Kirigakure.
Eastern outskirts, training ground.
Yuto sat on a wooden post, legs dangling casually, yawning as though waiting for someone to show up.
The wait didn't last long. Within half a minute, three dark shadows leaped from the distance and arrived before Yuto in just a few breaths.
These three were none other than Utakata, Yugito, and Fu.
All three wore expressions of bewilderment and confusion, surprised that Yuto had summoned them here so suddenly.
Utakata emanated an air of laziness, holding a book in his hand. With the recent trade boom, books from other nations had found their way to Kirigakure — Utakata had been reading them mainly to pass the time.
Standing nearby, Yugito and Fu appeared calm on the surface, but a hint of tension flickered across their faces.
Fu in particular glanced nervously at Yuto sitting on the wooden post, her amber eyes darting away almost immediately.
Over the past period, Kirigakure's commercial prosperity had naturally attracted numerous tourists and strangers.
Among these people, it would be naive to assume there were no spies from other villages.
Moreover, while neither Yugito nor Fu had been significantly restricted in their movements, both had secretly established contact with their respective villages.
Yuto sat on the wooden post, calmly scanning the three of them. He already had a good idea of what was happening, especially with Fu.
This little girl was still too green compared to Yugito.
Before Yuto came over, the ANBU had already detected the secret communications between these two and their villages, and had reported it to him.
But Yuto simply didn't care.
So what if they had made contact?
Whether it was Yugito or Fu — though their movements hadn't been restricted, their very existence was conspicuous from the start. They couldn't accomplish anything.
When people stay in one place for too long, they inevitably lose their fighting spirit. In any case, your leisure time has come to an end.
Yuto looked at the three with a mysterious smile.
Utakata and the others were momentarily stunned but didn't ask, simply waiting for Yuto to continue.
Yuto didn't speak immediately. Instead, he smiled and clapped his hands lightly.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
In an instant, several swooshing sounds echoed from behind them. Four ANBU ninja appeared, each carrying a jar roughly half a person's height, inscribed with mysterious seals.
The four ninja bowed to Yuto and placed the sealed jars evenly before him.
Yuto raised his hand with a slight wave, and the four ANBU ninja quickly dispersed to the four corners of the training ground.
Seeing this, Utakata, Yugito, and Fu looked confused. Yugito and Fu especially showed hints of tension.
What was going on?
Utakata's face was full of confusion as he asked directly.
Unlike Yugito and Fu, Utakata didn't believe Yuto would do anything to harm them.
"Remember the jutsu your teacher was researching?"
Hearing Utakata's question, Yuto smiled and spoke casually.
Utakata's expression changed sharply. Of course he remembered his teacher's jutsu.
Back then, his teacher had wanted to free Utakata from being treated as a monster — to safely extract the Tailed Beast while preserving Utakata's life. But Utakata's emotional outburst had caused his teacher's death.
How could Utakata possibly forget?
Now, with Yuto bringing it up, Utakata realized what was happening.
Lord Yuto wants to extract the Tailed Beasts from within us?
After his expression shifted, Utakata returned to calm and spoke evenly.
The moment these words left his lips, Yugito and Fu, standing nearby, turned pale. They instinctively stepped back, bodies tensing.
So you're finally making your move!
Yugito's arms trembled slightly, but she fixed her gaze on Yuto sitting on the post.
Fu's face showed a hint of desolation as she also looked nervously at Yuto. She had originally come to Kirigakure to protect her village.
Over time, Fu had discovered that Yuto wasn't as terrible as she'd imagined. Though her freedom was somewhat limited, her overall experience in Kirigakure had been acceptable.
This had improved her opinion of Yuto considerably.
But now he wanted to extract the Tailed Beast from her body.
Once a Tailed Beast was removed, the Jinchuriki would die. Even knowing they couldn't defeat Yuto, they would still fight.
Even ants cling to life, let alone humans.
"There's no need to be so nervous. If I simply wanted to extract the Tailed Beasts, there would have been no reason to wait until now, and no need for this elaborate setup."
Utakata turned to the tense Yugito and Fu, speaking calmly. He then turned back to Yuto, a gleam of realization in his eyes.
Has my teacher's jutsu been perfected?
"Indeed. After the Research Division's lengthy work, it's essentially been perfected. It achieves an eighty percent success rate, and with my intervention, success is guaranteed."
Yuto smiled as he rose from the post and stretched.
The reason Jinchuriki died when their Tailed Beasts were extracted was due to the beasts' unique nature — their lives were bound to the Jinchuriki's.
Therefore, extracting a Tailed Beast was fundamentally the same as extracting the Jinchuriki's life force. How could they survive?
The secret technique Utakata's teacher had researched temporarily sealed the Jinchuriki's life force before extracting the Tailed Beast.
Yuto looked at the three with a smile. Regardless of whether this technique was perfected or not, he would have extracted the Tailed Beasts from all three — only then could he rest easy, preventing Uchiha Madara from exploiting the situation.
As for Utakata, Yuto would naturally save him. But Yugito and Fu — that was uncertain.
"Alright, the explanations are done. Let's begin."
Yuto rubbed his wrists and raised his arm, signaling the four ANBU ninja positioned at the corners.
Yugito and Fu still looked tense. They had understood the exchange between Yuto and Utakata, but their hearts still raced with anxiety.
Seeing Utakata's calm demeanor, they could only suppress their unease.
Yugito and Fu exchanged a glance, sighing heavily. Even if they were unwilling, what choice did they have?
At the four corners of the training ground, the ANBU ninja saw Yuto's signal and simultaneously formed hand seals, pressing their palms to the ground.
"Secret Technique — Life-Sealing Extraction!"
A heavy thud echoed across the training ground as mysterious patterns spread from the four ANBU ninja, covering the entire area.
Within two or three breaths, the training ground was completely covered in dark, mysterious script.
At the center, Utakata, Yugito, and Fu found their bodies stiffening as the intricate markings covered them entirely. They couldn't move at all.
Only the area where Yuto stood on the wooden post remained free of any markings.
This training ground was clearly no ordinary location — preparations had been made beneath it long ago.
The four ANBU ninja hadn't activated the technique themselves — they had merely triggered the secret array hidden beneath the training ground.
Golden Locks!
A purple light flashed in Yuto's eyes as three chakra chains formed from Golden Locks shot from his palm.
In an instant, the three chains pierced into Utakata, Yugito, and Fu respectively, drawing soft groans from each.
Inside their bodies, Matatabi, Saiken, and Kokuo — three of the Tailed Beasts — simultaneously raised their heads and let out furious roars.
The Golden Locks surged into the seals, binding the three beasts by their necks and pulling them outward.
The seals within the three bodies began glowing, attempting to prevent the Tailed Beasts from breaking free. But simultaneously, a brilliant white light emanated from the Golden Locks, canceling out the seal's power.
Thunderous booms exploded across the training ground.
ROAR!
ROAR!
ROAR!
In the blink of an eye, Matatabi, Saiken, and Kokuo — three massive, mountain-like Tailed Beasts — appeared on the training ground, bellowing in fury.
Wild, violent chakra surged outward. The shockwaves generated by their enormous forms whipped through the air like gale-force winds.
At the center of the training ground, Utakata, Yugito, and Fu had all collapsed to the ground. Their rapid breathing and heaving chests indicated they were in no danger.
The moment the three Tailed Beasts' massive forms appeared, they fixed their gaze on Yuto standing atop the wooden post.
After all, the chakra chains from the Golden Locks still wrapped around their necks.
[
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