Konoha, Year 47.
The new year didn't bring the peace everyone had hoped for. No happy endings, no quiet lives. The fighting across the nations only burned hotter. Sunagakure was getting hammered from inside by Cloud forces, and now Mist was moving in to pick at the scraps.
Konoha hadn't gone for the kill shot against the desert village, so Sunagakure was still standing. Barely. They still kept over a thousand troops parked on the border facing the Land of Fire, refusing to let go of their old ambitions.
Up north, Rock and Cloud were tearing into each other like old enemies finally given permission to finish what they started. Both sides had already thrown their jinchuriki into the meat grinder. Four-Tails and Two-Tails had traded Tailed Beast Bombs more than once.
Konoha, by comparison, was almost calm. The only real fighting was Danzo's forces grinding against Rock on the western front. Everywhere else had gone quiet. With steady supplies flowing in, Danzo had actually pushed the line forward into Grass Country territory near the Land of Earth.
Overall, Konoha's position was better than anyone had expected going into the year. Most of that came from the surprise victory against Sunagakure.
Right now, the man who had made that victory possible was hunched over his desk, trying to write a New Year's letter to his teacher.
Taiichi wrote to Tsunade all the time, but this kind of formal greeting? First time. He kept biting the end of his pen, scratching his ear, and still couldn't fill a single page.
Eventually he gave up and pulled every shadow clone off their other tasks. They worked together until the letter was done.
Once he sent it off with Katsuyu, along with one of his special Flying Thunder God kunai, Taiichi slumped back in his chair like he had just gone another round with Shukaku.
He still wasn't finished. A pile of gifts sat in the corner. He had to deliver them in person. These were seniors and people who had helped him. Shadow clones wouldn't cut it.
For the next two days he moved between houses, smiling, talking, handing out gifts. By the second evening he was holding the last one.
This visit was the one he had saved for last. It was also the one where he actually needed something.
He knocked three times. Heavy footsteps answered.
The door opened on bright red hair and half-lidded eyes. Kushina looked like she had just rolled out of bed.
Taiichi checked the sky. It had only just gotten dark. Was she already turning in for the night, or had she slept straight through the afternoon?
"Oh. Taiichi." She didn't sound thrilled. "Didn't expect company."
He gave an awkward smile. Kushina's situation was complicated. As a jinchuriki in wartime she lived under constant ANBU watch. Taiichi was one of the few people allowed to walk straight up to her door.
He stepped inside and set the gift down. "New year. Figured I should come check on you, Kushina-nee."
"At least someone remembers how to visit. Unlike a certain blond idiot who has Flying Thunder God and still can't be bothered to show up once in months."
Taiichi winced. Minato was catching strays again.
"Minato-senpai's been buried in missions. War doesn't leave much room for mistakes. You know how it is."
Kushina gave him a flat look. "Don't bullshit me. The southern front went quiet weeks ago. There aren't that many missions left worth his time."
Taiichi's toes curled inside his sandals. Smart women were impossible to lie to. Minato was on his own when he finally came home.
"Kushina-nee, I came to see you. And I need a favor."
That got her attention. She had been stuck inside for too long. Any excuse to do something was welcome.
"What do you need? If I can do it, I will."
Taiichi rubbed the back of his neck. "I want to feel the Adamantine Sealing Chains. I need to experience how they actually seal something."
Kushina stared at him like he had grown a second head. "You want me to seal you?"
"I'm trying to develop a new sealing technique that can handle tailed beasts. I need a real reference."
She reached over and pressed her palm to his forehead. "No fever. So what the hell is wrong with you?"
Taiichi laughed and pushed her hand away. "I'm serious. I need to understand how the chains work if I'm going to build something similar."
Kushina studied him for a long moment, then sighed. "Fine. You can feel them. But first I'm testing your sealing level. If you're not ready for this, I'm not wasting time watching you chase something you can't reach."
She disappeared into her bedroom and came back with a large crystal ball.
"This used to belong to the Uzumaki clan. We use it to test sealing skill. You keep adding nodes with the One Finger Seal. Whoever builds the biggest, most stable array wins."
"I can hit eighty-one nodes. Minato manages seventy-two. Watch."
She placed her finger on the crystal. Each touch added a glowing node inside. She adjusted positions carefully, building layer by layer. After the forty-ninth node her movements slowed. By the sixty-fourth she was practically pressed against the ball. It took her a full hour to reach eighty-one.
When she finished, a complex spherical array floated inside the crystal like a neural web.
"Got it? Your turn."
Taiichi rolled his shoulders. "I think I understand."
He pulled the ball closer. His finger lit with chakra. The first node appeared. Then the second, linking cleanly to the first. His pace stayed steady. Even after sixty-four nodes he never lost the thread. When he passed eighty-one, Kushina's eyes widened.
He kept going.
At a hundred nodes she finally snatched the crystal away and wiped it clean.
"Enough. You're killing what little confidence I had left."
She carried the ball back to her room, muttering the whole way.
Taiichi waited on the couch, trying not to look too pleased with himself. He had made a couple early mistakes. If he had started cleaner he probably could have pushed to a hundred and forty-four. Still, a hundred was nothing to be ashamed of.
Kushina returned a few minutes later, calmer. She jerked her head toward the back door and walked outside.
The courtyard lights were already on. They stood ten meters apart.
Kushina's expression turned serious.
"The Adamantine Sealing Chains are a kekkei genkai. Even my clan never figured out exactly how they work. You only awaken them by chance, and the stronger your sealing is, the better your odds. If you don't have a real lead, don't obsess over this. There are other ways to deal with tailed beasts."
Taiichi met her eyes. "I know. I'm not doing this blind."
She studied him another second, then nodded.
"Alright. Then feel it for yourself."
Five golden chains exploded upward behind her, ringing through the night. They twisted once in the air and shot straight at him, chakra pulsing with raw sealing power.