[Species: Tailed Beast]
[Name: Nine-Tails]
[Rank: A-]
[Chakra Attributes: No natural attribute; possesses both Yin and Yang]
[Constitution: 17,000]
[Manifest Chakra Quantity: B- (700,000 / 1,000,000)
(Note: under the influence of the seal, only the tip of the iceberg is being displayed)]
[Latent Chakra Quantity: if fully released, can reach A-, breaking past the ten-million threshold]
[Negative Status: Imprisoned (sealed), suppressed (locked)]
As the stream of information poured into Roy's mind, those vicious eyes, each as tall as a person, instantly landed on him.
"Brat, what are you looking at?!"
Uzumaki Kushina had only just placed the freshly fried tempura onto the tatami table and had yet to straighten up when, all of a sudden, a crimson chakra cloak uncontrollably seeped out from deep inside her body.
No wind rises without waves.
The instant that crimson chakra appeared, a terrifying pressure spread with it. As it swept through the room, everyone's expression changed, and alarm bells rang wildly in their hearts.
"The Nine-Tails?!"
"This is the Nine-Tails' chakra!"
Minato Namikaze and Tsunade shot to their feet. One supported Kushina, whose face had suddenly gone deathly pale, and helped her sit down. The other looked solemn, fists clenched, ready to strike at any moment, faintly shielding Roy behind her.
The sudden change had caught everyone off guard.
Kushina leaned on Minato and supported herself against the tatami table, struggling to sit. In an instant, beads of sweat the size of soybeans broke out across her forehead. Clearly, she was using the massive chakra reserves naturally possessed by the Uzumaki clan to suppress the Nine-Tails inside her with all her strength.
She obviously didn't understand why that damned thing, the one that had stolen her freedom, had chosen this exact moment to go berserk.
She forced out an ugly smile and said weakly to everyone, "Sorry... looks like I might not be able to eat this meal."
The Nine-Tails acting up was no small matter.
And this was her best friend's home. No matter what, she could not let that beast run wild here, much less destroy this place.
Kushina looked pleadingly toward Minato and leaned weakly into his arms.
"Minato... take me back..."
Minato's gaze softened. He gently held the woman in his arms, then turned apologetically toward Roy and Uchiha Mikoto, who had hurried out of the kitchen after lifting the curtain.
"Sorry, Ren, Sister Mikoto. We'll leave now."
Kushina's body was faintly trembling.
The two Anbu standing guard beside the door noticed something was wrong and had already rushed inside.
Uchiha Mikoto, still wearing her apron and holding a spatula, looked at Kushina with worry and nodded gravely.
"Safety comes first."
Then she looked at Tsunade and began removing her apron.
"Lady Tsunade, please help escort Kushina. I'll go inform Lord Hokage."
Tsunade naturally had no objection. This concerned a tailed beast and the safety of the village. There was no room for her to keep slacking off now.
She rolled up her sleeves, guarded against the Nine-Tails, and said in a low voice to Minato, "Let's go."
There was still some distance to Kushina's confinement area. Under urgent circumstances, they had to hurry.
But before anyone could move—
Dong.
A dull thud rang out like thunder striking their hearts.
Minato, Tsunade, Itachi, Uchiha Mikoto, the two Anbu, and Kushina, who was struggling to suppress the Nine-Tails, all looked over together.
At the source of that thunderous sound, a boy had calmly set his teacup down on the table with one hand. He smiled at everyone and asked,
"Going where?"
Roy finished the tea in his cup. Without hurry, he opened his aura nodes and released Ren.
Aura as vast as Shukaku's chakra howled outward like an ocean descending into the world. In a single instant, it extinguished the chakra cloak wrapped around Kushina.
Faintly, one could even hear the unwilling roar of a certain fox demon.
Only then did the black-haired boy smile at Minato and at Kushina, whose expression had already improved.
"Since you're here, eat your fill before leaving."
"Besides—"
"It came looking for me."
With that, he stood and gently rubbed Itachi's head.
"Itachi, go help Mom in the kitchen."
As if sensing something, Itachi clutched the corner of Roy's clothes and refused to let go.
"What about you, Nii-san?"
Roy narrowed his eyes and, through Kushina, met the gaze of the vicious fox demon inside her.
"Someone ran all the way into our home to cause trouble. Me? Of course I'm going to beat it up."
Clang—
A sword cry suddenly shot straight into the sky.
Level 5 sword intent manifested.
Heart's Ear: Sword Listening spread from beneath Roy's feet in an instant, and under his will, it enveloped the entire living room exactly.
Clang... clang... clang...
A heart-sword left no trace. One sword cry made ten thousand blades fall silent.
Roy slowly closed his eyes. His consciousness left his body and, in an instant, entered through Kushina's brow into her inner world.
"Ren..."
Minato's blond hair swayed as his eyes flashed. His instincts told him that, just now, something seemed to have entered Kushina's body.
When he looked back at Roy, the boy sat like an old monk in meditation, utterly silent.
"Minato Namikaze, what are you standing there for? Hurry and take Uzumaki Kushina back!" the two Anbu shouted anxiously.
If anything happened to the jinchūriki, they would be held responsible.
The Anbu wearing the cat mask glared at Minato and was just about to step forward when, suddenly, the corner of his mask was sliced open by a razor-sharp aura heart-sword.
Tsunade shot him a cold glance.
"I suggest you don't move around carelessly. There are swords everywhere in this living room. If you don't know what you're doing, you might lose your life."
Buzz.
As if to prove her words, tens of thousands of heart-swords trembled and once again released waves of sharp sword cries.
The cat-masked Anbu swallowed hard. He immediately exchanged a look with the fox-masked Anbu beside him. For a moment, the two stared at each other, not daring to move another inch.
Seeing that the two of them knew better now, Tsunade turned to Shizune and said, "Stay here and keep watch on them. I'll go take a look."
Shizune glanced at the two Anbu and nodded solemnly.
Then she saw Tsunade imitate Roy, slowly closing her eyes and trying to connect her chakra to the heart-sword world of Heart's Ear: Sword Listening.
Pop.
A gap opened in the hazy spiritual realm.
Tsunade closed her eyes and froze. When she opened them again, her mind had left her body. Following Roy, she stepped into Kushina's inner world.
Before she could even steady herself, another person slowly appeared beside her.
It was Minato Namikaze, who had reacted and followed them in.
Outside, in the small living room, only five people remained awake.
Two of them did not dare move.
One followed Tsunade's orders and kept watch, also not daring to move carelessly.
Only Itachi acted as though nothing had happened. He stood up beside Roy and started walking toward Uchiha Mikoto.
"Mom, let's go to the kitchen."
As the boy walked, something miraculous happened: those little swords seemed to have eyes. They automatically parted for him, clearing a path to the kitchen for him and Mikoto.
Itachi walked over slowly, took Mikoto's hand, looked up at her, and said calmly, "Nii-san said he's hungry and wants to eat later."
Feeling the warmth in her palm, Uchiha Mikoto finally came back to herself.
She looked deeply at Roy and Kushina, then turned and led Itachi slowly toward the kitchen...
Whoosh.
It was midsummer, and a hot wind blew in from outside the window, yet it could not dispel the chill in the living room.
In that strange, deathly silence, Kushina leaned against Minato's shoulder with her eyes closed. Her body looked calm on the outside, but inside, it was a completely different scene.
With the arrival of the three intruders, storm waves had already been stirred up.
Drip.
A drop fell into a still lake, spreading ripples.
Inside a hazy inner world, after Roy, Tsunade, and Minato arrived, the misty fog dispersed, revealing two figures—one enormous, one small—locked in struggle.
The enormous one was trapped inside a giant cage and was still trying to break free.
It was the Nine-Tails.
The smaller figure had long, fiery-red hair flying around her and a ferocious expression on her face. Several chakra chains extended from her back as she used every ounce of her strength to lock down the Nine-Tailed Fox's tails, which were viciously stabbing out through the gaps in the cage.
The battle was already on the verge of erupting. Clearly, the struggle had been going on for a while.
"Kushina!"
With a whoosh, a kunai marked with a formula flew out.
The instant Minato saw Kushina and the Nine-Tails clearly, he did not hesitate for even a second. He appeared on the battlefield with Flying Thunder God, teleporting to Kushina's side. With a kunai, he deflected one of the Nine-Tails' tails that had been sneakily stabbing toward Kushina's waist and abdomen.
Clang.
The sound of metal clashing rang out.
As chakra collided, a string of sparks faintly burst forth.
Tsunade stepped up beside Roy and looked up with him at the Nine-Tails, which loomed like a mountain. She then glanced at the boy who had stopped walking and said, "At first, when I heard people talk about a boy called the Red Flash who killed with only one slash and never needed a second, I didn't really believe it."
"But after that sword just now, I think they still underestimated you."
Ten thousand swords falling silent.
Chakra could actually be shaped into something like that, if only briefly.
Other than the boy's extraordinary swordsmanship having reached a level ordinary people could no longer comprehend, Tsunade could not think of any other possibility.
Of course, this also reflected something else from the side—
Uchiha Ren's control over chakra was astonishing.
"Lady Tsunade flatters me."
Roy smiled faintly. His gaze drifted and settled first on the giant cage imprisoning the Nine-Tails, then on the chakra chains extending from Kushina's back.
He immediately recognized them.
The Four Symbols Seal and Adamantine Sealing Chains.
As a clan descended from Asura, the Uzumaki clan clearly had an extraordinary relationship with the Senju clan. In Roy's view...
the Uzumaki and Senju were simply two branches split from Yang Release.
One had no bloodline limit and excelled at sealing techniques.
The other possessed bloodline inheritance, was born with powerful physiques, and passively recovered from injuries.
As for which was superior and which inferior...
In combat, the Senju, who were born with what amounted to a passive Hundred Healings Technique, were obviously stronger.
But as jinchūriki, no one in the ninja world could surpass the Uzumaki clan, who had inherited the Four Symbols Seal and Adamantine Sealing Chains for generations.
Clang... clang...
Iron chains, kunai, and fox tails intertwined, producing a continuous series of sharp sounds.
Minato, Kushina, and the Nine-Tails' chakra collided, forming shockwaves that swept outward. Seeing the battle intensify, Tsunade rolled up her sleeves and said to Roy without looking back,
"I'm going in first!"
Then she flew forward, her fist carrying overwhelming force as she smashed it down toward the Nine-Tails' head.
Boom!
The Nine-Tails howled in pain. One of its tails was forcibly deformed by Tsunade's punch.
Roaring, it shrank back into the cage. Its sharp claws gripped the bars tightly and shook the whole cage until it thundered.
Furious, it roared at them, "Despicable bastards! If you've got the guts, remove the seal! Let's see if this old man doesn't tear you all apart!"
"Noisy."
After Tsunade joined the battle, ripples suddenly spread through the void.
A point of light appeared, then shattered like fireworks into countless tiny sparks. Those sparks condensed into a human figure and dropped straight onto the Nine-Tails' head.
The Nine-Tails' huge fox eyes, each as tall as a person, rolled upward.
Roy emerged from the light and revealed himself. Then he lightly stepped down with his right foot.
Magnetism: Repulsion.
In an instant, it converted into boundless gravity and pressed down on the Nine-Tails.
The beast, cage and body together, was forced flat against the still lake of the mind.
Heavy...
So heavy...
Aura glowing with faint purple light turned into lines of gravity, binding the Nine-Tails' head, limbs, and tails, forcing it to crawl low.
Seeing this, even Minato and Tsunade, both of whom had experienced plenty of storms, could not help widening their eyes in shock. They had clearly noticed something unusual had happened to the Nine-Tails.
"Minato, something seems to be pressing down on it!"
As the host of this inner world, Kushina's perception was undoubtedly the strongest after Roy's.
She could clearly feel the cage becoming heavier and heavier, as if an entire mountain had been dropped onto it from above. It began deforming under the unbearable weight.
"Maybe... gravity," Minato said, rubbing his chin and guessing quietly.
Still unsure, he turned and glanced at Tsunade.
"Lady Tsunade, can you tell what it is?"
Tsunade narrowed her eyes and slowly shook her head.
"In any case, it isn't Roy's own physical strength..."
"Then it must be a gravity-type ninjutsu," Minato said gravely.
Then suspicion rose in his heart.
He had never heard of the Uchiha clan possessing this kind of bloodline limit.
Most bloodline limits came from the fusion of chakra attributes. A small number, such as the Kaguya clan or people like Jūgo, were special physical cases with certain exceptions.
But across the entire ninja world, Minato had never heard of a gravity-related bloodline.
Creak... creak... creak...
The cage groaned under the unbearable pressure.
The Nine-Tails' limbs were pressed flat to the ground, and even its head was about to be forced down.
Its vicious fox eyes widened. It suddenly roared, unleashed immense strength, forcibly tore apart the gravity lines, raised its head toward Roy, and opened its mouth to fire.
A pitch-black, terrifying Tailed Beast Ball formed in the blink of an eye.
Before Minato or Tsunade could react,
it blasted toward Roy at point-blank range.