8 Beggar Sect, is it?

In the cutthroat world of cultivation, it was common sense for experts to selfishly desire other's belongings.

Hidden techniques, ancient artifacts, even spirit beasts. As long as it was a rarity, there would be someone who want to put their hands on them, no matter the cost.

Even if they had to kill other human beings.

As an expert who had survived those turmoils over the thousands of years, she was well aware of such danger. That was why, even though Kokuo hadn't explicitly told her to do it yet, she had instinctively hid the Tailed Beast's presence.

But now... someone had finally found out.

If this was her old self from back then, the first thing she would've done was...

'Kill him!'

Perhaps thinking along the same vein, Kokuo poured out its chakra. Thin red glow began to envelope her.

'Just a small kid, This One only need a single shot.'

'Eh, Venerable One, wait!'

Before Kokuo could materialize any chakra ball, she called it off at the last moment.

This wasn't the turbulent era prior to the Yang Dynasty. They couldn't just kill someone and be done with it without anyone else noticing. At the very least, the Inuzuka would be suspicious. They wouldn't be able to stay in their compound anymore unless they opt to kill the entire clan.

Actually, that was a possibility. But then, the village would also get involved. Should they kill the entire village as well? Hmm, this is getting out of hand...

While her thoughts were getting more and more muddled, she suddenly felt something soft and wet touching her skin.

Akamaru was rubbing his face on her legs, trying to get her attention.

"..."

She got struck with an inspiration.

While Kiba was still confused, she quickly grabbed the puppy, one hand circling around his waist while the other gripping his neck.

"If you tell anyone, I'll... I'll kill him!"

"..."

Kokuo didn't know what to say. Somehow the scale of the situation had plummeted from 'let's kill the entire village!' to 'get the dog!' in the blink of an eye...

Akamaru was his precious partner. Naturally, Kiba would be worried for his safety. But... the puppy was wagging his tail without a care in the world. Rather than being taken hostage, it looked more like he was merely playing.

There was just no tension in this scenario ah!

"...Why do you look disappointed? I'm serious!"

She was about to tighten the grip when she caught a glance at Akamaru staring back at her with his slit-eyes. His tongue was jutting out as he panted happily.

Then, he licked her face.

"...Uuu..."

...Can't.

She can't kill this precious little dumb thing...

Letting the dog go, she crumbled to her knees.

In the end, nothing else to do but to kowtow.

"...Please don't tell anyone..."

Watching a girl burying her face on the floor like her life was depending on it, Kiba didn't know whether he wanted to laugh or cry.

It's said that you'll grow calmer when other people around you are more agitated. At least, it rang true for his current situation.

"Alright, alright, I won't tell. Get up, stop kneeling."

For now, let's just hear what she had to say.

---

The Inuzuka had excellent hearing. If they wanted her story to remain hidden, it would be best to talk elsewhere.

Thus, they arranged to meet at the usual creek around noon time.

"You... skipped class again, didn't you?"

"Heh, it doesn't matter. C'mon, spill the beans."

Popping out of his hood, Akamaru barked, urging her as well.

"Fine... Venerable One, if you may?"

A mist of chakra flew out of her body, condensing into a form reminiscent of a horse with dolphin face and five flowing tails.

"The heck...!" Kiba almost screamed. Thankfully he managed to cover his mouth on time.

"You guessed it right, it's a spirit beast," The girl nodded.

"...A what?"

"She spews out random things at times. You'll get used to it, human."

A voice suddenly echoed in Kiba's mind, shocking him further. Somehow he could tell that this voice belonged to this white beast that had appeared out of nowhere.

Kokuo took a step closer to the boy, exuding a proud, majestic aura.

"This One is Kokuo, the great Five-Tails. This human female here is This One's Jinchuuriki."

Five-Tails? Jinchuuriki?

The terms flew over Kiba's head, so he just sat there with mouth agape.

Hikari let out a dry cough.

"So, it's like this..."

She proceeded to detail the events starting from the time she woke up in Iwagakure, discovering Kokuo inside her soul, their following escapade, up to the way they reached this creek back when he'd found her.

For the reincarnation part... she decided to leave it out. It was such a heavy concept even for a long-lived expert like her. They shouldn't burden a nine-years-old brain with more baggage than he could process.

"Okay, so you got this... horse-thingy inside of you, and people from Iwagakure want it, so you have to keep it hidden or else they'll take it out and kill you?"

She nodded.

"Maaan, what a drag..."

Kiba slouched down, feeling that the world suddenly turned more complicated. In response, Akamaru licked his cheek to cheer him up.

"That's why, please don't tell anyone?"

"Haaah... truth be told, I was going to tell mom about it this morning."

She gulped.

"But...?"

"But, Akamaru told me not to. So I didn't. You better thank him later!"

...Huh?

The puppy told him not to...?

"Besides, if you're hiding here, those Iwa ninja's plan will be wrecked, right? Heh, serves them right!"

"So..."

"Fine, fine, I'll keep it all a secret. But promise me that you won't get my family in danger!"

"Thank you!"

For now, she was relieved that everything had turned out well.

...Turned out... well...

Hmm, now that she had calmed down properly, a question suddenly popped up in her mind.

"Why were you in my room this morning?"

Kiba trembled slightly. Turning his face away, he began whistling an off-beat tune.

"..."

Being the recipient of Hikari and Kokuo's cold, accusing glare, he finally relented and told them the truth.

"I was going to play a prank on you, okay? Just that! Nothing else!"

"..."

What a petty reason...

"W-what's with that gaze? It's your fault for disturbing my happy time with Akamaru!"

"If you didn't like it, can't you just tell me off from the start?"

It was a bit too late to pay her back now, wasn't it? They'd been running marathon all over Konoha for the past three months!

"...Akamaru didn't seem to hate it, so..."

"..."

This kid... his reasoning starts with 'Akamaru likes it' and ends with 'Akamaru doesn't hate it'.

If Akamaru wanted him to jump off a cliff, perhaps he might really do it? Kinda worrying...

"A-anyway, why did you show those weird tails? You're just asking for someone to find it out sooner or later!"

"I can't help it, alright?!"

"This human can't control This One's chakra properly, so they leaked out," Kokuo explained. "'Tis why This One shall teach her how to control chakra, lest this incident will repeat itself."

"Controlling chakra? Are you a shinobi, too?"

That term again. Ninja. Shinobi. According to her new body's memory, these terms were interchangeable. She couldn't find a match with her old language though.

"What's a 'shinobi'?" She asked.

Kiba was genuinely surprised with her response.

"Seriously? You already stayed with us for so long and you have no idea what a shinobi is? Oi, Fish-Face, why didn't you tell her?"

"Watch your mouth when talking to This One, human," Kokuo harrumphed. "This One thought that she already knew."

After all, who in this world wouldn't know about shinobi?

Apparently, this girl over here.

Kiba let out a sigh.

"Let me educate you then. Shinobi, or ninja, are incredible people who can wield their chakra to perform jutsu. My entire clan are ninja. Actually, this entire village is. I'm currently learning to become one in the academy!"

Jutsu. That translated relatively to 'techniques'...

...Hmm...

So, ninjas were people who can use 'energy' to perform 'techniques'...

"Cultivators?" She blurted out in her old language.

"...?" Naturally, it was met with everyone's confused gaze.

"She did spout out random words..."

"This One already warned you."

"So, what do 'ninja' do with their power?" She inquired further, ignoring their remarks.

"Hmm..." Kiba scratched the back of his head. "I'm not too sure, but from what I've learned in class, we do missions involving espionage, escorting important figures, and even assassination. A good shinobi operates in the shadow, undetected by their foes. You know mom and sis sometimes went away for days, right? It's for that kind of business."

"Espionage... assassination... moving under the radar..."

Ah, she got it!

"Beggar Sect, is it?"

"...Huh?"

She was met with even more confused gazes.

"Who'd you call a beggar...! you know what, nevermind," Kiba sighed, somehow getting mentally tired. "Normal people can't use their chakra properly. Only us ninja can. That's why if you can control yours, that usually means you're also one of us."

Was she?

Nevertheless...

"I'm not a ninja. I'm a cultivator!"

She was just being stubborn, but she really couldn't just put down the way of living that she'd walked through for the last thousands of years. Perhaps if she had drunk the entire course of her Five-Fragrance Tea, she could accept the new reality more easily, but sadly that wasn't the case.

Whether it was futile or not, she didn't care. She just wanted to keep walking in the path that she believed in!

"I'm telling you, I have no idea what a 'cultivator' is..."

Then again, it was her life, so Kiba had no desire to interfere. He'd gotten his hand full with his own.

"...But you still have to learn how to control chakra, at least to hide those tails."

"...I know..."

Anyway, this 'chakra' thingy could be this world's version of 'qi'. If she wanted to further her cultivation level, learning more about it is a must.

"That's all then. I'm leaving."

"Ah? Wait-"

"Don't bother me, I'm not in the mood to play chase with you today. Relax, I said I won't tell anyone about your... situation, so I won't."

No, actually she wanted to tell him to get back to class... but eh, whatever.

With Kiba and Akamaru out of sight, she turned back to Kokuo.

"Now then, Venerable One, please teach me about chakra!"

"Hmph. This One will only say it once. Remember it carefully!"

She nodded, straining her ears so that she wouldn't miss any wisdom that the Tailed Beast would impart.

"Listen, chakra is..."

...

Uh...

Chakra is... what?

"Venerable One?"

Kokuo coughed.

"...Fool. Words alone won't be enough to describe it. This One shall demonstrate it to you instead."

Faint red glow began to gather around her body. At the same time, she could feel strength coursing throughout her veins. This feeling was awfully similar to qi circulation.

So it was true! Chakra was this world's version of qi!

"Do you get it now? This is chakra."

"I see!"

She was ecstatic. If she could wield this so-called chakra, cultivating further was highly possible!

"Then, Venerable One, how to control this energy?"

She'd tried to utilize her dantian, but it showed no reaction whatsoever. The red-colored chakra simply coursed through her body as if they had a will of their own. Maybe this world employed a different method?

Kokuo blinked rapidly. If it was a human, it would be breaking out cold sweat at the moment.

Uh, how to control the chakra again...?

"Just... think about it in your mind?"

"I did. Nothing happened..."

"This One can do it just fine."

The red chakra grew thicker, rousing her with more power. However, the fact remained that no matter what she did, she could only feel the effect but couldn't control them.

After a few more minutes, she finally arrived to a conclusion.

"...Venerable One... are you..."

Was it actually clueless about how humans control their chakra?

"..."

The great Five-Tails, one of the exalted Tailed Beasts who wielded power beyond mortal belief. For the first time in its storied existence, it turned its head away in shame...