"Inner Four Symbols Seal!"
As Uchiha Retsu's voice rang out, a torrent of black liquid burst from his body.
The dark substance rapidly intertwined in the air, forming a complex Four Symbols sealing pattern. A translucent black spherical barrier appeared, expanding outward at astonishing speed.
In the blink of an eye, it engulfed the surrounding lake water, Kaguya's gray mist-like form, and Naraku—along with the monstrous body made of countless demons that was frantically trying to escape.
Kaguya was the closest. The moment the sealing formation took shape, she was trapped inside the Inner Four Symbols Seal.
Naraku, however, was extremely decisive. The instant he saw the barrier form, he immediately abandoned the portion of his body within the seal and fled with only his upper half.
"What are you trying to do?!"
Seeing the black symbols expand into a spherical barrier, Kaguya felt a surge of dread. She hastened the process of withdrawing from Retsu's body.
She understood now—both of these men were more cunning than the other. If she didn't escape immediately, she would truly be finished.
"It's useless. You won't get away."
Retsu watched her struggle in panic, a mocking smile curling on his lips.
"You seem so fond of my body. Why not stay inside it… sealed forever?"
"You lunatic!"
Kaguya cursed as she yanked the final strands of mist from his body. Her form condensed into a gray shadow and shot toward the barrier's edge.
Retsu merely watched calmly. Once the Inner Four Symbols Seal had begun, she had no chance of escaping its range.
On the lakeshore, Kikyo tightened her grip on her bow as she watched the inky sphere suddenly expand over the lake.
"Retsu, what happened? Do you need help?" she asked the shadow clone beside her.
"It's nothing. Just a sealing technique," the clone replied calmly, watching the lake.
"Kaguya devoured the celestial maiden and gained immortality. She's extremely difficult to kill, so I'm sealing her instead.
Naraku happens to be nearby as well. If he's unlucky and fails to escape… then he'll just have to be sealed along with her."
"Just a sealing technique… I see."
Seeing how composed he looked, Kikyo relaxed slightly and continued watching the events unfold on the lake.
Retsu hadn't lied.
When he first obtained the scroll for the Inner Four Symbols Seal, he discovered that it wasn't nearly as dangerous as many people assumed.
It was essentially the reverse application of the Four Symbols Seal.
The normal Four Symbols Seal expanded outward to seal a target.
The Inner Four Symbols Seal did the opposite. After the seal fully expanded, it contracted inward, sealing everything within its range into the caster's body.
Aside from consuming a massive amount of chakra, the technique did not require the caster's life as payment.
Danzo had died after sealing a bridge simply because he was already mortally wounded and had exhausted all his chakra.
The misconception that using the technique meant certain death came from how it was usually employed.
Most users set it to trigger upon their own death, dragging enemies down with them in a final act of mutual destruction.
In other words, the user's death triggered the seal—not the other way around.
Interestingly, the seal functioned similarly to the seal used on Jinchūriki.
Once the caster died, the seal would collapse, making it impossible to release whatever had been sealed inside afterward.
Because of that, it was sometimes used as a final method to destroy confidential information before death.
The Inner Four Symbols Seal currently on Retsu had been set up long ago, before the Fourth Shinobi War.
At the time, he had already prepared a backup plan for resurrection. If he died in battle, he intended to drag at least one enemy down with him.
Unfortunately, the technique turned out to be disappointingly impractical.
From activation to completion, the sealing process took far too long.
Unlike Danzo, who managed to seal an entire bridge, Retsu hadn't been so lucky.
When he triggered the technique before dying, it only sealed a patch of rubble on the battlefield—he didn't even manage to take a single enemy with him.
But after he revived, he discovered the seal was still present within his body.
So now he was finally putting that "useless" technique to work—sealing Kaguya, the immortal being who couldn't be killed.
At that moment, Kaguya's form had already reached the edge of the barrier.
Seeing the thin black wall only inches away, she burst into manic laughter.
"Uchiha Retsu! I escaped! When I find a new body, I'll make sure to kill you!"
With that, she charged forward.
The next moment—
Thud!
Her mist-like body slammed violently into the barrier.
The seemingly fragile black wall was utterly immovable, like an indestructible shield.
"Let me out!"
Kaguya rammed the barrier again and again, but it was completely futile.
Meanwhile, Naraku had barely escaped the seal's range by sacrificing his lower body.
Now reduced to his upper half, he fled desperately.
Hearing Kaguya's furious screams, he glanced back briefly—but didn't dare slow down.
He was certain Retsu wouldn't let him escape so easily.
Sure enough, the black barrier behind him suddenly expanded again—at terrifying speed.
Previously its growth had been like a gentle breeze.
Now it surged like a tidal wave, swallowing everything within dozens of meters.
Crash—!
The lake water churned violently as the black sphere expanded, roaring like a storm.
Seeing the dark wall rapidly approaching, Naraku's pupils shrank.
At this speed, he had no chance of outrunning it.
"Damn it!"
Gritting his teeth, his remaining body suddenly swelled.
The next instant—
BOOM!
His body exploded violently.
Only his head remained, propelled by the blast like a streak of light as it shot away into the distance.
The rest of his shattered limbs were instantly devoured by the expanding barrier.
"Naraku! You disgusting half-demon!"
Kaguya screamed in rage.
The moment Naraku's body exploded, she made one last desperate dash for the barrier.
But as she reached the edge, she was splattered with Naraku's exploding demon flesh and blasted backward by the shockwave—right back to the center of the seal.
Despair filled her eyes.
At that moment, the black barrier suddenly contracted.
Unlike its slow expansion earlier, it collapsed inward almost instantly.
In the blink of an eye, the entire seal shrank into Retsu's body.
Kaguya only had time to scream in despair before being dragged into the Inner Four Symbols Seal—along with Naraku's scattered limbs and the surrounding lake water.
Everything was sealed inside Retsu.
A complex black sealing mark appeared on his chest…
Then slowly faded beneath his skin.
Splash—!
The lake water rushed back to fill the empty space left by the seal, sending waves crashing outward.
Standing atop the surface, Uchiha Retsu swayed slightly as the water surged beneath his feet.
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