Failure once. Failure twice.
And to make matters worse, he couldn't pinpoint the reason.
It would be strange if Menma wasn't frustrated. The only thing he could rule out was a lack of chakra. He refused to believe the Adamantine Sealing Chains required such an astronomical amount just to manifest. Remember, he couldn't even stabilize one chain right now. If it really was a chakra issue, then summoning a dozen or more chains to restrain others later would require a truly staggering amount of energy.
And that was just the quantity. The strength of the enemy being restrained was another matter entirely.
If he was up against a Tailed Beast... at this rate, wouldn't he be sucked dry?
So, it absolutely wasn't a question of chakra output. It had to be something else.
'If I can't find the problem, I'll just keep trying. I refuse to believe I can't master this technique.'
Menma took a deep breath, determination setting into his features.
Failing to use the technique was one thing, but he could already manifest it partially. The biggest hurdle—breaking from zero to one—was already cleared.
In any world, for any problem, the hardest step is always the breakthrough from nothing to something.
That is the true qualitative change. Everything after that is just quantitative accumulation.
For Menma, he possessed the pure Uzumaki bloodline. If he didn't have the latent ability, fine. But since he did, he believed he could reach the same level as his mother, Kushina Uzumaki.
"Alright, time to really put in the work today!"
Menma clapped his hands together.
"Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
With a burst of chakra, Menma created over a hundred shadow clones. He didn't make more because training the Adamantine Sealing Chains was indeed chakra-intensive, and he needed to keep a reserve, even with the Nine-Tails as a backup.
He couldn't be reckless.
He kept it within a manageable range, then relied on sheer volume of training to brute-force the technique. He needed to master the chains in a short time. The power of this jutsu was proven by how it completely immobilized the Nine-Tails in the original story.
Even if he could only release a single chain, Menma was confident it could restrain 99.99% of the ninja in the world. As for the remaining fraction of a percent? That depended on their individual strength and special abilities.
"Adamantine Sealing Chains!"
Poof!
"Adamantine Sealing Chains!"
Hum!
Scattered around the clearing, the clones repeatedly attempted the technique, filling the space with unique fluctuations of chakra.
---
Over the next few days.
Menma threw himself entirely into mastering the Adamantine Sealing Chains. He put the Rasengan upgrades on hold for now. Currently, the Rasengan training was just about increasing chakra output and stability; since he hadn't reached the stage of injecting nature transformation yet, it could wait. The Sealing Chains were the priority.
After several grueling days of training, Menma finally started to get the feel for it.
He also began to understand why he had failed initially. The reason was simple: it was a matter of perspective. Menma had subconsciously treated the Adamantine Sealing Chains as a standard ninjutsu. But this was a technique inherited through the Uzumaki bloodline. Just like awakening the Sharingan requires Uchiha blood, this wasn't about wanting to do it, but about being able to do it.
He couldn't approach the chains like a regular jutsu. He had to treat them like the Mind's Eye of the Kagura.
To put it bluntly: he had to "follow the feeling"!
He had to dig deep into his instincts, tapping into the power within his bloodline. That was the correct way to unlock the technique.
It took several days of stumbling before Menma finally realized this.
On the morning of the sixth day.
"Adamantine Sealing Chains!"
Having found the right path...
On his left, a shadow clone finally released a complete Adamantine Chain. It was several meters long, gleaming brilliantly gold in the sunlight.
Seeing the complete chain, stable and without any signs of dissipating, the corners of Menma's mouth turned up.
"Release!"
He dispelled the clones.
Poof!
Poof!
Poof!
Poof!
As the clones vanished, their memories flooded back to the original body. Menma closed his eyes, slowly absorbing and savoring every bit of the experience.
A second later.
Menma's eyes snapped open.
"Adamantine Sealing Chains!"
With a flick of his wrist, a brilliant golden light shot out from his palm.
A magnificent aura surged forth.
Staring at the golden chain now held firmly in his hand, Menma's eyes shone with obvious delight.
'Finally... I can release it properly.'
He could feel the powerful restraining aura radiating from it.
Though it was made of chakra, the chain felt solid and real in his grip. In that moment, Menma felt as though he could bind anything in existence.
'The ultimate sealing jutsu.'
Menma gave the chain a light shake.
Clatter!
He whipped it violently to the right.
Bang!
Rumble...
It effortlessly smashed through a dozen large trees, toppling them instantly.
The power of a single chain was already this exaggerated. Thinking back to the scene in the original story where his mother easily released over a dozen of these chains, the light in Menma's eyes grew even more intense.
'This is what it takes to completely restrain a Tailed Beast.'
Of course, Menma could currently only release one chain. And even if he could release several at once, they wouldn't instantly match Kushina's level of strength.
It was like the Eight Inner Gates. Could Rock Lee, who could barely open the Fifth Gate, compare to Might Guy, who could open it with ease?
Leaving aside the massive gap in physical strength, their mastery and understanding of the technique were on completely different levels.
Therefore, Menma didn't delude himself into thinking he could restrain everything with just this one chain. That feeling earlier was just a momentary swell of ego, which he quickly checked.
After familiarizing himself a bit more with the chain and fully grasping the rate of chakra consumption...
'Release!'
Menma dispelled the jutsu.