Simplified Nine Dragons Sealing

Three rounds of drinks had passed.

By the end of the night, even Naruto, who couldn't hold his liquor, had poured himself a glass to try, only to end up spitting it all out with a "wah."

This sent Jiraiya and Qiuyang into fits of laughter, and in that moment, it felt as though the exhaustion from three years of traveling had been completely swept away.

The bond between them grew even stronger.

After indulging for one final night, Qiuyang sent the master and student off the following afternoon before quietly heading to restart his long-sealed underground laboratory.

The first thing he did, however, was to shove all the instruments into the corners, clearing out a significant amount of space.

He intended to use this area to carve out the Nine-in-One Eight Trigrams Sealing array he had been envisioning, one capable of long-term use.

It was essentially a simplified, self-sustaining version of the Nine Dragons Sealing.

This array consisted of nine independent small Eight Trigrams Sealing formations designed to seal parts of the Tailed Beasts, along with one large Eight Trigrams Sealing formation that connected them all.

When the chakra generated by the nine Tailed Beast parts converged into the miniature Demonic Statue of the Outer Path within the large Eight Trigrams Sealing, it would generate the even more powerful force of All Things in Nature.

According to Qiuyang's hypothesis, that would be Ten-Tails chakra.

Although the rate at which the Tailed Beast parts produced chakra was mediocre, as the saying goes, any plaster that can draw out pus is a good one; at the very least, it would allow him to experience Six Paths Level combat power ahead of schedule.

It sounded complicated, and in truth, the execution was just as complex.

Just coordinating the Sharingan to properly carve the sealing runes would take at least five days of work.

But he was a man of action, so Qiuyang first used Earth Release to level the laboratory floor and solidify it.

He then pulled out a small bucket of pigment specifically used for carving arrays, his heart aching at the cost.

This was a genuine treasure in the Ninja World; the strength and chakra transmission rate of arrays carved with it were top-tier, making it more precious than gold.

To put it simply, such conductive materials were currently strictly controlled by every hidden village in the Ninja World.

This small half-bucket of rune-carving pigment had cost Qiuyang a fortune, acquired only after navigating the black markets of many different countries.

He rarely used such precious materials for the various techniques he carved into scrolls, but to ensure the sealing array could output at full power, it was worth it.

If he didn't use this material, he could have used chakra and life force to generate sealing chains like Kushina, but Qiuyang wanted to live a long life and had no desire to use such self-harming methods.

"Sigh, I hope this is enough."

Qiuyang took a deep breath, activated his Sharingan, calmed his mind, picked up his brush, and began dipping it into the black pigment to carve.

He started with the nine small Eight Trigrams Sealing formations on the perimeter.

One day... two days... three days...

Then he moved on to the large Eight Trigrams Sealing in the center, which took him another four days.

Qiuyang worked in fits and starts, finally completing all the sealing runes on the eighth day.

During the final half-day, he ran out of pigment entirely, so he simply used his own blood to fill in the channels connecting the small seals to the large one.

He figured that blood combined with Yin-Yang Release would likely be just as effective, if not better, than the pigment.

As he finished the final stroke, Qiuyang felt completely drained, his head buzzing and screaming at him to lie down and get some rest.

But he couldn't.

If he waited, the effectiveness of the carved runes would gradually diminish as they were exposed to the air.

After checking the arrays several times to ensure there were no oversights, he activated the Flying Thunder God technique to return to Konoha, then immediately rushed to the Hyuga compound to find Hanabi.

The clan head, Hiashi, came out to greet him upon hearing of Qiuyang's visit. After calling for a servant to fetch Hanabi, he stared at Qiuyang sternly and said:

"Qiuyang, you don't look well."

"Ahaha... I just haven't been sleeping well these past few days."

Hiashi sat down and spoke with the tone of an elder: "I heard from Master Jiraiya that you have no intention of pursuing a position in Konoha's upper echelons."

"Later... I might think about it later, ahaha!"

Qiuyang wasn't about to talk nonsense with this stern patriarch, so he just laughed it off. Just then, he saw Hanabi coming out and quickly led her away from the area.

"Phew... your father is truly stern; he's even more terrifying than a teacher calling on you in class."

Once they were far enough away, Qiuyang wiped the sweat from his forehead and said to the little girl. Seeing her eyes curve into crescents as if she were secretly laughing, he angrily flicked her smooth forehead and threatened:

"Go ahead and laugh. Next time I see your father, I'll ask him to give you extra training tasks."

Rubbing her forehead, Hanabi looked up with a stunned expression, her face clearly saying, "How could such words come out of Brother Qiuyang's mouth?"

Her adorable appearance nearly melted Qiuyang's heart, and he coughed to indicate he was only joking.

Hanabi didn't appreciate it and complained huffily:

"You promised seven days, but I waited eight for you."

"Ah? Sorry, sorry, I lost track of time. How about Brother Qiuyang praises you in front of your father next time?"

"I don't need your praise."

Nevertheless, a smile returned to the little girl's face.

After leaving the Hyuga compound, Qiuyang activated the Flying Thunder God technique once more, and within two breaths, he was back in that gloomy laboratory.

Hanabi looked at the dense array of magic symbols covering the scene and felt completely numb; the feeling Qiuyang gave her was that no matter what he did, it would always be perfectly reasonable.

For instance, the Hyuga's Rotation and Air Palm.

"This mission is very arduous, so little Hanabi must help your teacher complete it, alright?"

Qiuyang said earnestly.

It wasn't that he didn't want to find elites like Jiraiya or Kakashi to help, but he feared that these people who put the village first would expose his secrets, which would truly be a loss that outweighed the gains.

Conversely, a child like Hanabi, who was easier to coax, would definitely help him keep this secret.

Upon hearing that it was a very important mission, Hanabi's spirits were indeed lifted, and she nodded heavily in agreement.

"Wait to the side for a moment, I still have some preparations to make..."

Once the little girl obediently retreated to the corner, Qiuyang took out the Tailed Beast parts he had swiped from Snake Auntie one by one and placed them into the small Eight Trigrams Sealing arrays in sequence.

As for that mini Demonic Statue of the Outer Path... he wasn't sure if it would have an independent consciousness if released, so he simply placed it along with the instrument into the largest sealing array.

He planned to open it only after putting it into his body; that way, even if it truly had an independent consciousness, he could still use Wood Release chakra to suppress it.

In the corner, Hanabi had already activated her Byakugan, observing that these items Qiuyang brought out, which were several people tall, all radiated ominous chakra.

She was very curious about where Qiuyang found these bizarre things; the white monster in the Uchiha compound the first time was the same.

However, her mental fortitude was much stronger than it had been three years ago, and she didn't feel any fear; after all, Qiuyang would protect her.

After finishing the final preparatory steps, Qiuyang beckoned the little girl over and pointed to the ground:

"In a moment, I will use clones to seal these things into my body one by one. You stay by my main body and observe for any abnormalities. If I say cut, you use your gentle fist to sever the connecting channels."

"Mm, understood!"

Crack, crack...

Under Hanabi's shocked gaze, ten heads suddenly split out from Qiuyang's, followed by bodies growing out one by one as they separated.

Wood Release: Wood Clone Technique.