Standing inside the Tower of a Thousand, watching the Dragon Vein chakra churn and surge—its presence growing clearer by the second—Senju Hikaru couldn't help the faint smile tugging at his lips.
He had no idea that the mess he'd caused had turned into an opening for Konoha.
Nor did he know that the village had deliberately kept someone like Murashima Takumi out of it, choosing instead to move people in who could attempt to make a play against Ebizō.
After all, Ebizō wasn't just some old fossil.
He was Sunagakure's ANBU chief—and the secrets in his hands were the kind that could shake the entire shinobi world.
No one with a functioning brain would pass up that kind of opportunity.
Because Ebizō was dangerous.
Hikaru kept his gaze on the roaring Dragon Vein.
Early this morning, Sara had sent him word—she had already confirmed where he was hiding.
From her message, the Dragon Vein had reached its most violent phase.
And Sara could clearly sense it: that vast chakra was becoming denser and denser, as though it were condensing into something with weight.
That alone was enough to lift Hikaru's mood.
Even if the whole "life-force being siphoned" situation had left him in a foul state, progress was progress. And progress was always worth a smile.
He'd even decided this:
If he still couldn't settle everything before he left, he'd simply lay his cards on the table.
His moral bottom line was… flexible.
But he hadn't planned to cheat Sara, either.
Worst case? He'd go back, study harder, then return next time and help her properly.
Though if I do that…
Hikaru's thoughts flicked over, cool and pragmatic.
…this queen might start dragging her feet on purpose.
He pushed the thought aside and poured his full attention into the Dragon Vein chakra.
It truly was surfacing now.
But what spilled out wasn't much—compared to the Dragon Vein's vast reservoir, it was almost laughable.
Worse, it had been ground down day after day by the seal. The chakra that escaped carried a battered, wounded feel—as if it had been scraped raw over and over.
That was perfect.
If the Dragon Vein chakra came out in full strength, Hikaru wasn't confident he could handle it.
"This suits me just fine."
He turned slightly and nodded at Sara.
"Thank you for your help, Your Majesty," he said with an easy smile. "With this chakra, I'd say my goal for this trip is basically achieved."
"We're simply exchanging what we each need." Sara shook her head and let out a quiet sigh. "I only hope you'll keep your word. That's all."
For a moment Hikaru didn't know what to say.
Good thing the mask hid his face.
He gave a casual nod and crouched down.
The movement beneath the seal was growing stronger by the second, and the sealing array looked like it was starting to strain under the Dragon Vein's agitation.
Hikaru drew in a slow breath.
A heartbeat later, chakra began to surge through his body.
His chakra reserves weren't huge.
But his chakra quality was high.
And to avoid any possible complications—
A faint red pigmentation appeared around his eyes beneath the mask.
Sage Mode.
"Now."
His perception had been covering the seal the entire time. The instant the timing hit, Hikaru thrust out a hand.
Azure chakra gathered in his palm.
At the same moment, a violent wave of chakra—like a beast bursting from a cage—exploded out of the seal!
Unlucky for it.
The instant it emerged, it slammed straight into Hikaru's waiting hand.
And in that same breath, Hikaru triggered his fuinjutsu.
The sealing method he chose was the same one the Fourth Hokage often relied on—
Four Symbols Seal.
In Hikaru's memory, when Namikaze Minato had sealed half of the Nine-Tails into Naruto, he used the Eight Trigrams Seal.
As for the Reaper Death Seal, that was a different matter entirely—used to precisely split off the Yin aspect of the Nine-Tails and seal it within the caster.
The Eight Trigrams Seal itself was formed from two overlapping Four Symbols Seals, layered together into a double seal—similar in principle to what Hikaru was using now.
But the pattern here had an even heavier overlap than the Eight Trigrams.
That was why Hikaru had never considered this seal to be the Eight Trigrams in the first place.
"And to be honest," Hikaru thought, "this seal's overall strength is still below the Eight Trigrams."
It was likely that when Minato sealed the Dragon Vein back then, his fuinjutsu hadn't yet reached the level he later displayed during the Nine-Tails incident.
The overlap here simply wasn't refined enough.
Which also explained why Hikaru had been able to find an opening and damage it.
But none of that mattered now.
What mattered was surviving the chakra in front of him.
The moment the Dragon Vein chakra escaped, it didn't even have time to celebrate its freedom before it sensed a threat far greater than the seal itself.
A force filled with natural energy locked onto it.
And then—
A terrifying pull seized it, dragging like a whirlpool that refused to let go.
The Dragon Vein chakra roared.
Even if it was only a small portion, it was still frighteningly powerful.
In an instant, the upper half of the Tower of a Thousand cracked apart.
Falling stone shattered under the chakra's impact, turning into a storm of dust and sand that swallowed the interior like a desert gale!
Hikaru frowned.
The environment was awful.
But he didn't stop.
One sealing tag after another surfaced across his hand, then spread and crawled toward the Dragon Vein chakra like living ink.
The chakra fought.
It struggled wildly, thrashing and resisting with everything it had.
But Hikaru's senjutsu chakra—paired with fuinjutsu—pressed down like a mountain, suppressing it without mercy.
Time ticked by.
The storm gradually calmed.
The Dragon Vein chakra—forced, compressed, cornered—slowly became "obedient."
Only then did Hikaru finally let out a breath.
That struggle had been intense.
Luckily, he'd entered Sage Mode from the start. With a mid-tier Sage Mode supporting him, he could control the chakra quickly.
Otherwise…
He wasn't sure he could have held it at all.
But I can't maintain this state much longer, he warned himself. End it fast.
Hikaru knew his Sage Mode wouldn't last long.
His reserves were still too thin.
That fact left him mildly annoyed.
Chakra quantity wasn't the only measure of combat strength—but having too little was absolutely a limitation.
Five minutes.
Ten, at most.
After that, he'd start to slip.
After this… it won't feel this suffocating anymore.
He clenched his teeth and increased the force of the seal.
The Dragon Vein chakra began to spin—dragged into rotation along with the black sealing marks.
Faster.
Stronger.
The chakra swirled like a vortex, and under the seal's guidance, it began pouring into Hikaru's body.
Sara watched closely.
She could feel the chakra's unwillingness.
She could also feel it shrinking—growing less and less.
Finally, with a last sharp gust, the leaked Dragon Vein chakra vanished completely.
Under Hikaru's clothing, over his lower abdomen, an eerie sealing pattern took shape.
He didn't need to look to know what it meant.
The Four Symbols Seal had fully formed.
And the leaked Dragon Vein chakra…
Was sealed.
…..
"Is it… finished?"
Sara stared at the now-silent seal, and at Hikaru crouching down to repair and re-align the original array. Her voice came out as a quiet murmur.
It was finished.
As Hikaru reassembled the seal, the Dragon Vein's agitation was pressed back down.
The Tower of a Thousand returned to stillness—like nothing had ever happened.
"Yes," Hikaru said, drawing in a deep breath. "Finished. It was troublesome… but for now, it's over."
"So I should congratulate you?" Sara turned, eyes settling on him. "You finally got what you wanted."
"That wouldn't be wrong," Hikaru replied, still mild despite the fatigue. "But as things stand, my long-term goal isn't fully complete."
Then he added, as if remembering something important:
"And don't worry. My promise won't change. I have my own moral bottom line."
Even if that bottom line… could bend.
Hikaru silently stamped that truth in his own mind, then began carefully sensing the Dragon Vein chakra inside him.
Four Symbols Seal was excellent.
And this chakra—at least the portion he'd taken—couldn't compare to the Nine-Tails.
That meant sealing it was far easier.
His seal held it tightly.
Even so, once the pressure of Sage Mode faded, the chakra inside him didn't stay perfectly calm.
That feral agitation surfaced again.
But trapped within the Four Symbols, it couldn't break out no matter how much it raged.
Only then did Hikaru truly relax.
He had no interest in carrying a ticking bomb inside his own body.
Still… the amount is a bit disappointing.
Because the chakra had been leaking for days and constantly worn down by the seal, the quantity he captured wasn't impressive.
But even so—
It was still far more chakra than Hikaru could freely use from his own reserves.
And the quality was strong.
That alone was reason enough to be pleased.
But then—
Hikaru's expression shifted.
Because he suddenly realized the chakra was being pulled away.
It was as if the seal had stopped working.
Or as if the seal… simply didn't register that the chakra was "escaping."
The Dragon Vein chakra slipped out of confinement and flowed into Hikaru's body, surging toward his heart.
That made Hikaru's face go cold.
Then he noticed the trajectory—and forced himself to calm down.
His "planting zone" was near the heart.
The place where his seeds were rooted.
…Was this chakra being drawn straight into the seeds?
Hikaru closed his eyes.
And in the next moment, he confirmed it:
The Dragon Vein chakra had entered the planting area.
"So the System can bypass the seal and directly extract it?"
His emotions turned strange for a second.
He knew the Seed & Fruit System was powerful—but being able to drain sealed power without hesitation… that was beyond what he'd expected.
Still, it was feeding his seeds.
He had no reason to complain.
He was a little annoyed that the chakra he'd just seized was immediately being "donated," but he was far more excited—
Because it would save him a massive amount of time.
And the System wasn't draining much at once.
"No matter how I look at it… this isn't bad." Hikaru blinked. "For me, it's even a good thing."
He was suddenly impatient to check his panel and see what had changed.
Before coming here, all his seeds had already gained a noticeable growth boost because of his promotion to Captain.
Especially the Chakra Quantity seed—its growth had reached 99%, one step from harvest.
Thinking that, Hikaru didn't want to remain inside the tower for another second.
He turned to Sara and spoke softly.
"Thank you again, Your Majesty. Without you, I couldn't have gotten this far."
He paused, then continued.
"But I need to go back and adapt to this new power. You know where I'm staying."
"Tomorrow or the day after, you can come find me."
"Tomorrow or the day after…" Sara frowned slightly, then nodded. "Understood. I only hope when I arrive, you'll still be there."
"Don't worry, Your Majesty." Hikaru smiled faintly. "I told you—I have my own moral bottom line."
With that, he activated Flying Thunder God and vanished.
He could've checked his panel right here—everything was projected directly onto his retina, and no one else could sense it.
But he'd long since developed the habit of examining such things only when he was alone.
Secrets were secrets.
And how you treated them mattered.
Sara didn't overthink his disappearance.
Clearly, she wasn't seeing it for the first time.
And right now, more than anything, she just wanted Hikaru not to break his promise.
Because for her…
All she wanted was a brighter future for her people.
Using Flying Thunder God, Hikaru returned to the oasis at full speed.
Securing Dragon Vein chakra was, for him, pure exhilaration.
Especially now that his seeds might finally break through—
How could he not be happy?
Before entering the oasis, he spread his sensory perception outward and swept the surroundings, confirming there were no threats.
Only then did he flicker forward into the temporary shelter he'd been using.
Sunagakure still hadn't found him, but Hikaru would never forget basic caution.
But what he absolutely didn't expect was this—
The moment he approached the tree where he'd hidden a chunk of Hashirama's flesh…
The System's voice rang out in his mind.
"Detected a special-attribute plant. Analyzing…"
"Analysis result: Shattered Power of Asura."
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