— — — — — —
"No problem! Leave it to us! We'll get all the intel sorted out as quickly as possible!"
"By the way... can you tell me what it feels like to poop?"
With a nod of enthusiasm, White Zetsu made the promise, then asked with an earnest expression.
Black Zetsu: "..."
"Shut up! Stop asking such disgusting, pointless questions!"
"Let's move!"
With an exasperated retort, Black Zetsu dragged White Zetsu along, sinking into the tree and disappearing underground. They sped away from Konoha through the underground network at top speed.
What Black Zetsu didn't realize was that at that very moment, inside Konoha———
Uchiha Kaito, Uchiha Naori, Uzumaki Mito, and Kushina all glanced briefly toward where Black Zetsu was hiding.
In the Hokage's office, Uchiha Naori turned to Kaito and asked, "Kaito, are we really just going to let him go? Letting him continue with this Eye of the Moon Plan and potentially reviving Kaguya?"
Indeed, Black Zetsu's movements had long been under observation.
If they'd wanted to, Kaito and the others could've set up an inescapable trap to capture Black Zetsu in one fell swoop.
But because of Kaito's new plan, they decided to hold back for now.
"Yeah, we're letting him go for now."
Kaito nodded firmly. "As I said, this approach will make it easier to unify the ninja world later, reducing the hostility of the other villages toward us and helping me build goodwill."
"Besides, Kaguya isn't necessarily impossible to subdue."
"The other members of the Otsutsuki Clan are our real enemies. Kaguya is more like a window through which we can learn about them, so we can't lose that opportunity."
"On top of that, any future research into the Otsutsuki Clan might benefit from studying Kaguya's genes."
"With her, dealing with the Otsutsuki will be much simpler."
"Fair enough."
Uzumaki Mito and Uchiha Naori both nodded in understanding.
It was a sound strategy.
"Alright, time's up. Let's go resolve the issue with Uchiha Hikari!"
Mito stood up as she spoke.
"Got it!"
The three immediately set out, leaving shadow clones in the Hokage's office to handle ongoing tasks. Their real bodies locked onto the coordinates and teleported away.
— — —
In the blink of an eye, the trio appeared atop a barren mountaintop.
Kaito scanned the surroundings, extending his observation Haki and spiritual sense to probe the area. His attention quickly locked onto a dense cluster of sealing arrays buried over five meters underground.
"Found it. This is the place. Let's see what kind of sealing array they've got here."
Taking a few steps forward, Kaito lightly stomped the ground.
Vwoom!
Instantly, an intricate web of sealing techniques connected to the underground formation. The array activated, revealing layer upon layer of densely packed, complex seals.
Kaito couldn't help but take a deep breath. "Damn, there must be hundreds of seals stacked here! How cautious were they? This is overkill!"
"This isn't something just anyone could pull off," he muttered, examining the seals closely. "It takes exceptional expertise in sealing techniques to set up something this sophisticated."
"Looks like the Senju and Sarutobi clans back in the day had some real experts in this area."
At this point, Uzumaki Mito and Uchiha Naori walked up to join him.
Mito glanced at the array, her expression calm but thoughtful. "These seals definitely carry the distinctive style of the Uzumaki Clan."
"So either the two clans enlisted help from the Uzumaki Clan's elders, or someone from my clan who married into the Senju was responsible for this."
Even after centuries, certain core styles and techniques were unmistakable.
"Agreed," Kaito nodded. "And I see some unique seals here that I've never come across in the books you or the Uzumaki Clan gave me."
"Lost techniques, maybe?"
He turned to Mito with a teasing grin.
Mito rolled her eyes. "You know perfectly well that all the Uzumaki Clan's sealing texts were passed on to you!"
"If you don't see them there, then yeah, they're probably lost techniques."
"It's not surprising. Even though our clan has maintained its traditions over the centuries, some seals are one-of-a-kind creations by geniuses or clan leaders. If they die unexpectedly, those techniques can easily vanish."
"Add in other unforeseen events, and well, it's not like this is unique to the Uzumaki Clan. Every ninja clan deals with similar issues."
"Fair enough, fair enough! Just teasing."
Kaito chuckled, then added, "Since these seals are lost techniques, we shouldn't rush to break them. Let's document everything first and analyze it later."
He pulled out several scrolls and began quickly recording the array.
"Of course."
Mito nodded and also retrieved blank scrolls and ink from her storage space, joining in the effort. No way was she going to rely on borrowing Kaito's notes later.
Meanwhile, Uchiha Naori wandered off to explore the area.
— — —
Over an hour later...
"All done!"
"Me too!"
Both Kaito and Mito had finished recording the array.
During the process, Kaito not only copied the sealing techniques but also mastered them and deciphered the method to break the seals.
"I've pretty much figured out how to break this cluster of sealing techniques. Should I give it a shot?" Kaito asked Mito confidently.
"As expected of you!" Uzumaki Mito paused for a moment, then shook her head with a hint of helplessness. "Your talent for learning and comprehension is seriously enviable... and a bit depressing."
"Even I, someone who prides myself on being a sealing genius, am no match for you."
"Since you're so confident, go ahead! Let's just say I'm here for the show today," she added with a chuckle.
"At the very least, I've gained knowledge of some long-lost sealing techniques without doing much work. That's a win too, right?"
"Alright!" Kaito smiled, nodded, and called his mother back. Only then did he crouch down, pressing his palm against the ground. A multitude of sealing scripts flowed out from his hand, surging toward the seals in the cluster.
In no time, Kaito effortlessly broke through one sealing formula after another.
Within minutes, the entire cluster of seals disappeared.
Crack, crack, crack!
The ground split open, layers of soil crumbling away.
From the depths emerged a long, rectangular box, heavily bound with countless chains engraved with seals and runes.
"Wow!" Kaito whistled in amazement upon seeing the box and chains. "Now, this is overkill—and expensive at that!"
"This box and these chains… they're infused with a large amount of chakra-conductive metal."
"Did the Senju and Sarutobi clans of centuries ago really have this much wealth to spare?"
"Just refining these chains and the box could probably yield thousands of pounds of chakra-conductive metal!"
"This is a jackpot! Haha!"
Not that he particularly needed the money.
The key point was that chakra-conductive metal was incredibly rare—and the more it was mined, the scarcer it became.
"Definitely extravagant!" Uzumaki Mito and Uchiha Naori couldn't help but nod in surprise.
"Still," Mito continued, "a few centuries ago, chakra-conductive metals might have been more abundant than they are now. Even so, using this much metal just to seal one person must've cost a fortune."
"It shows just how much of a headache this Uchiha Hikari must've been for the Senju and Sarutobi clans back then!"
"Alright, enough chatter! Let's break the final seal."
"Got it!" Kaito stepped forward, raised his hand, and pointed at a specific spot on the box.
More sealing scripts flowed out from his fingertips, invading and dismantling the seals with ease.
Once the seals were completely undone, Kaito used his mental energy to envelop the box and absorbed the chakra-conductive chains into his storage space.
Then he leaped back several meters.
Boom!
The box lid shot up, flying dozens of meters into the air.
From within the box, a shadow darted out.
It was a girl, seemingly in her early teens, dressed in ancient Uchiha-styled clothing with the clan emblem prominently displayed. The design, however, was distinctly archaic.
"Uchiha? Uzumaki?"
"Die!"
The girl's eyes burned with intense killing intent as she spotted Kaito, Naori, and Mito. Without hesitation, she formed hand seals and launched a fire-style jutsu at them.
Her Sharingan spun, transforming into the Mangekyō Sharingan.
"Amaterasu!"
Black flames erupted, igniting on the trio. Blood trickled from the corner of her eye as the deadly flames spread.
Unfortunately for her, the next moment, Kaito and Naori activated their Susanoo, shielding themselves from the flames.
The black flames of Amaterasu and the fire-style jutsu were deflected effortlessly.
Mito, relying on her tailed beast cloak, also deflected the flames and redirected them elsewhere.
None of the three sustained any injuries.
Seeing this, the girl's eyes narrowed, and she prepared to launch another attack.
But before she could act, dozens of golden chains shot out from beneath her feet, wrapping her up tightly before she even had time to react.
She struggled, but soon realized her chakra had been sealed. Unable to summon her chakra, even her Mangekyō Sharingan was deactivated.
"Damn it! Let me go! You cursed Uchihas—you all deserve to die!"
"The Uchiha clan allied with the Senju? That makes you even more disgusting!"
She struggled and cursed vehemently, her hatred overflowing.
"Oh boy, this is going to be troublesome," Kaito muttered, rubbing his temples.
"This personality and mindset are clearly problematic."
"Maybe we should seal her chakra entirely, take her back to the village, and re-educate her before completely lifting the seal?"
Hearing her relentless insults, Kaito felt a headache coming on. He had been overly optimistic earlier, thinking she might be reasonable.
But the current situation clearly proved otherwise.
"That's probably the best option," Uzumaki Mito and Uchiha Naori agreed.
Without hesitation, Kaito stepped forward, ignoring the girl's furious glare and threats.
He pressed his hand against her abdomen.
A surge of sealing scripts poured out from his palm, quickly spreading across her body.
"Sealing Technique: Chakra Seal!"
The scripts glowed and converged toward Kaito's hand, forming a special sealing mark on the girl's abdomen.
As Kaito withdrew his hand, the seal solidified, glowing faintly.
"It's done," Kaito said, nodding at Uzumaki Mito.
Mito retracted the adamantine chains binding the girl.
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I'm just behind the author so maybe this will be the last week of steady updates.
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