Chapter 189: The Exhausting Phantom Dragon Nine Consuming Seals
In a desolate, uninhabited mountain northwest of the Land of Rain near the Land of Grass, the mountain's belly had been hollowed out. The towering, massive Gedo Statue sat within the mountain's interior.
The statue's form resembled withered wood with ten pillar-like protrusions on its back. Its face bore nine eyes, and its hands—bound by heavy shackles—spread their ten fingers open like blooming lotus flowers.
At this moment—
Uchiha Tatsuhata and Pain stood respectively on two fingers of the statue's hands. The fingernail beneath Uchiha Tatsuhata's feet glowed with green luminescence, a large character "青" in the center. Pain's fingernail likewise glowed bright green, but with a different character in the middle—"零."
The Gedo Statue's great mouth opened, spitting out nine pale blue, semi-transparent chakra dragons that wrapped around the palm-sized tea kettle Shukaku pot. They extracted strands of crimson chakra bit by bit, entirely absorbing it all into the statue. As the One-Tail's chakra was continuously absorbed, one of the nine eyes on the statue's face slowly opened.
"Pain, how much longer until the seal is complete?"
Uchiha Tatsuhata had forgotten how many times he'd asked this question.
From the moment he and Pain agreed to cooperate in executing the Moon's Eye Plan, he'd offered up the One-Tail sealed within the ninja tool Shukaku pot as a beginning witness to this cooperative relationship.
Afterward, Pain had researched for several days, then excavated from the Rinnegan a sealing technique called Phantom Dragon Nine Consuming Seals—specifically used to extract and seal Tailed Beasts.
Pain had taught this sealing technique to Uchiha Tatsuhata. After some discussion, the two decided to first test it on the One-Tail sealed in the Shukaku pot.
So—
They'd come to this uninhabited wilderness in the Land of Rain's northern region, found a desolate mountain, hollowed out its belly, summoned the Gedo Statue, and the two of them had used this sealing technique—Phantom Dragon Nine Consuming Seals.
Then this sealing technique had continued for a full eight days. Today should already be the ninth day.
They'd still underestimated the chakra required by Phantom Dragon Nine Consuming Seals. More accurately, both their chakra reserves were sufficiently massive to sustain using this sealing technique.
The key issue was that their chakra output per unit time had limitations.
Simply put, the pipe's diameter restricted the output volume. They couldn't possibly release all their chakra at once in a single breath. So even though both their chakra reserves were vast as oceans, they still couldn't shorten the time required to use Phantom Dragon Nine Consuming Seals.
"Almost. The seal should be complete in another three hours."
Pain's voice also carried deep exhaustion.
Chakra consumption was a minor issue for him, but nearly nine days without eating or sleeping while concentrating fully on using this sealing technique for the first time—the mental drain was truly enormous, utterly exhausting.
Uchiha Tatsuhata felt the same.
Half his body consisted of White Zetsu's limbs. His chakra was sufficient to sustain this consumption. The key issue was the mental drain was truly unbearable.
"Three hours?"
Uchiha Tatsuhata's spirits lifted as he murmured, "Finally almost done!"
He glanced at Pain. "I see this Phantom Dragon Nine Consuming Seals can accommodate up to ten casters simultaneously, right? I think next time we seal a Tailed Beast, we can find several helpers!"
Pain also nodded, answering heavily, "Next time we can't rely on just the two of us. The time consumed is far too long. It's forcibly dragged our condition down to rock bottom. If any accidents occur, dealing with them will be very troublesome!"
"However, suitable helpers aren't easy to find!"
"That's also true."
Both Uchiha Tatsuhata and Pain fell into silence.
They both pondered where to find helpers capable of assisting with sealing Tailed Beasts. Such helpers weren't easy to locate. To cast this Phantom Dragon Nine Consuming Seals required sufficiently massive chakra—without it, one simply couldn't sustain the consumption.
Just as the two contemplated—
Suddenly—
Zetsu, resembling a Venus flytrap, abruptly emerged from a nearby mountain wall, shouting loudly, "This is bad, this is bad! Konoha ninja and Sand ninja are attacking!"
"What?"
Uchiha Tatsuhata was shocked.
The words Pain had just spoken involuntarily surfaced in his mind. This jinx was far too accurate, wasn't it?
However, this thought merely flashed past. He stared at Zetsu and asked, "Explain the specific situation in detail. How did Konoha and Sand ninja find us? Zetsu, are you certain they're moving toward our location?"
Before Zetsu could answer, Pain had already spoken. "Six chakra fluctuations total. They're eleven kilometers from our current position. One chakra fluctuation is exceptionally powerful. Judging from their advancing route, they should have already locked onto our location."
The instant Zetsu transmitted this urgent intelligence, Nagato's true body hidden elsewhere had formed hand seals, using the sensory ninjutsu called Kagura Mind's Eye inherited from Uzumaki clan bloodline, capturing those chakra fluctuations bright as bonfires in the night.
Zetsu also nodded repeatedly. "That's right. The approaching Konoha ninja are Hyuga Ritsu, Uchiha Shisui, and Hatake Kakashi. The Sand ninja are Yura, Baki, and Yashamaru. From my covert observation, it seems Sand ninja used some method to lock onto our current location."
"Sand ninja?"
Uchiha Tatsuhata's heart stirred. His gaze shifted to the ninja tool Shukaku pot from which the One-Tail's chakra was being extracted. He was quite certain his body was completely clean. Those Sand ninja didn't have the ability to leave any traces on him.
But he hadn't carefully examined this ninja tool Shukaku pot. Perhaps it contained some trick.
There was also the possibility Sand ninja had done something to the One-Tail itself. After all, the One-Tail Shukaku had been captured and utilized by ninja active in the desert even before Sunagakure's establishment. It had an extremely long research and usage history. They completely had the possibility and ability to tamper with the One-Tail.
However, now wasn't the time to investigate how Konoha and Sand ninja had accurately located and found them. The current priority was handling this completely unexpected emergency situation.
One had to admit Konoha and Sand ninja had acted with truly divine speed this time, and their covert work was also well done.
Of course, this also related to how Konoha Village now had barriers everywhere, with White Zetsu's activity space increasingly restricted. For instance, monitoring the Nine-Tails jinchuriki proved exceptionally difficult. White Zetsu simply couldn't approach the Nine-Tails jinchuriki too closely, so they had no clear idea of the jinchuriki's due date, only roughly estimating September or October.
"Still worthy of being one of the five great ninja villages. Even with severely weakened strength, their methods remain impressive!"
Uchiha Tatsuhata praised.
Immediately—
He looked toward Pain. "I apologize. This matter resulted from my negligence and carelessness in not cleaning up loose ends properly. However, only three hours remain until the One-Tail's seal is complete. I believe we should persist in completing the One-Tail's seal, trying not to waste our efforts. As for Konoha and Sand ninja, I'll handle them."
The instant his words fell, Uchiha Tatsuhata's eyes became crimson. A pitch-black, slender, curved tomoe pattern surfaced in his pupils.
Immediately, the Toyoakitsushihime ocular technique quietly activated. Densely packed, countless pale life threads surged from his right palm. These threads entangled and fused with each other. In the blink of an eye, they wove one human form after another.
Fourth Kazekage Rasa, Konoha's Root leader Shimura Danzo, Hidden Cloud Village's genius Magnetic Release user Troy, Sunagakure's strongest puppet master Chiyo, plus over twenty Cloud ninja and Sand ninja—without exception, all were jonin. Not a single chunin or genin filled the numbers.
Both Shimura Danzo and Chiyo's conditions were adjusted to their prime middle-aged years. The young Chiyo had indeed been a beauty.
Rather regrettably, his Toyoakitsushihime couldn't weave the inanimate puppet tools Chiyo used together. This severely reduced replica Chiyo's combat power. However, even without puppets, her taijutsu and Wind Release mastery still deserved to be called seasoned. Rich combat experience and battle instincts forged through countless trials meant she could still play a significant role in battle.
In summary—
The replica lineup Uchiha Tatsuhata released could already be called powerful. Attacking and destroying a small ninja village would present no problems.
Replica Uchiha Madara wasn't among them. That was his trump card kept at the bottom of the box.
Pain glanced at these replicas and spoke. "No need to apologize. Since we agreed to cooperate, we're allies advancing and retreating together. Moreover, as long as we advance the Moon's Eye Plan, clashing with the five great ninja villages is inevitable."
"What you should consider now isn't apologizing, but whether you're certain just these puppets of yours can withstand those Konoha ninja and Sand ninja's attacks?"
Hearing Pain's inquiry, Uchiha Tatsuhata immediately hesitated slightly, answering slowly, "No need to worry about Sand ninja. Those Yura, Baki, and Yashamaru can all be ignored. The focus remains on Konoha ninja. White Yaksha Hyuga Ritsu is a formidable opponent. He possesses three Kekkei Genkai—Byakugan, Shikotsumyaku, and Wood Release. I suspect Uchiha Shisui may also have activated the Mangekyō Sharingan."
"However, most troublesome is that these three Konoha ninja might carry coordinates for the Fourth Hokage's Flying Thunder God Technique. Once combat begins, I'm concerned the Fourth Hokage and other Konoha Village elites will appear on the battlefield. The situation might become rather difficult then."
He didn't save face by stubbornly persisting, but honestly stated the situation that might very likely occur.
His current Toyoakitsushihime lineup was indeed powerful, but wanting to clash head-on with Konoha Village, currently the shinobi world's strongest, left him uncertain of victory. If Konoha attacked with full force, the chances of winning decreased even further.
Hearing this, Pain also fell into brief silence. The Fourth Hokage and other Konoha Village ninja might also appear on the battlefield, meaning Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan's teacher might very possibly participate in battle.
Thinking he might see Teacher Jiraiya again next filled Nagato's heart with mixed feelings.
However—
No one could shake his determination to change this decayed world.
Yahiko's death had already proven the real world wasn't worth saving anymore. Only building eternal peace within illusion was the sole path forward.
He spent over ten seconds organizing his thoughts, firming his resolve, making his heart sufficiently cold and hard.
Only then did Pain speak. "Since Konoha might deploy the entire village's forces to attack at any moment, let my avatars also act together with these toys of yours."
"Good, that works too."
Uchiha Tatsuhata didn't refuse.
Only two-plus hours remained until Phantom Dragon Nine Consuming Seals completely finished sealing the One-Tail. They didn't need to fight Konoha ninja long-term, only needed to persist for two-plus hours before choosing to retreat. No need to clash head-on with Konoha ninja. This was also why he hadn't released replica Uchiha Madara—he didn't want to reveal his trump card in this battle where he didn't plan to seek victory.
If Pain was willing to cooperate against the attacking Konoha ninja, he had absolutely no reason to refuse.
Pain maintained Phantom Dragon Nine Consuming Seals and couldn't move lightly, but coming outside Amegakure this time to attempt sealing the One-Tail, Nagato had also made thorough preparations. Besides Pain, the Deva Path avatar showing his face publicly, he'd also brought the Animal Path avatar.
The Animal Path hidden behind the Gedo Statue stepped forward. Hands forming seals, it used Summoning Technique, summoning all four remaining avatars stored in Amegakure. Including the Animal Path, the five avatars' faces and physiques varied. The only two similarities besides clothing were that like Pain, their faces and bodies all bore black rods, and their eyes were also pale purple ripple-patterned Rinnegan.
This was one of the Rinnegan's abilities.
Avatars created using deceased corpses, each possessing portions of the Rinnegan's abilities. Based on different abilities, they could be classified as Deva Path, Human Path, Naraka Path, Asura Path, Preta Path, and Animal Path.
The Deva Path avatar was Pain.
The remaining five avatars glanced at each other. They reached up to remove Rain ninja forehead protectors with long scratches across them, then reached down to tear off black coats embroidered with red clouds. These items would connect them to Amegakure.
And Pain—or rather Nagato—temporarily didn't wish Konoha ninja to discover the relationship between Missing-nin Anonymous and Amegakure. He didn't want to give up Amegakure so quickly.
Even though when agreeing to cooperate with Uchiha Tatsuhata, he'd considered that opposing the five great ninja villages would cost him Amegakure, this nest he'd long grown accustomed to.
But he'd postpone that day's arrival as much as possible.
Among the five avatars, one bald figure with exceptionally massive, robust build appearing powerful was the Asura Path. His bald head opened petal by petal like a blooming flower. Inside contained no brain, only steel mechanical construction, with a pitch-black circular hole at the very center.
The next second—
Bright, brilliant light appeared in this circular hole. As the Asura Path lowered his head, a laser shot from the hole, precisely striking the forehead protectors and coats piled on the ground. The coats were instantly burned away completely. The iron forehead protectors were likewise melted and twisted beyond recognition, showing absolutely no traces.
Uchiha Tatsuhata quietly watched all this without offering any opinions.
"We can depart!"
Pain spoke.
"Good."
As Uchiha Tatsuhata responded—
All the replicas began moving toward the mountain belly's exit. The large stone at the entrance automatically shifted aside as Pain formed seals. After Uchiha Tatsuhata's controlled replicas and Nagato's five avatars exited the mountain belly, the large stone returned to its original position. A strict barrier firmly concealed everything within the mountain belly from outsiders' prying eyes.
****
50+advance chapters at patreon.com/Eatinpieces