The sun hadn't fully risen when Jiraiya returned to Konoha.

  His sandals were dusty, his cloak tattered from travel, and his expression cked its usual smirk. No flirting. No jokes. Just a straight line across his face and a scroll clutched in his hand like a bde.

  He marched straight to Hokage Tower.

  Inside the briefing chamber, Hiruzen Sarutobi sat at the head of the table. His age showed in the lines across his face, but his eyes were still sharp as steel. Beside him stood Ken, arms crossed, mask hanging from his belt, the faint outline of his seal visible just above the colr of his shirt.

  Jiraiya tossed the scroll onto the table.

  “Akatsuki is moving.”

  Hiruzen unraveled the parchment slowly.

  Inside was a single-page document—copied from an intercepted transmission between bounty networks along the Wind-Lighting border.

  A new bingo book entry.

  Not for assassination.

  Not for capture.

  For extraction.

  Target: Ken Uchiha – Tailed Beast HostAffiliation: UnknownConfirmed Location: Fire CountryStatus: ActiveThreat Level: S-Rank – Priority Target for RetrievalSource: Hidden Sand Intelligence Cell

  Ken gnced at it, unfazed.

  “So it’s public now.”

  Jiraiya grunted. “Not public. But every serious mercenary, bounty hunter, and missing-nin is going to be sniffing for you now. And worse—Akatsuki wants in. They’ve been silent since the fall of the Mist’s Sanbi host. This gave them a reason to move again.”

  Hiruzen looked up. “We need to prepare you. Whether you like it or not.”

  That’s when he said it.

  “I want you, Jiraiya, to begin training Ken. Help him master Shukaku’s chakra like you're doing with Naruto.”

  Ken raised a brow. “I don’t need that.”

  Jiraiya blinked. “Excuse me?”

  Ken’s voice remained calm. Firm. “I can train on my own. I’ve already begun integration drills. I don’t need mythology lessons or temple retreats. I need a combat field, medical backup, and silence.”

  Jiraiya crossed his arms. “Kid, you’ve barely scratched the surface. One slip, and that tanuki inside you will rip half this vilge apart.”

  “I’ve studied its flow,” Ken replied. “I’m maintaining a 12% draw at will. I don’t force dominance. I offer leverage. He takes it. The seal holds.”

  Before Jiraiya could argue back, the door smmed open.

  Tsunade.

  Dressed in full medical jonin attire, sleeves rolled, eyes already burning.

  “You think this is some solo mission?” she snapped. “You’re walking around with a votile chakra bomb stitched to your stomach with a seal you built from reading scrolls in the library, and now you don’t want trained help?”

  Ken didn’t flinch. “No. I want oversight. Not interference.”

  “You think training alone will make you better?” Tsunade snapped, stepping forward. “You’re not a god, you’re a teenager with a death wish—”

  “And yet I’m still here,” Ken said, cool and level. “With a functioning seal. With the beast under control. And two missions completed beyond expectation. What part of that suggests failure?”

  Tsunade’s temper fred. “You don’t understand the biology of what’s happening inside you. That seal is adapting to a living chakra network. One fluctuation, and your heart could rupture—”

  “I’ve stabilized it. I can read my own chakra coils better than most medics in your unit.”

  “That arrogance will get you—!”

  “Results,” Ken said, cutting her off. “And that’s all this vilge ever asked for.”

  The room was silent.

  Jiraiya gave a low whistle. “Well damn.”

  Hiruzen finally raised a hand.

  “Enough. Both of you.”

  His gaze shifted to Ken. “You’ll train alone, as requested. But Tsunade will monitor your vitals, chakra flow, and seal integrity daily. No exceptions.”

  Ken nodded. “Agreed.”

  Tsunade huffed, arms crossed. “He’ll kill himself. And when he does, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  Ken turned to her, expression neutral. “If I die controlling power to protect this vilge, that’s more than most people get.”

  She stared at him, jaw tight, then turned and stormed out.

  Jiraiya smirked faintly. “You’ve got a way with women.”

  Ken sighed. “No, I just know when the room gets too loud.”

  That Night – Somewhere UnknownThe room was dark.

  Candlelight flickered off red clouds painted on bck cloaks.

  Ten figures stood in a circle—some silent, some speaking in low, harsh tones. At the center of the projection ring, Pain stood tall, arms folded.

  “Another jinchūriki has appeared,” he said.

  “Not appeared,” Konan corrected. “Taken. He extracted Shukaku from the Sand.”

  “Interesting,” murmured Kisame, cracking his knuckles. “So he’s not just a host. He’s a thief.”

  “Leaf shinobi,” Kakuzu growled. “That makes him valuable. Two jinchūriki now in Konoha’s walls.”

  Deidara snorted. “This one’s different. Gaara was a puppet for his monster. But this Ken? He’s... surgical. Sharp. There’s intent behind his violence.”

  “He's Uchiha,” Itachi said softly. “It tracks.”

  Pain nodded once. “We move soon. Let him grow. Let them both grow. We’ll extract them when the time is right.”

  “And until then?” Zetsu hissed.

  “We watch,” Pain said. “And let them believe they have control.”

  Back in Konoha – Forest Training Sector CKen stood shirtless in a reinforced training field surrounded by containment tags and seal totems.

  Tsunade sat on a watch tower above, arms crossed, chakra monitors in her p. Two medics waited nearby, just in case.

  Ken exhaled.

  And drew on Shukaku’s chakra again.

  This time, it came easier. More fluid. The chakra threads wrapped around his arm, up his neck, over his face. One eye flickered golden. His skin hardened—sand armor.

  He dropped into a low stance.

  A flick of his wrist sent a sharpened sand spike into a stone pilr, piercing straight through.

  Another step.

  He vanished in a flicker of sand and wind.

  The training field roared with power.

  And from above, Tsunade stared down.

  Still furious.

  But silently admitting:

  “He’s in control.”

  For now.