Naruto: The Nine-Tails' Legacy

"However..."

"The moment we broke the Dragon Vein's seal..."

"A massive surge of chakra erupted from deep underground."

Even now, recalling that scene, Izumi's expression darkened with sorrow.

"It looked like a natural disaster."

"To this day..."

"I still can't erase that sight from my memory."

"In a single instant..."

"Several of my clansmen were caught in the explosion before they could even escape."

"They disappeared right before my eyes."

She lowered her gaze.

"When something is swallowed by that much chakra..."

"Survival is impossible."

"It doesn't even leave behind a trace."

"Once we realized that..."

"The only people who barely managed to escape..."

"Were myself and two companions who had happened to be near the rear of the exploration team."

"But before we could even reach safety..."

"We realized..."

"There was no point in running anymore."

"The Dragon Vein's chakra was spreading at a speed visible to the naked eye."

"If we allowed it to continue..."

"Not only would our existence be exposed to the outside world..."

"It would also threaten the lives of the clansmen who had only just settled nearby."

Listening to her account...

Minato, within Naruto's inner world, gradually understood the purpose of the seal he had left behind years ago.

"The Dragon Vein normally shouldn't behave this way."

"If simply removing the seal I placed caused this..."

"Then there's only one explanation."

"When I sealed it..."

"The Dragon Vein had already been in a berserk state."

He sank into thought.

Kurama nodded.

"That's right."

"Back then, you and Naruto defeated that man named Anrokuzan."

"But unfortunately..."

"You couldn't stop his final act of madness."

"The puppet he created using the Dragon Vein's chakra detonated this entire place."

As someone who had witnessed those events firsthand...

Kurama spoke with absolute certainty.

Minato frowned.

"Then..."

"Does that mean..."

"Uchiha Izumi..."

"...managed to suppress that berserk chakra?"

As soon as he reached that conclusion...

He noticed Kurama wearing a faint smile.

After spending so much time together...

Minato had learned to recognize the meanings behind some of Kurama's expressions.

That smile...

Meant Kurama knew something he didn't.

"I told you before."

"This little Uchiha girl..."

"...isn't ordinary."

Outside...

Izumi continued her story.

"...With no other options left..."

"I thought of using Tsukiyomi's ability to isolate everything."

"At the very least..."

"I wanted to create a temporary sanctuary where the clan could survive."

"But my chakra wasn't nearly enough."

"The Tsukiyomi barrier covering this entire ruin..."

"At the time..."

"My chakra and ocular power could barely sustain it for even a few seconds."

"Let alone conceal the Dragon Vein's eruption."

She sighed.

"But if we delayed any longer..."

"We wouldn't even need investigators."

"The Dragon Vein's disturbance alone would've drawn the Sand Village's attention."

By this point...

Sasuke had already guessed what she had done.

"So..."

"I thought of the only possible solution."

"I followed the records left in those notes."

"I attempted..."

"...to absorb the Dragon Vein's chakra into my own body..."

"...and use it as the energy source for the massive Tsukiyomi barrier outside."

"...You absorbed all of that chakra into yourself?"

Both Naruto and Sasuke stared at her in disbelief.

They both clearly remembered the colossal pillar of chakra outside.

Even that brief glimpse had been enough to understand...

The amount of chakra far exceeded what a human body should ever be capable of containing.

It wasn't simply that the Dragon Vein contained more chakra than Naruto himself.

Rather...

Any immense chakra that wasn't naturally one's own would violently clash with the body.

Just as Kurama had once explained...

Even with the Eight Trigrams Seal...

The tiny amount of chakra that naturally leaked from him was enough to affect Naruto's body.

Only then did Naruto finally understand.

The two different kinds of chakra he had sensed inside Izumi...

One belonged to her.

The other...

Was residual Dragon Vein chakra.

"That's right."

Izumi nodded.

"But I wasn't foolish enough to think my body could withstand it."

"Forget using it."

"I probably would've exploded the instant I absorbed it."

"So..."

"I made use of the puppets scattered throughout these ruins."

"They were originally designed with mechanisms for absorbing and circulating Dragon Vein chakra."

"I connected them to my own body using chakra threads..."

"And used them as intermediary conduits to bear the overflowing chakra."

"Then..."

"I used that power to cast a Tsukiyomi large enough to cover the entire ruins."

"Of course..."

"Casting Tsukiyomi didn't make the Dragon Vein disappear."

"It continued pouring out endlessly."

"So I had to find a way to stabilize it."

"I could only gamble."

"After using that immense chakra to deploy the giant Tsukiyomi barrier..."

"I immediately activated Chihi."

"I used it..."

"...to dismantle and reconstruct the enormous Tsukiyomi barrier that could only exist by drawing upon the Dragon Vein's chakra."

Absorb the Dragon Vein's chakra into herself...

Use it to cast the largest possible Tsukiyomi...

Then use Chihi to dismantle Tsukiyomi...

Converting the Dragon Vein's violent chakra into stable chakra...

Only to repeat the entire process again.

Both Naruto and Sasuke finally understood the logic behind her method.

They were speechless.

It was truly the kind of desperate solution that could only be conceived after all other paths had been exhausted.

"It was only then..."

"I realized..."

"The powers residing in my two eyes fundamentally opposed each other."

Izumi smiled bitterly.

"Chihi is practically the perfect counter to Tsukiyomi."

"The essence of Tsukiyomi is a genjutsu barrier."

"Meanwhile..."

"Chihi absorbs and reconstructs the chakra of genjutsu..."

"Causing it to disappear."

"So..."

"I absorbed the Dragon Vein's chakra with Chihi..."

"Drew it into my own body..."

"Used it to expand Tsukiyomi to its greatest extent..."

"Then..."

"Continued enlarging the barrier until it covered the entire ruins."

She laughed softly at herself.

"I used the Dragon Vein's chakra to sustain Tsukiyomi..."

"Then used Chihi to absorb Tsukiyomi itself..."

"Turning it back into stable Dragon Vein chakra..."

"And repeated the cycle endlessly."

A trace of self-mockery lingered in her smile.

The abilities of her eyes...

Were nothing less than reflections of her own conflicted heart.

Tsukiyomi embodied her desire to escape.

To take her clansmen far away from all conflict and hatred.

No...

Perhaps it wasn't even about the clan.

Perhaps...

She herself simply wanted to run away.

Otherwise...

Why would the illusion created by Tsukiyomi forever remain the scene of her final farewell with Itachi?

Yet at the same time...

Another part of her heart kept shattering those fantasies.

Destroying her weakness.

She had to shoulder that responsibility.

She had to remember that hatred.

Just like Chihi...

Erasing every lie.

Erasing every arrangement made in the name of concern.

Leaving behind...

Only her own chakra.

Only...

Her own truth.

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