"You despicable big villain! I'll tie you up first!"
Seeing that the big bad villain actually wanted to bind her, Uzumaki Kushina angrily activated her Adamantine Sealing Chains, shooting them straight toward him, intending to bind him up and hang him in the air.
However, Tian CunZairo simply raised his hand and grabbed the incoming adamantine chain, completely ignoring the sealing power wrapped around it. With a sharp pull, he yanked the girl straight toward him, then pulled out the Flying Thunder God Sword and gave her a round of "electrotherapy."
This was an ability he had discovered earlier during battle.
Previously, a genjutsu-type ninja had tried to cast an illusion on him, but it had been utterly ineffective.
Genjutsu, at its core, uses chakra to interfere with the opponent's five senses, plunging them into hallucinations. The way to break it is to disrupt one's own chakra flow—so fundamentally, it is still based on chakra.
That realization helped him understand many things.
Chakra was like a computer system: those with higher "permissions" had greater authority and more powerful abilities. Among all bloodlines, the Ōtsutsuki lineage clearly possessed the highest-level permissions.
That was why the Sharingan's genjutsu could affect so many people—why even a powerhouse like the Fourth Raikage could be dropped by Uchiha Madara with a single glance, and why the Fourth Mizukage could be controlled long-term by Uchiha Obito.
But Tian CunZairo's chakra was different.
Thanks to his cheat-like ability, all chakra imprints had been erased, leaving behind the purest form of chakra. Naturally, it was no longer affected by the chakra system of the ninja world.
It was like trying to use an imperial sword from a previous dynasty to execute an official of the current one—it simply wouldn't work.
The Uzumaki clan's Adamantine Sealing Chains were similar. At their core, they still relied on bloodline power derived from the Ten-Tails and the Ōtsutsuki, suppressing others' chakra.
Tian CunZairo's chakra belonged to a different system, so it couldn't be suppressed. That was why he dared to grab Kushina's chain barehanded.
Of course, his confidence also came from the fact that Kushina had only activated a single chain, and her control over it was still crude—too slow and not flexible enough.
If it had reached the level she displayed during the Nine-Tails' rampage, when she bound the Nine-Tails itself, he would've fled instantly.
He could resist the chain's suppressive effect on chakra, but he couldn't break it. If he were wrapped up like a rice dumpling, he'd be in real trouble.
As for Kushina, after being shocked, her red hair exploded outward, her petite body convulsed violently, and even drool spilled from her mouth.
"That's enough, that's enough—why argue with a little girl?"
Tsuchidai couldn't stand watching anymore. He stepped in, took the girl, and gently set her down.
"You despicable big villain! Why aren't you afraid of my Adamantine Sealing Chains?!"
After a long while, Kushina finally recovered. She puffed out her cheeks and glared angrily at him, deeply confused.
This was the first time she'd ever seen someone who wasn't afraid of Adamantine Sealing Chains—and this person even had the same ability as her great-aunt, just like her grandfather had described.
"Adamantine Sealing Chains are very strong,"
Tian CunZairo said calmly,
"but you're too weak. As long as one's chakra control is strong enough, they can still mobilize chakra to a certain extent."
He made up an explanation, claiming that his own chakra control was exceptional, which was why he could still move chakra and shock her.
"Kid, he's the bad guy—we're not."
Tsuchidai immediately slapped the "bad guy" label onto Tian CunZairo, then turned to Kushina.
"In the future, the Uzumaki clan will be relocating to Kumogakure. When that happens, we'll all be one family. So tell us more about that ability your great-aunt has."
He wanted information about that power.
As for the "great-aunt" Kushina mentioned, he knew exactly who it was—the First Hokage's wife, the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki.
If Tian CunZairo could gain that ability from residual Nine-Tails chakra in Kinkaku and Ginkaku's corpses, then the First Hokage's wife, as a true Nine-Tails jinchūriki, must possess it as well. That made it all the more important.
"You're all bad people! I'm not talking to you!"
Kushina refused outright. She glared at Tian CunZairo again and stormed off.
Although her freedom was restricted, she could still move around within a certain area.
"The little girl's angry,"
Tsuchidai chuckled.
He then gestured to the three of them and led them into a nearby tent.
Once inside, Tsuchidai looked seriously at Tian CunZairo.
"I have a task for you. Use the Transformation Technique to become A's appearance and mingle with our people. Memorize anyone harboring malice and report back to me."
This good-and-evil perception ability was extremely useful—it could clearly distinguish friend from foe.
"Spies?"
Yotsuki A immediately understood, his expression turning grave.
At the core of ninja warfare lay intelligence warfare—and at the heart of intelligence warfare were spies.
Every village inevitably harbored spies of all kinds: those planted by enemies, those bribed, or those coerced after having their weaknesses seized. They were extremely hard to identify.
"Not just spies,"
Tsuchidai said meaningfully.
He knew there were issues within the village—hidden dangers, even.
Compared to the other four great villages, Kumogakure was already much cleaner, especially after the Third Raikage wiped out Kinkaku and Ginkaku's faction. But some hidden problems still remained.
If they could be identified and either controlled or eliminated, it would greatly benefit the village's future, preventing internal betrayal down the line.
As for true spies, there was no need to immediately kill them. Once a spy was exposed, they ceased to be a threat—and could even be used in reverse.
"I understand."
Tian CunZairo nodded. He carefully observed Yotsuki A, noting all his wounds, dust, and details, then used them as a reference to cast the Transformation Technique, perfectly turning into A.
Although his chakra reserves were limited, his mastery of the basic three techniques was excellent. With his high chakra control, the transformation was nearly flawless.
Yotsuki A also formed hand seals and transformed into the appearance of an ANBU operative. He would accompany Tian CunZairo.
With the two of them together, even sensory-type ninja would find it hard to distinguish them, making concealment much easier.
"Doesn't UzUzushiogakure need our support?"
Fukai asked. The fighting there was clearly intense.
"That battle belongs to UzUzushiogakure,"
Tsuchidai shook his head.
"At this stage, their objectives partially conflict with our presence. It wouldn't be appropriate for us to intervene—and they don't want us to yet."
Moreover, Kumogakure had an even more important task regarding the Uzumaki clan: protecting the relocated Uzumaki civilians.
They were the reason the Uzumaki could fight without restraint. Even if the village fell, the clan itself would survive and not be wiped out.
"What about my dad?"
Yotsuki A asked worriedly. Konoha was no easy opponent.
"The Third Raikage is probably having a hard fight right now,"
Tsuchidai said with a smile,
"after all, he's not good at acting."
Although the earlier battle with the Mist ninja had drained a lot of the Raikage's chakra, his foundation was deep—it wasn't a serious problem.
Against someone like Shimura Danzō, he could still suppress him easily.
But he couldn't appear too dominant. He needed the Uzumaki's help to finish off those enemies.
Otherwise, the next stage of the war might turn into all four great villages uniting against Kumogakure.
Kumogakure had already gained more than enough from this battle. Showing excessive strength would only make the other villages jealous and wary.
Yotsuki A finally understood and relaxed.
Meanwhile, Tian CunZairo silently prayed that Danzō would be left a commander without troops.
Only by wiping out Danzō's capable subordinates could Tian CunZairo the Great truly rise—and force Danzō to focus more on intelligence work and information personnel.
After finishing his prayer, Tian CunZairo transformed into Yotsuki A and, in the identity of the Raikage's son, went to慰问 (visit and check on) the post-battle ninja.
The vast majority harbored goodwill. Only a very small number carried malice.
Tian CunZairo memorized those individuals and roughly classified them based on the intensity of their malice, then reported everything back to Tsuchidai.
What followed was no longer his concern.
Tsuchidai would handle the rest.
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