The Sage Art: Adamantine Sealing Chains entwined layer upon layer, firmly imprisoning the mountain-like Four-Tails against the earth.
Every struggle of its magma-like body caused the chains to hum and vibrate as golden light flowed through them, yet it remained unable to shake the unbreakable restraint.
Takuno's figure appeared tiny before the massive form of the Four-Tails, yet he carried an undeniable aura of overwhelming pressure.
He walked closer slowly, his calm gaze meeting the giant, flaming eyes of the Four-Tails.
Unexpectedly, what churned within those pupils was not a heaven-scorching rage, but a quiet, weary resignation.
The Four-Tails' low voice echoed through the valley, carrying a hint of hoarseness: "My skill was inferior; falling by your hand leaves me with nothing to say. Take... the thing you want."
It abandoned its futile struggle, and its massive head drooped slightly as if a burden of ten thousand tons had been lifted.
Takuno said nothing. He simply reached out a hand and pressed it firmly against the Four-Tails' scalding, rock-textured body.
In an instant, the dormant chakra within him erupted!
Countless pitch-black, shimmering incantations—like living vines—originated from his palm and spread madly along the Four-Tails' limbs and skeleton, branding themselves into it.
Within moments, the giant beast's massive body was completely covered by dense, eerie, and profound black formulas.
Takuno withdrew his hand and formed a hand seal.
"Sealing Jutsu: Chakra Severance Technique!"
Vrrrrm!
The black formulas covering the Four-Tails lit up in response, exploding with blinding light!
Almost at the same instant, the Four-Tails' agonizing shriek, like a collapsing mountain or a crashing tsunami, suddenly rang out!
This sound was no longer a roar of anger, but a heart-wrenching wail originating from the very source of its life!
Tailed Beasts were, by nature, lifeforms condensed from the purest chakra.
The secret technique Takuno was currently performing was not a simple extraction of energy. It was like using the sharpest blade to forcefully gouge a piece out of its origin—out of the very foundation that constituted its existence!
This pain surpassed physical limits and reached the essence of existence.
The magma-like body twisted and convulsed madly within the chains, attempting to break free from this bone-deep torture.
However, the Adamantine Attacking Chains, reinforced by Senjutsu, were indestructible. No matter how it struggled, it was like a mayfly shaking a tree—the chains remained motionless.
The golden glow of the chains and the eerie light of the formulas intertwined, illuminating the Four-Tails' face, distorted by agony, creating a cruel and shocking scene.
Time passed slowly amidst the Four-Tails' wails and the flickering incantations.
After an unknown amount of time, the space in front of Takuno fluctuated violently, and a sphere of chaotic color—seemingly containing endless violent energy—slowly took shape.
Takuno's eyes narrowed slightly as he reached out. The chaotic chakra sphere seemed to be drawn by a tether, suddenly sinking into his body and disappearing.
With the departure of its origin chakra, the Four-Tails' towering body, which had been dozens of meters high, visibly shriveled and dimmed, shrinking by more than twenty percent!
This was not ordinary chakra consumption; it was the permanent severance and loss of its life origin.
This kind of wound could not be easily mended by simply re-condensing chakra.
To recover this twenty percent of forcibly stripped origin power would be a long, grueling ordeal for the Four-Tails, lasting decades or even longer.
The agonizing shrieks gradually died down, turning into heavy panting before finally settling into a dead silence.
The Four-Tails' massive chakra body could no longer maintain itself. Like a popped bubble, it rapidly collapsed and dissolved into the air.
In its place, only one figure remained: Roshi.
He looked as if all his strength had been drained; his clothes were in tatters, his breathing was faint, and he lay prone and motionless on the cold earth, having fallen into a complete coma.
Takuno walked slowly toward the unconscious Roshi.
This Four-Tails Jinchuriki still held value for him; he was the key to unlocking the mysteries of Lava Release.
To ensure his own safety, he skillfully formed seals and created a Wood Clone to stand guard nearby.
Then, Takuno took a deep breath, adjusted his state, and formed a more complex set of seals.
"Spirit Transformation Technique!"
With a low shout, a condensed light of chakra suddenly brightened from Takuno's original body and shot like an arrow into Roshi's body.
Takuno's physical body went limp, but at the moment it collapsed, numerous flexible branches rapidly grew from the ground behind him. Like living things, they gently wrapped and protected him, forming a temporary safety cocoon.
Meanwhile, inside Roshi, "Roshi"—or rather, the consciousness of Takuno currently controlling the body—slowly opened his eyes.
He immediately felt the heavy exhaustion radiating from this body, as if he were carrying a thousand-pound weight.
Takuno did not hesitate; he quickly fished a Food Pill out of Roshi's ninja tool pouch and swallowed it to replenish some stamina.
Immediately following, he sat cross-legged and began to concentrate fully on refining chakra.
Although Takuno already had some experience in refining Kekkei Genkai on his own, being able to directly observe and experience a ready-made sample would undoubtedly shorten the time needed for exploration and lower the risks.
The Lava Release chakra inside Roshi, originating from the Four-Tails Son Goku, was the perfect reference for this trip.
The power of a Tailed Beast serves as a natural guide and aid for its host to safely refine a Kekkei Genkai, just as the Second Kazekage, Shamon, once realized Magnet Release from the formulas of the One-Tail Shukaku.
Roshi, too, must have gained inspiration from the Four-Tails to refine the Lava Release Kekkei Genkai.
At this moment, Takuno's consciousness precisely mobilized the Earth and Fire natures within Roshi's body.
He carefully guided these two vastly different energies, attempting to let them fuse and permeate each other.
Thanks to Roshi's body's instinctive memory of Lava Release and the latent guidance of the Four-Tails' chakra, the process was unexpectedly smooth.
Soon, a searing, viscous chakra containing unique volcanic properties clearly appeared in Takuno's perception—this was Lava Release chakra!
The ease of the process was also due to the fact that once a Kekkei Genkai is successfully refined, its characteristics are branded into the depths of the genes as a physical instinct.
Therefore, even if it was Takuno's consciousness and not Roshi himself controlling the body, the power of Lava Release remained; it would not disappear due to a change in consciousness.
After immersing himself in this unique chakra experience for a long time, Takuno finally felt he had gained enough.
His consciousness withdrew from Roshi's body like an ebbing tide, returning to his original body protected by the Wood Release branches.
Returning to his physical form, Takuno's eyes flashed with the light of contemplation.
This deep experience within Roshi's body gave him an intuitive and profound understanding of the essence of Lava Release.
Combined with the Four-Tails Lava Release chakra sample he had collected earlier, under this double guarantee, he was confident that in the near future, he could successfully refine his own unique Lava Release Kekkei Genkai within his own body.
Not only that, he also held the Magnet Release chakra of the One-Tail Shukaku in his hands.
If he could also collect the Boil Release chakra of the Five-Tails Kokuo and the Saiken's Acid (Slug) Release chakra of the Six-Tails, then he would be only a few types away from mastering most of the world's known Kekkei Genkai.
"Scorch, Explosion, Gale Release..." Takuno murmured to himself, feeling a slight pang of regret.
Pakura of the Scorch Release and that Iwagakure shinobi who mastered Explosion Release had already perished; otherwise, he could have saved a lot of time on self-exploration.
However, regarding Gale Release, he remembered there was a user in Kumogakure.
It seemed he would need to pay close attention to this when he traveled to the Land of Lightning in the future.
As for the Kekkei Tota, which stood above the Kekkei Genkai, Takuno's knowledge was relatively vague.
Currently, the only clearly recorded one was the Third Tsuchikage Onoki's devastating Dust Release.
As for others, such as the Crystal Release that appeared in the TV series, whether it was a Kekkei Tota, a special mutation of a Kekkei Genkai, or some other unknown power, was difficult to determine.
After all, the shinobi world is vast and full of wonders; unique abilities like the Deadbone Pulse, Twin Devils' Attack, and Five Senses Control emerge one after another, making it difficult to categorize them all.
So, without clear clues or feasible methods, blindly investing a large amount of time into exploring unknown Kekkei Tota would undoubtedly be more trouble than it was worth.
Rather than doing that, it was more practical to focus on the known, attainable powers before him.
Takuno stared at the still-unconscious Roshi, without the slightest intention of releasing him.
To him, the value of this Four-Tails Jinchuriki went far beyond the Tailed Beast chakra and the learnable Lava Release Kekkei Genkai.
Roshi was a heavyweight bargaining chip in his hands, enough to pry open the gates of Iwagakure.
Previously, Takuno had carefully considered the difficulty of obtaining the Five-Tails' chakra.
He speculated that once the news of him defeating Roshi spread, the high-level officials of Iwagakure—especially the shrewd Third Tsuchikage Onoki—would surely be startled like birds at the twang of a bowstring and immediately strengthen the protection around Han, the Five-Tails Jinchuriki.
In fact, Onoki might have already adopted such a strategy after Takuno went to Sunagakure to obtain the One-Tail's chakra.
Han would likely be strictly forbidden from leaving the village for any mission; thus, Takuno's original plan of luring Han out of Iwagakure by posting a specific mission would completely lose its possibility of implementation.
However, the capture of Roshi gave him a new idea.
Although Roshi lived alone away from the village due to a conflict of ideals with the Tsuchikage, he had never been categorized as a rogue ninja by Iwagakure. The Four-Tails sealed within him remained an indisputable strategic-level power for the village.
This special status gave Roshi extremely high value as a "hostage."
Takuno's calculation was shrewd; he could use Roshi as a bargaining chip to directly demand a portion of the Five-Tails Kokuo's chakra from Onoki.
He was certain Onoki would accept this deal.
The reason was simple: even if Roshi had been drained of some chakra, a complete Four-Tails that could be deployed into battle at any time remained sealed inside him.
In comparison, giving up only a portion of the Five-Tails' chakra would have a negligible impact on Iwagakure's overall strength.
Trading a portion of Tailed Beast chakra to get back a complete Jinchuriki was an absolute bargain for Onoki.
Moreover, having experienced this capture, Roshi might feel a sense of guilt toward Iwagakure and choose to return to serve the village.
In this way, Onoki would not only preserve a crucial Tailed Beast combat asset but might also unexpectedly regain a powerful shinobi; it was truly killing two birds with one stone.
Based on these considerations, Takuno was convinced Onoki had no reason to refuse the trade.
At this thought, Takuno's gaze grew deeper, and an even bolder idea quietly surfaced.
Could he use the Roshi card to demand the secret technique of Iwagakure, the method for Dust Release?
After all, from the Second Tsuchikage Mu to the Third Tsuchikage Onoki, the powerful Kekkei Tota of Dust Release had been passed down in Iwagakure, proving that the village must possess the complete method.
Although its difficulty was extremely high—so high that even Onoki's son Kitsuchi and the later "Leg-kage" Kurotsuchi failed to master it—this only proved its preciousness and power.
However, after careful deduction, Takuno slowly shook his head, rejecting this tempting idea.
The feasibility of trading Roshi for the Dust Release secret technique was negligible.
As Iwagakure's ultimate hidden trump card, Dust Release's strategic value was likely higher than that of a single Jinchuriki.
Onoki would never easily trade the foundation of the village.
Rather than pinning hopes on a negotiation that was almost impossible to succeed, it was better to find another way.
Takuno's thinking quickly turned to a more direct and dangerous method: finding an opportunity to infiltrate Iwagakure and secretly steal the Dust Release scrolls or related records.
Or, taking even more radical measures: personally capturing Onoki himself!
If he could successfully subdue the Third Tsuchikage and then use the Spirit Transformation Technique to invade his mental world, he could directly probe every detail of the Dust Release process from the depths of his memories.
This was undoubtedly the most thorough and most likely method to obtain the complete inheritance.
However, this would not be easy.
Takuno knew well that if he wanted to use the Spirit Transformation Technique to deeply probe Onoki's memories, he had to ensure the target survived.
But capturing a Kage-level powerhouse alive was far more difficult than taking their life.
Onoki's strength was no trifling matter.
Takuno recalled the battle of the Five Kage against Madara in the original work. In that peak showdown, the performances of Onoki and Tsunade were the most brilliant; by comparison, the performance of the other Kage seemed a bit lackluster.
Although there were still several years before the Fourth Shinobi World War of the original work, meaning the Mizukage and Kazekage had not yet reached their peak strength...
For Onoki, the situation was completely different.
The current Onoki's physical state and chakra activity were likely stronger than they would be when the great war broke out years later!
After all, for this elderly powerhouse, time meant the continuous loss of physical strength and energy.
Of course, Takuno had absolute confidence in his own strength.
Even if Onoki possessed the highly destructive Kekkei Tota of Dust Release, if his goal were truly to kill, he had full confidence that he could leave the man with nowhere to run.
However, "unable to escape" and "unable to commit suicide before being captured" were two different things.
With Onoki's personality, if he were pushed into a corner and faced the humiliation of being captured alive, he would very likely choose to end his own life.
This was the key point that truly made Takuno feel things were tricky.
The difficulty of capturing him alive lay not just in the confrontation of power, but in stopping the other party's determination to perish together.