All night long, Natsuki never stopped. He kept refining the Mafūba (Evil Containment Wave), striving to bring the spiraling force under perfect control and fuse it flawlessly with his sealing formula—so the whole process could be completed in a single breath.
Only then would an Edo Tensei (Reanimation) body have no time to react, ensuring a successful suppression seal.
Fortunately, hard work pays off.
With twenty minutes left on the special-lab timer, Natsuki finally succeeded in sweeping the puppet straight into the coffin in one go.
Even though in the special-lab state he didn't need to worry about chakra expenditure or injury, Natsuki still felt mentally drained. When he stepped out of the lab, he couldn't stop yawning.
Tenten immediately scooped him up. She didn't mind the sweat at all and simply princess-carried him toward the bath.
"You've worked hard. Leave the rest to me—just sleep."
Tenten was so gentle.
Natsuki tilted his head up and kissed her. Tenten responded naturally, but halfway through…the guy started snoring. Tenten was speechless.
"This rascal! You get me all worked up and then fall asleep? Just wait till I 'settle accounts' with you!"
When Natsuki woke again, it was already afternoon.
That nap had been great; he even had a rare dream—something about a little pig nudging him… and it weirdly felt pretty comfy.
He didn't overthink it. After washing up and eating the love-packed lunch Tenten left for him, he headed out refreshed.
He'd barely begun a leisurely stroll when ANBU arrived—Tsunade was calling for him.
With a Hiraishin (Flying Thunder God), he popped into the office and rolled his eyes. "Tsunade-dono, I just finished a closed-door session. Can I at least rest two days?"
"Quit rolling your eyes, or you'll turn into a Hyūga."
Tsunade couldn't help the jab, then tossed him a scroll. "Judging from your face, you've finished developing the Mafūba. Good timing. There's news from the Land of Lightning—Kabuto is leading his Edo Tensei squad, snooping around for the Eight-Tails' Jinchūriki. Kumogakure is massing troops to wipe them out and has requested support from the other villages. Go test your Mafūba on them."
A request? From Kumogakure?
Natsuki unsealed the scroll. Sure enough, it was Kumogakure's formal request—personally signed by the Fourth Raikage, A.
Looked like even the Cloud had realized how troublesome Edo Tensei bodies were, setting aside their pride to ask for help.
But… it wouldn't be that simple.
Natsuki curled his lip. "Don't they have the Kohaku no Jōhei (Amber Purifying Pot)? Sealing a few Edo Tensei shouldn't be hard. If not, let the Raikage show up himself—one Rariatto (Lariat) and he could wipe Kabuto's team."
"If only it were that easy."
Tsunade sighed. "It's not like they didn't try. Darui personally took the Kohaku no Jōhei. Kabuto knew the pot's trick, so he controlled the reanimated ones to keep their mouths shut—Darui couldn't trigger it. Worse, Kabuto's lineup is stacked: Second Tsuchikage Mū, Second Mizukage Hōzuki Gengetsu, and even the Third Raikage A. Darui wasn't their match, and the Kohaku no Jōhei nearly got snatched."
Darui, huh? The Cloud's Ranton (Storm Release) user?
Darui was indeed strong—likely the Raikage's strongest bodyguard—and his Ranton was masterful. He even later succeeded A as the Fifth Raikage. If he personally brought the Kohaku no Jōhei and still took an L… those Edo Tensei monsters were really tough.
The Amber Pot was great—until the enemy knew its secret. If you just don't answer, it's useless.
By contrast, the trio of treasures that looked harder to use—Benihisago (Crimson Gourd), Kōkinjō (Golden Canopy Rope), and Shichiseiken (Seven Star Sword)—were actually nastier to deal with.
No wonder the Cloud could swallow its pride. The enemy was that hard, and Akatsuki that terrifying—only then did they wake up and seek alliance.
Natsuki didn't dither; he did want to field-test the Mafūba. But he couldn't head out immediately.
"Tsunade-dono, I need a batch of sturdy, high-grade coffins and powerful sealing tags. That's the best medium for the Mafūba. Smaller containers work, but they cost extra chakra. Coffins are optimal."
"That's easy. I'll have people prepare them at once!"
Given how important this was, Tsunade wouldn't drag her feet. She also wasn't going to make Natsuki run errands—or pay for any of it. A few coffins and sealing tags were nothing.
Natsuki added, "Besides the Special Operations Unit, I want to bring Kakashi-senpai. Kakashi-senpai and Sasuke both have Sharingan, so they can copy my Mafūba. The more who can use it, the better."
Tsunade gave a quick thumbs-up. "Good plan. Kakashi must go."
"What about the village's safety…"
"You don't need to worry. I'll be here, and so will Jiraiya. Go rest. We'll notify you when everything's ready."
Natsuki nodded and flickered back home.
No sooner had he arrived than he heard activity in the storeroom. He peeked in and found Tenten tinkering with something.
Right then, Tenten was incredibly focused. When she hit a snag she'd frown and scratch her head—so cute that Natsuki couldn't help swallowing.
He slipped inside, sat beside her, and lowered his voice. "Dear, what're you working on?"
Without looking up, Tenten said, "It's the heart-core energy from the Third Kazekage's puppet. I'm studying Jiton (Magnet Release). This heart-core is similar in principle to the chakra battery. If I crack it, not only will the battery capacity expand, I can also gain Magnet Release and get stronger!"
Natsuki instantly gave a thumbs-up. "My wife is brilliant. How's progress?"
Tenten pulled a face. "I might be a bit slow. I've run into a lot of problems."
"That's easy—let me brainstorm with you."
They dove into the Magnet Release heart-core together. And wow—Sasori really was a genius. This heart-core outclassed Natsuki's chakra battery by a mile and could even harness a dead person's Magnet Release. Natsuki had to give the guy props.
Luckily, Natsuki knew more in this area than Tenten. He quickly pinpointed the key bottlenecks and started working through them.
Tenten's talent with ninja tools then shone through. She might not have understood at first, but after discussing with Natsuki she grasped it rapidly—and even began drawing inferences on her own, growing at a crazy pace.
At this rate, Tenten soon wouldn't need Natsuki's coaching at all; she'd handle this kind of research with ease.
(End of Chapter)
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