The Uzumaki High Council Chamber — ancient, fortified, and woven with chakra-dampening seals — fell into heavy silence after Elder Mutsuyo posed the question.
"The Seven Tails must not remain sealed in stone. It must have a vessel — one of strength, control… and vision."
Ashina's eyes narrowed slightly. A few younger councilors exchanged looks. But no one dismissed the idea.
Elder Haruko added, folding her hands:
"We cannot repeat Konoha's mistake — to treat a Jinchūriki as a weapon or curse. But perhaps… as our future."
And all eyes turned to Akashi.
---
At the ancestral cliffside home of the Uzumaki, Akashi sat between his parents, while Ashina stood before them.
"You are not being forced," Ashina said plainly, but not coldly. "But… I won't lie. You are our best chance."
His mother, Kaede, gripped his hand tightly.
"You've already given so much. Your childhood… your peace. If this is too much—"
"I will do it," Akashi said, calm but thoughtful.
They looked at him — stunned by his resolve, but unsurprised.
He continued, voice soft:
"But on my terms. No chains. No cages. The beast must be partner, not prisoner."
Ashina smiled — a quiet, proud smile.
"Spoken like a true Uzukage."
---
Beneath the Temple of the First Spiral, guarded by ANBU and shrouded in ancestral chakra, Akashi knelt within a 12-layered sealing array designed by Ashina and the elder Fuinjutsu masters.
The jar containing Chōmei, the Seven Tails, hovered above, sealed in stasis.
As the chant began, the room thrummed with energy. Seals blazed to life in rings of crimson and gold.
Akashi's eyes remained calm. The Emperor Eye was sealed away, and only his own will remained.
"I welcome you, Chōmei. We will not be enemies."
The sealing struck like lightning.
Wings of chakra lashed the chamber. The temple walls cracked, and chakra pressure made the air scream — but Akashi endured.
In the mindscape of the seal, Chōmei buzzed into view — vast, elegant, and ancient.
"Strange… you greet me without fear."
"No. I greet you with respect."
The insect-beast looked deep into the boy's glowing gaze — not with arrogance, but conviction.
"Hmph. You shine like the sun… but you're carved by storm. Fine then, Akashi Uzumaki… we will fly together."
---
As the sealing ended, Akashi collapsed forward, caught by his grandfather and Ryuken.
His chakra fluctuated wildly, but stabilized — bright and pulsing.
Ashina looked down.
"A boy no longer…"
From the shadows, the watching ANBU bowed — not in protocol, but reverence.
Uzu had just given birth to something new: a Jinchūriki of balance and legacy.
Akashi's consciousness floated within the swirling azure skies of his seal's inner world — a vast, open sky above fields of glowing green, ringed with sigils and floating torii gates.
A gust swept over the field as Chōmei descended from the clouds — majestic, iridescent, and radiant with seven powerful wings.
"Most hosts arrive here in fear, boy. You came with understanding. Why?"
Akashi stood tall beneath the beast's shadow, crimson hair flowing, and replied simply:
"Because fear binds. And I refuse to be in chains — nor place them on others."
Chōmei clicked his mandibles, amused.
"You speak of balance, yet carry wrath and sorrow."
Akashi's Emperor Eye flickered faintly, then dimmed.
"That's true. But you and I… we both want to soar, don't we?"
For the first time in centuries, Chōmei laughed — a deep, echoing sound that shook the skies.
"Then let us fly, stormborn child. But remember: wings carry both wind… and burden."
---
In the following weeks, Akashi trained with incredible focus, supervised by Ashina and aided by Aiko and Daichi. His control over Chōmei's chakra advanced quickly — not in brute power alone, but in refined synergy:
Flight training over the island cliffs.
Chakra sensory expansion — using insect-based sensing.
Wing-augmented taijutsu, combined with fuinjutsu seal arrays.
And whispers… of new sealing formations built around Tailed Beast Sync Harmonization — a groundbreaking fusion technique.
Chōmei occasionally guided him through meditation, sometimes snarky, sometimes insightful.
"You grip chakra too tightly. It is like wind — grasp too hard and it slips."
Akashi learned. Fast.
But not quietly.
The news spread like lightning across the shinobi world:
"Uzushio has a Jinchūriki."
"The Seven Tails… not in Taki anymore?"
Panic. Interest. Fear.
---
Konoha
In the Hokage's office, Sarutobi Hiruzen stared at the scroll from the Uzumaki scouts. Danzo stood at the window, unmoving.
"The Seven Tails," Hiruzen murmured. "And the boy…"
Danzo's voice was sharp.
"We must secure a counterbalance. If Uzu begins exporting stability… we lose leverage."
"They seek peace."
"They seek independence."
---
Iwa
Onoki scowled.
"The boy's chakra harmonizes with a Tailed Beast and he's a fuinjutsu prodigy? He's becoming dangerous."
---
Kiri
The Mizukage's eyes narrowed.
"Uzumaki's bloodline resurfaces, and now a Jinchūriki? We must act before this becomes a second rise of Hashirama."
---
Atop a waterfall, Akashi trained alone. His wings of chakra unfolded — six faint, one strong. His control wasn't perfect yet… but growing.
Chōmei's voice echoed gently:
"You're not like the others."
"Neither are you."
"They'll come for you, you know."
"Let them. I've chosen my sky."
The camera pans up: red hair fluttering, Emperor Eye pulsing faintly, wings like refracted starlight — and far in the clouds… a hawk from Kumo watching.
---