Kusagakure

"Stop! Otherwise, don't blame me for what happens next!"

The Kusagakure gate guard wore a smug look. In his narrow-minded view, the Uzumaki were synonymous with widows and orphans. Karin, an orphan, had brought another Uzumaki orphan to Kusagakure. As a native of Kusagakure, he naturally had every right to act superior!

The likes of you outsiders and parasites should be grateful to the noble natives who took you in. What right did you have to look down on us?

Fuyuki couldn't be bothered to talk. Talking to a useless nobody would only make him sound like he had too much to say. He controlled the Spirit Binding Vehicle, extending it from his back and shifting it into the shape of a palm. With one slap, he sent the guard flying. "The Uzumaki Clan is one of the great noble families of the Ninja World. Even in our current state, you don't get to act superior in front of me!"

Fuyuki's slap did more than send the Chunin guarding the gate flying. It also drew the attention of Kusagakure's Anbu to the side entrance. Teams of Anbu began carrying out their duties with clear division of labor: some went to report to the leader, while others moved to intercept the enemy.

"Fire Release: Ghost Lantern!"

The first ninja on the scene crouched on the eaves and began forming Hand Seals. Orange-red ghost flames circled around her before shooting toward the black-robed man who had killed the gate guard and Karin from different angles and directions.

"Karin, lead the way. Let me properly thank Kusagakure's useless higher-ups."

Fuyuki glanced at the eaves. Black chains sprouted from his back like shoots after spring rain, quickly killing the ninja on the roof and all the Anbu hidden nearby. "The Uzumaki's power is beyond the understanding of a pack of thieves like you!"

Kusagakure was quite famous in the Ninja World, but what it was famous for was stealing!

They specialized in stealing ninjutsu and secret techniques developed by the great nations. Kusagakure's ninjutsu and secret techniques were basically copied from the kekkei genkai clans and Secret Technique Clans of the various nations. They had no innovation of their own, and they loved to switch sides!

Of course, Kusagakure claimed they weren't copying anything; they simply liked learning and research!

They even dressed up their opportunism and fickleness as skillfully using diplomacy to maneuver between the great powers.

The Uzumaki couldn't maneuver as much as Kusagakure did!

Gathering Uzumaki refugees was also part of Fuyuki's plan.

His current goal was to gather chakra. Every member of the Uzumaki Clan was precious. They were born with enormous reserves of chakra, and with the help of formations from Medical Ninjutsu, they could give their chakra to Fuyuki, who desperately needed it to summon the Spirit King.

The Tailed Beasts were also part of Fuyuki's plan, but he wouldn't take action himself. With Black Zetsu around, he could wait until it manipulated the Akatsuki into capturing the Tailed Beasts, then borrow their chakra.

If they refused to lend it, he'd beat them until they did!

Karin's mother had died tragically. Fuyuki felt a faint pang of regret, along with a surge of anger.

Karin was so adorable, yet you scum actually wanted to bite her to heal your wounds!

Today, I, Uzumaki Lelouch, will restore the good name of the Uzumaki bloodline's Adamantine Sealing Chains. I'll bring Kusagakure to its knees, and then you'll learn what the bloodline of the Sage of Six Paths is all about!

With Karin leading the way, Fuyuki walked with his arms folded. The black chains on his back swept through most of the Anbu, even destroying many buildings. It was a disaster like the Nine-Tails' arrival in Konoha all those years ago.

The people of Kusagakure couldn't understand why the chains on Fuyuki's back were so terrifyingly tough. No matter what ninjutsu they used, it all seemed fragile and useless against those ever-shifting chakra chains.

The Yin-Yang Spirit's eyes were Mangekyo implants taken from Uchiha Fugaku. Their perception was even more terrifying than the Byakugan's. Fuyuki had the entire area under his control, and now he alone had the successive waves of Kusagakure ninjas surrounded.

"Big brother Lelouch..."

Karin had been timid when they first entered the village. But after seeing how powerful her big brother Uzumaki Lelouch was, she gradually began walking with an air of complete disregard for everyone around her. She had no affection for Kusagakure, which had killed her mother. In fact, she wished the whole village would just hurry up and die!

Kusagakure had never treated her and her mother like people!

"Why can the chains of Adamantine Sealing Chains destroy every ninjutsu? Mother, was it really true that Adamantine Sealing Chains can subdue the Tailed Beasts?"

"Ninjutsu requires chakra, but Adamantine Sealing Chains requires Chakraton! How could ninjutsu made from chakra possibly destroy Adamantine Sealing Chains made from Chakraton?"

Fuyuki checked the time, then raised his arm and pointed toward Kusagakure's mission hall. "To destroy Adamantine Sealing Chains, you'd need at least an A-rank ninjutsu that deals focused damage. Or perhaps Senjutsu Chakra. Otherwise, it'd be pointless."

If the Spirit Binding Vehicle Fuyuki formed could be destroyed so easily, how could Summoners control the summoned beasts that turned on their masters? Over thousands of years, the Spirit Binding Technique had been revised until it was nearly perfect.

Unless it involved forbidden soul control, the Spirit Binding Vehicle was an impeccable restraint!

"Stop!"

A figure dropped from the sky and struck Fuyuki with a palm while he was unprepared. Unfortunately, no matter how fast he was, he couldn't move faster than chakra. A black, barbed chain met the attacker's palm head-on, and the moment the two made contact, a deafening explosion erupted.

"Tsk. Having such sharp senses isn't always a good thing."

Fuyuki shook his head and used High-ranking Yang Spirit Chakra to heal his ringing ears. "Karin, what's with that guy who explodes?"

"Big brother Lelouch, be careful. He's the leader!" Karin hid behind Fuyuki. "He's very good at Taijutsu, and he even figured out the Iwagakure Explosion Corps' Landmine Fist. His attacks can trigger violent explosions."

"Don't call me Lelouch. In private, you can just call me Eclipse. That's my real name."

Fuyuki looked at Kusagakure's leader. "Are you the one who killed Karin's mother?"

"Who are you?!" The Kusagakure leader looked wary. He'd suffered badly when his palm struck the chain. No matter how hard he racked his brains, he couldn't figure out why the black chain had been wrapped in such terrifying force. It was just like the Strength Enhancement Fist!

Seven senior elders stood beside the leader. Behind them were the Anbu, Jonin, and Chunin who had stayed in the village.

Kusagakure loved to stir up trouble. They often provoked weaker countries and attacked them, so the ninjas left in the village weren't their full force—not counting those away on missions, either.

"You can call me Uzumaki Lelouch. I came here to thank Kusagakure." The eyes behind Fuyuki's mask glimmered with an eerie red light. "You killed a full-blooded member of the Uzumaki Clan. Would it really be so unreasonable for me to level Kusagakure Hospital and the village's leadership?"

"You!" The Kusagakure leader was furious and shocked.

Fuyuki raised his hand, and chakra surged inside him. Yin-Yang Chakra combined in an 8-to-1 ratio, forming a purple-red sphere in his palm that radiated an ominous aura. "Good evening, you pieces of trash. Time to turn out the lights!"

"Mini-Tailed Beast Bomb! Eat this!"

Fuyuki threw the Mini-Tailed Beast Bomb at the Kusagakure leader and the elders like he was pitching a ball.

All the black chains hurriedly fell back, wrapping around Fuyuki and Karin and forming a black sphere.

Outside, after a tremendous rumble, everything fell deathly silent.