As Kushina Uzumaki's group assembled in front of the "small earthen building" and then hurried out of the village, Shisui Uchiha was mingling with the crowd of murmuring onlookers. He had originally intended to discuss some matters with Kushina, seeing her as a trusted senior figure, but it seemed he'd chosen an inopportune moment. She was clearly heading out on an urgent mission.
Shisui watched the departing figures, then turned to look at the Hokage's office building not far away. He stood there silently for a while, eventually deciding to wait.
Putting aside Shisui Uchiha's intentions for the moment, and also ignoring the number of "freeloaders" among the eighteen-person group, Habara and the others headed directly south after leaving Konoha. The Three-Tails' revival point was located in the southern region of the Land of Fire. Geographically, it was far from Kirigakure, making it unlikely to be easily detected by them. This meant that Konoha's response speed was currently far superior to Kiri's. In fact, Kiri probably hadn't even received news of the Three-Tails' revival yet. Whether this was fortunate or unfortunate was hard to say.
During their travel, Habara quickly darted forward a few steps, coming alongside Kushina Uzumaki. He asked, "Kushina-sama, after successfully sealing the Three-Tails, will Konoha keep this Tailed Beast?"
Konoha's reaction to the Three-Tails' revival was swift, but this was largely due to their concern that it might cause significant damage. As for whether there were other underlying intentions, Habara couldn't be certain.
Kushina shook her head. "Probably not. The one who presided over the distribution of the Tailed Beasts to maintain the balance of power in the Shinobi world was the First Hokage. Therefore, Konoha can't simply seize the Tailed Beasts of other villages."
On the one hand, since the First Hokage had passed away, the opportunity to unify the Shinobi world had been missed, and it was no longer possible. Therefore, at this point, the so-called "balance of the Five Great Nations" was meaningful. It was a situation created by the First Hokage, and it was difficult for the current Konoha to defy it.
On the other hand, capturing a Tailed Beast was difficult to keep completely secret. Kiri would, sooner or later, learn of this news, and they certainly wouldn't acknowledge the Three-Tails changing hands. Tailed Beasts, being "strategic-level weapons," could potentially trigger war. And with the recent Shinobi World War just concluded, no one wanted to start another conflict lightly.
"Keeping the Three-Tails is impossible, and there's no point in doing so. Controlling a Tailed Beast comes with a heavy price, and for the current Konoha, the cost outweighs the benefit," Kushina added an explanation.
Some of her words were vague. What she was actually saying was that Konoha already had two halves of the Nine-Tails. The village collectively possessed eighteen tails, so there was absolutely no need for another Tailed Beast.
Furthermore, only a Jinchuriki could understand a Jinchuriki's suffering. Kushina didn't want to see another person in Konoha endure the same pain as her… She had even been against sealing half of the Nine-Tails into Naruto at the time, but it was the only option.
A Jinchuriki not only needed powerful chakra, but also a resilient spirit. From the latter perspective, Habara would actually be quite suitable as a Jinchuriki, because he understood what Tailed Beasts were. His fear of them was limited to their power… He certainly didn't care about them being incarnations of evil and hatred. Tailed Beasts were essentially just pets raised by the Sage of Six Paths.
Unfortunately, with Habara's small frame, if he were used to contain a Tailed Beast, he'd be leaking chakra all the time.
So…
Being able to keep it for research would be nice, too.
After traveling swiftly for a day, it was nearing dusk. Kushina suddenly stopped and said, "I sense a strong chakra signature. The Three-Tails is just ahead. Everyone, be alert. Tailed Beasts are not something you can deal with easily."
Although Kushina Uzumaki's abilities were largely capable of suppressing Tailed Beasts, she wasn't Hashirama Senju, and she couldn't just casually handle a Tailed Beast. The power of a Tailed Beast was undeniable. Since 100% success couldn't be guaranteed, they had to proceed with the utmost caution… One could say Kushina's attitude was very proper.
After giving her instructions, she added, "Sealing Team, spread out and surround the Three-Tails from four directions at a distance, then deploy the Water Erosion Binding Seal Array. Understood?"
One of the ninja from the Sealing Team immediately spoke up, "Kushina-sama, why use this auxiliary-type seal? We have even more powerful techniques, which would be more…"
Before he could finish, the Sealing Team's captain raised a hand to stop him. "That's enough. We'll do as Kushina-sama says… Kushina-sama, we'll move immediately."
The captain was sensible. He immediately led the Sealing Team into action. Two of them set up positions on the spot, while the remaining six split into pairs, starting a long-range "encirclement."
An auxiliary sealing array it was, then. Even the Sealing Team's most powerful sealing techniques couldn't possibly be stronger than the "Adamantine Sealing Chains," could they?
Habara didn't understand what the "Water Erosion Binding Seal Array" was, but he knew that it was time for him to get to work… Well, mainly it was time for Kushina Uzumaki to get to work. Habara and the rest of the cheerleading squad were there to shout and offer support.
In Habara's perception, he also detected the massive cluster of chakra ahead. There was no body of water in that direction; the Three-Tails was lying on the flat ground, and it was doing a very poor job of it, sticking out like a small mountain.
Kushina, however, didn't move immediately. After about half an hour, Habara suddenly felt a "water membrane"-like chakra sweeping back and forth in the air.
"Prepare to engage," Kushina said at this point.
Simultaneously, the Three-Tails, which had been lying quietly, was startled by this chakra. Realizing the danger, it immediately roared… Tailed Beasts feared nothing, except sealing techniques.
Although each Tailed Beast was powerful, their personalities differed. The Three-Tails was notorious among the Tailed Beasts for its lack of intelligence.
"Shino, Habara, attract the Three-Tails' attention. Kakashi, Tenzo, provide close-range support. The rest of you…assist from the flanks," Kushina issued new orders.
In reality, apart from Kushina, who could actually do the heavy lifting, the rest of the group were there for "observation and learning." However, "observation and learning" had different stages, and the four named by Kushina belonged to the category that could get hands-on practice.
Shino Aburame and Habara were assigned the "tank" role, but strictly speaking, Shino was a summoner-type mage; he controlled insects. This meant that Habara was effectively the only one who needed to get close and draw the Three-Tails' aggro.
Fortunately, the Three-Tails was a turtle. It might be agile in water, but on land, it would surely be clumsy… That's what Habara thought.
Habara only intended to attract the Three-Tails' attention, not to try and show off by taking it down. The Three-Tails had a very low center of gravity, making it incredibly difficult to topple… Well, because the Three-Tails was very special; its shell was extremely hard. Even the Rasenshuriken might not be effective against it.
Habara could injure the Eight-Tails, but he didn't think he could breach the Three-Tails' defenses.
"I'm not adept at dealing with heavily armored targets."
When fighting against other ninja, Habara was often the one wearing heavy armor. But against the Three-Tails, his own protective gear was as thin as paper.
Just as Habara was gradually approaching the Three-Tails, and to his surprise, the Three-Tails initiated the attack first. And…this old turtle was incredibly fast, unbelievably fast.
What did Habara see?
"Holy crap, it's rolling like a wheel?!"
The Three-Tails curled into a ball and, like a runaway train, used its immense weight to generate unstoppable speed and momentum, charging straight towards Habara.
While Habara was indeed fast, being fast didn't mean he could teleport. When a mountain-sized object was charging at him, he could only run for his life.
And he was pretty good at drawing aggro, at that.
Habara ran like hell, barely dodging the Three-Tails' attack trajectory. But just as a gust of wind swept past and the "rolling wheel" passed by him, Habara felt something graze his back. He was immediately sent flying.
Aside from the dizzying impact, Habara first face-planted. After shaking his head and struggling to stand, he suddenly felt a certain coolness below his back.
The scales on the Three-Tails had ripped through the back of Habara's clothing.
Question: What are the distinctive features of Recoome's attire after a battle with Goku?
Answer: Half his butt is exposed.
Was this perhaps karma for pulling people's collars in the street? Anyway, Habara quickly took off his outer garment and wrapped it around his waist. This was during a fight against a Tailed Beast, showing just how fast his hands could move… What's this called? This is called composure.
Yeah, definitely no one saw anything they shouldn't have.
Anyway, after being grazed by the Three-Tails, all the equipment on Habara's back was scraped off. He glanced at his ninja tool pouch, which had been thrown far away, thinking that the explosive tags inside might be somewhat useful against the Three-Tails. But with barely a second thought, he retrieved his "sword case" first.
Back on the battlefield, Shino Aburame was toying with the Three-Tails using a swarm of insects, while Kushina Uzumaki had already activated her Nine-Tails Chakra Mode. She was bathed in a golden glow, looking like a light bulb in the darkness.
This familiar chakra instantly attracted the Three-Tails' attention, and for the first time, everyone heard a sound from the Three-Tails other than a roar:
"Nine-Tails!!!"
Golden chains instantly erupted from behind Kushina Uzumaki. They shot out in different directions, tightly binding the Three-Tails.
Having restricted the Three-Tails' movements, Kushina waved a single hand, and another golden chakra chain extended from her palm. The tip of that chakra chain easily pierced the Three-Tails' thick carapace.
So the Three-Tails' armor was also as thin as paper.
After piercing the Three-Tails, Kushina then gripped the chakra chain and pulled back. Compared to the ease with which she had pierced the Three-Tails, it seemed that retracting the chakra chain was also a very strenuous task for Kushina.
Next, the golden chakra aura around her suddenly surged. Her slender arm exerted force again, and the chakra chain was finally pulled out.
The golden chakra chain, like a cracking whip, emitted a loud bang as it was withdrawn. Simultaneously, something was flung into the air along with this "whip-cracking" motion.
The "water membrane" sweeping back and forth in the air gathered layer by layer towards the top of the Three-Tails' head. In a short time, a blue chakra orb appeared in mid-air.
Was this the Three-Tails' chakra? It had been extracted just like that? Habara found it somewhat unbelievable.
The Three-Tails immediately sensed the loss of its chakra and struggled violently. With the movement of its limbs, it strained the Adamantine Sealing Chains binding it, but it couldn't break free no matter how hard it tried.
Then the Three-Tails remembered that it could supposedly spit out orbs, so it attempted to condense a Tailed Beast Bomb. But it found that it couldn't! Because of the Adamantine Sealing Chains, the Three-Tails was completely unable to use its most powerful attack.
Kushina repeated the process, whipping the Three-Tails another thirty-odd times, before the Three-Tails finally quieted down completely.
By this time, the chakra orb in the air had become incredibly large. Its surface was also bound by black fuinjutsu seals. Due to the extremely high energy density and the tight binding, it looked less like a ball of energy and more like a solid sphere.
Kushina let out a long breath, only then retracting the Adamantine Sealing Chains.
She just felt a little tired, but the newly revived Three-Tails looked like it had died again.
Kushina looked at the Three-Tails, then at the massive amount of extracted chakra, and suddenly froze:
"How am I supposed to seal the Three-Tails? I seem to have forgotten to bring a sealing container."
Habara had just reached Kushina's side when he heard her say this.
She was powerful, no doubt, but she was also a bit…scatterbrained. Though, that did seem to be her personality… Habara thought these disrespectful thoughts, then suddenly remembered something and said, "Sealing tools? I have those."
He looked back and saw that Tenzo was not far from his ninja tool pouch. He shouted, "Tenzo, there's a sealing scroll in my ninja tool pouch. It contains a very powerful sealing tool."
Habara had the Sage of Six Paths' Crimson Gourd. It would definitely work for sealing the Three-Tails, as it was on the same level as Kumogakure's Amber Purifying Pot.
"Sealing scroll?" Tenzo was quick on the uptake and immediately found the scroll.
The problem was that he was too quick. Upon seeing the scroll, he noticed that the sealing formula on it was very simple, so he immediately unsealed it and tore it open.
Seeing his actions, Habara suddenly felt a sense of foreboding.
"Wait, look carefully…"
It was too late. Tenzo had torn open Daigo's Reanimation Scroll.
It's said that serious, honest people generally don't make mistakes. But when they do make an exception, it's often a big one.
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