The roaring voice of the Zero-Tails, freshly freed from its seal, was immediately silenced by Mito Uzumaki's Adamantine Sealing Chains.
"How can mere mortals understand the might of the God of Nothingness?"
"A mere sealing jutsu, you think you can seal me again!"
As the Adamantine Sealing Chains tightened, the Zero-Tails' dark purple body was instantly torn into a sky of black mist amidst a grating sound of chains rubbing against each other.
However, the Zero-Tails' roar did not cease; instead, it became more unrestrained and rampant.
"I am the God of Nothingness, Zero-Tails!"
"An supreme deity born from darkness!"
"As long as living beings exist, my divine power will flow endlessly!"
"Hahahaha!"
Orochimaru's heart sank as he watched the black mist drifting in the air.
"Why is this happening?"
"Even the Adamantine Sealing Chains, which can restrain the Nine-Tails, are ineffective. By what power did Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha of that era completely defeat its dark chakra?"
"Could it be..."
Orochimaru pondered for a moment and suddenly thought of their true identities and origins.
"Could it be because of the Yin and Yang chakra they inherited from Indra and Asura?"
"If that's the case, it might be quite troublesome!"
Seeing Orochimaru silent and looking troubled, as if deep in thought, Mito Uzumaki, who felt she had lost face in front of a junior, felt a surge of shame and anger. Her chakra suddenly became incredibly wild.
"A god?"
"Just a mere monster sealed in a box by previous generations, daring to call itself a god?"
"Utterly suicidal!"
Mito Uzumaki snorted coldly. The chilling killing intent cultivated through countless battles alongside Hashirama Senju since the Warring States period erupted forth.
With a slight movement of her mind, the eight Adamantine Sealing Chains that had missed their target trembled violently.
Fueled by Mito Uzumaki's bloodline power, these trembling chains instantly multiplied from eight to sixteen, then sixteen to thirty-two, before the stunned eyes of everyone present...
In the blink of an eye, the entire space was enclosed by a spherical barrier completely constructed from sealing chains.
"Immortal and indestructible?"
"Let's see how you are truly immortal and indestructible!"
"Adamantine Cage - Restraint!"
With a furious roar, Mito Uzumaki waved her sleeve. The myriad intertwined Adamantine Chains revealed their ferocity. The chains, imbued with immense sealing power, thrashed about, drawing the entire Adamantine Cage to press inward towards the Zero-Tails in the center.
The Zero-Tails, floating in the air, slowly shifted from a mist-like form to a solid one. The fluctuations of dark chakra emanating from within had, at some point, grown considerably stronger.
"Ah!"
"What beautiful anger and hatred!"
"Mortal, I have developed some interest in you!"
The Zero-Tails ignored the approaching Adamantine Cage. Its slender snake-like body coiled, and its faceless head, wearing a white mask, extended towards Mito Uzumaki, making a motion of greedy inhalation.
"I can sense that your body is filled with hatred for this world."
"Stop!"
"Submit to the God of Nothingness, and I shall grant you eternal life!"
"Heeheeheehee!"
Mito Uzumaki looked at the Zero-Tails, which appeared utterly unfazed, and its words, which accurately described the nature of the Nine-Tails' power within her, shocked her to her core.
"What kind of monster are you?"
Numerous dark purple tentacles suddenly sprouted from the Zero-Tails' body, propping up the constricting Adamantine Cage. Its sharp voice dripped with mockery and seduction.
"Hehehehahaha..."
"Are you already beginning to fear my divine power?"
"Give up!"
"How can mortals possibly be opponents of the God of Nothingness?"
"Only by embracing darkness can you mortals attain eternal life!"
Orochimaru frowned, swatting away a tentacle emitting dark chakra that extended towards him with a kunai.
"A god?"
"In the ninja world, aside from the Otsutsuki clan from beyond the heavens, who else has the right to call themselves a god?"
"Even the enforcers of that Otsutsuki clan are likely far inferior to true gods."
Recalling the descriptions of the nature of void power in his memory, a hint of realization slowly dawned in Orochimaru's eyes.
"A monster born at the dawn of the ninja world, growing by feeding on the darkness within sentient beings."
"So your ability is to absorb the negative emotions of intelligent beings?"
"What if it were chakra from a being created purely by Yin-Yang Release?"
"With the chakra reserves of a perfect Nine-Tails, it should be enough to overload this monster that isn't particularly skilled in combat, right?"
With this thought, Orochimaru turned his gaze to Mito Uzumaki, who was looking at the Zero-Tails with a mixture of surprise and uncertainty.
He moved his feet, using a body flicker to appear beside Mito Uzumaki.
"Senior Mito, create a barrier that can isolate sound!"
Mito Uzumaki blinked, looking at Orochimaru in surprise.
Orochimaru gestured with his eyes towards the Zero-Tails, which was floating in the air and clamoring, a smile flickering in his eyes. He nodded gently.
Mito Uzumaki, already aware that Orochimaru was a clever child, felt a sudden sense of relief, and her anxiety lessened considerably. She quickly formed a hand seal, enveloping the two of them in a small barrier that blocked sound and external chakra detection.
"There. This barrier can block sound and all forms of chakra detection."
"Orochimaru, have you thought of a way to deal with this monster?"
Orochimaru stepped in front of Mito Uzumaki, shielding her from the Zero-Tails' view, and explained his previous conjectures to her.
Mito Uzumaki nodded thoughtfully.
"No wonder it felt inexplicably stronger after I inhaled near it."
"So it was by absorbing the Nine-Tails' hatred?"
"Grandma will try it first!"
"If it works, this incident doesn't count. Grandma will still honor your condition in the future!"
After pondering for a moment, Mito Uzumaki gave Orochimaru a reassuring look and waved her hand, dispelling the barrier surrounding them.
Orochimaru blinked, then broke into a wide smile.
Mito Uzumaki gave him an instruction, then suppressed all her distracting thoughts. While maintaining the attack of the Adamantine Sealing Chains on the Zero-Tails, she focused her mind within the sealed space in her body.
Vast, dark...
It seemed as if a ferocious beast lurked in the shadows, occasionally accompanied by suppressed roars of anger and the grating sound of chains dragging on the ground, making one's blood run cold.
The moment Mito Uzumaki's spiritual body appeared in the sealed space, the beast hidden in the darkness suddenly opened its eyes. The darkness within the sealed space was dispelled by the light emanating from these two millstone-sized eyes. The entire prison turned blood-red under the influence of these gazes.
The Nine-Tails bared its fangs and let out a roar filled with anger and hatred. It lunged forward, intending to tear apart the hateful human who had sealed it for decades.
"Roar!"
"Die!"
"Bang!"
Its massive body had only moved half a step when a teeth-grinding sound of chains rubbing together echoed. The Nine-Tails' huge body fell with a thud, landing in front of Mito Uzumaki in a sorry state.
"Damn seal!"
"Mito Uzumaki, I know you don't have long to live!"
"Just wait!"
"When I break free, Konoha, built by those scoundrels Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha with their own hands, will be reduced to ashes under my wrath!"
"That day is not far off!"
Mito Uzumaki furrowed her brow slightly. With a flick of her wide sleeve, several more golden chains flew out, binding the Nine-Tails' mouth tightly. The Nine-Tails' unexpressed roar was stifled back into its belly.
After struggling furiously on the ground of the sealed space, it felt only the chains tightening with Mito Uzumaki's chakra input. It was useless.
"After all these years..."
"Nine-Tails, I originally thought we could get along well!"
"But it seems I am not a qualified partner."
"Then so be it!"
"I hope that in your long time within Kushina, you can become friends with her!"
The Nine-Tails' entire body was so tightly bound that it was almost deformed, unable to make any movement. It could only glare at Mito Uzumaki with eyes full of hatred, as if spitting fire, vowing in its heart.
"Friends?"
"Hahahaha!"
"I swear, I will make that ninja named Kushina Uzumaki experience what true natural disaster is in the future!"
"Her family, her friends, everything about her... will pay for what you have done to me!"
Mito Uzumaki looked at the Nine-Tails' eyes still glaring at her, and sighed with a hint of helplessness. She waved her hand, releasing most of the Adamantine Sealing Chains binding the Nine-Tails.
Except for the five chains binding its limbs and torso, all others were withdrawn into her body.
"I'm sorry!"
"These past few decades, besides Hashirama, you've been the one who accompanied me the longest!"
"Except for your lack of freedom..."
Mito Uzumaki glanced at the shadow behind the Nine-Tails. In a moment of trance, it seemed as if many familiar figures were beckoning her from the darkness.
She closed her eyes gently, a wry smile appearing on her lips. Mito Uzumaki slowly shook her head.
"Just as you said, I don't have much time left."
"This might be the last time I borrow your power!"
"The next time we meet, it might be the day my soul returns to the pure land."
"In short, all these years..."
Mito Uzumaki gave the Nine-Tails a somewhat apologetic look, swallowing her unfinished words. After a moment of silence, she shook her head again at the Nine-Tails, lamenting:
"I'm afraid you'll have to continue staying in this dark and gloomy place in the future. I'm truly sorry!"
The Nine-Tails, which had been roaring furiously, felt the restraints on its body loosen and blinked in surprise. It looked down and met Mito Uzumaki's sorrowful eyes.
Habitually, it bared its teeth at Mito Uzumaki. Seeing its old opponent unresponsive, the Nine-Tails inexplicably felt a sense of weariness.
After Mito Uzumaki said a string of words that even she herself didn't quite understand the meaning of, her figure slowly faded before the Nine-Tails, and her consciousness returned to her body.
Watching the eyes that gradually disappeared from its sight, the Nine-Tails shivered, snapping out of its strange sense of loss.
Realizing what it had just been thinking, the Nine-Tails cursed itself inwardly.
"Damn it, I must have been confined for too long and my brain is malfunctioning!"
"Otherwise, why would I care about a human's life or death?"