Sukuna, You're Too Noisy

"By the way... can you tell me what's going on with your Tailed Beast transformation now?"

Others might not know, but how could Minato not?

The Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki was his girlfriend. Since when had she become his junior disciple?

"I absorbed the Four-Tails' chakra."

"You can do that?"

Minato frowned. "Has the Four-Tails already been taken by you?"

"No." Kagami Uchiha shook his head. "Using your own body to imprison a Tailed Beast is exhausting. You should know that better than anyone."

In his view, Uchiha Sasuke had the proper method for using Tailed Beasts.

Imprison them and use Susanoo as a vessel to carry their chakra.

If he followed Naruto's example... the whiskers on his daughter's face already said it all.

Besides, there was still an untamed monster inside his body. Stuffing something else in there and loosening the Seal would be no fun.

Minato sighed. Thinking of Kushina within the barrier, he felt a little miserable.

"Kagami... I want to become Hokage. I want Kushina to live a normal life..."

"She's always been under that kind of pressure... What should I do?"

Minato and Kagami had both seen the Nine-Tails firsthand. That calamity-level monster inside Kushina was like a bomb strapped to her body, one that could explode at any moment.

Kagami Uchiha fell silent for a while, then asked instead.

"What do you think about the First Hokage distributing the Tailed Beasts?"

Minato pondered for a long time.

"At the time, it was the right decision."

"The First Hokage desired peace, and ninja did not have the ability to rule the world. Using the Tailed Beasts as a deterrent to balance the various sides was reasonable."

"And the result was as he had hoped. During the First Hokage's lifetime, the ninja world entered its longest period of peace in a thousand years."

Kagami Uchiha chuckled. "He simply failed to consider that what restrained the world was never the Tailed Beasts, but himself."

"Perhaps he did consider it. But people... always die, while Tailed Beasts do not." Minato sighed and looked up at Kagami.

"Why ask about this all of a sudden?"

"Minato, if it were you, how would you handle the Tailed Beasts?"

"Tailed Beasts are necessary strategic deterrents. From the moment they were bound, unless someone like the First Hokage appeared again..."

"Maintaining the status quo is necessary. Take the Nine-Tails, for example. Releasing it would only bring endless disasters to Konoha."

Thinking of this, Minato's expression turned somewhat wistful.

"War... really can't be stopped..."

"Of course it can't."

"Land, wealth, power, culture, beliefs... Even a single Konoha cannot stop its internal conflicts. How can anyone expect an entire world to remain at peace forever?"

"The First Hokage's idea was correct. There truly needs to be sufficient deterrence to make the ninja villages stop fighting."

"But Tailed Beasts alone are far from enough."

Minato looked at Kagami Uchiha meaningfully.

He knew that his decision to stay had finally allowed this junior disciple, who had once kept his distance from him, to open his heart and explain his ideals.

Deep eyes visible through the bandages stared at Minato Namikaze.

"An individual's lifespan is limited, and the power of Tailed Beasts is insufficient."

"A clan!"

"A legacy!"

"There is no one more suited than the Uchiha Clan to serve as the world's restraint."

"I will become the strongest in the world!"

"The Uchiha Clan will go from Konoha's Military Police Force to a clan that patrols the ninja world!"

"I know full well that Uchiha clansmen are not suited to politics. We will only serve as a restraint on war."

"And the premise for all this is that an absolutely powerful Uchiha must continue without interruption."

As Kagami Uchiha spoke, Minato Namikaze felt as if his heart had been viciously clenched.

He struggled to breathe.

"I will die. Before I die, I will use the Transcription Seal to leave behind the ocular power I accumulated over my lifetime for the next successor."

"Only the Uchiha Clan possesses such an ability. Only the Uchiha Clan can bear the malice of this world!"

"Kagami... people's thoughts can change."

"Even if you can refrain from ruling, how could your successor... possibly resist the temptation of becoming king of the world?"

"And... bearing the malice of the world alone is too painful..."

Kagami Uchiha gave a soft laugh.

"Minato, your dream is to become Hokage. Have you considered what you will do after becoming Hokage?"

"Uh... shouldn't you wait until the dream comes true before thinking about that?"

"That is precisely the point."

Kagami Uchiha turned his gaze and looked into the distance through the tent window.

"This is my dream. Whether there will be a qualified successor is something to consider later."

"Besides... perhaps I won't die?"

"Haha, how could anyone not die?" Minato laughed, taking Kagami Uchiha's words as a joke.

There are some...

The Ōtsutsuki were immortal.

Minato stood up. "Thank you for being willing to tell me all this. You should get some rest too."

When he reached the door, he turned back with a smile.

"I will support you. I look forward to seeing you sever the world's tangled hatred."

"Kid, that blondie is special to you."

"He's a good person, and he's talented."

Kagami Uchiha replied blandly, "There are too few good people in this world. Even evil people like making friends with good people."

"After all, he doesn't spend every moment thinking about killing me like you do."

"Too cruel, kid~"

Sukuna's voice was hoarse and heavy. "I don't want to kill you."

"I want to eat you!"

"Every drop of blood, every piece of flesh, every bit of marrow!"

"I want to savor it all!"

"You're suffering, aren't you, Sukuna?"

Mockery laced Kagami Uchiha's words.

"You see humans as food, yet you're trapped inside a human body."

"You were once human too, but chose to become a curse."

"You do not understand human malice at all."

Sukuna, standing atop a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, suddenly felt a powerful pull.

"You... What are you doing?!"

His battles against Roshi and Ōnoki had allowed Kagami Uchiha to become familiar with using Tailed Beast chakra.

And he had also gained... experience in taking power.

Whoosh—

Within the mental space, a blade of light blazing with raging flames suddenly appeared.

Sukuna resisted the Seal's pull with all his might, but it was useless. His entire body was dragged to the sealing bars.

One of his arms was yanked through the bars.

Realizing what Kagami Uchiha intended to do, Sukuna burst into wild laughter.

"Hahahahaha!"

"Couldn't hold back from taking my power after all?!"

"Take it! Take all of it!"

The more, the better!

Slash!!

The flaming blade descended and severed Sukuna's arm, thick black blood flowing from the wound.

Kagami Uchiha hovered before the Seal, looking coldly down at Sukuna.

The severed arm twitched a few times outside the Seal, then shot toward Kagami Uchiha at high speed!

Boom!!

Vast ocular power firmly suppressed the arm!

"Gradual progress is my principle. Don't worry, Sukuna. I'll savor you bit by bit."

A smile curled at Kagami Uchiha's lips as a curtain descended over the vermilion Gate of Sealing.

As the view before him grew darker and darker, Sukuna began to panic somewhat.

He had been sealed for over a thousand years, but he had always been unconscious then.

Being conscious in the darkness, unable to feel time passing, unable to see anything...

Cut off from all outside information, an ordinary person would suffer severe psychological damage after only a few hours!

What frightened Sukuna even more was that Kagami Uchiha had first cut off one of his arms.

Before this, even if he were locked in a dark room, Kagami Uchiha would at most draw upon his power after a few days. He would naturally be able to see the outside world then.

"No... Don't!"

"Only with my guidance can you better master this power!"

"You're too noisy."

Kagami Uchiha lowered his fingertip, completely sealing off the space.

Until he finished using that arm, Sukuna could stay obediently in the dark room.

Hopefully, by the next time they met, he would have learned how to speak to his master.

Within the deathly silent darkness, only Sukuna's furious roar remained.