The crimson whirl of the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan illuminated the vast sealing chamber. Uzumaki Mito felt her breath hitch—an old, buried tremor rising from a place she had locked away decades ago.
But she forced it all down, spine straightening with dignified restraint.
She regarded the young Hokage standing before the Nine-Tails, then said with formal calm:
"Hokage-sama, we cannot linger inside the seal. We should withdraw."
Uchiha Soren, unreadable as stone, inclined his head.
His consciousness slipped from the Eight-Trigrams space back into the real world.
Outside, Mito bent over her desk, expression hidden. Soren quietly waited—anticipating the moment their chakra would synchronize again and the Nine-Tails' might would bend fully to Konoha's command.
Advanced Division — Scene of Mass Casualties
Meanwhile, at the Advanced Division's training field, a different sort of carnage unfolded.
"Don't underestimate the Will of Fire!"Jiraiya roared dramatically—
—before being flattened a second later by the small, black-haired hurricane known as Uchiha Hikari.
Nearby, Tsunade trembled, panda-ringed eyes wide with terror.
Kato slumped against a tree, dazed.
Hiruzen lay face-down with tears leaking from the corners of his eyes.
Orochimaru dangled helplessly from one of Hikari's hands like a caught rabbit.
"Aaaaah!" Tsunade shrieked and charged—
—and immediately collapsed.
Five-kill achievement, earned in under a minute.
Hikari stepped into the quiet field, utterly perplexed.
"I barely put in any effort. Why did you all faint?"
Her head tilted. "I used the exact training methods my old Uchiha instructors used on me."
Then, with the disappointment of a stern elder:
"You're all too weak."
(No—YOU'RE too strong!)
If the children had air left in their lungs, they would have screamed it.
A summer breeze ruffled Hikari's hair.
The crushed children whimpered.
"Teacher Soren… help…" their souls cried.
With Mangekyō-enhanced perception, Hikari knew the exact force needed to "educate" them.
She lifted them, lined them up neatly, lectured them in sharp tactical clarity—
And they collapsed again.
She found their fragility… oddly amusing.
The North Trembles — Madara Moves
Far from Konoha, a presence like an ancient predator streaked across the continent.
Uchiha Madara, believed dead by most of the world, had rested briefly in the Land of Hot Springs—then turned toward the Land of Water.
Konoha still possessed a Nine-Tails jinchūriki.
A thinking Hokage would weaponize it.
Madara, once a man who fought Hashirama head-to-head and understood how Susanoo synergized with a bijū's power, knew he needed more.
If he could not overwhelm Soren's Susanoo, he would augment his own with another tailed beast.
His target:
The Seven-Tails, hidden in an isolated Taki village, unclaimed by the Five Nations.
"Since Hashirama, no one has given me hope.
Don't disappoint me, little brat…" Madara snarled at the forest air.
He disappeared beneath a waterfall—
then burst upward atop the armored shell of the Seven-Tails, a fifty-meter, six-winged titan.
The bijū shrieked.
Madara laughed like a rising war god.
Together, they streaked toward Konoha.
Hōzuki City — The Prison of Despair
Deep within the Grass Country, atop a rocky island cut by deadly currents, stood the infamous Hōzuki City — a prison both feared and forgotten.
Surrounded by whirlpools, sealed by the Fire Release: Heavenly Prison technique, escape was nearly impossible.
One rule governed this place:
The warden is the rule.
If you die, remember rule one.
Inside a pitch-dark cell, Senju Moriki spat bitter saliva onto the cold floor.
The Tongue Seal of Doom carved across his tongue marked him as both criminal and fool.
His Five-Element Seal left him powerless; even moving beyond a few steps risked the Heavenly Prison burning him into ash.
He glared into the dark.
(You filthy lovers… you'll pay for this…)
The memory of that night—
his humiliation, Minako's defiance, Soren's intervention—
burned him like venom.
If the legendary Elysium Box hidden somewhere in Hōzuki City could grant wishes, he would do anything.
Months, years—even a century—here would mean nothing if he could claw his way to vengeance.
(I'll let them experiment on me. I'll take whatever they give.
Anything to reach the Elysium Box… anything.)
A crooked smile twisted his face in the darkness.
Traveling to Whirlpools — A Moment Too Close
Halfway through the march toward the Land of Whirlpools, Uzumaki Minako paused beneath a lagoon-shadowed forest.
She leaned lightly against a mossed tree, breath catching.
"An-san… they're too close here…"
Her voice trembled—soft, breathy, dangerous.
Soren grinned without looking back.
"You brought me to this spot, Minako."
She bit her lip, pulse racing.
Suddenly—
Figures approached through the underbrush.
Minako tensed, hand gripping a kunai.
"An-san—there! People are coming!"
From the moonlit haze, a dignified woman emerged — the regional leader designated to escort their contingent.
The Senju soldiers hurried forward to report.
Minako exhaled calmly and waved her hand.
"Notify the others. It's time to move."
But as she turned away, Soren caught the faint sheen of white foam at the corner of her mouth and the thrill still trembling in her fingers.
Minako steadied herself.
The storm was coming.
And she intended to meet it with sharpened steel — and a promise still burning in her chest.
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