Amidst the swirling white mist of the summoning, two objects appeared on the deck.
The first was a gargantuan entity whose sheer mass cracked the wooden planks, causing the Lightning Boat to lurch violently downward—it was the severed horn of the Eight-Tails.
The second was the sealing scroll summoned from his storage: "Uchiha Flame Formation." The scroll itself wasn't made of waterproof material, so it had been kept inside a protective casing within the white snake. This scroll didn't just contain the instructions for the technique; it was a "Seal Scroll" that held a one-time activation of the jutsu already pre-loaded.
Back during his training in Hell Valley, Fugaku Uchiha had sent this to him. It was an incredibly expensive asset; if deployed on key terrain, this single technique could alter the entire course of a war.
Though Ren had learned to perform this barrier technique himself, he was currently attempting to carve the seal directly into his own body. To ensure absolute safety, using the pre-recorded Seal Scroll as a foundation was the logical choice.
Ren's gaze first fell upon the Eight-Tails' horn.
To some extent, the Uchiha Flame Formation was like the Open Earth Rising Excavation—it was a technique that normally tapped into natural forces. Without that environmental aid, it required a staggering amount of chakra.
His first step was to process the horn, carving out a section to serve as the energy core that would power the seal within his body.
Ren's eyes widened, his hands snapping together in a prayer sign.
"First, the cut!"
"Susanoo—Strike!"
With a sharp command, a gale erupted behind him as a skeletal hand of Susanoo solidified from thin air. Within that palm, a radiant blue blade of lightning surged forth. The Sword of the Thunder God, Futsu-no-Mitama, swung down in a flash, cleaving the Eight-Tails' horn at a 2:8 ratio.
A fifth of the horn was more than enough to provide the necessary chakra.
Even just summoning a single hand of Susanoo and charging the sword left Ren swaying. His breath hitched, and sweat poured down his face as his chakra reserves bottomed out, nearly leaving him face-down on the deck.
"Whew..."
Gasping for air, Ren dispelled the Susanoo and the blade. He stumbled toward the smaller section of the horn and pressed his palm against it.
For this next step, he needed a specific skill:
"Human Puppet Technique: Chakra Core!"
This technique, recently acquired from the Suna elder Ebizō, could refine a person's entire chakra reserve into a marble-sized core. It was a form of data compression far beyond the current standards of the shinobi world. Ren even suspected that Momoshiki Otsutsuki's ability to condense jutsu into edible pills operated on a similar principle.
The ninja world really is full of geniuses!
As his palm pressed into the horn, jagged, ominous runes spread across its surface. A harsh, grinding sound—like a blender crushing bone—rang out. The section of the horn, despite being twice Ren's size, began to collapse. Its chakra was being forcefully funneled toward Ren's palm. The physical matter, drained of its essence, shriveled into a dry, hollow husk.
Moments later, Ren pulled his hand back, holding an irregular sphere that pulsed with a dark, inky luster.
"Now... for the truly dangerous part."
He looked solemnly at the bead in his hand. He raised his other hand, aligning his fingers like a blade aimed directly at his own heart.
Puchi!
In an instant, his lightning-clad hand sliced through his chest. He pulled the wound open, exposing his heart—wrapped in the black threads of Earth Grudge Fear and pumping blood furiously—to the moonlight.
Ren hissed through gritted teeth as he pressed the Eight-Tails' Chakra Core directly into the muscle of his heart. He immediately activated the Earth Grudge Fear threads and the Forbidden Jutsu: Body Reconstruction to stitch the organ back together, sealing the core inside.
Then, using his own heart's blood as a medium, Ren spread his fingers and slammed his palm onto the scroll at his feet.
His eyes bulged, the blood vessels around them throbbing as he inhaled a massive surge of natural energy, merging it with his remaining energy to create Sage Chakra.
"Sage Art: Sealing Jutsu: Uchiha Flame Formation!"
At the point of contact, the dense text on the scroll began to twist and squirm. Driven by the Sage Chakra—now stabilized by the Eight-Tails' nature—the ink crawled up his arm like a colony of ants. It flowed over his shoulder and settled onto his left chest, forming a network of black symbols that bound his heart and radiated outward.
He was modifying the activation direction of the technique.
The core of the Uchiha Flame Formation is to trigger subterranean fire to create a barrier. Since there was no magma beneath the sea, Ren had to find a different fuel source to create the restrictive wall that would lock in the natural energy. He had to look inward.
"Hah..."
He let out a long breath, feeling his heart stabilize and the incision in his chest begin to knit shut.
"All the preparations are complete."
"Next..."
Ren raised his blood-stained hand. One by one, a small flick of intense flame ignited on each of his five fingertips.
"All that's left is to 'light the fire'!"
Meanwhile, across the ocean.
Thick black smoke billowed from the tall funnels of the massive steamship as it chugged away from the Land of Water.
On the deck, a middle-aged man dressed as a captain approached the bow. "Lord Mizukage, a 'Lightning Boat' has been spotted ahead. Our signalman has sent multiple flags, but there has been no response. How shall we proceed?"
The Third Mizukage, Byaran, frowned slightly. He reached out and took a pair of binoculars from the captain's belt. He adjusted the focus, peering at the white speck on the horizon.
Through the lenses, Byaran's gaze soon settled on the small craft. He saw the details clearly: the massive bull horn, a deck drenched in blood, and a black-haired boy standing amidst the gore, staring thoughtfully at the five flames dancing on his fingertips.
In the next moment, the boy's expression turned fierce. He slammed his flaming hand against his chest and twisted his fingers—as if turning the key to some terrifying machine.
—BOOM!!
With the boy as the epicenter, an invisible shockwave of wind rippled outward in a transparent circle.
Crack!
In a split second, the glass lenses of the binoculars shattered. Shards of glass shot back through the copper tubes toward Byaran's eyes.
Startled, the Mizukage jerked his head aside, dodging the shards. As the massive steamship began to pitch and roll in the resulting wake, he looked up.
There, rising from the sea at the horizon, was a pillar of crimson fire that pierced the very heavens.
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