"Ugh."
Still reeling from the punch she had taken moments earlier, Kaguya had not fully recovered.
When the light descended toward her, she could only watch helplessly.
As Kaidō: Withered Wood Spring enveloped her, Kaguya let out a quiet gasp.
Her complexion changed slightly, and even her crystalline Byakugan seemed to glisten faintly.
"Th... This is... what?"
As someone who had spent most of her existence suppressing unnecessary desires and emotions, Kaguya had never experienced anything like this before.
It was not pain.
It was not suffering.
It was simply an unfamiliar and overwhelming sensation that even Kaguya could not properly describe.
Even with a Kekkei Mōra-level body, she found it difficult to resist.
She bit her lip and tried to maintain her composure, but her body had already begun reacting beyond her control.
Her breathing became uneven.
In short, it was extremely embarrassing.
That was simply the nature of Kaidō: Withered Wood Spring.
Its healing ability was absurdly powerful, but its side effects were equally ridiculous.
Men would lose their composure, while women could be rendered almost completely unable to fight!
"It's a type of Medical Ninjutsu. Pretty useful, isn't it?"
Seiryū observed Kaguya's current state.
Compared with her cold and noble demeanor from before, she now looked completely unsettled.
With her naturally beautiful appearance, even such an expression gave her an entirely different presence.
As he spoke, Seiryū used Kaidō: Withered Wood Spring again on Kaguya.
The effects overlapped.
"Ugh."
Kaguya let out another involuntary sound.
Her body went weak as though her strength had suddenly drained away, and the color in her cheeks deepened.
She parted her lips and spoke with difficulty.
"Me... Medical Ninjutsu?"
For the first time, panic appeared in Kaguya's heart.
This strange and unfamiliar sensation left her completely unsure how to respond.
Her Chakra had not decreased.
Yet she felt as though her strength had disappeared, leaving her unable to properly move.
If she had not already been embedded in the mountainside, she suspected she would not even have been able to remain standing.
This was Medical Ninjutsu?
How could such a terrifying Medical Ninjutsu exist?
"Mo... Mother!?"
Black Zetsu, still hidden inside Kaguya's sleeve, was equally stunned by her condition.
What had happened to Mother?
With Kekkei Mōra-level power, any ordinary Ninjutsu should have been absorbable.
Black Zetsu hurriedly reminded her.
"Use Absorption Seal! Remove the effect of this technique!"
"Right."
Kaguya finally reacted.
Although her voice remained unsteady, she had no intention of simply waiting to be defeated.
The technique had greatly affected her, but it had not completely taken away her ability to resist.
"It's useless."
Seiryū shook his head and cast Kaidō: Withered Wood Spring once again.
Kaguya's attempt to gather Chakra was interrupted immediately.
"Ugh."
Her breathing became even more unstable, and her control over her body weakened further.
She could barely move.
She could not take much more of this.
"To think you could withstand three uses of Kaidō: Withered Wood Spring. As expected of someone at the Kekkei Mōra level."
Seiryū sounded genuinely impressed.
Tsunade had only endured two uses before becoming unable to continue resisting.
Kaguya had endured three.
Kekkei Mōra really was remarkable!
"But it doesn't matter."
Seiryū spoke calmly.
"In your current condition, even gathering Chakra has become difficult. You're no match for me anymore, so surrender."
"I promised the Sage of Six Paths that I wouldn't kill you. We can sit down and talk."
"We share a common enemy. Isshiki, the man you once ambushed, is still alive. He possesses his own Ten-Tails and has already captured another member of the Ōtsutsuki Clan."
"Isshiki?"
Kaguya's pupils contracted.
Although her voice remained strained, obvious wariness entered her tone.
An Ōtsutsuki who possessed both a Ten-Tails and another member of the clan as a captive.
Kaguya understood perfectly well what that could lead to.
"That's right. Isshiki."
Seiryū nodded.
"He's already confident that he can reach the Kekkei Mōra level, and not in the weakened state you're currently in."
"Considering what happened between the two of you in the past, he certainly won't let you go."
Seiryū looked at her.
"You have two choices."
"First, sit down and talk with me properly."
"Second, I seal you again. And this time, you won't have another chance to escape."
Kaguya remained silent.
Whether she was thinking or simply trying to recover from the effects of the technique was difficult to tell.
However, she was clearly still restless.
"No answer?"
Seiryū raised a hand.
"Then let's try it one more time. Kaidō: Withered Wood."
"Wait!"
Before he could finish, Kaguya hurriedly interrupted him.
"I... I'll talk!"
One more use of that technique would be too much.
She was genuinely afraid of it now.
For the first time, Kaguya had developed a sense of fear toward a Medical Ninjutsu.
And toward the descendant of Hagoromo who could use such an absurd technique.
Who exactly was this man?
And why did he possess something so troublesome?
"A wise choice."
Seiryū smiled.
The so-called "bane of women," Kaidō: Withered Wood Spring, had once again proven extremely effective.
Whether the technique was embarrassing or not did not matter.
As long as it worked, that was enough.
"I still don't trust you completely, so I'm placing a restriction on you."
Seiryū formed hand seals.
"If I detect clear hostility from you, Kaidō: Withered Wood Spring will activate automatically."
"And it won't activate just once."
"It can trigger four times at once."
Seiryū smiled as the restriction took effect.
As long as Kaguya displayed clear malicious intent toward him, the restriction would activate.
Kaidō: Withered Wood Spring would immediately be cast.
Four consecutive activations.
That was roughly Kaguya's current limit.
Kaguya fell silent.
Hearing Seiryū's explanation, her body stiffened instinctively.
A trace of fear appeared in her crystalline Byakugan.
If she were hit by that technique four times at once, she truly doubted she could withstand it.
At the same time, the unfamiliar aftereffects left her deeply unsettled.
She had never experienced anything remotely similar before.
And that alone made the technique feel even more dangerous.
Kaguya quickly suppressed the thought.
This Medical Ninjutsu was simply too terrifying!
(To be continued.)