It felt as though the air itself grew heavy with expectation. Uzumaki Mito's gaze lingered on Uchiha Shigure and little Hoshiko, her brow slightly furrowed with worry.
This is the most critical step, Mito thought. If this fails, all of our efforts may have been in vain.
Shigure's forehead glistened with sweat as the diamond-shaped Yin Seal pulsed faintly. He pressed his palms together, forcing his vast reserves of chakra into it, each surge carving deeper strain into his body.
"Why?" he whispered through gritted teeth. "Why won't the Hundred Healings Technique activate? The chakra should be enough—no, it has to be enough!" His chest heaved as exhaustion crept in. His reserves, vast though they were, had already been reduced to nearly nothing.
Still, the seal refused to awaken.
Shigure clenched his fists. "Then I'll gamble it all. If shadow-level chakra isn't enough, I'll call on something greater..."
Taking a steadying breath, he crossed into Sage Mode. His golden irises glowed like molten fire, hornlike appendages lengthened from his forehead, and the room seemed to resonate with the raw, natural energy flowing into him.
"This seal isn't bottomless. It can't be." His voice grew cold with resolve. "Then accept this instead—Senjutsu chakra!"
Pure, vibrant energy streamed into the Yin Seal. At last, the mark seemed to awaken, expanding and filling rapidly.
"Yes… it's changing. It's working…"
But the victory faded as quickly as it appeared. The surge faltered, his Sage chakra bled away into the seal, and still Shigure sensed the void. His body trembled from the drain. "Impossible… even Sage chakra isn't enough?"
The elderly Uzumaki woman stepped forward, her own palm finding the young Uchiha's back. "It seems your will alone won't carry you through. Let me lend you strength."
Shigure nodded, teeth clenched. "Thank you, Mito-sama."
A river of chakra, steady yet overwhelming, poured into him. He resisted the urge to collapse at the enormity of it, his body nothing more than a conduit transferring that power into the Yin Seal.
But even Mito's immense chakra reserves faltered before the seal's hunger. Her expression tightened. "It's still not enough. Then… forgive me, but we must draw on a greater flame." Her eyes narrowed slightly as she pressed deeper, tugging at the being sealed within her.
A foul, suffocating aura armoured Shigure's body as a malignant red chakra spilled forward, bubbling like boiling tar. Even before he saw it, he knew—this was the Nine-Tails' chakra.
The Kyuubi's guttural voice roared within Mito, dripping with disdain. "Pathetic humans… borrowing from me again?"
Yet, the fiery chakra did what no other could. At last, the Yin Seal pulsed brilliantly.
"It's full!" Shigure exhaled sharply. The black diamond expanded across his forehead, and then suddenly—
"Yin Seal, Release! Hundred Healings Technique!"
The black tracery burst outward, etching across his body in a web of raw vitality. A wave of chakra tore through the room, shaking the very air, his energy surging far beyond that of any ordinary Kage.
Hidden deep within Mito's seal, the Kyuubi's slit eyes glinted with rare shock. "This power… from a human?"
"You will remain silent," Mito whispered sharply, suppressing the beast with steely will.
The fox only snorted, unwilling to admit its growing curiosity over this young Uchiha.
Shigure, chest heaving, felt his veins burn with new strength. "It activated. The Hundred Healings Technique… and more. The Kyuubi's bloodline power flows within me as well." He cast a glance toward Hoshiko, whose tiny frame seemed so fragile against the bedding. "Then the path is clear—next, I will release her seal."
His body settled into meditation. Mito, drained and pale, excused herself with a soft cough. "They must not be disturbed," she murmured, slipping into the hall where Kushina, Minato, and Kakashi waited anxiously.
"Mito-sama, how are they?" Kushina asked, voice trembling with concern.
"Shhh," Mito soothed, laying a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Give them time. Let's wait elsewhere."
Back inside the quiet chamber, Shigure steadily controlled the vast storm raging within him. Carefully, he deciphered the trick of the technique. If the Hundred Healings Technique required one's own seal to be undone, then the true form—the Hundred Healings Seal—was the art of transferring that vitality outward.
Eyes lighting in realization, he formed the hand signs again, chakra weaving flawlessly. "Then with this... I'll succeed where I once failed. Hoshiko, hold on just a little longer."
The seal blazed upon his forehead as his palm lowered to the girl's abdomen. Little by little, her Yin-Yang Seal unraveled.
Half the oppressive binding disappeared. The rest, however—the portion tied to the Yang aspect—remained beyond his reach. Still, the difference was immediate. Hoshiko's eyelids fluttered open.
"Brother… my body feels lighter… so warm…" A faint smile found her lips before she sank again into unconsciousness.
Shigure closed his eyes, relief spilling from his shoulders. "Success." With Sharingan flaring, he confirmed her chakra flowed cleanly now.
Throwing the chamber doors wide, he announced, "She'll recover."
The Uzumaki matriarch halted at his words, eyes wide. She had assumed his brilliance could go no further. To invent, in one night, an entirely new technique from the most advanced medical jutsu in existence—the feat rendered even her numb with awe.
When talent is this vast… people cease calling it genius. They call it inevitability, she mused, lips curving faintly.
At that moment, Kakashi's voice broke in. "Teacher Shigure, Teacher Minato—our orders. The Sandaime Hokage requests us immediately."
"Go," Mito said firmly. "Leave Hoshiko in our care. Kushina and I will protect her with our lives."
Though hesitant, Shigure bowed his head. "Then I entrust her to you."
He and Minato made their way swiftly to the Hokage Tower. Sarutobi Hiruzen awaited them in solemn silence, Hokage robes casting a heavy shadow across the office.
"You've arrived." The Sandaime's expression betrayed no emotion. "With war and political tensions fracturing every border, we have no choice. The village assigns you both an S-rank mission."
Shigure blinked. Barely promoted to jōnin, yet here he stood. "An S-rank… for us?"
Hiruzen leaned forward, voice lowering. "Reliable intelligence from Wind Country confirms research into weapons of mass destruction within the Sand's borders. Not tailed beasts. Something else."
Shigure narrowed his eyes. "Something more dangerous than living calamities themselves?"
"I don't yet know the truths. Your task is clear: travel to the desert kingdom of Loulan. Whatever exists there, eliminate it before it threatens the world."
Loulan. The name struck Shigure like a stone, echoing through half-buried memories of forgotten lore.
Hiruzen's stare was unwavering. "Uchiha Shigure. Namikaze Minato. This duty falls to you."
Minato stepped forward. "With respect, Hokage-sama… I request we bring a third. Chūnin Hatake Kakashi." He laid down the boy's dossier.
The elder's eyes swept across the page. "A promising prodigy. Very well. But Minato—why?"
"My instinct tells me he will be indispensable."
The Hokage studied them for another breath before nodding. "So be it. Then this mission is yours. Failure is not an option."
His hand struck the desk in finality. "Now go. Begin at once."
And so it was that Shigure, Minato, and their chosen comrade were cast into the deadly mirage of Loulan, where shadows of forgotten kingdoms and weapons of impossible scale awaited them.
Yet little could they know—what slept beneath the desert's sands would soon shake the shinobi world to its very core.
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