The Sealing Tower

The entire Village of Whirlpools was centered around the tall tower in its middle, with houses extending outward in concentric circles, presenting a massive, whirlpool-like layout.

Ayako led the group through the streets, where the people's attitude toward her was even more devout and respectful than those at the harbor.

Qiancao had a feeling that if the people at the harbor were only showing affection for Ayako because of Ashina, then the people of the Village of Whirlpools truly respected her from the bottom of their hearts.

Ayako, walking in front, did not show much reaction, merely nodding in return to the Uzumaki clansmen who stopped by the roadside, until she led the group to the base of the high tower in the center of the village.

Before entering the tower, Ayako said to Qiancao and Wuming with a serious expression, "This high tower was built to protect the Four Symbols Seal within."

"The Four Symbols Seal enshrines the guardian deity of the Land of Whirlpools; it is because of its existence that the daimyo of the Land of Fire have been forced to reluctantly acknowledge the independence of the Land of Whirlpools."

Could it be that a Tailed Beast is sealed inside? Qiancao thought to himself. In the Naruto World, only a Tailed Beast would require a seal of this caliber.

Ayako then emphasized even more sternly, "My usual duty as your master is to guard the seal here. When you live here in the future, do not cause any damage to the things on the first floor."

Qiancao and Wuming nodded in agreement, and Ayako pushed open the heavy doors, leading them into the tower.

The entire Sealing Tower was about a dozen stories high, but the first floor alone was a massive, open space created by combining the height of five stories.

In the center of the first-floor hall stood a colossal statue. The statue was shaped like a gray, mud-turtle-like monster with sharp teeth and a tail resembling that of a shark.

The rest of its body resembled a giant tortoise, with its limbs and head covered in hard, protruding shells—it looked like a creature one would not want to provoke.

Qiancao recognized at a glance that this statue was the legendary Three-Tails; after all, ordinary animals wouldn't have three tails carved into them with such effort.

Seeing her disciple interested in the statue of the Three-Tails, Ayako introduced it to him:

"This is Isobu, the guardian deity that Brother Ashina 'invited' from the Land of Water."

"When Brother Ashina first encountered it, it was living in a massive lake in a remote part of the Land of Water, and the local ninjas were trying to tame it as a summoning beast."

"But it refused to cooperate, leading to many conflicts with the local ninjas. Brother Ashina was invited to help seal it."

"At that time, Brother Ashina and the local ninjas fought it for three days and three nights before they finally subdued it, leaving deep-seated grudges between both sides."

"The local people feared that if it ever broke the seal, it would seek revenge, so they begged Brother Ashina to find a place to dispose of Isobu."

"However, during his communication with Isobu, Brother Ashina discovered that Isobu had no intention of harming humans; it was the humans in the Land of Water who had attacked first, forcing it to retaliate."

"It just so happened that Brother Ashina discovered Whirlpool Island on his way to the Land of Water. Thus, he reached an agreement with Isobu to provide a place on Whirlpool Island to enshrine it and offer it a peaceful living environment."

"And so, the very first building in the entire Land of Whirlpools was this Sealing Tower."

Looking at the towering stone statue before him, Qiancao was struck by the irony that his first contact with a Tailed Beast was under such circumstances, and he felt quite moved:

I wonder where the other Tailed Beasts are now? They must be living within the borders of the countries that will eventually seal them, right?

Ayako then led the group up the spiral staircase along the walls, and after quite a bit of effort, they reached the second floor.

The second floor was a slightly smaller hall, with several small rooms partitioned off by stone walls around its perimeter.

Ayako pointed to one of the rooms and said, "This is the room where I usually rest. If there is anything important, just knock on my door."

After speaking, she pointed to a room opposite hers: "That room contains the various sealing techniques of my Uzumaki Clan and the storage for sealing artifacts; it is protected by very powerful barriers."

"If you enter without permission, it will trigger an alarm to notify the experts of the clan, so do not enter that room under normal circumstances."

Ayako added, "I will teach you the sealing techniques inside in the future, so don't be curious about what is in there."

Qiancao nodded like an obedient student, thinking to himself, I don't need to go inside to know what's in there; I might even know about some sealing techniques that won't be invented until the future.

Under the enhancement of his Sharingan, the once-blurry details of the Naruto anime were like high-definition videos that he could browse in his mind at any time.

As long as he desired to search his memories of the Naruto anime, the Seven Generation God Mangekyo Sharingan would automatically play the relevant clips in his mind, which was extremely convenient.

Seeing his well-behaved expression, Ayako was very satisfied. There had been other ninjas who had landed on the island in the past, not seeking refuge but trying to steal the Uzumaki Clan's sealing techniques, and it had taken quite a bit of effort for her to send them away.

Ayako then led the group further upward. The layout of the third floor was similar to the second, with a hall and several rooms.

However, the hall and rooms on the third floor appeared slightly smaller than those on the second.

Ayako led the group into the third-floor hall and opened three adjacent rooms.

"These rooms were prepared for when our clansmen would branch out and grow in the future," Ayako introduced. "It's just that everyone has been busy building the village these past few years, and no one has moved into the Sealing Tower."

"You can stay here!"

Ayako led them to look at the furnishings in the rooms, which reminded Qiancao of the budget hotels from his past life. Although they weren't luxury suites, the neat and refined appearance was much warmer than the Uchiha prison cells.

After placing their luggage and purchased items in the rooms, Ayako led the group further up the stairs.

"The layouts of the fourth and fifth floors are the same as the ones below," Ayako continued to explain. "Some of our clan's elders used to live here, but they prefer living with their own families."

"So, aside from the servants coming up to clean every day, these floors are basically unoccupied."

The massive Sealing Tower had over twenty rooms, but most were empty and uninhabited.

Qiancao finally understood why Senju Arashi had said his master was usually very lonely. Despite being surrounded by her own clansmen, living alone above a prison for others was indeed a lonely existence.

Unaware of Qiancao's thoughts, Ayako led the group all the way to the top of the Sealing Tower.

Opening the door to the rooftop, the group stepped out from the interior of the tower, feeling a sense of openness, as if they were "standing at the summit, looking down at all the mountains."

The entire Village of Whirlpools was in full view. The golden sunset cast long shadows from the various buildings, and thin wisps of smoke drifted from the chimneys of every house, guiding families on their way home.

Seeing Qiancao's expression, Ayako felt very gratified, knowing that her disciple was also moved by this beautiful scenery.

"Whenever I feel depressed or lonely, I come up here to take a look," Ayako said slowly. "Every time I see the scenery below, I feel that my sacrifices and patience are all worth it."