Once he was ready, Kazuyama Gekkō took a deep breath.
"Chōmei, are you ready?"
"I'm going to start."
Chōmei nodded. He, too, was prepared. Once the seal succeeded, he would be free. Although he would be tied to the young boy in front of him, Chōmei felt that the brat was a good candidate.
The Four Symbols Seal was a powerful sealing technique that demanded immense strength and precise chakra control. Fortunately, Kazuyama had maintained his Transparent Escape state for years, honing his control over chakra to perfection.
Just as Kazuyama was about to inscribe the Four Symbols Seal onto his body, he froze mid-motion.
"What's wrong, kid? Why aren't you moving?" Chōmei asked, watching him fall into silent contemplation.
"Um... Chōmei, where do you think would be a good place to draw the technique?" Kazuyama asked, a little embarrassed.
He recalled Naruto's seal being placed on his belly button in the original story. The thought left him slightly baffled. Why seal it on the stomach? Perhaps it was due to Naruto's age and the lack of space elsewhere.
But at 14, Kazuyama was already 1.7 meters tall and in his prime. Sealing it on his belly button felt... undignified.
"Well, does it really matter? I'm going to seal it on you no matter where it is, right?" Chōmei teased. "You could carve it on your butt, or— Never mind. How about your chest?"
"My chest?" Kazuyama muttered before ripping open his shirt, revealing a well-toned torso.
"Then the chest it is," he decided.
"Here we go!"
Kazuyama began constructing the Four Symbols Seal ritual with himself at the center. The process was delicate and demanded intense focus. Once ready, he faced Chōmei, extended his hands, and declared, "Four Symbols Seal!"
The seal activated as Kazuyama injected his chakra into it. A powerful suction force emerged, focused on the left side of his chest where the seal was placed.
"Come on, my friend, Chōmei!" Kazuyama shouted.
"Hmph, brat. Kazuyama Gekkō, I hope you won't make me regret this!" Chōmei snorted before transmitting his chakra in accordance with the Four Symbols Seal.
At the same time, Chōmei infused some of his fallen shell with chakra, ensuring it could replace his physical body to accept the seal from Takigakure.
Time crawled by as sweat drenched Kazuyama's face. This sealing was unlike Minato Namikaze's, who had halved the Nine-Tails' power and had Kushina's aid with the Adamantine Sealing Chains.
Kazuyama was alone, facing the full might of the Seven-Tails. While the Seven-Tails wasn't as powerful as the Nine-Tails, it was still a Tailed Beast, and its chakra output was overwhelming.
"Pfft, kid, you can't handle it?"
Chōmei couldn't stand to see his friend in such a dire state. "Hmph, I'll help you," he muttered to himself.
Chōmei could immediately tell that Kazuyama was in bad shape. Without hesitation, he channeled some of his chakra into the seal to stabilize it. After all, who else in the world could seal themselves other than him, Chōmei?
With the Seven-Tails' assistance, the seal was completed in no time.
An hour later, Chōmei disappeared completely, entering Kazuyama's body through the seal. On the other hand, Kazuyama blacked out the moment the process was complete, succumbing to exhaustion.
A distinct Four Symbols Seal now adorned his left chest, its intricate patterns pulsing faintly with residual chakra.
"You little brat, worn out from just one seal," Chōmei teased with a chuckle. "Well, well, looks like I'll have to wait a bit longer."
"Forget it. After waiting all these years, what's a little while longer?"
Settling into the expansive space within the seal, Chōmei's thoughts wandered to his new host. "When we get out of here, I'll make that brat Kazuyama get me some insects to eat. Mmm... nothing beats the delicious smell of insects."
Comfortably lying within the seal, Chōmei didn't feel worried despite being contained once again. After all, this Four Symbols Seal was reinforced by his chakra, which meant its binding power over him wasn't very strong.
"Oh, right, the brat is sleeping soundly now. I can't let those fools outside figure this out, or I won't be able to leave," Chōmei mused. "Well, I've been sealed for so many years. I'll give them something to panic about for a while."
As Chōmei's voice faded, a wisp of his chakra surged from Kazuyama's body and into the insect shell infused with his essence.
The next moment, the replica of Chōmei, animated by the chakra, began to thrash violently. Its sudden movements threw the Takigakure ninja outside into chaos.
The Seven-Tails, which had been on the verge of settling down, appeared to go berserk once more. The startled ninjas scrambled to suppress it with their seals, panic spreading through their ranks.
"Perfect," Chōmei thought smugly. "This will buy me some time until the boy Kazuyama wakes up."
"I'm really a genius!"
...
Kazuyama slept soundly for an entire day, and when he finally awoke, it was already the next morning.
Thanks to Chōmei's clever efforts to conceal the truth, the Takigakure ninja had no idea what had transpired. If they had discovered him during the sealing process, it would have been disastrous.
"Chōmei, are you okay?" Kazuyama asked instinctively, his first words upon waking directed at his new partner.
The question caught Chōmei off guard, and for a moment, he felt warmth spread through him. This brat, he realized, actually cared about his well-being. Not bad at all.
But then Kazuyama added, "You can't die, or my dream of watching a football match from a high spot will never come true."
Chōmei sighed inwardly. Damn, I got too happy too quickly.
"Hmph, thanks to you, I'm doing just fine!" Chōmei replied. "It's just that my chakra is a bit depleted, but that's no problem—I'll recover in no time."
This was true. During the sealing process, Chōmei had used a significant amount of chakra to ensure the Four Symbols Seal's success.
"Hahaha, thank you for your hard work earlier," Kazuyama said gratefully. "If it weren't for your chakra support, this seal would've failed. I didn't realize the Four Symbols Seal was actually so difficult."
Kazuyama couldn't help but feel shaken. In his previous life, watching the anime, this seal never seemed particularly challenging. But now that he had experienced it firsthand, the reality was starkly different.
Maybe it really is the difference between people, he mused.
Minato Namikaze had learned Fūinjutsu directly from Jiraiya and already had a strong foundation. Not to mention his wife, Kushina Uzumaki, who hailed from a clan renowned for their mastery of Fūinjutsu. Their unique Adamantine Sealing Chains was unparalleled in strength.
And himself? Kazuyama was just an ordinary ninja with a hint of talent and a Kekkei Genkai. Comparing himself to them was pointless.
But soon, Kazuyama shrugged it off. He might not excel at Fūinjutsu, but when it came to stealth and concealment, even thirty years of learning from Minato wouldn't let anyone surpass him.
Transparent Escape is definitely the most formidable concealment technique in the world.
With that thought, Kazuyama's spirits soared. He was now a full-fledged Jinchūriki. And with his budding relationship with Chōmei, becoming a perfect Jinchūriki seemed as effortless as drinking water.
~....~ Countless thoughts raced through his mind, filling him with newfound confidence.
As he smirked at his own brilliance, a prompt sounded, pulling him out of his thoughts.