Chapter 599: Who Will Be Responsible for Researching Sealing Jutsu?

Chapter 599: Chapter 599: Who Will Be Responsible for Researching Sealing Jutsu?

Chapter 599: Who Will Be Responsible for Researching Sealing Jutsu?

Traveling by hot-air balloon, Kenichi quickly brought Hagoromo to a hot spring town near the border of the Land of Fire.

After arriving, Kenichi changed his appearance and put on a Konoha Anbu mask.

As for Hagoromo, he had already returned to the Pure Land.

The Sage of Six Paths could not be certain whether Isshiki would detect his presence. To avoid unnecessary complications and prevent himself from directly encountering Isshiki, Hagoromo decided to remain hidden in the Pure Land.

Kenichi agreed with the decision.

Their previous confrontation had already demonstrated that Isshiki was very familiar with Hagoromo.

If Hagoromo accompanied Kenichi openly, there was a good chance it would create serious complications.

It was better for Hagoromo to return to the Pure Land while Kenichi personally searched for Jiraiya and Isshiki.

"As for Jiraiya..."

Kenichi fell into thought.

He knew Jiraiya’s personality extremely well.

The man was a notorious pervert, especially whenever he had no urgent responsibilities to handle.

There were usually only a handful of places Jiraiya would frequent.

However, considering that Jiraiya had apparently encountered Isshiki, there was also a good chance he was currently traveling around with Jigen.

With that possibility in mind, Kenichi first headed toward the women’s bathhouse in the hot spring town.

Jiraiya was not there.

"This godforsaken town has way too many entertainment establishments."

Kenichi frowned as he looked around, feeling rather speechless.

If this were Konoha, finding Jiraiya would have been simple.

Kenichi would only need to check a few predictable locations.

But this was a hot spring town.

The entire place was famous for entertainment and indulgence.

For any wealthy man who enjoyed that sort of lifestyle, it was practically paradise.

And Jiraiya certainly had money.

He was not only an extremely powerful shinobi but also the author of several best-selling novels.

After wandering around for some time, Kenichi eventually located the most expensive entertainment establishment in town.

A club called the Gilded Rose.

Kenichi entered, paid the necessary fee, and was immediately escorted inside by an enthusiastic attendant.

The moment he entered the main area, he spotted Jiraiya.

And sitting beside him was another man.

That strange appearance.

That peculiar expression.

The body currently being used by Isshiki.

Jigen.

At that moment, Jigen and Jiraiya were drinking together.

The two appeared completely at ease, laughing loudly while enjoying themselves and chatting animatedly.

Jiraiya occasionally burst into hearty laughter.

Kenichi’s stomach tightened at the sight.

Could Jiraiya actually be telling Isshiki classified information?

No.

That was unlikely.

Jiraiya acted ridiculous most of the time, but he was not an idiot.

"Lord Jiraiya."

Kenichi called softly.

Jiraiya immediately heard him and turned his head.

The moment he noticed Kenichi’s Anbu uniform, he frowned.

Then he politely said something to Jigen beside him.

Jigen also noticed Kenichi.

Seeing nothing more than an ordinary masked Konoha Anbu, he smiled and nodded.

Only then did Jiraiya walk over.

"What is it?"

Jiraiya asked impatiently.

However, Kenichi immediately caught the unusual look in his eyes.

That subtle warning was enough.

Jiraiya had already figured something out.

Perhaps he had even deduced Jigen’s true identity as Isshiki.

At the very least, he clearly knew that the man beside him was extremely dangerous and was warning Kenichi not to reveal anything.

Kenichi relaxed slightly.

Good.

As long as Jiraiya understood the situation, things had not completely gone wrong.

Ever since Jiraiya encountered Jigen, neither Hagoromo nor Black Zetsu had dared approach them to gather information.

Neither could determine whether Isshiki might detect their presence.

That uncertainty was precisely why they had hurriedly called Kenichi over.

"Lord Jiraiya."

Kenichi spoke in the professional tone of a Konoha Anbu.

"You have been away from the village for some time."

"Hokage-sama has ordered you to return to Konoha immediately."

Jiraiya immediately began complaining.

He grumbled impatiently for a while, then waved his hand dismissively and told Kenichi to leave.

After that, Jiraiya returned to Jigen and continued drinking.

Kenichi could only act as though he were helplessly obeying orders and leave the club.

Throughout the entire journey out of town, Kenichi behaved perfectly normally.

There was not the slightest indication that anything unusual had occurred.

Even after traveling a considerable distance from the hot spring town, he did not lower his guard.

Only when Hagoromo finally emerged nearby did Kenichi let out a breath of relief.

"That man’s detection range is enormous."

Hagoromo’s expression was grim.

"He was watching you the entire time."

"I only dared reveal myself after he finally withdrew the ninjutsu he had been using to monitor you."

Isshiki was frighteningly cautious.

There had been no obvious disturbance.

No unexpected chakra fluctuation.

Nothing that should have raised suspicion.

Yet Isshiki had still monitored Kenichi for such a long time.

If Kenichi had not maintained his performance perfectly, or if Hagoromo had failed to notice Isshiki’s surveillance technique and emerged too soon, there was a very real chance they would have been exposed.

"He is Isshiki Otsutsuki, after all."

Kenichi remained surprisingly calm.

"He received the elite education of the true Otsutsuki Clan."

"How could primitives like us compare with him in that regard?"

Compared with Kaguya, Isshiki was far more troublesome.

If Kaguya had not betrayed him and caught him off guard all those years ago, allowing Isshiki to consume the chakra fruit himself, then even Hagoromo and Hamura together might never have had a chance to seal him.

Knowledge was inherited.

Education mattered.

Kaguya had originally been intended as a sacrifice, so she had never possessed much knowledge of the clan’s deepest secrets.

Isshiki was different.

He had received the Otsutsuki Clan’s elite education.

That distinction made an enormous difference.

Fortunately, there was one thing Kenichi could be grateful for.

Although Isshiki had escaped being completely consumed by the Divine Tree, he had still suffered catastrophic injuries.

If Isshiki had remained completely healthy...

Their current situation would be much worse.

"Perhaps you were right."

Hagoromo sighed.

"Releasing Mother may indeed be our final safeguard."

Kenichi rubbed his nose.

For some reason, hearing Hagoromo talk about Kaguya made him feel strangely awkward.

He had not felt much emotional disturbance while conducting his experiments involving Kaguya’s consciousness.

But standing in front of her son while Hagoromo casually discussed his mother created an inexplicable feeling of tension.

Still...

When Kenichi thought about Kaguya herself, another thought surfaced.

If he could actually bring her completely under control and make her willingly cooperate with him, that would be quite an accomplishment.

"Even if we deal with Isshiki this time, we still need to prepare for the Otsutsuki Clan eventually arriving."

Kenichi became serious again.

"The ideal outcome would be capturing Isshiki alive."

"If we can force information out of him, we can learn much more about the Otsutsuki Clan."

That was one of the outcomes Kenichi wanted most.

Isshiki possessed knowledge Kaguya lacked.

If Kaguya did not know enough about the Otsutsuki Clan, then Isshiki probably did.

If they successfully interrogated him, they might even learn when the Otsutsuki Clan was expected to arrive in the Shinobi World.

Perhaps they could discover whether the clan intended to come at all.

If no one was coming...

That would naturally be the best possible outcome.

Everything afterward would become much simpler.

Unfortunately, Kenichi considered that unlikely.

If the Otsutsuki Clan had no intention of ever investigating this world, then Kaguya would never have become so terrified and paranoid that she planned to transform the Shinobi World’s entire population into White Zetsu.

That alone strongly suggested the clan would eventually come looking.

The real uncertainty was when.

"Capturing Isshiki alive won’t be easy."

Hagoromo was not particularly optimistic.

"He is extremely powerful."

"If he decides to take us down with him, or simply refuses to allow himself to be captured, taking him alive will be far more difficult than killing him."

Kenichi was not surprised.

Isshiki was unquestionably among the strongest beings they had ever encountered.

Ordinary methods would accomplish very little against him.

And capturing an enemy alive was always more difficult than killing them.

That was especially true when facing an Otsutsuki who might choose destruction over capture.

"That’s why I’m only suggesting it."

Kenichi shrugged.

"If we can capture him alive, great."

"You’ll be able to make much better preparations afterward."

"If we can’t, then we kill him."

Kenichi was not obsessed with the idea.

His main goal in this timeline was still to test Isshiki.

He wanted to expose as many of Isshiki’s abilities, hidden techniques, and contingency plans as possible.

Even if capturing him alive proved impossible, the battle would still provide valuable information.

"Prepare better..."

Hagoromo hesitated.

He understood Kenichi’s point.

Although they had already begun preparing for the possible arrival of the Otsutsuki Clan, progress remained frustratingly limited.

The reason was simple.

Hagoromo did not even know how powerful their future enemies truly were.

Without knowing the target, all he could do was desperately continue strengthening the Shinobi World.

But whether that development would actually be sufficient against the Otsutsuki Clan remained completely unknown.

If they captured Isshiki alive and extracted reliable information regarding the clan’s true strength...

Then Hagoromo would finally have a concrete objective.

He could develop the Shinobi World toward a clearly defined level instead of blindly preparing for an unknown enemy.

"Then we need a method to restrain Isshiki."

Hagoromo’s expression became serious.

"And in my opinion, the most effective way to restrain someone like him is sealing."

Among all the techniques currently known in the Shinobi World, Hagoromo believed sealing techniques were among the few capable of allowing a weaker opponent to overcome a stronger one.

More importantly, they suited Kenichi’s requirement of capturing Isshiki alive.

"The problem is that I don’t know much about sealing techniques."

Kenichi rubbed his temples.

That field had never been one of his specialties.

He knew an enormous variety of ninjutsu.

But sealing techniques were relatively niche, and Kenichi had never invested heavily in them.

He understood some conventional sealing methods.

The most advanced technique he could think of among what he personally knew was probably something similar to the Adamantine Sealing Chains.

Against most enemies, Kenichi had simply never needed complicated sealing techniques.

Why bother sealing someone when he could kill them?

And if necessary, he could make absolutely certain they died thoroughly.

There had rarely been any reason to preserve an opponent alive.

Isshiki was different.

Thinking about it carefully, Kenichi had to admit Hagoromo was right.

Sealing techniques were probably their best chance of capturing Isshiki without allowing him to continue resisting.

Even someone as overwhelmingly powerful as Kaguya had ultimately been unable to properly counter a sufficiently powerful seal.

That proved sealing possessed the potential to restrain enemies whose raw power far exceeded the caster’s.

If they could develop the right technique, capturing Isshiki and interrogating him might genuinely be possible.

"I do know several sealing techniques."

Hagoromo frowned.

"And there is one that should be capable of sealing Isshiki."

"But if we use that technique, I’m afraid interrogation afterward would become impossible."

Kenichi immediately understood what Hagoromo meant.

Six Paths: Chibaku Tensei.

The same sealing technique Hagoromo had used against Kaguya.

It was unquestionably powerful.

Kaguya had been successfully sealed by it twice.

Normally, once Isshiki was trapped within such a seal, directly interrogating him would indeed become extremely difficult.

But Kenichi had another idea.

Through his recent experiments on Kaguya’s consciousness, he had already discovered several methods of interacting with and manipulating isolated consciousness fragments.

If the same principle could be applied to Isshiki...

Then perhaps they would not need access to his physical body at all.

His consciousness itself could become the target of interrogation.

And if consciousness was essentially tied to the soul...

Then extracting information through that route might genuinely work.

The realization relaxed Kenichi considerably.

Even so, relying on only one sealing method was unnecessarily risky.

It would be better to develop additional techniques.

If Six Paths: Chibaku Tensei failed, they needed another option ready.

Unfortunately, Kenichi did not have much idea where to begin when it came to creating high-level sealing jutsu.

So he immediately thought of someone better suited to the task.

Kushina.

Or perhaps Hagoromo could search within the Pure Land.

Kenichi remembered that most of the Uzumaki Clan had already entered the Pure Land after death.

And when it came to sealing techniques...

Few clans in history could compare with the Uzumaki.

If Hagoromo could convince the deceased members of the Uzumaki Clan to cooperate on developing a new sealing technique, perhaps they could genuinely create something capable of restraining Isshiki.

Kenichi explained his idea.

Hagoromo considered it briefly, then nodded in agreement.

"I’ll investigate the possibility in the Pure Land."

"You handle the preparations on this side."

Kenichi had no objection.

That division of work suited them perfectly.

He turned, preparing to leave.

Then suddenly...

A violent pain exploded through his eyes.

Kenichi’s body stiffened.

The pain was intense.

Far worse than he had expected.

Even with Kenichi’s tolerance, the sensation was difficult to endure.

....

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