"King Kong Blockade!"
As the golden chakra chain extended from his palm, Tamura Hao revealed a satisfied smile.
After absorbing the blood and chakra of numerous Uzumaki clan members, the Ten-Tails had undergone another transformation. This time, it manifested the power of the famed Adamantine Sealing Chains, a chakra-based binding technique intrinsic to the Uzumaki bloodline that exhibited extraordinary suppressive effects—especially effective against chakra-based entities, most notably the tailed beasts.
The structure and nature of this sealing technique shared an origin with the chakra chains of the Outer Path — specifically those used by the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path (Gedō Mazō), which was originally the husk of the Ten-Tails itself. However, the Outer Path chains, employed by Rinnegan users such as Nagato, were of a far superior level—capable of overpowering even full-fledged jinchūriki. Compared to that, this current version was a more rudimentary but still significant derivative.
While today's Ten-Tails was far from the complete form wielded by the Sage of Six Paths or used in the Fourth Great Ninja War, its assimilation of Uzumaki chakra allowed it to mimic the Diamond-level sealing chakra chains. Should it evolve further, it might replicate the high-grade chakra chains of the Gedō Mazō.
However, this sealing ability currently belonged to the Ten-Tails, not to Tamura Hao directly. He was still dependent on external power. Strengthening himself remained paramount; this borrowed sealing ability was a stopgap—to ensure his survival long enough to fulfill his deeper objectives.
"What are you doing here?"
The clear voice broke his thoughts. As he turned, Tamura Hao saw Uzumaki Kushina. Her eyes were red, her eyelids puffy—it was clear she had cried hard, but she still wore a defiant, fierce little scowl.
So fierce, and yet still cute.
"The scenery here is nice. I just came to take a look."
Tamura Hao gave an innocent smile. In truth, this scenic area—full of blooming flowers and birdsong—was poorly utilized as a graveyard. He felt it was a prime location for villas or retreat homes. The Uzumaki clan's sense of aesthetics had always been admirable.
"Liar! You're up to something suspicious!"
Kushina didn't believe a word. She stepped forward, determined to investigate. But before she could take a proper look, she felt a sharp pain at her nape—and everything went dark.
"Why do you force me to do this?"
Looking at the unconscious girl lying on the ground, Tamura Hao sighed. This girl was going to be a future headache, he could already tell.
He picked her up and, with a foot, leveled over the small hole the Ten-Tails had burrowed into earlier to swallow her chakra. Fortunately, the hole wasn't large—only the width of a finger—easy to conceal.
He carried Kushina back toward the shattered ruins of Uzushiogakure and handed her over to an Uzumaki woman assigned to look after her. Then, Tamura Hao walked deeper into the ruined village.
Though Uzushiogakure had been destroyed by a joint assault of the Great Nations, remnants of its legacy remained. Any surviving relics, materials, or sealing texts were worth recovering.
"Ah Hao, I was looking for you!"
A booming voice greeted him—Yeyue Ay arrived, lugging an enormous scroll on his back. He set it down and handed it over.
"All the bodies are inside. The poison-insect we planted in that boy controlled his body and extracted everything. We even got one of Danzō's arms."
Previously, they had studied Samehada and found that it could devour chakra and flesh to refine energy at an exceptional efficiency. For the blade, the flesh of chakra-rich ninjas served as top-tier nourishment.
Thus, they had sealed the corpses of all enemy ninjas from the war in a special scroll using the Uzumaki clan's body-preserving fuinjutsu. These techniques delayed decomposition significantly.
They had even extracted the bone structures of Kaguya clan members for future research—leaving the flesh to nourish Samehada.
It seemed cruel, but to strengthen the junior brother, Tamura Hao, such methods were justified.
"Did that man escape?" Hao asked, accepting the heavy scroll.
"We caught him. His name's Nishito, commander of the Iwagakure army. He's a direct confidant of the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, and he knew plenty of classified intel—plans, formations, even upcoming jinchūriki deployments."
Ay's eyes narrowed. "Turns out they've already fielded the Four-Tails jinchūriki—he's on this very battlefield. If we'd known sooner, we could've neutralized him."
Tamura Hao's eyes flickered with thought. The Four-Tails, Son Gokū, was the domain of a jinchūriki named Rōshi. If Rōshi had already bonded with the beast, he should be around twenty years old now. It was unclear whether he had mastered Lava Release yet.
"The Four-Tails is considered among the weaker bijū in terms of raw power, making it easier to seal than the Eight-Tails," Hao commented. "But the Eight-Tails is still a headache."
"Not for long." Ay grinned broadly. "This Nishito guy knew both Light-Weight Rock and Heavy-Weight Rock Techniques. Combined with Lightning Release Chakra Mode, these techniques could revolutionize our combat speed and aerial maneuverability."
Ay's excitement was palpable. "Once my father masters these techniques, he'll be able to restrain the Eight-Tails without exhausting himself."
Tamura Hao nodded in understanding. These techniques, taught by Ōnoki, could drastically enhance both offensive and defensive capabilities. Their value in aerial and speed-based combat was immense—exactly what the Third Raikage could utilize best.
"I'll record your contribution to this S-rank mission. If it weren't for your intel, we'd have missed this opportunity."
Ay's mood was jubilant. His junior brother was turning out to be Hidden Cloud's greatest asset—like a living fortune charm.
"I want to learn sealing techniques," Tamura Hao suddenly said.
He envied those gravity techniques, but he lacked an Earth affinity and couldn't train them. The sealing arts of the Uzumaki, however, remained an attainable and equally valuable path. He hadn't yet seen the full methodology behind the Yang Seal, but he had to start somewhere.
"You should focus on lightning nature transformation first. Don't spread yourself too thin," Ay advised. "Besides, sealing requires a massive chakra reserve. Even if you learn the theory, you might not be able to use it effectively."
"I've already passed the fundamentals. It's just a matter of mastery now," Hao replied. "And the Yang Seal can store chakra—it could help overcome my chakra shortage."
As if to prove his point, Hao flicked his finger and a spark of lightning danced across it. Thanks to the chakra boost from Samehada, combined with his golden finger and the Thor's Blade, he had mastered the basics with astonishing speed.
"You already finished it?" Ay was stunned. "It took me five years to learn Lightning Release's nature change!"
"I've been trying since I first developed chakra. My early attempts were flawed, but they gave me a foundation. After receiving guidance from you and the teacher—and with Thor's Blade—the rest came naturally."
Sometimes, playing down one's talents was wiser. Better to appear diligent than inexplicably gifted.
Sure enough, Ay nodded with newfound appreciation. "Your innate chakra reserves may be low, but your talent is incredible. If you can overcome that flaw, you'll surpass many so-called prodigies."
Ay then added, "When we return to the village, ask the Uzumaki to teach you the sealing arts. You have their full inheritance—you're entitled to it. Just avoid their forbidden techniques; there's no need for you to risk your life with those."
Tamura Hao nodded. That was a fair compromise.
"By the way, have we gleaned anything about the younger generation in other villages?" he asked. The captives they'd taken from the five great nations should have revealed some intel by now.
In the shinobi world, childhood genius almost always forecast future greatness. If anyone destined to shine in the future had already emerged, he wanted to know.