Seven-Tails Reappears

"Huh? I am no bootleg merchant!" Hashirama was baffled by Tobirama's move. As a man of such upright character, how could he possibly carry fakes? What was this guy Tobirama playing at?

"It wouldn't hurt to take a look," Byakuren said, following up on Tobirama's words.

The Kage nodded in agreement. Although they didn't believe Hashirama would deceive them over something like this, since the suggestion had been made, they might as well see for themselves.

And so, everyone took out their sealed scrolls and prepared to break the seals.

"Wait. Although the Tailed Beasts are sealed, they are quite large. If all seven appeared at once, this room might not hold them, so let's take them one by one," Tobirama said, glancing around the room.

A nodded and released the Two-Tails first.

After emerging and occupying nearly half the hall, the Two-Tails made no move, nor was there any surge of chakra, for its body was wrapped in countless wooden vines—Hashirama's Wood Release.

"A double seal?" Retto, who had studied sealing arts, couldn't help but click his tongue. He knew Tobirama was confident enough to release the beasts in front of them because he had prepared the necessary sealing work beforehand, but he hadn't expected a double seal.

Tch... Byakuren looked on with disdain. He felt he understood Tobirama's intent; wasn't this just a display of Konoha's sealing prowess? While Kirigakure didn't possess any powerful sealing arts and couldn't perform a double seal, they weren't so incompetent that they couldn't seal a Tailed Beast. With that thought, once A finished inspecting the Two-Tails and Eight-Tails, Byakuren released the Three-Tails and Six-Tails.

The Three-Tails and Six-Tails were naturally fine; Hashirama's seal was so secure that even the mucus on the Six-Tails' body couldn't secrete.

Next, Ishikawa inspected the Four-Tails and Five-Tails, confirming they were all genuine Tailed Beasts.

When it was Amamiya Ruri's turn, he felt something was off. Previously, when others inspected the beasts, everyone's gaze remained on the scrolls and the creatures, but now, while the others remained the same, Tobirama's eyes seemed to be fixed on him.

In the original story, Tobirama never had a wife or children; only Hashirama left behind descendants. Could it be...

Ruri felt a chill and shook his head, trying to banish the thought from his mind.

The Seven-Tails, Chomei, resembled a fusion of a beetle and a dragonfly. With wings on its back, it was one of the few Tailed Beasts capable of flight.

Watching Ruri pull out the scroll marked "Seven," Hashirama seemed to recall something.

"Oh no!" But it was too late. When Ruri released the Seven-Tails, it wasn't restrained by Wood Release like the previous beasts. That massive surge of chakra declared its power without restraint!

The Seven-Tails was the last one Hashirama had captured. Because the Five Kage Summit was approaching, and he hadn't intended to distribute the Seven-Tails to the Five Great Nations anyway, he hadn't had time to apply a Wood Release seal before sealing it into the scroll to bring to the summit. He had planned to apply a double seal with Wood Release after the summit before sending it to the Land of Waterfalls as a gesture of goodwill to the smaller nations.

But who could have known that Ruri would arrive at the summit as the Takikage, forcefully turning the Five Kage Summit into a Six Kage Summit? When distributing the beasts, Hashirama had only thought about getting it over with and earning an extra fee, forgetting that the Seven-Tails' seal was incomplete.

"Wood Release..." Hashirama formed hand seals, intending to use Wood Release to restrain the Seven-Tails. He could handle a beast that had just broken free with a single move, but he was stopped by Tobirama behind him.

"Big Brother, doesn't the Takikage also use Wood Release?"

Tobirama's words made Hashirama pause. He still wasn't entirely clear on the origin of Ruri's Wood Release. If Ruri truly possessed it, the Seven-Tails, having just broken free, wouldn't pose much of a problem for him. Furthermore, since Ruri had released it himself, as one of the Six Kage, he had his own dignity; he certainly wouldn't want help if he could handle it himself.

Ruri saw Tobirama stop Hashirama and understood immediately. Tobirama was likely testing his Wood Release. After all, Wood Release had a suppressive effect on Tailed Beasts; unless there was a better option, one should definitely use it to suppress them.

But damn it, my Wood Release can only build houses! Ruri fell into deep thought. At this moment, the Seven-Tails was instinctively flying upward. The building was made of genuine Wood Release, which had a certain suppressive effect on Tailed Beast chakra, so the Seven-Tails couldn't break the walls or fly out immediately. However, it would eventually find a weakness, so Ruri had to act fast.

A single Tailed Beast was equivalent to a Kage, but Ruri's only effective attack against them was the Truth-Seeking Orb. Things like the Rasengan or Chidori might work on other Kage, but they couldn't even break the defense of a Tailed Beast. Perhaps the Rasenshuriken could, but he couldn't use it.

The Rasenshuriken caused significant damage to the user's arm, and since Ruri didn't know Sage Mode, he couldn't throw it. He would definitely be injured. He had already used the Wood Release: Four-Pillar House technique in front of everyone, leading them to believe he could use Wood Release. If he chose to be injured rather than use Wood Release to suppress the beast, they would surely see through his facade.

But the problem was... was he supposed to build another house for the Seven-Tails to live in? Damn it, that does zero damage!

[Congratulations to the host for gaining the recognition of the Five Kage and successfully participating in the Six Kage Summit. The reward has been issued; please check it.]

The system was truly a protagonist-level cheat; this reward came at the perfect time!

Ruri almost wanted to kneel and call the system "Grandpa." He instantly opened the system space, only to find it empty except for the Truth-Seeking Orb.

Tobirama, who had been observing Ruri, keenly sensed the slight spatial fluctuation but couldn't make sense of it.

Where is my reward????

Damn it, where did the reward meant to save the day go?

[The reward has been issued to the host's mind; please check it yourself.]

What? No physical item this time? Ruri subconsciously thought about it and discovered a sealing technique had appeared in his mind out of nowhere.

[Phantom Dragons Nine Consuming Seals]

This thing is useless to me, isn't it? It requires at least ten people to perform and needs the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path as a vessel. This sealing art is powerful, but the restrictions are too high. It's on a completely different level from the Truth-Seeking Orb, right?

[The Phantom Dragons Nine Consuming Seals is a system-modified version. It can treat any object as a vessel. Jonin-level chakra is sufficient to seal wild Tailed Beast chakra into a vessel, and even extracting chakra from within a Jinchuriki only requires Elite Jonin-level strength~]

...There's such a thing as a modified version? Will I get a modified Harem Jutsu in the future? Just thinking about it is exciting!

Ahem, back to business. The Phantom Dragons Nine Consuming Seals was a technique specifically designed for Tailed Beasts. After the modification, it no longer had the rigid requirement for the number of users or vessel limitations. It was definitely among the top-tier sealing arts, and the chakra requirement wasn't high. In terms of practicality, it really wasn't much worse than a Truth-Seeking Orb. Of course, as Ruri grew stronger, a mere sealing art wouldn't compare to the Orb.

However, in the current situation, the Phantom Dragons Nine Consuming Seals was far more useful than the Truth-Seeking Orb. Ruri had to face the Seven-Tails; the Orb could kill it, but he needed to bring the Seven-Tails back to his village to bolster their military strength. Restraining and sealing it with just one Truth-Seeking Orb would be very difficult, and his remaining chakra couldn't support the long-term use of the Orb.

Time waited for no one. The other five Kage were eager to see Ruri's Wood Release. According to their logic, Wood Release had a suppressive effect on Tailed Beasts. In this situation, against a weakened beast that had just broken free, a single Wood Release technique should suffice. It would also allow them to see what Ruri looked like when he fought for real.

Especially Tobirama, who had orchestrated all of this. He didn't believe there was someone this powerful in the world. Space-time ninjutsu plus Wood Release—wasn't this basically on par with his big brother? How could someone like this have had no reputation before?

Furthermore, there was one thing he dared not say: Wood Release wasn't necessarily obtained only through bloodlines. He had done quite a bit of research in private and had theories about bloodline transplantation and human experimentation. Others might not think of this, but he could. Perhaps this Amamiya Ruri had obtained Hashirama's cells through some means and gained Wood Release abilities after transplantation.

Everyone had their own thoughts, but Ruri didn't give them time to ponder. Chakra condensed rapidly. "Phantom Dragons Nine Consuming Seals!"