Habara had no intention of imitating a long-haired ape-man. While Kakashi was setting up his "octopus pot" and spreading out various scrolls, arranging the corresponding seals on the ground, Habara had already tidied up his appearance.
"You're going to seal the Three-Tails by yourself?"
It seemed Kakashi intended to do the work alone, which surprised Habara… Since when did Kakashi have the ability to seal the Three-Tails on his own? Had the Five-Five-Verse expanded? Could Kakashi now go five-five with a Tailed Beast?
"The Three-Tails is in a dormant state where it can't resist, and it's currently lacking in power… After all, we've been consistently extracting its chakra," Kakashi explained.
After arranging the seals, he began the unsealing process without much hesitation. The sealing formula activated, starting to drag the Three-Tails, which resembled a dead turtle, towards the "octopus pot."
Habara frowned, then his expression relaxed. He looked at Kakashi and thought to himself that the guy's explanation had completely missed the point… Although it appeared Kakashi was performing the jutsu, the scrolls Kakashi had brought out were all sealed with Kushina's chakra.
Why not just say that Kushina had prepared the sealing formula and that it was using Kushina's chakra?
On one side was the half-dead Three-Tails, and on the other was the lively and energetic Kushina Uzumaki. So, the sealing process was completed smoothly.
"It's a shame. Without this big battery, recharging Daigo will become a problem… It seems my next plan will have to be put into action," Habara said, looking at the large hole left behind after the Three-Tails disappeared.
Temporary chakra replenishment wasn't a problem. Kushina Uzumaki, little Naruto who had useless Nine-Tails chakra, and Habara himself could all provide Daigo with a large amount of chakra in one go. However, relying on just one or two people wasn't a long-term solution, so Habara decided to do something about it.
And when Kakashi heard Habara's muttering, he instantly felt uneasy. He couldn't help it; he was just worried that Habara's new plan would be another "shock therapy" scheme… In any case, he decided to stay as far away as possible when Habara implemented his so-called new plan.
"Next, we'll escort the Three-Tails back to Konoha together," Kakashi said, walking over to lift the sealing container onto his back.
"Understood. The first thing you need for an armed escort is, well, arms," Habara said. He also understood the dangers posed by something like a Tailed Beast.
Kakashi nodded. Then, after taking a few steps forward, he finally reacted. What did that mean? He wasn't considered armed by himself, but with Habara, they suddenly were?
The two of them left the Nameless Mountain with the Three-Tails. They descended the mountain from the south side before turning north towards Konoha. However, after they'd descended and walked south for a short distance, Habara noticed that, at some point, a village had suddenly appeared to the south.
This area used to be completely natural; how could a village-level administrative unit suddenly appear?
"Kakashi, what's going on here?" Habara asked.
A group of strangers had appeared near the Three-Tails; it was unlikely that Konoha would simply ignore them.
"These are the survivors of Roran that you brought back from the Land of Wind. Kushina-sama arranged for them to settle here," Kakashi said.
As someone who had once accompanied the Fourth Hokage on the Roran mission, Kakashi had a vague feeling of what Habara had done in the Land of Wind. A piece of supporting evidence was that Habara had specifically made arrangements for the Roran survivors… Normally, Habara wasn't the kind of person who was so compassionate that he'd help strangers in the deserts of the Land of Wind.
Habara suddenly understood. Originally, the people of Roran had the mission of guarding the Dragon Vein, so now Kushina was having them guard the Three-Tails?
"Habara, what did you do in the Land of Wind?" Kakashi asked. He was somewhat worried that Habara had clashed with Sunagakure ninjas. Although minor friction was unlikely to reignite the embers of the Shinobi World War, it would certainly affect the relationship between the two countries.
Clearly, Kakashi's worries were unnecessary. Habara had had a small bit of friction with a Sunagakure ninja, but this kind of small friction wouldn't affect relations between the two countries… An undiscovered crime wasn't a crime. Dead men tell no tales, so there was nothing to damage the diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Habara didn't directly answer Kakashi's question. He simply said casually, "Kakashi, do you know a certain simple truth? It's that any anti-materiel weapon can be used against infantry, and the anti-infantry effect is always better than the anti-materiel effect."
As he spoke, Habara casually tossed a shuriken into the air, and then began to carefully form hand seals, one by one. It was a good thing he'd thrown it high enough; otherwise, the shuriken would have returned to the embrace of the earth before he finished the seals.
And when Habara completed the seals, that single shuriken instantly transformed into thousands, a dense, dark cloud that then shot towards a single point.
In an instant, a large tree was completely severed at the trunk by this attack.
The clustered Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique—making thousands of shuriken attack a single point simultaneously—wasn't difficult for Habara, a "Magnet Release" ninja.
Habara wasn't demonstrating the power of this technique at this moment. An A-rank ninjutsu, even as a simple area-of-effect attack, was enough to kill a group of people… Habara was demonstrating that he could now casually use this kind of extremely chakra-consuming ninjutsu.
However, it was hard to say whether Kakashi would grasp this point. If he wasn't paying attention to what Habara was saying, then he should realize it soon. However, Kakashi was currently focusing on trying to understand what Habara had said… What was anti-materiel? Which episode's infantry?
Habara naturally didn't care what Kakashi was thinking. He'd already answered the question.
"Let's go. Since I've seen them, I should go say hello."
By this point, Habara was certain that Roran's "Dragon Vein" was extremely useful, so he decided to help the people of Roran a little more.
Habara and Kakashi walked towards the village under construction. Their sudden appearance quickly caught the attention of the villagers, and someone recognized Habara. Then, they started calling for the village leader.
By the time Habara reached the outskirts of the village, "Queen" Sara also hurried over to meet them.
"I didn't expect to meet you again after so long. Thank you so much. I didn't expect Konoha to actually help us, providing us with fertile land…" Sara immediately expressed her gratitude upon seeing Habara again. She thought Habara had come specifically to visit them.
Habara thought to himself, Kushina just saw you as guardian objects, and yet you're so happy.
He nodded, but this wasn't an acceptance of her gratitude, as he was the one who was benefiting.
Habara took a few steps forward and handed a suitcase to Sara.
"Compensation for your relocation… Oh, no, I mean, construction funds. With this money, you should be able to settle down quickly."
Out of pure curiosity, Sara slightly opened the suitcase and saw neatly stacked bundles of large-denomination banknotes inside.
"How much money is this?" she asked instinctively.
If it were for her personally, she would certainly not accept such a large sum of money. However, the people of Roran were indeed in need of funds.
"40 million ryo," Habara said.
He didn't treat money like money at all. At worst, he'd just rob the exchange post next time.
40 million ryo? He just handed over such a large sum of money? Sara's gaze towards Habara instantly became wary. She suspected this person had some ulterior motive.
"How old are you?" she asked.
The topic changed abruptly, and Habara also became wary. He immediately countered, "How old are you?"
"I'm 20 years old."
"Then I'm 24 years old."
Kakashi was currently 16 years old, and Habara was two years older than Kakashi. So why did he say he was 24?
Because Habara felt that if he stated his real age, for some reason, he'd feel like he was at a disadvantage.