Five golden chains tore through the night sky straight at Taiichi. He didn't move. He just stood there and let them wrap around him.
Four chains locked onto his arms and legs. The fifth coiled tight around his chest and stomach. The moment they touched his skin, a heavy sealing force flooded into his body. His chakra flow slammed to a halt.
The tighter the chains pulled, the stronger the suppression became. Soon Taiichi had to pour every ounce of focus into moving even a sliver of chakra.
He could feel the raw sealing power pulsing through the links. It was strong, but not strong enough. Not yet.
"Kushina-nee, you're still holding back," he called out. "I can break these right now if I really try. Go all out. I need to feel the real thing."
Kushina stared at the idiot completely wrapped up with only his head sticking out. She sighed. Since she had already agreed to help, there was no point in half-measures.
"Just remember, the chains are about to sink into your body. Brace yourself."
The ends of the five chains sharpened into points and drove straight into his limbs and chest. They weren't tearing flesh. They slid into his chakra pathways like ghosts, cutting off his flow even harder.
The pain hit like lightning. Taiichi's scream ripped out before he could stop it. It hurt way more than he expected.
"You okay?" Kushina asked, worried.
"I'm— I'm fine. Just caught me off guard."
He was lying through his teeth. It hurt like hell. But the direct contact between the chains and his pathways gave him a much clearer picture of how the sealing actually worked.
Once he adjusted to the pain, he spoke again. "Nee-san, I'm going to try breaking free. Get ready."
Kushina rolled her eyes. He was tied up like a damn present and still talking big. "Do whatever you want. I'll keep control of it."
Taiichi gathered every drop of chakra in his body—nearly seventy thousand points—and exploded it outward. A shockwave blasted around him. The chains groaned and stretched tight. The parts buried inside him started getting forced back out.
Kushina's eyes went wide. This kid was a monster. If she didn't stop holding back, he might actually tear free.
She poured more chakra into the chains. They snapped back tight and slammed him down hard.
For the next half hour they stayed locked in that strange balance. Taiichi pushed while Kushina held. Inside his body, where the chains touched his pathways, he studied the sealing mechanism with everything he had. His Lv12 sealing knowledge worked overtime, breaking it down, rebuilding it, testing ideas.
Eventually his chakra ran dry. Taiichi collapsed to the ground, completely spent.
Kushina slowly pulled the chains back. They slid out of his body and faded into nothing. She wiped sweat from her forehead. She hadn't expected him to last that long or push that hard. His resistance had been maybe a tenth of the Nine-Tails' strength. That was already insane.
"So?" she asked, walking over. "How was it?"
Taiichi's voice came out muffled against the ground. "Good. Real good. Just… give me a minute."
Kushina smirked. Let the cocky little shit suffer for a bit.
She rolled him onto his back. "That's just the aftereffect of the sealing. You'll be fine soon."
Taiichi nodded weakly. His body felt like wet paper, but his mind was racing. The Adamantine Sealing Chains were the real deal. With enough chakra and time to set up, they could probably lock down almost anything.
The problem was catching the target in the first place. Tailed beasts were huge and obvious. Shinobi were small and fast. That was the real challenge.
Still, the pain had been worth it. He had learned a lot.
As soon as he could move, Taiichi pushed himself up and said a quick goodbye. Ideas were exploding in his head. He needed to get them down on paper right now.
He flashed away with Flying Thunder God. Kushina watched him vanish and shook her head. Maybe that was why he was so strong at his age. He never wasted a single chance to get better.
She glanced at the dark sky and sighed. "Alright. Starting tomorrow, I'm getting serious too."
Right after she said it, she turned and headed straight back to bed. It was late as hell.
Taiichi reappeared in his study and immediately sat at the desk. He grabbed paper and started writing everything down before it slipped away.
Ideas about chakra materialization.
Ways to replicate the sealing effect.
Breaking down the Adamantine Sealing Chains into runes.
Possible improvements for the future.
He filled four full scrolls in half an hour before he finally stopped.
That was when he noticed the panel.
[Through dedicated effort, you have gained new insight into sealing techniques. Sealing Technique · Unnamed Lv0 (1/100)]
Taiichi almost laughed out loud. Two months of reading in the Barrier Team archives, weeks of shadow clone research, and one brutal session with the real chains had finally created the skill.
Now that he had the framework, it wouldn't take long to finish the actual technique.
The next morning Taiichi woke up on schedule despite staying up late. After his usual training, he left shadow clones behind and headed to the Barrier Team.
He was in an excellent mood. Everyone who saw him could tell.
"Taiichi, what's got you smiling so much today?" Yamanaka Seiji asked the second he walked in.
"Is it that obvious?" Taiichi grinned and rubbed his face, trying to tone it down and failing completely.
"Stop smiling like that. You're making the rest of us depressed. Go do your job."
"Got it!"
Taiichi kept smiling all day while he checked on the different teams. The good mood never left his face.
Of course, good things never last.
When he got home that night and dispelled his clones, the memories hit him like a bucket of cold water. The new Unnamed Sealing Technique skill had gained zero experience.
Either he was researching in the wrong direction, or the progress was painfully slow.
His smile died instantly. At this rate it could take a year or more to finish the technique. Other people might think that was fast, but Taiichi knew time was running out. He didn't want to wait that long.
He spread out the scrolls he had written the night before and reread everything. There was really only one solution left.
He needed more sessions with Kushina. He had to feel the chains again, deeper this time, if he wanted to speed things up.
The thought of regularly getting stabbed by chains as thick as his arm made his face twist. Maybe he shouldn't have smiled so much yesterday. He might have used up his entire year's worth of good mood in one day.
Still, he needed her help. So he went back and made a deal.
Daily chats.
Cooking for her every two days.
Sparring with her every three days.
All of it would continue until he either left on a mission or no longer needed her help.
The arrangement worked. Over the next few days the new technique gained one experience point every single day. Slow, but steady. It gave him hope.
The pain from the chains started feeling almost worth it.
While Taiichi was stuck in that strange mix of pain and progress, Tsunade's reply finally arrived. The Flying Thunder God kunai hadn't been sent back. That meant she was open to him visiting.
He opened the letter with a grin.
It was mostly complaints. She had lost another million ryō gambling in the first few days of the new year. No one else had sent her any greetings. The war was even affecting neutral countries now, making everything unstable.
At the end she warned him not to use the kunai to spy on her or show up unannounced. She wanted to enjoy her peaceful days a little longer.
Taiichi ignored the warning completely. Women said one thing and meant another. She had kept the kunai, after all.
He folded the letter, locked onto the distant signal, and vanished with Flying Thunder God.
He reappeared in the middle of a loud, crowded casino. People were shouting and cheering at every table. Taiichi blinked, surprised he had landed right in the middle of the action.
Most people were too focused on the games to notice him. The few who did just assumed it was some ninja trick.
He scanned the room and quickly found the loudest, most crowded table. No need to guess. Tsunade was definitely there.
He pushed through the crowd without effort and headed straight for it.
Sure enough, Tsunade stood at the side of the table with one foot on a stool, one hand on the surface, sleeves rolled up, yelling at the dealer.
"Open it already! I don't believe it's big again!"
Taiichi almost covered his face. He had not expected Tsunade to be this loud and wild at a casino.
He slipped up behind her and glanced at the small pile of chips in front of her. She had clearly been playing for a while. She was almost out.
The dealer called "No more bets," then flipped the cup.
"Four, five, six. Fifteen. Big!"
The whole table erupted in cheers. Taiichi even heard someone mutter "Big fat sheep" under their breath.
Looked like Tsunade's reputation had already spread. Everyone else at the table was betting against her.