from the Grass Village back then, they merely captured a child of the Uzumaki clan, and their ultimate fate..."
"Including those Grass Village ninja who defected to the Land of Rain, not a single one survived."
Hozuki Mangetsu silently watched his teacher walk towards them, leading the struggling giant turtle on the surface of the water, and nodded gently.
"I am very fortunate!"
The Nine-Tails patted his head with relief, released its tail, and set him down on the ground behind it.
"Stay here and behave yourself. Old Man is going to help your teacher!"
"Roar!"
With a resounding roar, the Nine-Tails' body swelled as if inflated, rapidly transforming into a colossal fox that seemed to touch the heavens.
Its nine tail-like appendages, which obscured the sky, churned the misty clouds and instantly stretched out before the struggling Isobu, tightly locking its four limbs and three massive tails.
With a forceful tug, it directly pulled Isobu ashore, flipping it onto its back in the process.
"Thump!"
Its left leg stepped onto Isobu's shell, and its right claw swatted Isobu's head.
"Isobu, do you still recognize Old Man?"
"Roar!"
After being struck on the head, Isobu's roar grew even more enraged. Its ferocious maw opened, and it lunged to bite at the Nine-Tails' claw.
"Kurama, it's no use."
"Tailed Beasts in their wild state are mostly similar. To communicate normally, some effort is required."
"Mangetsu, come here!"
Orochimaru flew and stood on Isobu's belly, beckoning to Hozuki Mangetsu, who was staring up at the Nine-Tails' true form with a look of shock.
"Oh!"
Hozuki Mangetsu replied, taking a step at a time, his eyes glued to the majestic and imposing Nine-Tails.
"Can I also have such a powerful summoning beast like Teacher?"
"This... This is too amazing!"
Mangetsu's face was filled with longing.
Orochimaru gently stroked his head and chuckled, nodding.
"Of course you can!"
"How about the one beneath your feet?"
"As long as you can awaken its reason, Teacher will vouch for it, making the Three-Tails your summoning beast!"
"Three... Three-Tails?"