Malphegor
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YTS: Ch. 139
🕑 Added 2025-04-09 15:02:26 +0000 UTCThe Nine-Tails' chakra withdrew from Kushina's body, restoring her original attire. Looking at the blooming flower in her hand, her small head was filled with big question marks.
"I have mastered a technique that allows me to borrow the power of the deceased. Each time I use it, a little bit of the power remains. Hmm, who knows? One day, you might suddenly see me with a pair of Mangekyō Sharingan?" Kei scratched his cheek and casually attributed his newly acquired Wood Release abilities to [Borrowed Account Login]
"That's amazing~!" Kushina nodded blankly, habitually supporting her boyfriend. After a moment of hesitation, she asked again. "Why did Kurama react like that? And just now… your power was way too strong. Was it something from the past?"
"Isn't your focus a little off?"
"Eh~? Are you fishing for compliments? Want me to praise you a few more times?"
"Forget it. Let me just tell you the story of the spiky-haired guy and the bowl-cut guy competing to see who can pee the farthest." Kei rolled his eyes speechlessly.
As he recounted stories from the time before Konoha's founding, he and Kushina continued walking toward the Uzumaki Clan's Mask Storage Temple.
Upon arriving, the two sat in the corridor and started eating breakfast. Less than ten minutes later, Honoka arrived, carrying a small wooden bucket and a cloth.
After exchanging greetings, Kei quickly finished the last onigiri in his hand. Leaving a Flying Thunder God mark on the corridor, he used the technique to teleport to Konoha's river to fetch water.
Meanwhile, Kushina and Honoka grabbed cleaning tools from the back storage and efficiently began clearing away the dust, fallen leaves, and debris that had blown into the temple.
Bit by bit, they restored the temple to its original state.
"There are so many masks hanging on this wall. Does each one represent a… god?" Kei casually voiced his curiosity.
"Yes. This one is the Sea God, this is the Moon Goddess, this is Inari Ōkami, this is the Fire God, and this one is…"
"So, do they each have contracts and special sealing techniques like the Shinigami?"
"Nope. According to Mito-obaachan, many gods actually disappeared a long, long time ago, leaving only a few traces behind. They each had their own unique contracts and sealing techniques."
"Did she manage to preserve them all?"
"She preserved the Dead Demon Consuming Seal. As for the other two, she only knew of one contract with Amano-Iwato called the 'Amano-Iwato Seal,' and another with the Amanojaku God called the 'Defiant Amanojaku Seal'... Honoka, do you know them?"
Kushina fell silent for a moment before turning to ask Honoka.
With Uzushio destroyed, many of the Uzumaki clan's inherited techniques had been lost. Mito was a human, not a god—she couldn't possibly have learned and preserved every technique.
"My mother never learned such advanced techniques." Honoka shook her head.
Her knowledge of these things was even less than Kushina's. Besides, if those techniques required contracts with gods to be used, they clearly weren't something an ordinary clan member could master.
"Hehe~ Mito-obaachan actually left behind a lot of interesting techniques. Want to check them out together someday?"
"Huh? Can we?"
"Of course!"
"Kushina, you're the best~"
"That's because you're the best!"
The two girls linked arms, giggling as they whispered to each other.
Kei's gaze, however, was fixed on the seventeen masks on the wall.
A long, long time ago… Just how long? And what kind of power did the Amano-Iwato Seal and the Defiant Amanojaku Seal hold? If Orochimaru were to research them, could he possibly reverse-engineer these lost sealing techniques?
Forget it… He shook his head regretfully, letting go of his past grievances with Konoha's upper echelons.
He had cursed them enough times before—he was tired. Whatever, let it be.
Seeing that the two girls had almost finished cleaning up the Uzumaki Clan's Mask Storage Temple, he turned his attention to [Borrowed Account Login] and pondered whether he should first summon Hashirama to sign the contract.
"I have something to take care of. If you need me, use this to contact me." Kei called out to Kushina, raising his arm and pointing to his wrist.
"Mm-hmm." Kushina waved him off with a grin and turned back to continue whispering secrets with Honoka.
Swoosh—
With the Flying Thunder God Technique, Kei appeared inside the Root headquarters.
He greeted his shadow clone, who was handling documents behind a desk, and glanced at Danzō squatting in a corner, reading a comic book.
Turning around, he left the office and headed toward the most secure sealing chamber in the Root headquarters.
Ten minutes later, after undoing multiple layers of seals, he retrieved a storage jar containing a palm-sized piece of flesh preserved in liquid.
Using the Flying Thunder God Technique once more, he arrived deep within the hidden forest where he had previously experimented with Wood Release.
With the Four-Pillar House Technique, he quickly constructed a wooden house.
Placing Hashirama's flesh on the floor, he swiftly surrounded it with a bizarre chakra-based sealing pattern.
As he drew the final stroke of the technique, the densely packed symbols began to glow with a bright blue chakra light. A deep, ominous, and decayed-looking gate, exuding an eerie and oppressive aura, appeared at the center of the formation.
"Tch~ I still have to use something the target cares about to summon them. What a hassle." Kei clicked his tongue in frustration.
After thinking for a moment about what might catch Hashirama's interest, he called out toward the gate, "I am your granddaughter's younger cousin's boyfriend. Would you like to see her? To see what Konoha has become today?"
"...No response?"
Frowning at the unmoving gate, he tried a different approach.
"Bad news! Your granddaughter became the Fourth Hokage! She's gambling away all of Konoha's funds! Hurry up and come out!"
"...Still nothing?"
"The Fourth Great Ninja War has begun! Konoha is surrounded by the Four Great Villages and is on the verge of destruction! Help us!"
"...Damn it!"
"Hashirama! Madara says he can pee farther than you! And that he skips stones better than you! Back then, if you hadn't stood behind him and distracted him—"
BANG!
Before Kei could finish, the rotting and broken gate was violently kicked open. With a dark expression and an overwhelming presence, Hashirama strode out of the Pure Land with large, determined steps.
"You've seen Madara? That bastard! He never beat me even once!"
"...Yeah, I've seen him." Kei watched the newly arrived spirit of Hashirama with a deadpan expression.
(╯‵□′)╯︵┴─┴
Konoha's destruction wasn't enough to make him leave the Pure Land, but the mere mention of Madara had him rushing out, pissed off.
And the first thing he asks about is whether I've met Madara?
Is this the legendary bond between best friends?
"Your chakra feels unfamiliar. I'm sure I've never met you before. And since Madara died even earlier than I did, how could you have seen him?"
"Madara used a Transcription Seal to store Izanagi within himself. So after he died, he rewrote reality and brought himself back to life."
"HAHAHAHA! I knew that bastard wouldn't die so easily! Damn, I got fooled!" Hashirama threw his head back, clutching his waist as he laughed heartily.
After a good laugh, he rubbed his temples and sighed.
"So, Konoha is really about to be destroyed, and that's why you called me back? No matter the era, war never seems to end..."
"Uh… I made that up."
"Figures. With your chakra reserves and Wood Release abilities, it shouldn't be that bad. Then… is Tsunade really the Hokage?"
"Uh… I made that up too."
Kei raised an eyebrow, secretly impressed by Hashirama's terrifyingly sharp perception. They had barely met, and he had already sensed both his chakra capacity and his Wood Release bloodline.
"Do you ever tell the truth?"
"I am truly your granddaughter's younger cousin's boyfriend."
"...What kind of weird way of phrasing that is that? My granddaughter's younger cousin… isn't my granddaughter."
Hashirama rubbed his chin, his face suddenly changing as he realized what that might imply.
Could it be—? Was this some tragic family drama?! Even after dying, did he still have to deal with his son and daughter-in-law's messy love life?!
"I meant through Mito's lineage," Kei clarified.
As soon as those words left his mouth, Hashirama froze.
For a long moment, he remained completely silent before finally speaking in a low voice.
"Did Mito… remarry?"
