"Tatsuma, Tatsuma, she told me thankfully I have her, what does it mean? Isn't she..."
Within the Senju Clan's territory, Tatsuma, with a fierce demeanor, sporting dark circles under his eyes and curly, oily hair, looked at the excited Minato, clenching his fists repeatedly.
"Minato, have you forgotten your three major misconceptions? One, you can defeat me; two, you're more handsome than me; three, Kushina also likes you."
Perhaps due to their years of friendship, Tatsuma chose to release his clenched fists and weakly said to Minato, "I will always defeat you. And I'm definitely more handsome than you. Similarly, Kushina likes me."
"Why did you tell me instead of Kushina? Do you know I haven't slept for days?" Minato asked.
Tatsuma looked at the unusually determined Minato, his hostility growing stronger. In order to fulfill Grandma Mito's plan of "letting love fill the container first," he had been on stakeout for a long time.
Orochimaru, for some reason, also couldn't resolve his thoughts and accompanied him on stakeout. Initially, this improved his mood somewhat, but after resolving things last night, Orochimaru happily went back to sleep, leaving Tatsuma still awake.
Now, despite being unaware, Minato was one of the beneficiaries and continued to pester Tatsuma. Right now, Tatsuma's greatest wish was to knock Minato out and finally get some sleep.
However, Tatsuma glanced towards the direction of the house, where many people had gathered—Mito, Uzumaki, Tsunade, Hiruzen—all discussing something inside.
Tatsuma had suspicions in his heart, feeling quite upset, though Minato was unaware, currently surrounded by nearly invisible pink bubbles.
Minato leaned close to Tatsuma's ear and asked, "Tatsuma, I want to formally pursue Kushina. What do you think?"
"Do you like her?" Tatsuma questioned.
"Yes."
"Do you like her more than you like yourself?"
"Yeah."
"Then go ahead and pursue her."
Tatsuma rubbed his face, somewhat distracted. But Minato seemed to have received some significant encouragement, nodded decisively, then asked with confusion, "Why do you have to like her more than you like yourself to pursue her?"
"Because I don't want my friend to be a scoundrel."
"A scoundrel?"
Minato didn't quite understand Tatsuma's choice of words. After a while, he curiously asked, "So, Tatsuma, is there a girl you want to pursue?"
"No.3
Tatsuma's decisive reply left Minato momentarily stunned. Then, somewhat uncertain, Minato asked, "What about boys?"
In an instant, the killing intent in Tatsuma's eyes became so intense that it was almost palpable. Without needing to speak, Minato already knew the answer. He scratched his head and asked, "Why though? I've asked others—Tenko, Sento, even Shibi—they all have girls they want to pursue. Only Shikaku said he doesn't because he's too lazy to bother. But you should be different, right?"
"You've been deceived. The Nara clan doesn't really have lazy people."
Tatsuma tried to deflect Minato's focus, but Minato persisted, pressing on, "Then why?"
"I think you've been driven crazy by the hormones and testosterone surge during puberty, messing up your brain with these kinds of questions all day long."
Tatsuma smirked slightly, but seeing Minato's bright and curious expression, like a puppy's eyes when passing by carrying a milk bowl, he continued, "Because I love myself more, and what I'm currently doing. There's no need to disturb others, nor be disturbed by them."
"I don't know how you imagine love, but when I imagine it, I calculate how much unnecessary time, how many unnecessary words, and how much unnecessary money it would consume each day.
Then, I wonder how long it would take me to determine if I truly love that person. And if I don't, I'd start over with someone else, and all the previous investments would be lost, possibly even earning their resentment for a while.
If I don't fall in love, none of these things would happen. My body, mind, time, and money wouldn't suffer losses. Instead, I could be better at being myself and better at completing what I'm doing."
As Tatsuma spoke, Minato's expression gradually became blank. He had never considered that these things could be calculated. He stared blankly and said, "Why do you think like this? Shouldn't love bring beautiful memories, having someone you love, maybe even a happy marriage, and having a lovely child?"
"This is the difference between you and me. You see what you can gain, while I only see what I could lose. Besides, even without having what you mentioned, I've managed to live on and quite well at that, so I don't aspire to obtain those things."
Tatsuma patted Minato's shoulder, then gestured towards the direction of the door. By now, Hiruzen and others had already come out. Tsunade was holding Kushina's hand, who had been crying incessantly.
All the words Minato wanted to say vanished the moment he saw Kushina crying. He wanted to comfort her, but didn't know what to say.
Tsunade approached the two of them and, in her deep voice, said, "Tatsuma, Grandma wants to see you."
Tatsuma nodded silently, got up, and walked quietly towards the house. He entered Mito's room and cleared his throat nervously before speaking:
"Grandma Mito, you wanted to see me?"
Mito sat on the edge of the bed and patted the space beside her. When Tatsuma sat down, she spoke, "I asked Kushina if she would be willing to become the Nine-Tails' vessel, and she agreed.
I also asked her if she would be willing to be friends with the Nine-Tails, but she didn't answer."
Not answering is also a kind of answer. Clearly, Kushina is unwilling, especially when she knows that becoming the Nine-Tails' host could cost Mito her life, making it even less likely.
"Tatsuma, do you think there's anyone who can be friends with the Tailed Beasts? Or have I been deluding myself all this time?"
Mito said weakly. Tatsuma pursed his lips and replied, "There will be."
Tatsuma's tone was serious, not like he was trying to deceive. Finally, Mito smiled and said, "Then it must be a child surrounded by love, right? Only a child loved enough would choose to share that love with a Tailed Beast."
"Okay."
Tatsuma's tone turned comforting. Mito shook her head, then glanced at two scrolls on the nearby table and said, "Tatsuma, bring those two scrolls over here."
"Alright."
Standing up, Tatsuma walked to the table and picked up the two scrolls. Curious, he returned to Mito's side.
Mito took the smaller scroll and uncovered it, saying, "This is the Seal of the Tailed Beast that I've prepared for Kushina. It's powerful enough to restrain the Nine-Tails at any time."
Looking at the Sealing Jutsu inscribed on it, Tatsuma found it somewhat challenging to fully comprehend. Nonetheless, he asked out of curiosity, "Why not use the Eight Trigrams Seal? Isn't it strong enough?"
"If Kushina were willing to set aside her bias against the Nine-Tails, then the Eight Trigrams Seal would indeed be better. But since she can't let go, the Eight Trigrams Seal would only allow the Nine-Tails' resentment to gradually erode Kushina's heart."
"Becoming a Jinchuriki is a very painful thing, so I hope Kushina's heart is filled with love, rather than hollowed out by erosion.
She just needs to learn how to use the power of the Nine-Tails."
After Mito finished speaking, Tatsuma curiously asked, "Grandma Mito, how did you seal the Nine-Tails? It seems different from these two seals."
Tatsuma had witnessed Mito using the power of the Nine-Tails, and neither the Eight Trigrams Seal nor this newly written sealing method seemed capable of allowing a Jinchuriki to use the Nine-Tails' power as freely as Mito.
Upon hearing this, Mito placed her hand on her belly and smiled, saying, "Me? I don't need to."
Listening to Mito's confident words, Tatsuma felt that he still had much more to learn. Mito looked at Tatsuma, smiled, ruffled his hair, and ignored her oily hands as she said:
"The Adamantine Sealing Chains are sufficient to suppress the Nine-Tails, but it's still a Sealing Jutsu, and Sealing Jutsu can be broken. So, I added an unlocked lock. I hope that if the unexpected happens, you can lock the seal again."
As Mito spoke, she pointed to several decomposed formulas. Tatsuma looked at them for a while and said, "I can't understand these formulas. Are they really Sealing Jutsu?"
"It's called a Sealing Jutsu, but it's more like the power of bloodlines. Only the Uzumaki Clan's Adamantine Sealing Chains can truly activate these formulas. When necessary, they can directly kill the Nine-Tails."
Mito's tone suddenly turned cold, her face no longer gentle, becoming extremely serious.
But Tatsuma was even more puzzled and said, "Adamantine Sealing Chains."
Before Tatsuma could ask further, Mito pointed to a large scroll and said, "Open it and take a look."
Tatsuma, hearing this, unfolded the large scroll and fell into silence as he studied the text and techniques inscribed on it.
Without feeling unworthy of Mito's teachings over the years, Tatsuma understood the scroll's contents. Combining the principles of dismantling Adamantine Sealing Chains pointed out by Mito with the associated techniques, Tatsuma deciphered the scroll.
The scroll was divided into two parts. The first part detailed the principles and techniques for dismantling Adamantine Sealing Chains, as well as techniques triggered by them.
The second part explained how to use the Chakra condensed from the hidden power in the Uzumaki Clan's bloodline to "create" Adamantine Sealing Chains. The details were thorough, but it required the bloodline of the Uzumaki Clan.
Seeing Tatsuma's furrowed brow, Mito said, "I spent several years trying to unlock the power of the Uzumaki Clan, but I couldn't. It's not about time; it's about capability. This is my gift to you, but ultimately, it's the most crucial step that you must complete yourself: deciphering the secrets of the Uzumaki Clan's bloodline, so that you too can use Adamantine Sealing Chains."
This is a huge task, and Tatsuma had no confidence at all. He dared not promise Mito anything. Mito pulled Tatsuma's hand, bringing him back to reality.
Looking at Tatsuma, Mito said, "I will give you enough of my power so that you have ample time to experience and study. I believe in your abilities."
With that, Mito pulled Tatsuma closer again, and Tatsuma sat down next to Mito. Mito leaned in closer, pressing her forehead against Tatsuma's. In the next moment, an almost endless amount of Chakra poured into Tatsuma's body.
The diamond-shaped seal on Mito's forehead gradually faded, while the same seal began to appear on Tatsuma's forehead.
Unlike the heavy and potentially tearing Chakra of the Nine-Tails, Mito's Chakra felt like a gentle spring breeze. Tatsuma felt no discomfort at all; he could even sense the slightly rough texture of Mito's dry forehead against his.
"Tatsuma, I can only accompany you this far. I'm sorry that what I leave you with is such a burden."
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