... halfway through the week and no powerstones? That's crazy. I was already considering dropping this Fic on my Patreon before uploading it here, but even here it got no motion....after 40 chapters. Seems like I'm going to have to drop it.
Chapter 42: A World of "Competing Terribles" (Part One)
Early December, Konoha Year 46. The Nine-Tails jinchuriki's loss of control had stirred up no small amount of controversy among the higher-ups, and the hawkish faction was raising its head again.
Although the ANBU sealed off the news immediately, Danzo's "assistance" ensured that rumors found their way into the jonin division anyway.
Whether it was a hunger for war, or simply the view that a jinchuriki had no rights to speak of, the hawkish faction once again raised the proposal to turn the jinchuriki into a controlled weapon, flying the banner of village security.
The major ninja clans said nothing, as they always did. In the end, Tsunade and Jiraiya between them put the matter to rest.
Two of the Three Sannin backing their teacher held the line. Kushina's monitoring was tightened again, and developing a sealing technique superior to the Four Symbols Seal became the village's top priority.
That morning at Konoha Hospital, Kushina came to visit Namikaze Minato under escort from an ANBU squad. The moment she reached him, she threw herself at him the way she always did.
"That hurts a little, Kushina!"
Minato pushed himself upright in the hospital bed, looked at the girl draped over him, and managed an embarrassed complaint.
"Where does it hurt? Tsunade-sama told me you can be discharged the day after tomorrow..."
Kushina let out a quiet sound, then started feeling around his torso looking for the injury. By the time she'd finished, both of them had gone a little pink, and the atmosphere in the room had quietly shifted.
"It seems I've arrived at entirely the wrong moment. Oh, wait, something is suddenly coming to me..."
"Using the two of you as inspiration, perhaps a bittersweet love story..."
Jiraiya appeared in the doorway, muttering to himself while rubbing his chin. The more he thought about it the more excited he got, clearly filling in details in his head that he found increasingly compelling, and the grin on his face turned steadily more improper.
"Jiraiya! Stop blocking the doorway!"
Tsunade shoved him aside from behind and walked into the room. She let out a sigh, looked at Minato, and spoke quietly.
"That was far too dangerous. If it hadn't been for your Four Symbols Seal, this loss of control could have caused a serious disaster."
"But this isn't entirely a bad thing either. Hiruzen-sensei wants the two of you to work on improving the sealing technique. Don't let everyone down."
"As for the monitoring situation, I'm afraid we'll have to ask for your help, Minato. Kushina needs to reduce her time outside. I don't need to tell you what to do about that, do I?"
Knowing that Kushina had tied up the ANBU and slipped out on her own, Minato had been worried the whole time. He was no fool. He understood clearly that she had gotten herself into serious trouble.
Tsunade's announcement of the higher-ups' decision filled him with something close to relief. He closed his hand around Kushina's without thinking, and answered with his brightest smile.
"I'll do my best."
"Tsunade-sama, Jiraiya-sensei, thank you for looking out for Kushina."
Seeing the smile on his student's face, Jiraiya found himself thinking involuntarily of the Great Toad Sage's prophecy. He felt that Minato, like Nagato, could be one of the children of prophecy who would guide the world.
"You know, your recovery really is something you owe to Osamu's surgery."
"Remarkable, truly. His chakra control may have already surpassed Tsunade's. His understanding of cellular activation is in a class of its own."
"And your abdomen didn't leave a single scar. Take your shirt off and you'd still be the same handsome man you always were!"
Jiraiya's exaggerated wink made Minato laugh awkwardly. People had been calling him pretty-faced since his Academy days, and it was never what he was going for.
"I always knew Osamu was exceptional. I couldn't have matched him at his age, not even close."
"I really do owe him."
Kushina blinked from where she was settled against Minato's side, thinking back to that day. It really had been Furukawa Osamu directing most of the surgery. Hearing Minato's modest words, she leaned up to his ear and encouraged him.
"You were incredible even when you were little!"
"How should we thank him?"
The two of them being affectionate together gave the older pair their fill of things they hadn't asked to witness. Tsunade made a face and waved herself out of the room. Jiraiya followed, still muttering under his breath.
"Tsunade, it's been a long time since we had a drink together. Tonight..."
"I have a great deal of work to do!"
Tsunade ignored him completely. Lately Furukawa Osamu had been in Shikkotsu Forest working on his sage jutsu, and Katsuyu's state had her a little uneasy. She kept feeling that the old sage's enthusiasm was running a bit too high.
* * *
Deep in Shikkotsu Forest, within a vast split cavern, beneath the pale roots of the God Tree, Katsuyu's main body stretched hundreds of meters in every direction, her antennae in constant motion. A division the size of a person split off from her body, and she asked with open curiosity.
"Osamu-sama, are you planning to absorb this energy?"
"Activating the God Tree isn't difficult for me, but these roots have been assimilated over such a long time that they're no longer what the God Tree originally was."
"Converting tailed beast chakra is something I've never done before. Fortunately, the amount is small. If something goes wrong, I can help."
A white branch began to grow slowly from within Katsuyu's body, distinct from the roots above, which showed almost no life. The activated branch continued its gradual growth.
Furukawa Osamu took the branch from her. Katsuyu split off another division, palm-sized this time, which climbed to his shoulder and continued in her soft gentle voice.
"Osamu-sama's hypothesis should be correct. A complete God Tree can convert any form of energy. Even a fragment retains that basic function."
"The energy it converts, though, is not what I was referring to as the original chakra."
"That's fine. This already confirms what I suspected. Tailed beast chakra really is a remarkable energy form."
Furukawa Osamu smiled as he answered, and activated his Gathering ability. Just as he had expected, a small cluster of energy radiating red light took shape in his hand before long.
Through Katsuyu's senses, the branch lost its vitality. The small amount of Nine-Tails chakra that had been converted vanished entirely.
"Osamu-sama really is the same kind as me..."
Paying no attention to the Katsuyu division wriggling happily on his shoulder, Furukawa Osamu drew the energy into his body and closed his eyes to examine it carefully.
"Interesting. Yin Release, which represents the power of the mind, creates form from nothing. Yang Release, which represents the power of the body, breathes life into that form."
"Yin-Yang Release really is extraordinary. And tailed beasts can actually wield this power."
The energy gathered this time carried very little information and had no particular special effect. What it did was allow Furukawa Osamu to draw on his mental energy a little more fluidly.
"Yin-Yang Release. It seems to be a technique developed by Otsutsuki Hagoromo. Exactly how he created the tailed beasts is something only he understood. No one else could replicate it."
"Even Gamamaru, with his deep mastery of natural energy, cannot use a technique to create life."
Furukawa Osamu gave a nod. Then he formed the seals for the Soul Embodiment Technique. In an instant, his mental energy took form as a spiritual body and appeared within the space in his forehead where the Yin Seal had not yet fully formed.
In his inner world, the accumulated sage chakra presented itself as a haze, gathered and sealed in one place by the technique's formulae.
During regular practice he had never been able to see the technique's workings directly. Now, with his spiritual body present, Furukawa Osamu could perceive the sealing formulae connecting to his cells through the chakra pathway system.
Unlike the direction Tsunade had developed, Furukawa Osamu's body was drawing sage chakra inward in reverse.
"The Yin Seal is closer to an evolved form of sealing technique. It operates independently of the body's chakra pathway system, free from the limitations of the Eight Gates' chakra points."
In that moment Furukawa Osamu fully understood how the technique had come to be. He reached forward and touched the haze of sage chakra, and immediately sensed that a small fragment of his spiritual body had been drawn away.
"Interesting. Can sage chakra carry a spiritual body, or a soul? Orochimaru really is working toward the Impure World Reincarnation."
He released the technique and opened his eyes. The Katsuyu division on his shoulder asked again with the same curious energy.
"Did you find what you were looking for, Osamu-sama?"
"I have a basic grasp of the Soul Embodiment Technique. I still can't separate the spiritual body from the physical one, but let's try a resonance, Katsuyu."
The moment Furukawa Osamu finished speaking he formed the seals quickly. When his spiritual body arrived again at the place where the Yin Seal was forming, a powerful reaction rippled through him immediately.
"You... how did you end up looking like that?"
Nothing like her outside appearance, the Katsuyu who appeared in the resonance had modeled herself on Tsunade, presenting as a golden-haired, generously built young woman.
"Doesn't Osamu-sama like this? Human beings are supposed to prefer this kind of female!"
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