Land of Frost, near the border with the Land of Lightning
Sean sat cross-legged inside one of the caves, illuminated by the light of a small fire he had lit to keep warm. Even as a ninja, he could feel the cold; the weather in this small country was extremely freezing.
He tossed a soldier pill into his mouth and chewed it, ignoring the bitter taste.
He threw his head back and stared at the pointed ceiling of the cave.
"I really miss a proper meal..."
All he had eaten these past few days were soldier pills. He had had the chance to eat a meal in the Land of Whirlpools, but he had been cautious of them, so he did not eat.
He pulled out the scroll containing the tailed beast from his coat and played with it in his hand, not caring that this simple-looking scroll contained something dangerous equivalent to a nuclear bomb, the Seven-Tails, which just half a day ago belonged to the Hidden Waterfall Village.
Speaking of that, Sean was truly exhausted from the continuous running.
Because of the distraction caused by the masked ninja who was under the influence of his genjutsu, Sean had easily slipped out of the village, then ran non-stop at full speed.
He passed through the Land of Iron, the Land of Sound, and the Land of Hot Water, reaching the Land of Frost, specifically near the border with the Land of Lightning.
All of that in just 14 hours!
You can imagine the amount of strain he put on his body to achieve this. Ninja are strong because of chakra, but in the end, they are just humans with mortal bodies!
He put the scroll aside and took out another scroll that described sealing techniques. He focused on the Four Symbols Seal technique and began studying it, trying to make sure he did not miss any details.
He frowned and rubbed his temple tiredly.
"Honestly, I don't have enough confidence to perform this technique successfully. The chance of failure is high..."
"But I have no other choice. I don't have the time or energy to return to the Land of Whirlpools and ask Ashina for help..."
"I'll have to take this risk, but first I need to talk to my future partner..."
He set the sealing techniques scroll aside and picked up the scroll containing the Seven-Tails.
He stood up, dusted off his clothes, then opened the scroll and placed it on the ground.
He clasped his hands together and performed the hand seals to release the sealing technique.
He placed his five fingers on the black circle, his fingers glowing with a blue aura, a result of Sean channeling chakra.
"Release!" He turned his hand clockwise.
Boom!!
Sean quickly stepped back and stared at the large cloud of white smoke that appeared and filled the cave before dispersing, revealing the Seven-Tails.
The Seven-Tails did not show any intention to attack. It stared at the human youth in front of it and asked seriously:
"Who are you!? And how do you know my name!?"
It clearly remembered the name Sean had called it before sealing it.
Sean did not answer the Seven-Tails' question.
"First..."
He bowed at a ninety-degree angle and said sincerely
"I am truly sorry for treating you that way, Chomei. I had no other choice..."
Chomei was surprised by the apology of the human male. He had never faced a situation like this before. No human had ever bothered to apologize to him.
In fact, humans never treated him as an intelligent life form. All he ever saw in their eyes was fear, anger, and greed.
Now one of those humans was apologizing to him, and Chomei did not know how to respond.
"Umm... it's fine, just don't do that again!"
Sean laughed, shaking his head. Despite the threatening meaning of his words, Chomei's tone carried no trace of threat, which made it amusing to Sean.
"He really is the most reasonable tailed beast among all the others..." Sean thought as he slowly approached Chomei, showing that he was not afraid of him.
"I am Sean Uchiha..." Sean introduced himself.
"Uchiha?!" Chomei repeated, remembering those dark red eyes that had put him under an illusion.
"So, Sean Uchiha, what do you want from me!?" Chomei asked, getting straight to the point.
"Your power..." Sean said calmly, as if asking for something simple.
"I want to become your Jinchuriki."
"Jinchuriki!? What is that!? And what do you mean by my power!?" Chomei asked with curiosity and confusion.
Sean raised his eyebrows in surprise, unsure whether the Seven-Tails was pretending to be foolish or genuinely did not know what a Jinchuriki was.
But thinking about it carefully, it seemed that the Seven-Tails had never been sealed inside someone before!
"Chomei, do you really not know what a Jinchuriki is?" Sean asked.
Chomei shook his head.
"This term sounds familiar, but no, I don't know what it means!!"
"You still haven't told me how you know my real name! I don't remember ever telling that to any human!"
"Why are you tailed beasts so obsessed with your names!?" Sean grumbled.
"You'll know later. Now let me tell you what a Jinchuriki means..."
"Let me give you an example. Kurama is currently sealed inside a woman named Mito Uzumaki. This Mito is now considered the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails, in other words..."
"My goal is to seal you inside me, just like Kurama!"