Night sank low as Uchiha Jin sat cross-legged on his bed.
He closed his eyes, breath growing long and fine, and let his mind sink into the sealed domain.
Water lay still as glass, mirroring his figure.
At his arrival, faint ripples spread across the space.
He still did not know the origin of this place, yet as his strength and age grew, he could sense a subtle bond between himself and the domain.
With the seal's help, he could have taken the Holy Master as a steady source of nourishment, rising step by step.
But Sarutobi Hiruzen's interference had broken his plan, and the true reason was his own pride, sharper than it looked.
A traveler with the Holy Master as a cheat and the advantage of foreknowledge, bowing to someone like Sarutobi for compromise?
He could not.
"So tonight, let me see just how far this sealed space can go."
Scarlet Sharingan turned, its three tomoe gliding.
He walked toward the central bars. With each step, the water bloomed in rings.
Beyond the railing, the Holy Master's snarling dragon statue loomed in shadow, twelve talismans glimmering on its stone hide.
Red-lit dragon eyes fixed on him, their malice undisguised.
"Brat, what are you about to..."
"Quiet, Holy Master." Jin cut him off and formed seals before his chest. "You will not like what comes next."
The sealed domain shuddered. Invisible waves rippled through the air, and the talismans on the statue flared with harsh light.
Black chains shot from the dark and coiled around the talismans like living things.
"What are you doing, brat?" The Holy Master's voice spiked. The statue quaked. The chains screeched. "Stop!"
Jin ignored him, driving his chakra harder. The chains pulled tight and began to drag a talisman free.
That act enraged the Holy Master. Power surged off the statue and all twelve talismans blazed at once.
"You dare!"
With a deafening bellow, dragonfire burst forth.
This blaze dwarfed all before it. Gold and red tongues licked the bars, and the space behind the railing became a sea of flame in an instant.
As the fire rolled, the chains shook and their drag slowed.
Sweat beaded on Jin's brow. His back was already damp.
The resistance was fiercer than he had planned for, and shaping the seal drank chakra at a staggering rate.
In only minutes, more than half his reserves were gone.
"I cannot keep trading like this."
His Sharingan spun. He recalled most of the chains at once, leaving only one wrapped tight around the talisman marked with a horse.
Freed of the others, that single chain swelled with power. Ancient sigils crawled along its black links. No matter how the Holy Master thrashed, it held.
"No. That is my power." The roar boomed through the space, the statue shaking wildly. "You will pay for this. You will..."
CRACK!
With a clean snap, the Horse talisman came free.
The chain wound around the white-shining piece and delivered it to Jin's hands.
The instant his fingers touched it, warmth flooded his body. Weariness vanished. Even the ache behind his eyes evaporated.
Jin laughed, unable to help himself.
The talisman teemed with force that repelled foreign harm and mended all wounds.
"That is mine, my talisman!"
The Holy Master's fury hammered at his ears, and dragonfire burned hotter.
Yet the bars did their job. No matter how the flames surged, they broke the moment they met the seal, drifting away as part of the black vapor that circled the domain.
"This is only the beginning." He clenched the Horse talisman, feeling its surge.
"It will not be long. I will take all twelve, one by one."
His work done, Jin's figure thinned. At the last instant before he left, he glanced back at the raging Holy Master still shackled in the seal and let a meaningful smile touch his lips.
Moonlight still flowed in the real world.
The boy on the bed opened his eyes. Deep in his pupils, a horse-shaped mark flashed and went.
He lifted his right hand, palm up. A thread of white light ran between his fingers, the power of the Horse talisman knitting itself perfectly into him.