"You lunatics… you're insane! Asakawa Kiyosuke!!!"
Shinno's words came through clenched teeth, thick with hatred.
"You destroyed everything I worked for! Decades of effort—everything, everything I built—is gone because of you!"
His body began to twist, resembling Orochimaru's in its transformation. His lower half stretched and elongated, while his torso lunged toward Kiyosuke. A chilling laugh spilled out.
"Hahaha… You bastards… Do you even realize what you've done? Without my control, the Zero-Tails will run wild! I have no idea what will happen now!"
Even as the Zero-Tails began to devour him, Shinno showed no fear. Instead, he laughed louder.
"Come on! Die here with me!"
Kiyosuke tossed a scroll to Sasuke.
"Sasuke, Naruto—take Sakura and get out of here as fast as you can. I'll blow this place apart afterward."
"But, Kiyosuke-san…" Naruto wanted to stay and help, but Sasuke dragged him away.
"Move! Don't get in Kiyosuke-sama's way!"
The two rushed out. Kiyosuke gripped the Kusanagi Sword and slashed repeatedly. Every strike severed the Zero-Tails' lunges, cutting its attacks apart and pinning it in place, keeping it from escaping to harm anyone else.
The Zero-Tails roared, splitting into hundreds of massive fists that pummeled toward him.
A raging wind swept out, slicing the fists apart and scattering them to the ground. This wretched creature, forever hungry for dark chakra, could only remain trapped here.
"You're not going anywhere," Kiyosuke declared.
"This place is where you belong! Forever!"
"ROOOOAR!!!"
Understanding his intent, the Zero-Tails bellowed in fury.
"Why do you humans resist me?! The darkness of this world will never disappear! One day, I will return! Stalling me here is meaningless!"
"As long as I can keep you trapped, that's meaning enough!" Kiyosuke raised his sword with practiced ease, steady and calm.
"Then die!!"
"Bring it on!!!"
Man and beast clashed. Soon, an earth-shattering explosion tore the sky apart. The hidden weapon that the Land of Sky had spent decades constructing was obliterated in an instant by Kiyosuke's bomb, along with its vile chakra creation.
The Land of Sky invasion came to its end.
...
Afterward, Kiyosuke retrieved Shinno's scroll from Sasuke. He had no interest in the sealing formula for controlling the Zero-Tails—he had no need for such a thing.
But the notes on regenerative techniques… those were worth studying. He'd inevitably be injured in the future—especially when facing Pain. Better to be prepared early than suffer later.
Still, medical ninjutsu wasn't his specialty. For this, he needed Tsunade's guidance. So he went straight to her with the scroll.
After reading through Shinno's secret art, Tsunade sighed.
"If this man had devoted himself purely to medicine… his accomplishments might not have fallen short of my own."
Her words were acknowledgment of Shinno's talent.
His technique bore similarities to her own Creation Rebirth, though hers clearly surpassed it—without nearly as many dangerous side effects. Beaten once by Kiyosuke, Shinno's cells had divided too quickly, burning out their potential and accelerating his body into premature aging.
Even so, there were valuable insights in his work. Tsunade found herself newly inspired.
But there was no time now to perfect anything.
"Regardless—whether it's destroying the Land of Sky, retrieving the Zero-Tails' formula, or defeating Shinno, the greatest credit belongs to you. For that, I'll teach you both Creation Rebirth and the Strength of a Hundred Seal."
"The Strength of a Hundred Seal? You mean… this?"
Kiyosuke untied his forehead protector, revealing the diamond-shaped mark on his brow. Tsunade and Shizune both froze in shock.
He explained, "I found this sealing art in an underground chamber back in Uzushio. It stores chakra, so I decided to train with it."
Tsunade gave him a look.
"With your chakra reserves, you didn't really need to, did you?"
"You're from the Senju clan, and you trained it yourself, didn't you?"
They both fell silent. Then Tsunade cleared her throat and said,
"Since you already possess the Yin Seal… but having only the seal alone won't let you unlock its true power. That's why I'll teach you the Strength of a Hundred Seal as well."
The seal alone wasn't enough. Combined with Tsunade's Strength of a Hundred Seal, however, its power could be fully unleashed.
Strength of a Hundred Seal maximized the seal's chakra reserves, allowing vast amounts of stored chakra to flow freely. It made large-scale techniques and forbidden arts possible, and strengthened physical abilities like taijutsu and monstrous strength.
It was also the prerequisite for using Katsuyu's mass healing jutsu across entire battlefields.
And above all—its greatest gift was eternal youth.
Kiyosuke smirked to himself.
He'd have Mei use it too. Otherwise, if she put on weight in a few years… that'd be a disaster.
Middle-aged Mei Terumī…
Best not to imagine it.
After securing the training method for Strength of a Hundred Seal and Creation Rebirth, Kiyosuke passed by a food stall.
"Four orders of wasabi octopus, please," he said with a wave.
"Coming right up!"
Minutes later, the dish was ready. The vendor packed it neatly and handed it over.
"Kiyosuke-sama, your wasabi octopus. Please enjoy."
"Thanks."
He paid, then headed for Asuma's home.
After returning from serving the Daimyō, Asuma had bought his own house. Once he and Kurenai married, they had remodeled it.
Kiyosuke knocked. Kurenai, dressed as a homemaker and holding their daughter Sarutobi Mirai, opened the door. She blinked in surprise.
"Kiyosuke? What brings you here today? You actually had free time to drop by?"
"No one's home at my place, so I thought I'd come freeload a meal. And of course, to check in on little Mirai. Here—your favorite, wasabi octopus. Where's that guy Asuma?"
He handed the food to Kurenai and carefully took Mirai from her arms, holding the baby's soft, fair body.
"Come in," Kurenai said with a smile. "Naruto dragged Asuma off to training."
Since the Land of Sky incident, Naruto had been pushing himself hard, eager to create a new finishing move. The Big Ball Rasengan no longer satisfied him.
Kakashi was guiding him, but in this case, Asuma's expertise with wind chakra made him the better teacher. Naruto had begged him to help.
Kiyosuke, on the other hand, hadn't gone—he couldn't offer Naruto much advice here. He could use wind-release ninjutsu, sure, but his approach was different. He didn't specialize in elemental chakra.
"Sorry for intruding."
Kiyosuke settled onto the couch, crossing his legs as if it were his own home. He teased Mirai in his arms, though the more he looked, the more the child reminded him of Shisui.
Thankfully, it was just the hairstyle. Best if she grew her hair out like her mother someday.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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