Chapter 210: Chihi
"The Nine-Tails? A seal?"
Sasuke frowned.
Unlike in his previous life, Naruto had never experienced any incidents of the Nine-Tails' chakra leaking out while growing up in this timeline.
From an early age, Naruto had also received the greatest possible protection and freedom under the Third Hokage's orders.
Combined with Naruto's own outstanding character and performance...
The criticism and fear that had once surrounded him had long since disappeared from the village.
As a result...
Even someone as close to him as Sasuke had never really learned that the Nine-Tails was sealed inside Naruto.
"...Has the seal become unstable?"
Izumi asked with concern.
"Ever since earlier, I've been sensing occasional fluctuations from the seal inside your body."
"So I've been a little worried."
"No, no."
Naruto hurriedly waved his hands.
"That's just Kurama—I mean, the Nine-Tails—talking to me."
He then briefly explained his relationship with Kurama, along with some of the things they had experienced together.
"So..."
Izumi's eyes widened in genuine surprise for the first time since they had met.
"You and the Nine-Tails..."
"I should call it Kurama now, right?"
"...Can it hear us?"
Seeing Naruto nod...
She still looked utterly unconvinced.
"You actually became friends with it..."
"That's incredible."
Even so...
A trace of doubt remained in her heart.
Years spent leading the clan had made her naturally cautious.
Could the Nine-Tails be deceiving Naruto?
After all...
She still vividly remembered the chaos caused by the Nine-Tails' attack on Konoha all those years ago.
A monster that had resembled a natural disaster itself...
Now peacefully getting along with the cheerful young man standing before her?
It was difficult to believe.
When Naruto casually mentioned that Kurama had even helped save the Uchiha Clan...
Izumi found it even harder to accept.
Inside Naruto's seal, Kurama immediately protested.
"Don't drag me into this."
"I was helping Minato, not the Uchiha."
Even so...
Izumi had never imagined that such a chain of events had led to today.
Meanwhile...
Sasuke stood beside them looking completely bewildered.
No wonder...
When we were little, I vaguely remember some people calling Naruto the Demon Fox brat...
Then that nickname gradually disappeared...
So that's why...
The Nine-Tails...
The very same beast Iruka-sensei and the Academy teachers always described as the monster that inflicted irreversible devastation upon Konoha...
...was actually sealed inside Naruto?
And according to everything he had learned in class...
The Nine-Tails was practically an unspeakable calamity.
Yet...
Naruto had somehow managed to befriend even it?
"...Even though the seal is there..."
Naruto scratched the back of his head with a grin.
"Kurama has always been helping me."
"We can talk whenever we want."
"There've been lots of times when I got into danger..."
"And Kurama was the one who got me out safely."
"Hehe..."
"So, Sister Izumi..."
"The fluctuations you sensed earlier were probably just the seal reacting while Kurama and I were chatting."
"Oh, right!"
"Kurama's incredibly knowledgeable too."
"He just told me that although using the Mangekyō Sharingan eventually causes blindness..."
"It shouldn't threaten your life unless you've completely exhausted your chakra."
"So..."
Naruto looked at her earnestly.
"Are you maybe just scaring yourself?"
"If there's some other problem..."
"Just tell us."
"Kurama, Sasuke, and I..."
"We'll definitely find a way to help you."
After Naruto finished speaking...
Izumi remained silent for a long while.
Eventually...
She seemed to reach a decision.
Looking directly at Naruto, she asked,
"Then..."
"Would you like me to remove that seal?"
"I can do it..."
"...with the ability of my other Mangekyō Sharingan."
"...Your other Mangekyō?"
Sasuke's eyes widened.
"...Remove the seal?"
"Just as I mentioned before..."
Izumi explained slowly,
"My left eye possesses the ability called Tsukiyomi."
"But my right eye..."
"...holds another ability."
"Chihi."
"It can absorb the chakra that makes up sealing techniques and genjutsu..."
"...then reconstruct it into entirely new chakra."
As soon as she described the ability...
Kurama spoke.
"The Mangekyō Sharingan truly is the eye that reflects one's heart."
"They say its abilities are shaped by the emotions of the person who awakens it."
"So the powers of both eyes usually share some connection."
"...But an ability that can even absorb sealing techniques..."
Minato, who had also been observing the outside world through Kurama's chakra, sighed thoughtfully.
"After Itachi brought her here..."
"Something must have happened."
"One eye created a sanctuary for her clansmen..."
"And the other..."
"...seems capable of rejecting every form of deception."
"So it can remove any sealing technique?"
Naruto suddenly remembered something.
"Wait..."
"Sister Izumi..."
"Was that how you removed the Flying Thunder God mark I left on you?"
Izumi nodded.
"I think so."
"But back then..."
"I didn't know which one was your mark."
"In fact..."
"I didn't even know you'd left one on me."
She smiled bitterly.
"There were other so-called protective mechanisms placed on my body as well."
"And some extremely well-hidden tracking marks."
"I found them rather..."
She paused.
"...Never mind."
"The reason I said I don't have much time left..."
"...is because of Chihi."
"When you came here..."
"You should've seen that enormous pillar of chakra."
Naruto immediately recalled the colossal column of chakra outside.
The same one Kurama had identified as the Dragon Vein's chakra, sustaining the entire barrier.
"After awakening my Mangekyō Sharingan..."
"I wasn't yet familiar with its abilities."
She smiled faintly.
"Of course..."
"It wasn't only the abilities."
"We knew nothing about this place either."
"After arriving here..."
"We could only begin exploring."
"Fortunately..."
"We were lucky."
"Very early on, we discovered damaged notebooks and experimental records."
"They contained incredibly sophisticated puppet techniques..."
"As well as detailed records concerning the Dragon Vein's chakra."
"The author..."
"...was a former minister of ancient Rōran."
"His name was Anrokuzan."
"Following the clues left in those notes..."
"We eventually found numerous puppets."
"Although damaged..."
"The craftsmanship behind them was extraordinary."
"After learning the basics of puppet techniques..."
"My clansmen and I realized..."
"This place wasn't a worthless wasteland."
"On the contrary..."
"It might contain the very power capable of helping the Uchiha Clan rise again."
At this point...
Izumi let out a self-mocking smile filled with regret.
Looking toward Sasuke, she said,
"You probably can't tell now..."
"But back then..."
"It wasn't only Shinji and the others."
"Many of us..."
"...had been completely consumed by thoughts of revenge."
"So..."
"During that period..."
"We desperately pursued greater power."
"And naturally..."
"Our attention turned toward the Dragon Vein."
"According to those records..."
"It was an inexhaustible source of chakra."
"A power capable of destroying everything..."
"And creating the strongest puppets imaginable."
"So..."
"I organized several clansmen."
"They still possessed some combat ability..."
"And had become fairly skilled in puppet techniques."
"Together..."
"We began investigating the Dragon Vein."
"Everything progressed surprisingly smoothly."
She slowly lowered her eyes.
"But..."
"We were far too careless."
"Our shallow understanding..."
"Caused us to accidentally break the Dragon Vein's seal..."
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