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For the next ten days
Uchiha Kira showed up at Kushina's place every day, right on time, to learn sealing techniques.
As they spent more time together, their relationship and feelings for each other quickly grew stronger.
Honestly, they both admired each other's looks.
During this time, Mikoto found out that Kira was learning sealing techniques from Kushina and decided to tag along a few times.
The ANBU and Root shinobi who were secretly watching all of this saw everything but didn't interfere—after all, they had orders from the Third Hokage and Danzo to stay out of it.
[Your Four Black Fog Formation has been fully mastered.]
[Your Four Purple Flame Formation has been fully mastered.]
[Your Four Scarlet Sun Formation has been fully mastered.]
[Your Sealing Barrier Technique has been fully mastered and evolved into Sealing Barrier 2.0.]
"That's it! I have nothing left to teach you! You've completely drained me of everything I know about sealing techniques!"
"What kind of monster are you? How the hell can a human learn this fast?!"
"Your understanding of sealing techniques has already surpassed mine by far… You could probably turn around and start teaching me now!"
Kushina lay face down on the table, pouting in frustration as she glared at Uchiha Kira.
This was just unfair.
She felt like Kira had been sent by Tsunade just to crush her confidence.
And to make matters worse, not only was his learning ability insane, but he could also innovate—coming up with new, even stronger sealing techniques at an absurd speed.
It was just ridiculous.
"Haha!"
Kira chuckled and poked her puffed-up cheeks. Amused, he said, "Come on now! You're still amazing. Besides me, there's probably no one else in the shinobi world who could match you in sealing techniques!"
"By the way, I heard the Uzumaki Clan has a sealing technique called Adamantine Sealing Chains. Think you could teach me?"
He had been eyeing that technique for a while now.
After all, it could suppress Tailed Beasts—clearly, it was something extraordinary.
"Huh?"
Kushina stared at him, speechless. "Do you even know what you're asking?"
"If I could teach you, don't you think I would have already?!"
"Since you know about this technique, then you should also know that it's exclusive to the Uzumaki Clan. You need Uzumaki blood to even use it!"
It wasn't that she didn't want to teach him.
After spending so much time together, she had grown quite fond of him.
And it wasn't a one-sided thing either.
Kira wasn't just learning from her—he had actually helped refine her understanding of sealing techniques and even shared all the new techniques he created.
They were benefiting each other, pushing one another to new heights.
Honestly, she would love to teach him Adamantine Sealing Chains just to see if he could develop an even stronger version.
If he could upgrade it, then maybe… just maybe… she could finally have an easy way to beat the Nine-Tails!
"Ah-choo!!"
Inside the newly reinforced Eight Trigrams Sealing Space, the Nine-Tails suddenly sneezed. It frowned, grumbling, "Damn it! Kushina must be up to something again."
BANG! BANG!
It raised a massive paw and slammed it against the barrier that held it prisoner.
The barrier didn't even budge.
Instead, the force rebounded, sending a sharp pain through its paw. The Nine-Tails growled in frustration.
"Damn that Uchiha Kira! Why did he have to create such a strong sealing technique?!"
"How the hell am I supposed to get out of here now?!"
At this point, escape seemed impossible.
The only silver lining was that Kira had at least convinced Kushina to treat it better, expanding its prison space significantly.
The barrier was now even stronger than before, but the space inside was at least a hundred times bigger.
It even had a sky, grasslands, mountains, and rivers.
Sure, it was all an illusion, but it was definitely more comfortable than before.
The Nine-Tails could actually run around now.
"Aside from not being able to leave… this place actually isn't so bad..."
That thought sent a shiver down its spine.
Shaking its massive head violently, it snarled, "No! What the hell am I thinking?!"
"I was born to be free! These damn humans locked me up! How can I surrender just because they showed me a little kindness?!"
"NEVER!"
Tailed Beasts never surrender!
And yet…
A second later, it casually used its chakra to conjure a pile of potato chips and a giant bottle of soda.
Crunch! Crunch!
It munched on the chips while happily gulping down soda.
As if it hadn't just been ranting about never surrendering.
What could it do?
With this new sealing technique, there was no chance of escaping until Kushina died.
And with Uchiha Kira outside, maybe staying put wasn't such a bad idea after all.
At least Kushina had brought in some good snacks and entertainment.
Granted, she had only brought them in once.
But the great Nine-Tails was no fool!
One taste was all it needed to remember the flavors and recreate them with chakra.
Problem solved.
Outside—
Hearing Kushina's words, Kira grinned. "Of course, I know it requires Uzumaki blood. But I still want to give it a try."
"Who knows? Maybe I'll pull it off."
Kushina nodded thoughtfully. "Huh… now that I think about it, if it's you, it might actually work."
"You're an absolute freak, after all."
She tossed him a scroll. "Here, give it a shot."
"Thanks!" Kira took the scroll, then turned to her again. "Oh, and while you're at it, can you give me a drop of your blood? And a bit of the Nine-Tails' chakra?"
"Huh?"
Kushina blinked in confusion. "Why? What do you need my blood and the Nine-Tails' chakra for?"
She narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. "You're not planning something shady, are you?"
The way she looked at him was as if she had just discovered he was a total scumbag.
Kira: "....."
Bonk!
He flicked her forehead, making her yelp in pain.
"I just want to analyze the Uzumaki bloodline," he explained. "Maybe I can figure out a way to understand its unique properties. At the very least, it should help me learn Adamantine Sealing Chains faster."
"As for the Nine-Tails' chakra, I'm curious about its composition. If I can study it, maybe I can develop a way to completely control a Tailed Beast."
"So? Are you in or not?"
He had always been interested in the Uzumaki bloodline.
The immense vitality, the massive chakra reserves, and the ability to sense emotions through the Kagura Mind's Eye—he wanted it all.
If he could develop a training method to acquire these abilities, that would be perfect.
Of course, he wouldn't shortchange Kushina either. He'd give her a training method to purify her Uzumaki bloodline in return.
And once she was his… well, he'd make sure she got all the best techniques.
"Sorry, Minato. You'll have to find someone else."
Kira smirked to himself.
"....."