"With me here, you will never be able to turn things around."
Seiryū dragged the Nine-Tails in front of him as easily as if it were a chicken and looked straight into its eyes.
"In the eyes of others, you are a walking natural disaster, a being with immense power."
He patted the Nine-Tails on the nose and grinned.
"But in front of me, you're just a fox. And not even a particularly strong one."
"The Dragon Vein is unique enough to trap me for a while, but you? I can suppress you with a wave of my hand."
"I am negotiating with you because you still have some use. If you cooperate, fine. If you don't, I don't mind finishing you off completely."
"Hmph."
The chain around the Nine-Tails' neck loosened slightly, allowing it to speak.
After hearing Seiryū's words, it only snorted coldly.
Like a cat with its fur standing on end, it appeared fierce on the outside while clearly afraid on the inside. Even so, its voice still carried killing intent and sarcasm.
"I do not doubt that you have the strength."
"But a Tailed Beast and its Jinchūriki are bound together. If I die, Kushina dies too."
The relationship between a Jinchūriki and a Tailed Beast was complicated.
It could be considered a form of symbiosis.
If the Tailed Beast died, the Jinchūriki was unlikely to survive.
The Nine-Tails did not believe Seiryū would kill it.
Because if he did, Kushina would die as well.
The Nine-Tails was not a stupid fox. On the contrary, it was highly intelligent. Foxes were known for their cunning.
It revealed a ferocious smile.
"No. I will not truly die. At most, it will take me some time to revive."
"But if Kushina dies, she is truly dead."
"It is true that a Jinchūriki usually dies if separated from their Tailed Beast, but there are exceptions."
Seiryū remained unconcerned.
"With the Uzumaki Clan's vitality and my Medical Ninjutsu, I am absolutely certain that I can keep Kushina alive."
"Do not doubt whether I can do such a thing. I can even avoid the fatal consequences of opening the Eight Gates."
"And who told you that you cannot truly die?"
Seiryū looked into the Nine-Tails' slit-like eyes and said calmly, "You are a life-form created by Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki through Yin-Yang Release."
"Although you possess certain immortal characteristics, what do you think will happen if I annihilate your soul?"
He smiled faintly.
"I also have ways to beat you half to death and then wipe your memories with Genjutsu. Do you want to try?"
The Nine-Tails narrowed its eyes and snorted.
"Annihilate my soul? If you can really do that."
"You don't believe me?"
Seiryū interrupted it with a meaningful smile.
"Then let me show you a technique that attacks the soul directly."
"Hadō #90 Kurohitsugi."
Clack, clack.
Irregular black blocks interlocked around the Nine-Tails, covering its enormous body.
The moment the final piece locked into place, the power of Hadō #90 Kurohitsugi erupted.
"Ahhhhh!"
A shrill scream rang out.
The Nine-Tails felt as if it were being cut apart by a thousand blades.
Chaotic gravity pressed down, twisting and tearing at it, all of it acting directly upon its soul.
Sharp blades pierced through it one after another, damaging its spirit.
This was the sealing space, a mental realm. Here, the Nine-Tails appeared as a spiritual body, a manifestation of consciousness.
Naturally, Kurohitsugi's attack landed directly on its soul.
Pain that pierced the soul itself was unbearable, even for the Nine-Tails, which had lived for countless years.
What terrified the Nine-Tails even more was that it realized something.
As the attack continued, its soul was truly being annihilated little by little.
This was a technique capable of killing it completely.
Not the kind of death from which it would eventually revive after enough time had passed.
This was true death.
Complete disappearance from the world.
It would not even reach the Pure Land.
Seiryū was only teaching the Nine-Tails a lesson. He had no intention of truly finishing it off, so the power of Kurohitsugi quickly dissipated.
The Nine-Tails was revealed inside, looking miserable and drained.
It gasped for breath, lingering fear clear in its eyes.
That pain.
It never wanted to experience it again.
"How was it? Kurohitsugi wasn't pleasant, was it?"
Seiryū lifted the Nine-Tails in front of him again, staring into its eyes, which had narrowed to pinpoints from the pain.
"If I use it a few more times, your soul will be weakened to the extreme. In that state, do you think you can still withstand my Genjutsu?"
"Even if your power weakens because of it, so what? Compared to an uncontrollable threat, weaker but controllable power is far more useful."
"I don't expect much from you anyway."
"What do you want me to do?"
The Nine-Tails gritted its teeth, feeling deeply humiliated.
Damn this human.
He actually possessed a technique that could kill it completely.
Why had such a monster appeared in the world?
Senju Hashirama and Madara had been powerful, but even they could not truly kill it.
But this boy in front of it.
He really could.
Faced with the threat of death and the horrifying possibility of being turned into something ridiculous like the Dragon Vein, the Nine-Tails had no choice but to bow its head.
It finally gave in.
"I am already sealed so tightly that I can barely move. Is that still not enough?"
It felt terribly wronged.
It had already been reduced to this state, yet these people were still not satisfied.
What would its life be like from now on?
It would definitely be worse than before.
Otherwise, Seiryū would not have wasted so many words on it.
"What do I want? It's simple."
Seiryū released Heaven's Chain from the Nine-Tails and continued, "Uncontrollable power will always be a threat. Kushina is not me. She does not have the strength to completely suppress you on her own."
"What you need to do is let go of your hatred, reconcile with her, and allow her to become the perfect Jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails."
"That way, she can use your power freely without any risk of going berserk."
If the Nine-Tails refused, Seiryū would not kill it completely.
But he would beat it half to death and wipe its memories, making it harmless.
The only thing that disappointed Seiryū was that the system had not gone "ding."
The Nine-Tails froze after hearing him.
"That's all?"
It had thought Seiryū would make some excessive demand.
For example, completely squeezing out its value by forcing it to refine chakra endlessly and send it to others.
Or making it work like a beast, performing all kinds of degrading labor.
But it was just this?
Simply put, Seiryū was telling it to behave.
"Hm? What else did you expect? Did you want to contribute more? Do you enjoy suffering?"
Seiryū looked surprised.
Then, as if something had occurred to him, he said, "Well, since you are so eager to contribute, and since I, as the Hokage Assistant, need to restore Konoha's glory."
"When the time comes, you can help plow the fields in the Forest of Death. You're just sitting around anyway."
Even if the Forest of Death was not developed as a tourist attraction, it still needed to be put to use.
For Seiryū, who came from an agricultural nation in his previous life, leaving such fertile soil unused felt like a terrible waste.
The Nine-Tails fell silent.
Although it did not know what "enjoy suffering" meant, it was certain it was not a compliment.
It also blamed itself for talking too much.
Why had it said anything?
Go plow the Forest of Death?
It would rather die than do that.
So it shook its head frantically.
"That is not what I meant. I will release control over my chakra and will no longer interfere with Kushina."
"However, you should understand that doing this requires you to completely undo my seal."
"As long as you behave and don't cause trouble, I will naturally set you free. I won't place any new restrictions on you."
Seiryū said casually, "I said from the beginning that I came to negotiate."
"If you had not been rude, I would not have attacked you. You brought this on yourself."
"A weakling provoking someone stronger is such a foolish thing to do. Are you sure you don't enjoy suffering?"
The Nine-Tails fell silent again.
Although those words made it feel embarrassed, for some reason, they did not sound especially harsh.
Instead, it felt that it had indeed been rude.
A strong person like Seiryū had come to negotiate on equal terms, but it had failed to appreciate that.
Being taught a small lesson was only natural.
Seiryū even planned to set it free without imposing any restrictions.
That was clearly a sign of trust.
Realizing this, the Nine-Tails' hostility toward Seiryū lessened considerably.
The other party was not unreasonable.
On the contrary, he was surprisingly easy to talk to.
The Nine-Tails stared at Seiryū and extended one claw.
"I agree to your terms. I hope everything you said is true."
"Naturally."
Seiryū touched the extended claw.
Then, as if remembering something, he looked disgusted.
"Cats lick their paws. You're a fox, so don't tell me you do that too. That's filthy."
The Nine-Tails' face darkened in an almost human way.
"I am not some lesser animal, and I do not lick my paws."
Seiryū thought about it.
"Right. Foxes are canids."
After a pause, he added, "But remember, even if you can move freely in the future, don't go marking your territory around Konoha."
The Nine-Tails felt deeply insulted. Its nine tails lashed angrily behind it.
"I am a Tailed Beast, not an animal. I do not need to eat or relieve myself."
"Oh, that's good. At your size, if you took a dump, Konoha's toilets wouldn't survive."
Outside, Seiryū's consciousness returned to his body.
He shook his head slightly, dispelling the discomfort.
Then he smiled at Kushina.
"You can release the seal. The Nine-Tails won't go berserk anymore. Later, you can try controlling its chakra."
"That's solved already? Then I'll give it a try."
When Seiryū was not being extreme or unreliable, he was very dependable.
Kushina trusted him deeply, so she did not ask any further questions.
"Release!"
Kushina formed a hand seal and completely released the jutsu sealing the Nine-Tails.
The moment the seal was released, Kushina felt a massive amount of chakra flowing through her body.
It was even greater than the chakra she possessed as a member of the Uzumaki Clan.
Hum, hum.
An orange-red layer of chakra covered Kushina's body, gradually darkening to crimson.
Chakra tails extended behind her.
She had entered a partial Tailed Beast Transformation.
As Kushina entered that state, the Nine-Tails' chakra fluctuations instantly spread outward.
The abnormal chakra was immediately detected by Konoha's Barrier Team. Their expressions changed drastically, and they hurriedly sent a report to the Hokage's office.
"So this is the Nine-Tails' chakra. It really is powerful. But it doesn't feel as violent as before. It's actually rather gentle."
In the past, Kushina would have gone berserk in this state.
This time, however, she could remain fully conscious.
She found it rather novel.
However, when she looked at her right hand, which had turned into a chakra claw, she could not help pouting.
"It's just ugly. It hides my beauty."
The Nine-Tails heard that and fell silent.
This woman was actually worried about whether it looked ugly?
How was this ugly?
Chakra condensed into the head of the Nine-Tails. It looked at Kushina and curled its lips.
"That is because your control over my chakra is poor."
"Simply put, your talent is lacking. Or perhaps your compatibility with my chakra is not good enough."
Did she really think just anyone could perfectly use its chakra?
With Kushina's talent.
The Nine-Tails did not even want to continue.
Without Seiryū's intervention, she would not even have been able to keep it completely sealed.
If it had not allowed her to use its chakra, she would never have been able to touch this power in her lifetime.
"Ah! You scared me!"
Kushina was startled by the fox head that suddenly appeared.
After realizing it was the Nine-Tails, she looked surprised for a moment.
Then, in a very unhappy tone, she pointed at it and said to Seiryū, "Seiryū, this guy just said my talent is poor. I think it still has bad intentions and doesn't want me to completely control its power."
"Quick, teach it a lesson."
With Seiryū there, she was no longer afraid of the Nine-Tails, even though it had once filled her with fear.
No matter how strong it was, could it be stronger than Seiryū?
The Nine-Tails fell silent.
Seiryū fell silent.
Kurenai fell silent.
The little Dragon Vein chirped softly.
The Nine-Tails hurriedly explained, not wanting Seiryū to misunderstand.
"Hey. This has nothing to do with me."
"I have completely allowed you to use my chakra. If you cannot use it properly, that is your own problem."
"Nonsense. How could my talent be poor? I am a genius."
Kushina gritted her teeth. She refused to admit that her talent was lacking.
"Anyway, this form is too ugly."
"Hurry up and think of a way to let me enter a special chakra mode like Seiryū's instead of this ugly partial Tailed Beast Transformation."
"If it can't be done, it can't be done."
The Nine-Tails shook its head frantically.
"You are not a genius like him. Don't make things difficult for me."
It had already bowed its head and stopped restricting its chakra.
How could this woman still be so unreasonable?
It was unheard of.
How had the great Nine-Tails ended up with such a Jinchūriki?
It felt so tired.
(To be continued.)
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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)