Chapter 179 : Riku Deterrent
Shukaku knew very well that the Three-Tails wasn’t the strongest among the nine Tailed Beasts—but it was definitely not the weakest either.
Even if it was on par with him, if Riku could truly suppress the Three-Tails—or rather, if this was no longer just a theory—it meant that Riku’s current chakra strength and volume had already surpassed even that of the most powerful among the Tailed Beasts: the Nine-Tails.
The idea that Riku could suppress a Tailed Beast through chakra volume alone was staggering.
"So you’d better not try anything against him," Shukaku warned. "Or you’ll regret it. I can’t even beat him."
It was the first time Shukaku had ever admitted to being afraid—because Riku’s chakra was simply no longer on a human level.
Gaara frowned, but in the end, he was relieved. At the very least, Riku hadn’t attacked.
Temari looked at Riku and exhaled softly. "I hope you’ll keep your word."
Riku nodded calmly. "Are Sunagakure’s higher-ups really so afraid I’ll attack your village?"
Temari fell silent.
Riku gave another nod. "I get it. But don’t worry. I have no interest in attacking Sunagakure. That’d be a waste of my time."
Riku couldn’t quite understand why they would even think he’d attack Sunagakure. Did they think he was like Orochimaru?
He shook his head and smiled faintly.
Seeing how calm Riku was—they had taken the Chunin Exams together not long ago—and now he had become Konoha’s rising pillar, while they themselves had just barely reached Chunin level.
After some small talk at the teahouse, Riku left.
Once he was gone, Kankuro exhaled. "Man, I was so tense just now. That guy’s pressure is even heavier than before. It felt like a mountain was about to crush me. He’s only a year older than us—how much has he grown?"
Gaara answered quietly, "His chakra... it’s immense. It’s almost more than Shukaku’s."
"What?!" Temari and Kankuro turned to Gaara in shock.
Riku’s chakra surpassed Shukaku’s? That had to be a joke. Shukaku was a Tailed Beast—one of the nine beings with the greatest chakra reserves in the world.
How could Riku have more chakra than Shukaku?
Gaara’s expression turned serious. "Because Shukaku said so himself. Tailed Beasts are extremely sensitive to chakra. It could feel the overwhelming chakra inside Riku. It said that Riku’s chakra is even greater than the Nine-Tails’."
Temari and Kankuro swallowed hard, unable to believe it.
"Is he even human anymore?"
"He’s only fourteen! How can he have that much chakra? That’s insane!"
Still, both of them trusted Shukaku’s judgment. After all, it was a Tailed Beast.
If Riku truly had more chakra than a Tailed Beast, then wasn’t he basically a humanoid Tailed Beast?
Before this, they’d simply thought Riku was powerful and extremely talented—but now they were realizing that he existed on a whole different level than they had imagined.
Even Gaara couldn’t compare.
"No wonder he was so dismissive when we mentioned attacking Sunagakure," Kankuro muttered. "It’s not that he’s arrogant—he just doesn’t care."
"If he really can suppress a Tailed Beast, then yeah... he could destroy Sunagakure."
That wasn’t an exaggeration. Unless you had the strength of someone like Uchiha Madara or Hashirama Senju, even someone as powerful as the Third Raikage—who had once fought the Eight-Tails to a draw through sheer exhaustion—could still fall in the face of a coordinated assault by enough powerful shinobi.
But even though Riku wasn’t on the level of Madara or Hashirama, he was definitely stronger than the Third Raikage.
It wasn’t impossible for him to destroy Sunagakure. And right now, Sunagakure’s overall situation was far from stable.
Only Chiyo could be considered Kage-level. Gaara was just at Jōnin level. If Shukaku went berserk, Gaara could reach Elite Jōnin at best.
Only when Shukaku was fully unleashed would he truly be Kage-level.
That was the significance of having a Tailed Beast. In any of the Five Great Nations, as long as they had a Jinchūriki, they always had at least one Kage-level fighter.
Gaara had talent too, so reaching Kage-level in a few years was likely.
But earlier, Gaara had seen the look in Riku’s eyes—and he understood the meaning behind it.
It wasn’t that Riku looked down on them. It was more like... he didn’t even register their concerns. Like they were completely irrelevant to him.
Back at the inn, Might Guy, Asuma, and Kurenai Yuhi came to visit Riku in his room. The three of them sat across from him, their expressions serious.
Riku chuckled. "They didn’t mean any harm coming to me. They just wanted to know if I had any hostile intentions toward Sunagakure. Their village is fragile right now—they’re afraid I’ll do something to destabilize it."
Guy grinned. "I figured as much. When the Fifth Hokage assigned you to lead this mission, I expected something like this to happen."
"These days, rumors about you are flying across the entire shinobi world. And with you showing power capable of suppressing a Tailed Beast... Of course Sunagakure wouldn’t be at ease letting you into their territory unchecked."
"But don’t forget—they attacked us first during the Konoha Crush. Our village was devastated. After surrendering, they had no choice but to allow this. Still, even if they let you in, there’s no way they’d let their guard down."
"At least they were upfront about it," he added. "They didn’t try to do anything shady."
Guy was sharp when it came to understanding people.
Asuma also let out a relieved sigh. "You were personally chosen by Lady Tsunade. If anything went wrong with you, we’d be the ones answering to her."
Kurenai poured Riku a cup of tea and smiled. "It also shows how intimidating your name has become. That’s a good thing for Konoha—it might deter those who have their eyes on our village."
Guy nodded. "It’s true. Right now, Sunagakure, Konoha, and even the isolated Kirigakure aren’t in great shape. Compared to us, Cloud and Stone have been developing steadily. In terms of overall strength, we’re no longer in the same league."
What Orochimaru did during the invasion had dealt a heavy blow to Konoha.
The loss of the Uchiha Clan alone was a major wound—but Orochimaru’s assault had cost the lives of nearly half of Konoha’s active ninja.
In terms of overall strength, they couldn’t match Iwagakure or Kumogakure anymore.
But Konoha still had its foundation. In a few years, it could catch up. Even if it remained weaker, the gap wouldn’t be insurmountable anymore.
Iwagakure might not have many "named" ninja, but its overall strength was still formidable.
And as for Kumogakure, their Daimyō was entirely supportive. As long as their demands weren’t excessive, he would provide what they needed. They were even wealthier than the Daimyō of the Land of Fire.
The Land of Lightning had excellent terrain and a strong economy. While the Land of Fire had the best geographic position, the Land of Lightning had the best development.
In both military and economic terms, they had surpassed the Land of Fire.
That’s why, despite the Fourth Raikage’s notorious temper, he still respected the Daimyō of the Land of Lightning.
The economy of a shinobi village was vital. Training and maintaining ninja was incredibly costly.
Without sufficient economic support, a village couldn’t sustain itself.
That was why the Five Great Ninja Villages remained dominant—because they had the backing of the Five Great Nations’ economies. Without that, a village could end up like Sunagakure. Once their Daimyō cut military funding, they fell into decline. Even gold dust mining couldn’t keep up with the costs.
For now, Konoha’s situation was still better than Sunagakure’s. At least the Daimyō of the Land of Fire supported Konoha’s recovery.
That relationship dated back to the founding of the village—when Hashirama Senju negotiated directly with the Daimyō on behalf of the Senju Clan.
Still, most Daimyō didn’t actually care what went on inside the shinobi villages—just don’t displease them too much.
Kirigakure had made that mistake—trying to assassinate their Daimyō.
Imagine that: they gave you funding, didn’t interfere with your operations, and your response was to try and kill them?
No wonder the Daimyō of the Land of Water no longer trusted Kirigakure at all.
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