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Chapter 332: The Split Clone Technique Is the MVP!
🕑 Added 2025-02-01 15:10:29 +0000 UTCChapter 332: The Split Clone Technique Is the MVP!
“You didn’t tell Jiraiya about the plan?”
Tsunade gave Jiraiya a strange look.
“Forget the damn plan! Just hurry up and check on Kushina!” Jiraiya shouted, unable to contain his frustration as Tsunade remained unmoved.
Seeing his genuine distress, Tsunade scratched her head and turned toward Minato and the Third Hokage, who were approaching with Kushina in Minato’s arms.
“You two didn’t tell Jiraiya?”
Hiruzen took one look at Jiraiya, then let out a sigh and shook his head.
“Back when we learned that Nagato might become the Ten-Tails Jinchūriki, Jiraiya was already deeply troubled. I was afraid he’d give something away, so I kept quiet.”
“What plan?” Minato asked, his tear-streaked face filled with confusion.
“…”
“…”
Both Hiruzen and Tsunade fell silent.
Instead, their gazes turned to Kushina.
Though visibly weak, she smiled faintly and said, “Minato’s terrible at acting. I was worried he’d accidentally give us away, so I didn’t tell him.”
Tsunade shot her a skeptical look.
“I think you just wanted to see him cry for you.”
Kushina glanced at Minato, who was slowly piecing everything together, and hmphed weakly.
“Hmph! Serves him right! He never explained things properly back then—do you know how long I cried when I thought he was dead?!”
“If I hadn’t been pregnant with Naruto at the time, I might have—”
Understanding dawned on Minato’s face, and he let out a bitter chuckle.
“There was a reason for that.”
“I don’t care, I don’t care—cough, cough…”
Kushina pouted but was quickly overtaken by a fit of coughing, making Minato frantically try to soothe her.
“Alright, alright, don’t overdo it. You’re still recovering.” His voice was full of gentle concern.
Kushina saw the way he looked at her, pursed her lips, then softly nodded.
Watching this sickening display of affection, Tsunade’s eye twitched.
“Enough of that. Minato, take her to the cave under the Hokage Monument and have her merge with the clone.”
Minato nodded, his smile as bright as ever.
“I’ll leave the rest to you, Tsunade-senpai.”
With that, the two vanished in a flash of Flying Thunder God.
Jiraiya’s Realization
Left behind, Jiraiya was still in complete shock.
He turned to Tsunade, utterly baffled.
“Wait… Kushina is fine? She used the split Clone Technique?!”
“Of course.” Tsunade gave him a once-over, her expression amused.
“When Kakashi, Kushina, and I first broke out of the virtual space, we immediately planned to use the Split Clone Technique to mislead the enemy.”
“We didn’t know how strong the Ten-Tails Jinchūriki would be, so we had to prepare for the worst.”
Then, her expression turned a bit odd.
“I thought you knew. But since you didn’t… why didn’t you use Sage Mode?”
Given what she knew about Jiraiya, if he had no idea about the plan, he should have activated Sage Mode by now.
“You forgot, huh?” Jiraiya sighed.
“That genjutsu was cast over the entire shinobi world. Mount Myōboku was caught in it too. My Sage Mode requires two toads to assist me.”
“But since they’re still asleep, I can’t summon them.”
Tsunade frowned but let it slide.
Then, Jiraiya’s mind latched onto another issue.
“Wait… I get that Kakashi and Kushina can use the Split Clone Technique, but how did the Tailed Beasts split themselves?”
Tsunade shrugged.
“Why wouldn’t they?”
“They’re chakra-based lifeforms. Both their bodies and souls are made of chakra, so splitting is actually easier for them than for humans.”
“Besides, do you remember Naruto?”
Jiraiya blinked.
Naruto?
“The Naruto from the future was a Jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails.”
Tsunade continued, “Even though we all agreed that it’s unfair for a child to shoulder such a heavy burden, his potential is undeniable—and he seems to have a special connection with the Nine-Tails.”
“So, in case we ever needed to pass the Nine-Tails to him without harming Kushina, the research division has been working on a safe method to divide a Tailed Beast.”
“And they finally succeeded.”
“But in this situation… do you think the Nine-Tails would refuse?”
If Konoha won, things would simply return to normal.
If Konoha lost, at least this way, the Nine-Tails still had a chance at survival.
The Tailed Beast had thought it over carefully… and agreed.
The Mysterious Disappearance of the Three-Tails
As for the Three-Tails…
Tsunade’s expression turned sour.
“Hyuga Fuji must’ve left a contingency plan.”
“Somehow, the Three-Tails disappeared before Kakashi could get his hands on it.”
“He was only left with chakra remnants.”
“If the Nine-Tails hadn’t been powerful enough to leave Kakashi some chakra—”
“And if it hadn’t used its other half to hold off Nagato—”
“Nagato probably would have figured everything out by now.”
(Three-Tails: It wasn’t a remnant! It was rent! Rent, dammit! I lived comfortably inside Kakashi for two years, so I left him ten percent of my chakra! Now he won’t have chakra issues anymore!)
Tsunade had no proof, but there was only one person in the world who could’ve silently extracted the Three-Tails—and during the virtual space incident, no less.
It could only be Hyuga Fuji.
Jiraiya’s Emotional Rollercoaster
“…So my tears were wasted?”
Jiraiya stared blankly for a moment.
But then—
“Actually, that’s great!”
He immediately brightened up, a relieved grin spreading across his face.
“The Split Clone Technique is the MVP!”
A forbidden technique that had saved the Second Tsuchikage countless times—even the Rinnegan hadn’t been able to see through it!
Nagato’s Suspicion
Meanwhile, several dozen kilometers from Konoha…
Otsutsuki Shinichi narrowed his eyes at Nagato.
“Why the rush?”
Nagato had insisted on retreating immediately—which was unlike him.
It wasn’t like Nagato to show mercy, was it?
Nagato’s expression remained calm.
“Leaving them alive means they’ll continue to be a distraction for Hyuga Fuji.”
Shinichi scoffed.
“You’re being too cautious.”
“You’re already the Ten-Tails Jinchūriki.”
“Once the Ten-Tails fully transforms, even the Tenseigan won’t be able to stand against you.”
But Nagato remained firm.
“Better to be careful.”
“We still don’t fully understand Hyuga Fuji’s power. If he escapes today, the Land of Fire’s forces will become a real problem.”
Shinichi was about to argue, but—
Nagato’s cold, oppressive gaze silenced him.
“Are you questioning me?”
Shinichi gritted his teeth and lowered his head.
“…No.”
If the Giant Tenseigan was still intact, he wouldn’t have to bow to Nagato.
But there were no ‘ifs.’
“Hmph. Dismissed.”
Nagato waved him off.
Only after Shinichi left did Konan finally speak.
“Nagato… did something happen?”
Nagato looked at his palm.
A tiny fox-shaped soul floated above it.
“…The Nine-Tails…”
“It was only half of it.”
(End of Chapter)
