The surging, violent chakra tore through the barrier Mito Uzumaki had erected, shattering it.
Before Mito and Tsunade could even utter a question, the Nine-Tails reappeared before their astonished eyes. Half of its form dissolved into a stream of light, instantly vanishing into Mito's Eight Trigrams Seal space.
Mito was dumbfounded. Without a moment to explain to Tsunade, she urgently followed the Nine-Tails into the sealed space with her spirit.
Inside the Eight Trigrams Seal space, everything was as usual. The Nine-Tails lay obediently on the ground.
Sensing Mito's spiritual body's arrival, the Nine-Tails, which had been searching its own soul fruitlessly, opened its eyes. Its expression was anxious as it spoke, "Mito, I recall your Uzumaki clan can directly perceive souls with a jutsu, right?"
Mito blinked and nodded subconsciously. "We do have them, but..."
A look of joy flashed across the Nine-Tails' face, and it rudely interrupted Mito's explanation. "That's great!"
"Quickly use that jutsu to check for me. Has someone secretly tampered with my soul?"
Mito's expression grew more puzzled. She couldn't help but ask, "Nine-Tails, what exactly did that child Orochimaru tell you?"
"Secret techniques involving the soul are extremely dangerous. Even for you, the strongest Tailed Beast, there's a possibility of irreversible damage."
The Nine-Tails was silent for a moment, then slowly shook its head. "Those words are a secret between us. I promised Orochimaru I couldn't tell anyone for now, especially you!"
How could the Nine-Tails tell Mito that Orochimaru had told it that Madara Uchiha was not dead and might have awakened the Rinnegan? Or that when it was controlled by Madara Uchiha's Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan back then, he had secretly branded a summoning contract on its soul? Or perhaps tell her that when a fool inheriting Madara Uchiha's will appeared, it would be directly summoned from Kushina Uzumaki's body and wreak havoc in Konoha?
Facing the silent Nine-Tails, Mito also fell into silence. "Orochimaru, what have you done?" "Why has the Nine-Tails become like this?"
After much thought, Mito could only try to approach the Nine-Tails. "Nine-Tails, the secret techniques of the Uzumaki clan that involve the soul all have extremely severe side effects. Have you truly thought this through?"
The Nine-Tails nodded resolutely. What was the point of severe side effects? Could it be worse than being enslaved like an animal by that madman Madara Uchiha again? "Let's do it!"
Mito asked again, "Even if you lose part of your power because of it?"
The Nine-Tails hesitated for a moment, then nodded heavily again. What if it lost some power? With its chakra reserves, it would still be the strongest Tailed Beast! "Even if I lose part of my power!"
Mito was speechless for a long time, then nodded slightly. "Alright! Wait here for a moment, I'll go get something."
After saying that, Mito's spiritual body withdrew from the sealed space. As she opened her eyes, she saw Tsunade looking curious and Orochimaru smiling. Mito let out an annoyed huff and tore open a gap in the Four Symbols Seal, exiting. "One by one, you've both become so strange!" "The Nine-Tails is like this, and even that child Orochimaru seems to have many secrets!" "Hmph!"
...
In the Eight Trigrams Seal space, Mito took out a grim Reaper mask in front of the Nine-Tails. "Nine-Tails, this mask seals a powerful soul cultivated by the Uzumaki clan through a secret technique. I can borrow its power to summon a soul clone of the Grim Reaper from the Pure Land. Have you thought it through?"
The Nine-Tails glanced at the ordinary mask and nodded indifferently. "Just don't make me wait too long!"
Mito was instantly furious. She let out an angry huff, put the Grim Reaper mask on, and performed a complex series of hand seals. "Ninjutsu—Forbidden Jutsu—Shiki Somun!" Unlike the Reaper Death Seal described in the Scroll of Seals, which was used to die with an enemy, this secret technique called Shiki Somun was primarily used to prevent the loss of sealing techniques passed down by the Uzumaki clan. If any were lost, future generations could summon the soul of a Uzumaki ancestor from the Pure Land to inherit those techniques.
This time, Mito used this secret technique not to disturb the slumbering ancestral heroes in the Pure Land, but to directly summon a Grim Reaper clone with little consciousness. A phantom Grim Reaper image appeared behind Mito, and a cold wind filled with soul wails began to blow within the sealed space.
Mito stepped forward and placed her hand on the Nine-Tails' forehead, uttering a low cry. "Secret Technique—Soul Sight!" "Nine-Tails, relax your mind and don't resist the Reaper's inspection!"
The Nine-Tails shivered as a chilling aura that reached deep into its soul swept over it, instinctively wanting to resist. But upon hearing Mito's reminder, it obediently endured.
Mito closed her eyes tightly and, through the Grim Reaper's powerful soul manipulation abilities, instantly penetrated the Nine-Tails' soul space. The Reaper's power, inherently containing negative emotions like death, was immediately drawn to the hatred and violence filling the space the moment it entered the Nine-Tails' soul. The Grim Reaper clone, lacking much reason, broke free from Mito's guidance and recklessly lunged at the negative energies. Its hollow mouth opened, and like a great whale drinking water, the Reaper clone swept away the negative emotions within the Nine-Tails' soul space. It smacked its lips with satisfaction and returned to Mito's guidance.
Both Mito and the Nine-Tails were stunned by the Reaper clone's actions. They watched as the Nine-Tails' chakra, which had previously radiated hatred and violence, was instantly purified by the Reaper clone's indiscriminate absorption. Feeling the pure power within the Nine-Tails, as if it had just been born a thousand years ago, a warm and peaceful sensation almost made their eyeballs pop out.
"Mito, is this the result you mentioned of losing part of your power?" the Nine-Tails murmured, its voice completely devoid of its previous anxiety and anger. Mito also stared blankly at the clear soul space and shook her head involuntarily. "I don't know!" "I've lived so long, and this is the first time I've seen something like this!"
After a moment of silence, they finally remembered why they had summoned the Grim Reaper clone. They quickly used the Reaper's power to thoroughly scan the Nine-Tails' soul space. Indeed, Mito discovered a small area that was clearly out of place with the rest of the space. "There really is something hidden in the center of your soul!" "It looks a bit like the pattern of an eye. I feel like I've seen it somewhere before." "Nine-Tails, how did you know?"
Mito withdrew the secret technique and quickly removed the mask. The chilling aura that had invaded the Nine-Tails' mental space receded like a tide. The Nine-Tails shivered violently, its eyes snapping open. Its mind, now calm under the influence of its pure soul, was instantly ignited with a raging fire. "Damn it, he really tampered with my soul!" "Mito, pull that brat Orochimaru's spiritual body in. It seems this matter cannot be avoided by you!" "Remember, only you and Orochimaru should know about this!"
Mito was taken aback, not understanding the Nine-Tails' riddle. However, seeing that the Nine-Tails' object of anger was not Orochimaru, she nodded slightly and vanished from the Nine-Tails' sight with a flicker of her body. When she reappeared, a figure was beside her—Orochimaru.
"Orochimaru, I believe you!" "The deal you mentioned can proceed!"
Orochimaru nodded with a smile and asked Mito, "Grandmother, did you find the mark in the Nine-Tails' soul?"
Mito nodded and asked curiously, "Orochimaru, you've never met the Nine-Tails before, so how did you know someone had planted a mark in its soul?" "And that mark feels very familiar."
Orochimaru had an answer ready for this question. He chuckled lightly, "It was merely a possible speculation based on extensive knowledge of ninja world history!" The Nine-Tails glanced at him sideways, curled its lips, and couldn't be bothered to expose this pretentious fellow.
"Is that so?" Mito muttered to herself in confusion, then asked again, "Then can you guess what that branding is, and who planted it on the Nine-Tails?"
The Nine-Tails, growing impatient, interrupted, "It's a summoning contract mark, left on me by that bastard Madara Uchiha back then." "Stop wasting time and find a way to get rid of it for me!"