"Ren , the battle is basically over. Dodai and the remaining dozen or so Kumogakure shinobi have surrendered!"
A few minutes later, Hyūga Hizashi raised his hand, signaling the Hyūga archers to stop firing, while speaking to Uchiha Ren .
"Alright. Keep watch for me."
Uchiha Ren nodded and casually extinguished the blazing Flame Cloak around him. After giving the instruction, he leapt and landed directly on top of Matatabi, the Two-Tails.
Seeing this, Hyūga Hizashi made a hand signal. The surrounding Hyūga clan members immediately scattered in all directions, forming a tight perimeter around the area where Uchiha Ren and Matatabi were located.
Ren wasted no time and began studying the Two-Tails beneath his feet.
Unlike most Tailed Beasts, which possessed physical bodies, Shukaku, the One-Tail, and Matatabi, the Two-Tails, were relatively special existences among them.
Shukaku had no true physical body; it existed as chakra curse markings infused into sand, forming a body made entirely of sand.
Matatabi, on the other hand, possessed a body composed of blue chakra flames.
Uchiha Ren didn't know the reason for this unique phenomenon, nor did he particularly care. What interested him far more was the blue chakra flame covering Matatabi's body.
For Ren , who possessed the Flame-Flame Fruit ability, this blue chakra flame not only failed to harm him—it even gave him a strange sense of familiarity.
He formed a hand seal, and two clusters of chakra appeared in his palm, emitting faint fluctuations.
With a single-handed seal, Ren activated a technique.
In an instant, the sealing formula placed within Yugito Nii was completely dismantled, and Matatabi was forcibly separated from her body.
A jinchūriki would normally die once their Tailed Beast was extracted.
Yugito was no exception.
Before she even hit the ground, the light in her eyes had already faded.
Ren glanced at the fallen Yugito briefly before turning his attention back to Matatabi.
He reached into the Two-Tails' chakra body, probing for a moment before pulling out a flame-like cluster of burning chakra.
Then he stood up and looked at the motionless Matatabi.
Because she was still under the control of Ren 's Sharingan, even though her connection with Yugito had been severed, she remained crouched on the ground without moving.
Ren formed another hand seal.
Bang!
A massive Summoning Contract Scroll appeared in a cloud of smoke.
"Tailed Beast Release Seal… Release!"
With a soft thud, as Ren severed the connection between Matatabi and Yugito, the Two-Tails expelled Yugito's body from within.
Ren closed his eyes and sensed the structure of the sealing technique.
"The sealing technique used to contain the Tailed Beast is passable… at least it prevents chakra leakage that would keep the jinchūriki from sleeping."
However, compared to the sealing techniques of Konoha, it was still far too crude.
If Konoha's sealing techniques were like locking a Tailed Beast inside a beautifully crafted prison with multiple functions, then Kumogakure's method was simply stuffing the Tailed Beast into a jar.
Without acquiring some sealing knowledge from the Uzumaki Clan, Kumogakure might not even have been able to accomplish that much.
No wonder the other villages once joined forces to destroy Uzushiogakure, seeking to seize the sealing techniques of the Uzumaki.
Ren reached out and captured a strand of the blue chakra flame, carefully sensing its nature.
From its tactile sensation, the temperature of this blue chakra flame far exceeded that of ordinary fire.
Even without accumulating heat, its base form likely exceeded ten thousand degrees.
Moreover, the blue chakra flame possessed a unique explosive characteristic, greatly amplifying the power of flame-based attacks.
Blue chakra flames were still flames—and the power of a Devil Fruit was inherently driven by the user's will.
For Ren , who had eaten the Flame-Flame Fruit, once he had come into contact with this flame, he could easily generate and control it at will.
With a thought, blazing blue chakra flames erupted across his entire body.
"Not bad… If this existed in the unique flame, it would probably be considered a powerful Heavenly Flame."
But Ren 's true prize lay beneath his feet.
He crouched down and placed his hand on Matatabi's head, closing his eyes to sense her chakra carefully.
Within the blue chakra flames, he sensed something else.
A faint trace of spiritual intelligence.
This trace of intelligence made the flames easier to control and allowed them to perform many unusual operations.
In this world, certain ninjutsu could grant techniques a form of pseudo-sentience.
For example, Sai's Super Beast Imitation Drawing created animals like mice, snakes, and birds that could act autonomously to gather intelligence.
Likewise, in the original story, Yugito Nii's technique Fire Release: Mouse Hairball used Matatabi's chakra and possessed rat-like traits, allowing it to track enemies automatically.
Ren was extremely satisfied with this harvest.
The blue chakra flame was merely the appetizer.
More importantly, he had discovered another direction for developing the Flame-Flame Fruit.
However, although Ren wanted Matatabi, he had no intention of becoming a jinchūriki.
He had no desire to let some strange creature live inside his body, watching his every move.
Instead, he preferred to form a Summoning Contract with Matatabi, using her the same way Uchiha Madara once did.
Ren unfolded the contract scroll and rapidly formed hand seals.
Then he pressed the flame-like chakra mass onto the scroll.
"Contract Seal — Seal!"
The contract was formed.
Ren bit his finger and wrote his name on the first line of the contract scroll using his blood, pressing five fingerprints beneath it.
"Psst—"
White smoke rose from the page.
On the scroll's front page appeared a simple sketch of a ferocious cat's head.
The Summoning Contract had been completed.
Contract scrolls were special items that allowed shinobi to form summoning agreements with weapons, creatures, or other entities.
Although Ren had now established a connection with Matatabi, if he wanted to command her, he would still need to negotiate with her properly.
The technique he had just used—Tailed Beast Release Seal—was not something Ren had learned from the Uzumaki Clan's sealing inheritance through Uzumaki Kushina.
Instead, it came from the inheritance of Uchiha Madara that Uchiha Obito had once obtained.
In the original timeline, Obito had used this very technique to extract the Nine-Tails from Uzumaki Kushina.
Because the Eye of the Moon Plan required collecting all nine Tailed Beasts—and most of them were sealed inside jinchūriki—Madara had created this technique specifically to make capturing Tailed Beasts easier.
Ren couldn't help but sigh.
"As expected of Uchiha Madara… creating a technique like this."
The entire process had been incredibly smooth.
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