As Ichihime spoke, she walked over to a pillar near the throne and touched it with her palm. Glowing cursed seal characters quickly appeared on the pillar, and as its surface brightened, a hidden opening was revealed.
She reached her hand in and pressed a concealed button inside, triggering a mechanism. The floor responded by opening a hole, seemingly connecting to some space below, which naturally sparked curiosity.
Ichihime manipulated thorns to roughly throw Tōshirō, who was bound like a zongzi, into the opening.
After that, she herself immediately jumped in.
Hiten, who had been observing the battle with his Byakugan, was astonished to see Tōshirō defeated and even captured. He hadn't expected the Queen of the Sky Country to be so powerful.
Tōshirō was an important jinchūriki of the village and couldn't be allowed to fall into the enemy's hands. He immediately prepared to rescue him, but instead of rushing in, he chose to seek reinforcements.
Even Tōshirō had failed; with his personal meager strength, going alone would be futile, and he might even lose his life for nothing.
"Clatter."
The bound Tōshirō fell heavily to the ground, almost breaking a bone. "Is this how you treat your captives?"
With that, he looked around, finding himself in a brightly lit place with mysterious runes covering the walls.
Ichihime landed lightly on the ground and calmly glanced at Tōshirō.
At that moment, an eager voice called out, addressing her respectfully:
"Lady Ichihime."
Ichihime turned her face to see a handsome young man walking towards her.
Ichihime said calmly, "Shinno, how is the Zero-Tails doing?"
Shinno shook his head, a regretful expression on his face. "I'm very sorry, Lady Ichihime, but we still haven't found a way to consistently provide for the Zero-Tails."
As he spoke, he looked at Ichihime's face with an infatuated gaze. "Lady Ichihime, your face…"
Ichihime lifted her smooth chin towards Tōshirō. "I had a fight with this Leaf Ninja."
Shinno looked surprised. Someone actually managed to push their Queen to such a state. He secretly glanced at Ichihime's beautiful face, thinking that this wasn't bad either.
Ichihime highly valued Shinno's talent, even entrusting him with important national affairs. At the national leadership level, he had a position second only to her, and he was one of the few who knew her true appearance.
Shinno repaid this trust by dedicating himself wholeheartedly to his work.
Besides the respect of a subject for his sovereign, he also harbored romantic feelings for Ichihime.
Ichihime pointed at Tōshirō on the ground. "In that case, let's feed this guy to the Zero-Tails."
"This guy?" Shinno asked, surprised.
Ichihime smiled. "This guy seems to be a jinchūriki. There's no better power to nurture the Zero-Tails with."
Shinno flattered her, "I see, as expected of Lady Ichihime…"
Tōshirō remained silent.
If nothing went wrong, the "Zero-Tails" he just heard was that thing, and the person Ichihime was talking to was probably that hypocritical old bastard behind him.
Tōshirō's silence gave Shinno room for imagination. He mocked the subdued Tōshirō, "Aren't you curious why there are only nine Tailed Beasts in this world, yet a creature like the Zero-Tails exists?"
Tōshirō glanced at him, formed a hand seal with one hand, and unleashed a fierce surge of cold energy from his body.
ICE AGE…
Ichihime was startled and quickly grabbed the still-愣 Shinno by his collar, throwing him backward. Shinno was different from other subordinates; he possessed extraordinary medical abilities and was a rare talent.
"Lady Ichihime…" Shinno flew backward, hitting the wall before stopping.
Ignoring the pain, he quickly looked up and roared, seeing Ichihime, who had been frozen into an ice sculpture while protecting him:
"Lady Ichihime…"
Tōshirō found him verbose. His palm glowed with frosty cold energy, and with a flick of his hand, several ice needles flew out from his palm, aiming directly for Shinno's head.
Ice Release: Ice Soul Silver Needles.
The ice needles were extremely fast. Shinno at this time was a weakling, unlike his future self, and could only watch with wide eyes.
Just as he thought he was doomed, a miracle occurred. The ice needles, mere inches away, suddenly transformed into specks of light and scattered.
Tōshirō frowned, following the direction the light specks scattered, and saw a giant tombstone-like object. It was carved with strange patterns and emitted light.
In front, there was a huge yellow cocoon, wrapped in a viscous substance similar to yellow spider silk, supporting it suspended in mid-air.
And the light specks from his Ice Soul Silver Needles earlier had floated into it. No, rather than "floated," "absorbed" would be a more accurate description.
The surface of the cocoon was translucent yellow, emitting a faint glow. Inside was a curled-up strange creature, completely black, giving a smooth, viscous feel, like an earthworm that had crawled out of a picture.
Its head wore something like a white mask, with a large "Zero" character written on it.
At this moment, this creature was quietly sleeping, like an infant in a placenta.
If one looked closely, they could see unknown black substances flowing within the viscous material wrapped around the yellow cocoon, continuously transporting and nourishing the creature inside the yellow cocoon, just like blood vessels providing nutrients to a placenta.
Although not very obvious, Tōshirō could sense that the creature in the yellow cocoon was undergoing some kind of metamorphosis, especially after absorbing the light specks just now.
Suddenly, a stern female voice rang out.
"It seems I truly underestimated you."
Tōshirō turned his head and saw Ichihime, who had been frozen into an ice sculpture, now completely free from the icy restraint and unharmed.
"I should have crippled you earlier," Ichihime said with some annoyance.
"If that were the case, do you think I would have so easily let you manipulate me?"
Tōshirō had to admit that he might have overdone it a bit. He didn't expect that in this era, the Zero-Tails already existed.
"What exactly is this thing…"
A solemn expression appeared on Tōshirō's face.
"It is a substance derived from the darkness within human hearts."
Of course, Tōshirō knew what this thing was. This was just a superfluous action, to buy time and wait for reinforcements to arrive.
However, he didn't expect her next words to be somewhat surprising.
"More accurately, it is something I stripped from a demon called Mōryō and cultivated."
Ichihime said this.
Mōryō?
Tōshirō was startled.
He had some impression of this thing, wondering if it was related to the one in the Land of Demons.
"Alright, enough idle chatter. Next, I won't let you break free so easily."
Ichihime formed a Tiger hand seal with both hands. The tombstone-like apparatus glowed, as if awakening the Zero-Tails sleeping in the giant yellow cocoon, and it began to writhe.
Ichihime called Shinno's name.
Shinno understood and ran towards the Zero-Tails.
Although Tōshirō didn't understand his actions, it definitely wasn't a good thing. He exhaled a burst of fire towards his target, then, with lightning speed, threw several shuriken wreathed in flames, attacking.
Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Claw Crimson
The advantage of this jutsu was its speed, making it difficult to dodge. However, it was ultimately a step behind. The Zero-Tails first absorbed the chakra from the Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Claw Crimson, then a hand emerged from within the yellow cocoon and swatted away the shuriken.
"Hmph…"
Ichihime, remotely controlling the Zero-Tails, gave a triumphant smile.
During this time, Shinno successfully reached the Zero-Tails.
The Zero-Tails extended countless sticky yellow tentacles from deep within its body, wrapping around Shinno and pulling him into the cocoon, where they merged into one.
"Roar!"
With a roar, the Zero-Tails broke free from its cocoon.
"Bad luck, bad luck…"
Tōshirō adopted Jackie Chan's catchphrase.
The ability to absorb chakra was already troublesome enough, but the key was that it was a wide-range absorption. In this confined space, it was simply a bug.
Tōshirō would be a fool to continue wasting time with them.
From the start, he had noticed what appeared to be a tunnel in the wall. Running in that direction should allow him to escape.
Thinking this, Tōshirō decisively decided to flee.
As if anticipating Tōshirō's thoughts, Ichihime had Shinno, who was now fused with the Zero-Tails, use the Zero-Tails' ability to create wave-like yellow tentacles to block the cave, while she herself held back Tōshirō, preventing her prey from escaping.
Finally, Tōshirō could only watch helplessly as the Zero-Tails completely blocked the cave with some unknown yellow substance.
You bastard…
Soon, in a two-on-one situation, the battle quickly turned extremely unfavorable for Tōshirō.
Tōshirō moved along the walls, trying to evade the yellow tentacles emerging from the Zero-Tails while also fighting Ichihime. If caught by these tentacles, they would mercilessly drain his chakra, making them extremely troublesome.
In such a dire situation, Tōshirō, who had been waiting for reinforcements for so long, was almost despairing.
Damn it, Tsunade, why aren't you here yet?!
At this rate, I can't hold out much longer.
Tōshirō gritted his molars, hardening his resolve. His eyes turned red, and three tomoe twisted around his pupils.
Sharingan, activate!
Ichihime, who was fighting Tōshirō, her pupils suddenly dilated.
Tōshirō seized the moment of her distraction, and while the Zero-Tails was unable to react, he condensed a deep blue, spinning ice sphere in his palm—a Rasengan infused with ice-style chakra.
Ice Release: Hyōrinmaru.
A powerful vortex swirled and erupted in Ichihime's abdomen.
(End of Chapter)
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