Chapter 32: The Geas
Inside the barrier, everything was violently twisted and distorted. The annex building was entirely destroyed, replaced by a chaotic void where massive, pitch-black spatial fissures tore through the air around Tenka, who floated curled up into a tight ball at the very center of the anomaly.
Deep, jagged cracks were spreading across her skin like shattered porcelain, blood running freely from the spatial injuries. Her clothes were heavily torn and soaked in crimson.
She groaned in agony. She was desperately trying to keep the power from tearing her apart, forcefully refusing to let it fully unleash. And her mortal body was paying the price for that restraint, literally destroying itself from the inside out.
Tenka was terrified. She knew exactly how close she had come to seriously injuring—or maybe even killing—her friends. If—if it hadn't been for Hiyuki's lightning-fast reflexes, she might have hurt everyone. So, she was pouring every ounce of her willpower into containing this volatile force.
Suddenly, she felt two small, warm hands gently cup her cheeks. A deeply comforting, familiar presence washed over her, and her battered, bleeding body instantly began to heal.
She slowly fluttered her blue eyes open, immediately meeting a pair of glowing, ruby-red eyes that were gazing down at her with profound sorrow. It was as if he were in physical pain just seeing her in this state.
Tenka knew that face. She knew that calming aura. But she didn't know those ancient red eyes—eyes that felt like they could see straight through the fabric of the universe.
Haruto gently caressed Tenka's blood-soaked cheeks, his restorative chakra knitting her flesh back together.
"Hey, chubby. You don't look so good," Haru said with a soft, mirthful whisper, trying to ease her panic.
Tenka's blue eyes glistened with unshed tears.
"I-I am not fat…"
"Heh... I never said that, silly." Despite the apocalyptic situation surrounding them, Haruto chuckled softly at her weak protest, and Tenka unconsciously relaxed slightly beneath his warm palms.
Haruto then looked deeply into her eyes, his voice turning incredibly gentle. "Let it go, Tenka. Don't hold it in."
A sharp flash of terror crossed her eyes.
"No... no, no... I can't... I almost hurt everyone! If—if not for Hiyuki, I w-would have—"
Her body violently tensed again in sheer panic. Fresh, bloody wounds ripped open across her skin, and the space directly surrounding Haruto began to viciously twist and collapse inward.
Tenka's eyes widened in horror when she felt the spatial anomaly trying to crush him. But before she could even try to intervene—
Schh-ring!
A flawless, crystalline chime echoed through the chaos. The twisting space threatening Haruto was cleanly sliced in two by an invisible blade, completely destroying the anomaly before it could touch him.
Tenka's mouth hung open in shock as she watched invisible, razor-sharp arcs effortlessly cut open the localized space around them.
Then, she heard his calm, steady voice again.
"Hey, let it go. I will handle it." He gently but firmly grabbed her trembling hands. "This is your power, Tenka... It wants an outlet. If you keep suppressing it... it will completely destroy you from the inside."
"B-But what if I mess up again and hurt you? This time for real!" Tears finally spilled down her cheeks. "Haru, you don't understand... This power is trying to destroy everything! I caused this... everything is my fault..."
"No! It's not. It is my fault, Tenka," he stated with absolute, unwavering seriousness. "My naive curiosity led to this."
"Wh—what are you talking about? And what happened to you, Haru?" she finally asked, her voice trembling as she looked at his glowing eyes and floating hair. "Why are you like this?"
Haruto looked at her for a long second, debating whether or not to tell her the truth. Finally, he let out a heavy sigh.
"Let me tell you a secret, Tenka. And I am only telling you this…" Haruto gently caressed her trembling hands. "You know I remember everything from the moment of my birth to this very day... I remember it all."
"When I was born, the very first thing I felt was... awe. Reverence. But then, as my senses expanded outward, I felt the rest of the world. Greed, envy, wrath, lust, pride, pain, misery… It was maddening. Suffocating. At the time, I didn't even know what I was feeling… It was like I was drowning in a grimy, pitch-black lake filled with utter filth. But then… I felt the warm embrace of my mother."
His ruby eyes softened. "And everything just stopped. All that noise faded away, and I felt nothing but boundless love and safety. It was my safest haven. I knew she would protect me from everything. I still remember the first time I saw her face. She had this serene, beautiful smile, despite looking completely exhausted. She held me close and looked down at me… like I was her entire world."
Haruto paused, his grip tightening around Tenka's hands. "Do you know what I saw next? A shinobi's blade pierced straight through her chest, stopping mere inches away from my face. But her smile didn't even waver, not even as her chakra chains violently shredded her attackers into pieces. I felt her slipping away. I felt her body turning cold, her breath fading. And I watched it all happen."
"I remember it all, Tenka. Every single detail. The confusion, the unease, and the sheer, paralyzing fear. So... I did something. I called upon my deepest powers… but it wasn't enough. My infant body couldn't physically handle that level of power. So, I placed a binding condition on myself. I sealed away eighty percent of my power in exchange for using it. Then, I created a vessel and called with all my might and she answered."
Haru looked fondly over his shoulder at Fleurdelys. "And I gave my order: Protect and kill. What you are seeing right now… these are my sealed powers. They were not supposed to unseal this early. But thanks to all of you constantly feeding me your chakra over the years, today I unconsciously tapped into this power even in my normal state. And that is what caused this disaster today… I accidentally gave you my essence. The very source that empowers me."
"So… y-you split yourself?" Tenka asked, her voice thick with sadness. After listening to him, she didn't know what to do or say. "That's… that's horrible, Haru."
"Split? No, I wouldn't call it that. It's more like suppress, when I locked away my power that day, most of my cognitive abilities were also locked away right alongside it. I was left processing the world with only twenty percent of my true intelligence—putting me right on the level of a normal toddler. And honestly? It was a hidden blessing." He smiled warmly. "Thanks to that seal, I actually get to experience a normal childhood. Well, as normal as it can get for someone like me. Besides, I will become whole again when my physical body matures enough to handle it… or when I truly need it most."
Haruto then reached up, gently wiping a tear from her cheek. His voice dropped to a soft, reassuring whisper.
"Now, I am going to do the same thing for you. I will lock away eighty percent of your power. It will slowly unseal itself naturally over time, as your body grows strong enough to handle the strain. Now, Tenka… trust me. Let it flow."
Tenka slowly nodded. Closing her eyes, she finally relaxed her grip on her chakra. She began to float backward into the air.
Then, she completely let go.
Massive, pitch-black ripples of spatial energy violently exploded outward from her body. But this time, the chaotic force didn't cause Tenka a single shred of harm.
Instead, the surrounding environment took the brunt of the apocalyptic blast. The remaining rubble of the annex was instantaneously disintegrated. Not even a speck of dust survived the spatial erasure in that already utterly destroyed space.
Standing steadfast in front of Haruto, Fleurdelys raised her shimmering sword. With absolute precision, the spirit effortlessly cleaved the incoming shockwaves in two, nullifying the destructive blast before it could even touch him.
Haruto gave his guardian a grateful nod. He knew he would need every last drop of his remaining, severely drained power to complete the sealing process, so the less chakra he spent defending himself, the better.
Suddenly, loud cracks began to echo above them. The outer fūinjutsu barrier Medori had erected was starting to fracture under Tenka's sheer output.
Haruto sighed. Releasing his own aura, he erected a secondary, green dome of pure energy inside Medori's barrier, perfectly containing Tenka's spatial outburst and allowing the volatile storm to freely run amok until it exhausted itself.
After several intense minutes, the black ripples faded. Tenka stopped floating and began to slowly descend.
Haruto stepped forward, easily catching her in his arms. She looked incredibly pale and thoroughly exhausted. Her eyelids drooped heavily, physically struggling to stay awake now that the adrenaline and spatial pressure were gone.
"You can rest now… I am right here with you," he whispered gently.
".....Promise?" she mumbled, her words slurring together. "You will be… here… with me…. always?"
Weakly, she extended her trembling pinky finger.
Haruto chuckled, a genuine boyish sound that contrasted sharply with his mature eyes. He firmly intertwined his pinky with hers.
"I promise. I will always be right here with you."
"Mm… if you break it…. you have to…. swallow a thousand… need—"
She fell completely limp, her eyes sliding shut as she drifted off to unconsciousnes before she could even finish the sentence.
Haruto smiled down at her fondly. He gently laid her down on the completely smooth, erased ground, thankful that the chaotic storm had finally subsided.
Standing back up, he closed his eyes and took a deep, steadying breath.
"Law."
He uttered the single, absolute command.
The very fabric of the world seemed to shudder in submission. Instantly, a blinding, ethereal symbol manifested and ignited in the air directly behind his back. It was an ancient, complex crest that carried a suffocating pressure—a symbol that had only appeared one other time in the past: on the night of the invasion.
"...Bind… Suppress… Seal…"
Haruto murmured each word with agonizing difficulty. Behind him, the glowing symbol physically groaned, as if actively warning him not to do this. Warning him not to break his vow.
Haruto ignored the suffocating pressure and pushed forward.
A few moments later, an excruciating pain coursed through his entire body. He didn't have enough raw energy left to complete the sequence.
He looked up at Fleurdelys. Her jaw was tightly clenched as she watched her lord suffer. He was breaking his sacred vow, and the consequences of doing so while his body was already this severely drained would be catastrophic.
When she saw his ruby eyes look at her, her grip tightened around the hilt of her translucent sword. She knew exactly what he was silently asking of her.
She gracefully knelt in front of him, meeting his gaze.
"I… will always be… by your side… my… Lord," she rasped, her voice trembling but filled with unwavering conviction. 'Even if you walk into the deepest hell.'
Haruto's eyes widened slightly in shock before softening with deep affection. These were her very first words. It was the first time she had ever spoken.
Suddenly, the crystalline horn on Fleurdelys's forehead began to glow. Blinding lines of raw energy coursed through her ethereal body, all converging directly toward the sharp tip of her horn.
Haruto gently pressed his index finger against the tip. His whole body shuddered. The sudden influx of pure, concentrated power felt like the first heavy rain in the driest desert.
The glowing energy traveled through his finger, flooding his exhausted coils before converging directly into the seal hovering behind his back.
Completely drained of her essence, Fleurdelys's knees buckled, and she collapsed backward.
As she fell, her tall, elegant form began dispersing into floating motes of light, reverting back into Cartethyia. The smaller spirit looked just as severely exhausted.
"Thank you too, Cartethyia," Haruto whispered with a small, grateful smile.
Cartethyia gave him a weak, shaky thumbs-up before completely dissolving into motes of light, safely retreating back inside him.
Haruto let out a heavy sigh. He glanced over his shoulder, sensing the group outside the fractured barrier.
"It seems today, I am causing everyone nothing but pain."
Turning his attention back to the unconscious Tenka, he raised his hands and officially began the sealing ritual.
Meanwhile, outside the dome, mayhem was unfolding.
The exact second Haruto had uttered the word "Law," the entire village's defensive fūinjutsu array had flared to life. The ambient chakra in the air violently vibrated, and every single sensor in Uzushio felt that terrifying, suffocating presence—the exact same divine pressure that had blanketed the island on the night of the invasion.
Miles away, deep in the forests outside the Uzushiogakure island, Sakuko suddenly gasped, tightly clutching her chest as she whipped her head in Uzushio's direction.
Her heart tightened painfully. Her instincts screamed that something was happening back home—something disastrous.
"Sakuko-sama, it's time," a masked shinobi interrupted, his voice low and professional.
Sakuko turned back around. Five red-haired, masked shinobi were looking directly at her, awaiting her command. Forcing herself to suppress the gnawing unease in her gut, she silently donned her own porcelain mask.
They were the finest operatives of Uzushio's newly established ANBU Black Ops squad, and she was their Commander.
This mission was a crucial mission that had to be completed.
"Let's begin the mission," she ordered coldly.
In the blink of an eye, the six elite shadows vanished entirely into the mist-filled forest, swallowed up by the dead of night.
Outside the barrier, the girls were groaning, clutching their heads in varying degrees of agony.
Kushina had it worst. Her violet eyes began to glow ominously, releasing a faint, ethereal light that left behind vibrant trails in the air whenever she moved.
She collapsed to her knees, clutching her head as a raw, agonizing scream ripped from her throat. Her unique dōjutsu—which previously could only perceive Haru's guardian spirit—was forcefully expanding, suddenly flooding her vision with a blinding, maddening kaleidoscope of colors.
Her head felt like it was physically splitting open as her brain desperately tried to process this new layer of reality. Blood began to continuously seep from her tear ducts, staining her cheeks crimson as her agonizing screams echoed across the courtyard.
Nearby, Hiyuki's Tacet Mark began to glow erratically, leaking a bright golden light. Hiyuki gritted her teeth, feeling as though hundreds of burning ants were crawling directly beneath her skin.
Desperate to stop the leak, she hovered her trembling hand over her thigh and flash-froze the mark beneath a thick layer of ice. But the golden energy still bled through the frost. A heavy, nauseating dizziness washed over her, and darkness slowly began to creep into the edges of her vision.
If a Hyūga had been present to observe them with the Byakugan, they would have seen that the girls' chakra networks were violently expanding. Entirely new, microscopic pathways were aggressively carving themselves through their flesh.
If their chakra networks had previously resembled small saplings with only a few main branches, they were now rapidly transforming into majestic, ancient trees, sprouting an uncountable number of intricate roots that spread throughout their entire bodies.
This was the true reason Medori and Saki were holding back from intervening. The girls were evolving. It was better that they endure this temporary, agonizing consequence now, rather than suffer the lethal, grueling consequences they would normally have to face to attain such immense strength.
Inside the barrier, an entirely different battle was taking place.
Haruto, now alone with the unconscious Tenka, began again.
"Bind… Suppress… Seal…"
With each heavy word he uttered, a glowing symbol manifested in the air above Tenka, slowly linking together to form a complex, floating circle.
"Slumber…"
The circular array locked into place. Now, for the final conditions.
"Exception… When she is in mortal danger… When she perceives herself to be in mortal danger… and when she needs this power the most… Unseal…"
Those were the fail-safes embedded within her contract. But with each sentence he spoke, Haruto felt a vital piece of his own life force slipping away. Through tightly gritted teeth, he forced out the final, most crucial step of her protection.
"Consequences… None…"
With that absolute decree, the circle flared with a blinding golden light before sinking directly into Tenka's chest. On her back, the crest of the seal branded itself into her skin—vastly different and safer than the Geas carved into Haruto's own soul.
Suddenly, thick, dark blood gushed from Haruto's nose.
He weakly wiped his face clean. Scooping Tenka up into a gentle princess carry, he turned and began walking toward the edge of the barrier.
His vision was blurring. The toll was finally crashing down upon him—the brutal, inescapable consequence of breaking his Geas. He felt his limbs rapidly going numb.
"Mother's gonna kill me," he murmured weakly, a dry chuckle escaping his bloody lips.
The pain was ruthlessly taking hold of his nervous system, but his steps did not falter. What he had cast on Tenka was a protective, low-level Law with zero consequences. But what he was suffering from was a Geas—a divine binding vow with penalties.
Then, suddenly, a glowing crescent moon symbol materialized on the palm of his hand. Instantly, a familiar, unfathomably potent chakra began flooding into his failing system.
Haruto smiled. That big sister still hadn't officially given him her real name. She called herself a "Moon Goddess," and honestly, he never pushed for it. He mostly just called her "Big Sis" or the "Rabbit Goddess" and sometimes "Aunty" just to tease her.
Usually, that big sister was incredibly stingy about sharing her chakra with him. But now? She was actively flooding his coils.
It was ultimately futile; raw chakra couldn't reverse the curse of his Geas, but her Sacred energy would at least stabilize his rapidly deteriorating condition.
The Geas then returned to his body.
High above the Uzushio sky, the moon shone with a brilliant, watchful luster.
Deep inside the planetary seal.
Endless green grasslands encompassed the ethereal realm, and a soft, gentle wind drifted lazily through the air.
A colossal Tree stood in the center of the land, its sturdy branches and lush green leaves swaying peacefully.
A short distance away sat a small, incredibly mundane two-story house. Inside its main room, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki sat elegantly on a chair, sipping a cup of tea. Scattered all around the fearsome progenitor of chakra were piles of different children's toys and small shinobi training gear.
She had been forced to completely transform a section of her desolate prison realm just for that brat, simply because he kept visiting her consciousness like it was his second home.
Kaguya suddenly gritted her teeth, her Byakugan flaring. If there was one thing she never lacked, it was chakra. She was a literal, bottomless ocean of power. But now, for the first time in millennia, she felt her inexhaustible reserves actively draining. It felt as though a black hole had violently ripped open at the bottom of her ocean.
Yet, not even for a fraction of a second did she consider cutting the connection.
"What is that brat up to now?" she gritted out, her long pristine white hair flaring out behind her.
She felt the specific seal she had left on him—a simple tracking mark meant to inform her if he was in mortal danger—screaming in alarm.
Today was the first time it had ever activated. She was pouring everything she could through the tether to keep his physical condition from deteriorating, but it felt entirely futile.
"What is It doing? Does It not want to save him? Is It finally bored of him now?" she snarled, her voice dripping with barely suppressed anger toward that bastard.
Despite her anger, she continued to aggressively pour her chakra into that bottomless pit. It would take years for her to recover this much chakra.
Back in Uzushio.
Haruto finally emerged from the collapsing barrier.
The very first thing to hit his ringing ears were Kushina's agonizing screams. He watched as she clutched her eyes, fresh blood pouring freely down her chin.
His own vision was severely fading, but his ruby eyes widened in shock when his blurry gaze landed on Hiyuki.
S-She was dying. Her frequencies were violently hemorrhaging from her Tacet Mark.
Nearly all of Haruto's body was entirely numb by this point, even with Kaguya's divine chakra desperately keeping his organs functioning. His mouth could barely move, his jaw heavy as lead.
But he still tried.
He weakly extended his trembling right hand toward Hiyuki's dying form, and with the very last breath in his lungs, he whispered the words.
"...Recall… Rewind… Strengthen…"
That was the final straw that broke the camel's back.
Dark blood violently gushed from his ears, his mouth, his nose, and his eyes.
A soul-searing pain—a suffering so profound it felt like his very existence was being shredded—ripped through his body. He couldn't even scream; his jaw muscles locked shut in a paralyzing spasm.
His vision went completely black, and he collapsed, instantly fainting upon the grass.
As his consciousness faded into the dark, the very last thing he felt was a warm, ethereal presence entering his failing body. A profound sense of peace washed over him, wrapping around his soul like a perfect utopia where no harm could ever reach him.
Just like his mother's embrace.