Kei was stunned for a moment, and then his whole mood took a nosedive. Now he truly understood what it meant: "Lies aren't scary; the truth is what hurts the most."
Damn it! He would go back and copy a trait to increase his chakra later!
The Nine-Tails saw Kei's expression, and the corners of its mouth curled up slightly. It felt a sense of satisfaction, and the frustration from earlier was completely swept away.
"You go ahead." Kei waved begrudgingly at Kushina.
Kushina gave him a reassuring look before stepping forward toward the Nine-Tails. She clasped her hands together and began forming seals, activating the Contract Seal.
A massive amount of chakra gathered, and countless black sealing formulas spread across the Nine-Tails' entire body.
This time, the usually mischievous tailed beast did not take the opportunity to launch a sneak attack. Instead, it stayed still and allowed the process to continue.
Its slit-like pupils remained locked onto Kei, who was clearly having a rough time, a faint smirk full of mockery and amusement playing on its lips. After all, no matter how much effort they put in, it wasn't getting out any time soon.
Wouldn't it be more entertaining to watch this arrogant brat suffer a bit?
Next up is One's Own Life Reincarnation.
Seeing that the Contract Seal had completely wrapped around the Nine-Tails, preventing it from being summoned through Summoning Jutsu, Kei finally felt relieved.
Now, all that was left was to develop a life-transfer jutsu similar to the One's Own Life Reincarnation created by Suna's Puppet Brigade.
No matter how much Madara schemed and manipulated things, Kushina's life would be safeguarded. As for the side effect of the life-transfer jutsu consuming the caster's lifespan... Had he learned Mind Body Switch Technique for nothing?
A familiar system notification chimed in.
Kei smirked as he looked at his system panel.
[Major alteration to an important character's fate.]
[The worldline has deviated.]
- 1 trait duplication
- 1 trait downgrading
- 1 gifting opportunity]
[Inactive Traits: ...]
[Trait Extraction: 3]
[Trait Duplication: 1]
As someone who loved playing games and hoarding inventory items like a packrat, just looking at a panel this packed made Kei feel delighted.
Moreover, with two chances to remove entries and two chances to downgrade them, if Madara really came looking for trouble, Kei would make sure he learned the true meaning of: "It was at this moment he knew he fucked up."
Hashirama Cells? Gone.
Top-tier Wood Release? Downgraded to sapling level.
No matter how powerful Madara was, if his core abilities were taken away piece by piece, his strength would inevitably be slashed.
And with the Flying Thunder God Technique at his disposal, as long as his chakra reserves could keep up, Kei could attack when he wanted and retreat when necessary—stay if he wanted, leave if he wanted.
He might even manage to cut off the Fourth Great Ninja War at its source.
The more he thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. He quickly searched his memory palace for the original storyline's clues about Madara's hiding spot.
But after searching for a long time, he realized that the original work only briefly mentioned that Madara, in his dying moments, had stayed at the Mountains' Graveyard in the northern region of the Land of Iron.
That was also the same place where Obito later met with Kabuto and helped Sasuke transplant Itachi's Mangekyō Sharingan.
The Land of Iron wasn't exactly small, nor was it particularly vast. Trying to find such a location within a country of that size wouldn't be an easy task. Moreover, Madara definitely didn't have only one base.
After all, the place where Obito had his accident was at Kannabi Bridge.
During the war, Kannabi Bridge was a critical supply route for Iwa in their conflict with Konoha. That location was roughly at the border between the Land of Grass and the Land of Earth.
Considering Obito's injuries at the time, half his body was practically destroyed, if they had really taken him all the way to the Mountains' Graveyard in the northern Land of Iron for treatment, he would have long since died on the way.
So, in either the Land of Grass or the neighboring Land of Rain, Madara must have had at least one more hidden base.
I wonder if the Intelligence Division has any clues.
He made up his mind—he would go check Konoha's Intelligence Division as soon as possible. At the very least, he needed to confirm the exact location of the Mountains' Graveyard.
"What are you smiling about?"
The Nine-Tails narrowed its eyes.
It had been paying attention to Kei's expression for a while now. At first, it thought he would stay frustrated for a long time after suffering a setback.
But before it could fully enjoy its moment of satisfaction, Kei suddenly smiled.
Wait, why was he smiling? What gave him the right to smile?!
"Kurama, you would actually look pretty cute if you smiled."
Kei grinned, showing his teeth.
The Nine-Tails was momentarily stunned by the completely unexpected compliment.
System, gift [Always Smiling] to the Nine-Tails!
With strong anticipation in his eyes, Kei gave a silent command to the system. A white glow, visible only to him, instantly merged into the Nine-Tails' body.
"Brat! Are you messing with me?!"
The Nine-Tails could vaguely sense some kind of strange energy coming from Kei, and its initially stunned expression quickly turned ferocious. Its mind raced with countless thoughts.
It was the mighty Nine-Tails! The strongest among the tailed beasts! A living natural disaster with an awe-inspiring reputation! And yet, this brat dared to describe it with the word "cute"?!
It had to be mockery!
This Yamanaka brat was definitely bad news!
"Hey, if you're going to say that, could you at least stop smiling? It's kind of unsettling."
Kushina, who had just returned to Kei's side, looked at the Nine-Tails and found herself filled with questions.
Wait a minute… Was this fox really that easy to flatter? Kei just called it cute, and now it looked… happy?
"Kurama, may you always keep that smile on your face."
With those words, Kei grabbed Kushina's hand and bolted.
The Nine-Tails raised a paw to touch its face as it watched the two figures disappear into the distance.
The upturned corners of its mouth, the slightly curved eyes... The expression that was supposed to be fierce and menacing looked like it had completely gone wrong.
"YOU DAMNED BRAT! WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?!"
"WHAT KIND OF GENJUTSU IS THIS?! WHY CAN'T I CONTROL MY OWN FACE?! GET BACK HERE! GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!"
"ROOOAR—DAMN IT! YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE THE GUTS TO FACE ME HEAD-ON!"
"KEI! JUST YOU WAIT! I WON'T LET YOU GET AWAY WITH THIS!"
The deafening roars echoed throughout the sealed space.
While running away, Kushina glanced back at the Nine-Tails rampaging on the sealing altar.
Its bizarre grin, stretched almost to its ears, paired with its furious shouting and cursing, was just too ridiculous.
She couldn't help but burst into laughter.