Chapter 39: Tailed Beasts and Sealing Techniques (Part Two)
Unlike Konoha's jinchuriki, Stone's two had refined their sealing techniques to the point where they commanded the majority of their tailed beasts' power.
Roshi, the Four-Tails jinchuriki, was in his prime. A disagreement with Tsuchikage Onoki over how things should be done had led him to move out of the village and settle in the valley beyond its walls.
Han, the Five-Tails jinchuriki, was a different story. He contributed actively to Iwagakure, fully approved of the village's direction after drawing out his tailed beast's power, and had spent the past while enthusiastically trying to talk Roshi around.
That evening, Han arrived at Roshi's valley for his usual visit. The man known as the Steam Ninja wore his red armor, and he was just about to complain about the Cloud duo whose reputation had been spreading everywhere lately when Roshi suddenly stood up.
"You got careless, Han. We have visitors."
"The outer guards are all gone. This isn't the time for small talk."
Roshi fastened the hollow mask over his jaw and moved to meet the intruders, his expression grave. Han took a careful read of the surroundings, narrowed his eyes, and snapped his own red mask back into place.
"Someone's underestimating us. Is it Cloud? What are those people scheming now?"
"..."
They exchanged a few words and moved out together without hesitation. As jinchuriki, they made no effort to conceal their chakra. A tail emerged behind each of them as they ran.
On the other side of the valley, Jiraiya's squad was moving fast when Namikaze Minato went suddenly serious.
"Two powerful chakra signatures are heading straight for us. They're moving very quickly."
The valley floor was flat with almost no cover. Jiraiya took a moment to think, then gave the order loudly.
"We go at them. Cover me!"
"Wild Lion's Mane Technique!"
The two squad members at the rear responded immediately. As the two sides closed on each other, Jiraiya's white hair erupted outward, the leading edge forming an enormous jaw that drove straight into the enemy.
Roshi was caught in the grip of the white hair but made no move to struggle. His chakra turned scorching, and a thread of flame surfaced from his body.
Thud.
Han burst forward in a cloud of white steam, crossed the distance to the squad in an instant, and kicked the heavyset white haired squad member clean off his feet. He was about to follow up when Namikaze Minato stepped in front of him with a kunai.
"Earth Style: Swamp of the Underworld!"
Jiraiya deployed a large-scale jutsu to reshape the terrain around them. Both sides pulled back at the same moment. Minato moved up behind his teacher and spoke quietly.
"This is bad. They've already drawn out the tailed beasts' power."
Looking at the chakra tails swaying behind the jinchuriki, Jiraiya's brow furrowed. One tail was obviously not their limit.
"Konoha ninja. Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin. So you've finally decided to make a move."
"Looks like Onoki has been putting serious pressure on Konoha if they're sending you out here."
Han crossed his arms and goaded them with easy confidence, looking as though the four people across from him were barely worth his attention. Roshi, beside him, wore a far more serious expression. He cut his partner's taunting short and spoke directly.
"Another war. I suppose I need to give you a lesson."
"Han, stop wasting time. Finish this now."
The words were barely out before the tailed beast chakra erupted from both of them. Jiraiya's squad watched with cold sweat on their foreheads as massive bestial shapes materialized, tails swinging behind them.
From inside the mouth of a great red ape, Roshi looked down at them with his arms folded.
"Stop wasting our time with this. The only one who can stand against us is the Nine-Tails jinchuriki."
From inside the jaws of a white horse with a dolphin's face, Han's eyes blazed.
"Die, Konoha scum!"
Dark energy condensed rapidly into two enormous spheres. The tailed beast chakra rolling off the two of them put cold sweat on every forehead in Jiraiya's squad.
"Tailed Beast Balls! They've already reached this level! Minato, we pull back now!"
At Jiraiya's signal, Minato immediately warned his two teammates. He surged his chakra and activated the Flying Thunder God Technique to meet the crushing wave of Tailed Beast Balls coming at them.
Boom!
A flash of white light was followed by an enormous detonation inside the valley. The shockwave tore outward in every direction. Every nearby lookout point was leveled in an instant. The Tailed Beast Balls had made their destructive power absolutely clear.
Four figures stumbled into view on the far side of the valley. The heavyset White haired squad member hit the ground and lay there murmuring.
"Are we dead?"
"Open your eyes. Minato got us out with the Flying Thunder God."
His composed, long-haired teammate answered in a shaky voice, the strength thoroughly gone out of him. Jiraiya wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked at his student.
"That was close. Almost didn't make it. I never expected them to have developed their tailed beast power this far."
The moment Minato thought about the force that had just nearly erased them, his chest tightened. He started to worry about what would happen to Kushina if war broke out and she was forced onto the battlefield.
Whoosh.
Furukawa Osamu and the ANBU captain appeared in front of the four of them almost immediately. Jiraiya noticed the damage to their armor and blinked.
Before he could ask, Furukawa Osamu spoke first.
"With chakra that intense still in the area, we need to move as soon as possible. Minato-kun, do you need to replenish your chakra?"
Sensing the two jinchuriki closing in fast, Minato had no time to ask what had happened during the cleanup. He made the call without hesitation.
"Sensei, we have to go. Everyone hold on!"
With Minato's Flying Thunder God activating again, the whole group broke into a rapid retreat.
During the escape, Furukawa Osamu topped up Minato's chakra once, and combined with the secret medicine, the two jinchuriki quickly lost track of where the group had gone.
Roshi and Han stopped at the outer edge of the valley and stood in silence over their slaughtered companions. Han finally spoke.
"That's the jutsu mentioned in the intelligence reports. More troublesome than expected."
"Onoki was right. Konoha keeps producing talented ninja. They're the biggest threat."
Roshi said nothing. Showing the Tailed Beast Ball had been a warning, a message not to make any rash moves. He had no interest in being used as a tool in someone else's war.
* * *
Late October. By the time the group had crossed back into the Land of Fire and were nearing Konoha's outer perimeter, everyone had finally relaxed. Namikaze Minato, with the energy he always seemed to carry, started sharing thoughts on sealing techniques as they walked.
"Sealing and summoning have something in common. Both involve space."
"The principle behind sealing a tailed beast's chakra in a contained space and drawing from it as needed is that the technique can, if properly constructed, operate independently of the chakra pathway system."
"..."
Furukawa Osamu had taken off his mask by now. After the explanation he gave a nod, and seeing that Minato clearly still had more to say, he asked another question.
"Does controlling the space inside a seal require a large amount of spiritual energy from the jinchuriki? Or does the tailed beast manage that power on its own?"
Minato scratched the back of his head with an awkward look. Jiraiya laughed at his student's expression and stepped into the gap.
"That's a question Minato would have a hard time answering precisely, Osamu. He has real talent for sealing techniques, but he's not a jinchuriki himself."
"Summoning is more my area. Advanced sealing is genuinely difficult to master. You two should talk more in the future."
"..."
When the group finally reached the village gates, the tension broke completely. Minato's two teammates actually cheered out loud. Going out on missions with Jiraiya was genuinely dangerous.
Nobody asked about the Root member who hadn't come back. Jiraiya greeted the gate chunin with his usual grin, and Minato flashed his warm smile alongside him.
The ANBU captain had been quiet the entire way back. Now, at the moment of parting, he put a hand on Furukawa Osamu's shoulder.
"Osamu, your ability is even more impressive than anyone expected. Please give my regards to Tsunade-sama."
The mask hid his expression, but Furukawa Osamu understood clearly. Recruiting him for this mission had been a way of taking a position. Among the ANBU directly under the Hokage, there were those who intended to keep serving whoever sat in that seat.
"Thank you for looking after me, sir. I learned a great deal out there."
Furukawa Osamu answered with genuine modesty. Killing the Root operative together had made them people who had trusted each other with their lives, and the ANBU captain was clearly satisfied with that.
Ahead of them, Namikaze Minato had quietly noticed the shift that had happened during the mission, though he had no desire to think about it right now. After witnessing the Tailed Beast Ball, the worry filling his chest was for something else entirely.
"Kushina. So that's the power the creature inside you carries."
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