This is only the first step to building up Gaara's Psychological advantage over Shukaku, this will work but for Shukaku to submit to him there is still a long way to go and in that regard, Tsukihi's role is not much, it will all depend on Gaara's own fortitude and perseverance.
However, even if that is the case, the gap in strength between the kid Gaara and Shukaku who has lived for nearly a millennia is too great.
Therefore, Gaara's path of growth has to be designed for stable growth so that he doesn't become overwhelmed in the face of power. Otherwise, the psychological advantage he might have gained over Shukaku will become meaningless.
'I suppose it is time to stop grilling the Tanuki…' – although Tsukihi thought so, she did not immediately stop.
After being burned by the flames of Oshinomimi Shukaku's struggle has gradually weakened…
Although the golden flames of Oshihomimi are not as overbearing as the black flames of Amaterasu that represent the Material World and Light, the flames of Oshihomimi still have their advantage. Even if inferior, they have the special attribute of burning chakra… that is to say, as long as a chakra source is present they can continue to burn indefinitely.
And what is a Bijuu? A Bijuu is nothing more than a large aggregate of chakra with consciousness, the point here is that they are 'nothing more than large aggregates of Chakra'.
As such, once the Golden Flames are ignited the flames will continue to burn indefinitely the Bijuu, there is no need for Tsukihi to do any extra hard work, the chakra of Shukaku will keep the flames lit.
Next, she waved her hand under the command of which the Torii chains that entangled over Shukaku's mouth loosened, finally giving Shukaku some ability to speak.
But it seemed that Tsukihi expected too much out of this annoying Tanuki, even if he was weakened and crying that did not stop it from cursing and shouting, "Damn you Uchiha… I will… I will not forget this… sooner or later I will-…"
Tsukihi did not wait for Shukaku to finish, she added the ocular power of her Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan to intensify the golden flames while coldly saying, "It seems that you have yet to learn your place…"
"Ah… dammit-dammit-dammit… hot…!" – Immediately Shukaku's wailing and crying in pain intensified, the sounds echoed throughout the cave.
While Shukaku cried, Tsukihi asked Gaara, "What do you think, isn't he just a pet, or better yet, he doesn't even have the qualifications to become a pet unless he becomes honest and learns his true place?"
Gaara nodded nervously, but there was still excitement in his eyes.
With Gaara's nod, Tsukihi smirked at Gaara and said to him to deliberately incite the Tanuki, "You have to get used to this… do not fear him, if you fear something you will never be honest with him… treat the other party as what he is… Besides, such things will be common from now on."
Gaara asked curiously, "Does that mean you are going to punish him like this all the time?"
Hearing Gaara's question Shukaku's wailing stopped for a moment and he looked at Tsukihi, waiting for her answer… or rather her sentence for him…
Tsukihi cackled upon noticing Shukaku's resentful glare focused on her, and she revealed with a mocking tone, "I will let you know that these Golden Flames are called Oshihomimi, I bet you have already noticed this Shukaku, but these Golden Flames are not ordinary… they can continuously absorb and burn chakra… and you are a Bijuu, you are mass of Chakra meaning they will continue to burn endlessly unless extinguished, be that a month, a year, a decade, half a century, a century or even millennia. And the good thing is that I have set them in such a manner that you will never run out of chakra, meaning you will continue to burn for all eternity…"
Of course, that's a bit of an exaggeration, once he is freed of the Torii Seals, Tsukihi believes that Shukaku will be able to extinguish them but meh, Shukaku doesn't know this.
And since he doesn't know this, he suddenly started panicking and shouted, "D-damn it, extinguish them immediately!"
Tsukihi's intimidation obviously took effect, against someone who can subdue him so easily Shukaku did not seem to be as strong or dangerous as Gaara had previously imagined.
Tsukihi snorted coldly and said, "Is this the attitude to have when begging someone? Did no one teach you manners?"
Although Tsukihi has never been in Shukaku's place, she understands Shukaku's current state, and for some reason, it was giving her a unique pŀėȧsurė, and she was really enjoying torturing Shukaku. She is also sure that Shukaku will soon give in, the only question is how long will he endure before finally submitting, and wag his tail like a good little dog.
At this time, Shukaku said with an unwilling expression, "W-well, Uchiha-san, you win, please just stop!"
Tsukihi said with an indifferent expression, "You seemed to be begging the wrong person here…"
Realizing what Tsukihi meant, Shukaku eyes widened but they soon changed into angered, he was furious, "What? You want me to beg this brat? He is nothing more than a mouse with a runny nose, he is not qualified!"
Succumbing to an Uchiha, who are the descendants of Rikudo Sennin is bȧrėly acceptable to him, he knows that all the Bijuu, including the strongest Kyuubi, are helpless in the face of the power of the Mangekyou Sharingan. But begging to the kid Gaara? This is completely unacceptable!
Tsukihi folded her over her ċhėst then laughed, "Hahaha, that's funny coming from you, because the last I checked you are the same in front of me! Nothing more than an annoying Tanuki You are not qualified to put forward your terms in front of me. Either submit or burn to eternity!"
Shukaku was bewildered by what the Uchiha girl said, and he tried to incite Tsukihi, "Kill the brat, become my Jinchuriki, you can have all of my Chakra."
Hearing Shukaku's words, Gaara looked at Tsukihi's face only to see her yawn in boredom, "Don't you have anything else to say? Anyway, I have no interest in acquiring your chakra…"
Shukaku looked at Tsukihi with a more shocked expression, "You-you…!"
Tsukihi interrupted Shukaku midway, "Decide fast, I don't have much time to waste on you, there are more important that I have to do rather than looking at your pathetic state… if you don't hurry then I will leave you as is." – After a pause, Tsukihi said coldly, "And once gone, who knows after how much time will I come back… so be fast, you only have ten seconds before I take my leave…"
"8"
"7"
"I…I wa-." – Shukaku tried to speak something but suddenly stopped.
"6"
…
…
…
"3"
"2"
"1"
"Zer-…" "Please wait!"– Before Tsukihi could count down the last digit, Gaara suddenly interrupted.
Tsukihi stopped and looked at Gaara with a curious expression. She was interested in what Gaara had to say.
"Please wait…" – speaking so, Gaara started walking towards Shukaku, and spoke, "Shukaku… I… I am no longer afraid of you… and I also understand that you do not want to accept me now because I am too weak. It's fine if you do not want to with the way I am currently, but I promise Shukaku, I will work hard and train, and finally gain your recognition, if one day, I personally defeat you, and also free you of all the cages, will you… will you recognize me? Will you help me then? Will you agree to lend me your strength then?"
'Heh, that's a surprise, but I suppose that's to be expected of the next Kazekage… and the best Kazekage…' – Tsukihi was a little surprised by Gaara's sudden actions, but not much considering Gaara's character.
Shukaku was also surprised by Gaara's sudden action, and he was silent for a while, afterward, he snorted, "Don't overestimate yourself brat…"
Gaara did not back down, and continued, "Answer my question Shukaku, whether it really happens or not is another matter altogether… but if it really happens, will you approve me to be your Jinchuriki or not?"
Shukaku was again surprised, and he suddenly laughed, "Hahaha… you will never become strong enough… but I suppose that there is no problem in agreeing with you… at least I will be able to watch you fail miserably!"
Gaara said, "It won't happen, I will not fail…!"
Shukaku finally sighed, and said, "And what happens if you fail…?!"
Gaara thought a little and said, "I will not fail, but if I do fail to gain your approval by defeating you within the next decade, I will do anything that you ask of me… I will do everything that you want, even if it means death and more!"
Shukaku was silent, he couldn't sense any trace of deception or lie in the brat's words, as such, he finally nodded after a long silence, "Fine… if such a day ever comes… then I will give all my strength to you… I will give you access to my entire chakra… but do not forget your condition kid, you only have as much as a decade as you said… anything more and you will fail!"
With Shukaku's nod, Gaara turned to look at Tsukihi and said, "Tsukihi-san, please extinguish the flames…"
Tsukihi hummed, "Since the kid is asking so I am forgiving you… but do not try to step out of your bounds. If I as much as hear that you are acting out of your bounds there will be no next chance, being burned to the eternity will await you!"
"..." – Shukaku was silent, he did not give any reply, but his eyes showed agreement to Tsukihi''s words.
Satisfied that her point is clear to Shukaku, Tsukihi extinguished the flames.
As soon as the flames were extinguished, Shukaku's burned-up state became visible, and he finally collapsed to unconsciousness.
Tsukihi did not care, she just said to Gaara, "Come on, let's go Gaara-kun."
Gaara nodded, then started walking towards Tsukihi, and then walked towards the exit of the cave.
While walking out, he took one final glance at Shukaku then left.
After coming out of the cave, Tsukihi spent some more time in Gaara's subconscious plane.
Kuroto is already quite familiar with many Subconscious planes, the last subconscious plane that Kuroto went into was of Pakura where he entered using Tenseigan, but that's a story of another time.
What's important here is that due to her familiarity with many subconscious planes, she has learned to develop an understanding of the state mind of a person based on their Subconscious plane, and as such, she studied Gaara's subconscious plane to design a proper healing course.
Finally, after determining everything, she and Gaara left his subconscious plane.
Recovering back to their senses, the first thing Gaara did was to bow towards Tsukihi, "Thank you for everything that you have done for me."
Tsukihi said, "It's fine Gaara-kun since you will be becoming a part of us, doing the bȧrė minimum is obvious."
Gaara nodded, he was still more than grateful.
At this time, the gate of the room opened and Sandaime Kazekage puppet walked in.
With his arrival, Tsukihi said, "Alright Gaara-Kun, I have some things to do so I will be leaving, while I or Kuroto-sama are gone, he will be your caretaker."
Kazekage puppet bowed to Gaara.
Gaara also bowed lightly.
Tsuki said, "You can ask him anything you are doubtful about, and I think he should be able to answer most of your doubts, he is also the guard of this air fortress, so you do not have to worry about safety, while you are free to roam around the entire fortress Zone-D is an exception to it, that area is off-limits. So, do not go there, understand?"
Gaara nodded as he curiously looked at the newly arrived person who for some reason reminded him of someone. It's just that he has been unable to figure out who that really is.
Tsukihi continued, "Also, your basic training will start soon enough, so rest easy so that we can begin your training plans soon."
Gaara again nodded.
After that Tsukihi explained a few more things to Gaara, then soon left the kid in Kazekage Puppet's care.
The reason for not immediately starting his training is that she wants to give the kid some time for himself to process the sudden changes and accept that he is no longer in Sunagakure, along with many other things as these are all necessary.
After leaving the room, Tsukihi walked back to her lab, after transferring back her soul to the main body, Kuroto walked towards the exit of Ancor Vantian, and muttered, "Since I have taken Gaara under my wing, and since there is a need of a friend for him, so I suppose it's time that I also bring myself an ȧssistant who can help me in all sorts of experiments…"
But the important matter is potential, Kuroto honestly doesn't have much time to search people, and most of the kids who have the potential are either part of some shinobi village or have already been taken in by Orochimaru.
At this point, Kuroto can only think of one person who might not have been taken in by Orochimaru yet, and that one person might even become useful in many of Kuroto's upcoming plans and can be a good lab ȧssistant if taught carefully.
This is only the first step to building up Gaara's Psychological advantage over Shukaku, this will work but for Shukaku to submit to him there is still a long way to go and in that regard, Tsukihi's role is not much, it will all depend on Gaara's own fortitude and perseverance.
However, even if that is the case, the gap in strength between the kid Gaara and Shukaku who has lived for nearly a millennia is too great.
Therefore, Gaara's path of growth has to be designed for stable growth so that he doesn't become overwhelmed in the face of power. Otherwise, the psychological advantage he might have gained over Shukaku will become meaningless.
'I suppose it is time to stop grilling the Tanuki…' – although Tsukihi thought so, she did not immediately stop.
After being burned by the flames of Oshinomimi Shukaku's struggle has gradually weakened…
Although the golden flames of Oshihomimi are not as overbearing as the black flames of Amaterasu that represent the Material World and Light, the flames of Oshihomimi still have their advantage. Even if inferior, they have the special attribute of burning chakra… that is to say, as long as a chakra source is present they can continue to burn indefinitely.
And what is a Bijuu? A Bijuu is nothing more than a large aggregate of chakra with consciousness, the point here is that they are 'nothing more than large aggregates of Chakra'.
As such, once the Golden Flames are ignited the flames will continue to burn indefinitely the Bijuu, there is no need for Tsukihi to do any extra hard work, the chakra of Shukaku will keep the flames lit.
Next, she waved her hand under the command of which the Torii chains that entangled over Shukaku's mouth loosened, finally giving Shukaku some ability to speak.
But it seemed that Tsukihi expected too much out of this annoying Tanuki, even if he was weakened and crying that did not stop it from cursing and shouting, "Damn you Uchiha… I will… I will not forget this… sooner or later I will-…"
Tsukihi did not wait for Shukaku to finish, she added the ocular power of her Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan to intensify the golden flames while coldly saying, "It seems that you have yet to learn your place…"
"Ah… dammit-dammit-dammit… hot…!" – Immediately Shukaku's wailing and crying in pain intensified, the sounds echoed throughout the cave.
While Shukaku cried, Tsukihi asked Gaara, "What do you think, isn't he just a pet, or better yet, he doesn't even have the qualifications to become a pet unless he becomes honest and learns his true place?"
Gaara nodded nervously, but there was still excitement in his eyes.
With Gaara's nod, Tsukihi smirked at Gaara and said to him to deliberately incite the Tanuki, "You have to get used to this… do not fear him, if you fear something you will never be honest with him… treat the other party as what he is… Besides, such things will be common from now on."
Gaara asked curiously, "Does that mean you are going to punish him like this all the time?"
Hearing Gaara's question Shukaku's wailing stopped for a moment and he looked at Tsukihi, waiting for her answer… or rather her sentence for him…
Tsukihi cackled upon noticing Shukaku's resentful glare focused on her, and she revealed with a mocking tone, "I will let you know that these Golden Flames are called Oshihomimi, I bet you have already noticed this Shukaku, but these Golden Flames are not ordinary… they can continuously absorb and burn chakra… and you are a Bijuu, you are mass of Chakra meaning they will continue to burn endlessly unless extinguished, be that a month, a year, a decade, half a century, a century or even millennia. And the good thing is that I have set them in such a manner that you will never run out of chakra, meaning you will continue to burn for all eternity…"
Of course, that's a bit of an exaggeration, once he is freed of the Torii Seals, Tsukihi believes that Shukaku will be able to extinguish them but meh, Shukaku doesn't know this.
And since he doesn't know this, he suddenly started panicking and shouted, "D-damn it, extinguish them immediately!"
Tsukihi's intimidation obviously took effect, against someone who can subdue him so easily Shukaku did not seem to be as strong or dangerous as Gaara had previously imagined.
Tsukihi snorted coldly and said, "Is this the attitude to have when begging someone? Did no one teach you manners?"
Although Tsukihi has never been in Shukaku's place, she understands Shukaku's current state, and for some reason, it was giving her a unique pŀėȧsurė, and she was really enjoying torturing Shukaku. She is also sure that Shukaku will soon give in, the only question is how long will he endure before finally submitting, and wag his tail like a good little dog.
At this time, Shukaku said with an unwilling expression, "W-well, Uchiha-san, you win, please just stop!"
Tsukihi said with an indifferent expression, "You seemed to be begging the wrong person here…"
Realizing what Tsukihi meant, Shukaku eyes widened but they soon changed into angered, he was furious, "What? You want me to beg this brat? He is nothing more than a mouse with a runny nose, he is not qualified!"
Succumbing to an Uchiha, who are the descendants of Rikudo Sennin is bȧrėly acceptable to him, he knows that all the Bijuu, including the strongest Kyuubi, are helpless in the face of the power of the Mangekyou Sharingan. But begging to the kid Gaara? This is completely unacceptable!
Tsukihi folded her over her ċhėst then laughed, "Hahaha, that's funny coming from you, because the last I checked you are the same in front of me! Nothing more than an annoying Tanuki You are not qualified to put forward your terms in front of me. Either submit or burn to eternity!"
Shukaku was bewildered by what the Uchiha girl said, and he tried to incite Tsukihi, "Kill the brat, become my Jinchuriki, you can have all of my Chakra."
Hearing Shukaku's words, Gaara looked at Tsukihi's face only to see her yawn in boredom, "Don't you have anything else to say? Anyway, I have no interest in acquiring your chakra…"
Shukaku looked at Tsukihi with a more shocked expression, "You-you…!"
Tsukihi interrupted Shukaku midway, "Decide fast, I don't have much time to waste on you, there are more important that I have to do rather than looking at your pathetic state… if you don't hurry then I will leave you as is." – After a pause, Tsukihi said coldly, "And once gone, who knows after how much time will I come back… so be fast, you only have ten seconds before I take my leave…"
"8"
"7"
"I…I wa-." – Shukaku tried to speak something but suddenly stopped.
"6"
…
…
…
"3"
"2"
"1"
"Zer-…" "Please wait!"– Before Tsukihi could count down the last digit, Gaara suddenly interrupted.
Tsukihi stopped and looked at Gaara with a curious expression. She was interested in what Gaara had to say.
"Please wait…" – speaking so, Gaara started walking towards Shukaku, and spoke, "Shukaku… I… I am no longer afraid of you… and I also understand that you do not want to accept me now because I am too weak. It's fine if you do not want to with the way I am currently, but I promise Shukaku, I will work hard and train, and finally gain your recognition, if one day, I personally defeat you, and also free you of all the cages, will you… will you recognize me? Will you help me then? Will you agree to lend me your strength then?"
'Heh, that's a surprise, but I suppose that's to be expected of the next Kazekage… and the best Kazekage…' – Tsukihi was a little surprised by Gaara's sudden actions, but not much considering Gaara's character.
Shukaku was also surprised by Gaara's sudden action, and he was silent for a while, afterward, he snorted, "Don't overestimate yourself brat…"
Gaara did not back down, and continued, "Answer my question Shukaku, whether it really happens or not is another matter altogether… but if it really happens, will you approve me to be your Jinchuriki or not?"
Shukaku was again surprised, and he suddenly laughed, "Hahaha… you will never become strong enough… but I suppose that there is no problem in agreeing with you… at least I will be able to watch you fail miserably!"
Gaara said, "It won't happen, I will not fail…!"
Shukaku finally sighed, and said, "And what happens if you fail…?!"
Gaara thought a little and said, "I will not fail, but if I do fail to gain your approval by defeating you within the next decade, I will do anything that you ask of me… I will do everything that you want, even if it means death and more!"
Shukaku was silent, he couldn't sense any trace of deception or lie in the brat's words, as such, he finally nodded after a long silence, "Fine… if such a day ever comes… then I will give all my strength to you… I will give you access to my entire chakra… but do not forget your condition kid, you only have as much as a decade as you said… anything more and you will fail!"
With Shukaku's nod, Gaara turned to look at Tsukihi and said, "Tsukihi-san, please extinguish the flames…"
Tsukihi hummed, "Since the kid is asking so I am forgiving you… but do not try to step out of your bounds. If I as much as hear that you are acting out of your bounds there will be no next chance, being burned to the eternity will await you!"
"..." – Shukaku was silent, he did not give any reply, but his eyes showed agreement to Tsukihi''s words.
Satisfied that her point is clear to Shukaku, Tsukihi extinguished the flames.
As soon as the flames were extinguished, Shukaku's burned-up state became visible, and he finally collapsed to unconsciousness.
Tsukihi did not care, she just said to Gaara, "Come on, let's go Gaara-kun."
Gaara nodded, then started walking towards Tsukihi, and then walked towards the exit of the cave.
While walking out, he took one final glance at Shukaku then left.
After coming out of the cave, Tsukihi spent some more time in Gaara's subconscious plane.
Kuroto is already quite familiar with many Subconscious planes, the last subconscious plane that Kuroto went into was of Pakura where he entered using Tenseigan, but that's a story of another time.
What's important here is that due to her familiarity with many subconscious planes, she has learned to develop an understanding of the state mind of a person based on their Subconscious plane, and as such, she studied Gaara's subconscious plane to design a proper healing course.
Finally, after determining everything, she and Gaara left his subconscious plane.
Recovering back to their senses, the first thing Gaara did was to bow towards Tsukihi, "Thank you for everything that you have done for me."
Tsukihi said, "It's fine Gaara-kun since you will be becoming a part of us, doing the bȧrė minimum is obvious."
Gaara nodded, he was still more than grateful.
At this time, the gate of the room opened and Sandaime Kazekage puppet walked in.
With his arrival, Tsukihi said, "Alright Gaara-Kun, I have some things to do so I will be leaving, while I or Kuroto-sama are gone, he will be your caretaker."
Kazekage puppet bowed to Gaara.
Gaara also bowed lightly.
Tsuki said, "You can ask him anything you are doubtful about, and I think he should be able to answer most of your doubts, he is also the guard of this air fortress, so you do not have to worry about safety, while you are free to roam around the entire fortress Zone-D is an exception to it, that area is off-limits. So, do not go there, understand?"
Gaara nodded as he curiously looked at the newly arrived person who for some reason reminded him of someone. It's just that he has been unable to figure out who that really is.
Tsukihi continued, "Also, your basic training will start soon enough, so rest easy so that we can begin your training plans soon."
Gaara again nodded.
After that Tsukihi explained a few more things to Gaara, then soon left the kid in Kazekage Puppet's care.
The reason for not immediately starting his training is that she wants to give the kid some time for himself to process the sudden changes and accept that he is no longer in Sunagakure, along with many other things as these are all necessary.
After leaving the room, Tsukihi walked back to her lab, after transferring back her soul to the main body, Kuroto walked towards the exit of Ancor Vantian, and muttered, "Since I have taken Gaara under my wing, and since there is a need of a friend for him, so I suppose it's time that I also bring myself an ȧssistant who can help me in all sorts of experiments…"
But the important matter is potential, Kuroto honestly doesn't have much time to search people, and most of the kids who have the potential are either part of some shinobi village or have already been taken in by Orochimaru.
At this point, Kuroto can only think of one person who might not have been taken in by Orochimaru yet, and that one person might even become useful in many of Kuroto's upcoming plans and can be a good lab ȧssistant if taught carefully.
