Reborn into Naruto World with Tenseigan

Forgotten Island, somewhere close to the Land of Lightning

Inside the dark cave, after setting up the Sealing Jutsu formation, Kuroto walked toward the corner and said, “The preparations for extraction are complete, Gaara. Let’s begin.”

Gaara nodded nervously, “Hmm.”

As he was about to leave, Karin, standing beside Gaara and carrying the Tea Kettle, along with a controlled Ryūzetsu, who wore the same Type II Biological Armor as Karin, also spoke in a nervous tone, “All the best, Gaara.”

Gaara smiled, “I’ll be fine,” and approached the Sealing Formation, lying down at the center.

“Though the extraction of Shukaku will be painful, you’ll be alright, I promise,” assured Kuroto, gently caressing Gaara’s forehead. Gaara smiled and closed his eyes. Kuroto then made the Ram hand signs and pressed his hands on Gaara’s stomach. Instantly, black marks of Sealing Jutsu appeared on his skin.

“Karin, Gaara, both of you, get ready… I’m removing the isolation,” warned Kuroto as he once again pressed his hand on Gaara’s stomach and unlocked the seal.

“Aaaaaahhhh!” Gaara’s painful cry immediately resounded in the underground cave, followed by a roar as sand started to swirl around him.

Unaffected by the sudden change, Kuroto spoke, “Come on out, Tanuki!” as he wrapped Tenseigan Chakra around his right hand, then inserted it into Gaara’s Spiritual plane, pulling out Shukaku.

Slowly and steadily, One-tail’s chakra emerged from Gaara’s body, taking the form of a desert Tanuki. As more and more of Shukaku’s Chakra emerged from Gaara, the boy’s breathing became labored, his pupils dilated, and his heartbeat slowed to the point where it seemed it might stop at any moment. Throughout the process, Kuroto closely observed Gaara’s state using his Tenseigan.

In the canon storyline, the extraction of Shukaku took three days, and that too when several members of the Akatsuki Organization were simultaneously involved in the process. This contrasts with how Obito and Madara could accomplish the same task in much less time. The reason behind this difference lies in the method of extraction: the Akatsuki extracted the tailed beast from their Jinchuriki hosts in the form of pure Chakra and sealed it inside Gedō Mazō, while Obito and Madara extracted the tailed beast itself, resulting in a quicker process.

However, Kuroto isn’t planning to turn Shukaku into pure Chakra at the moment. Therefore, it didn’t take him too long to completely pull out the Tanuki from Gaara’s body. As Shukaku’s voice resounded in the cave, “I finally came out!” his colossal figure appeared inside.

Immediately upon Shukaku’s appearance, it flared its Chakra and attempted to flood the entire cave with its sand, aiming to escape to the deserts of the Land of Wind where it is invincible and beyond capture.

Without even glancing at the Tanuki, Kuroto bent down to check Gaara’s condition. Gaara’s body was growing colder, his cheeks and lips paling, his eyes blank, and his heartbeat fading. In short, he was dying with each passing second. Kuroto knew he couldn’t waste time with Shukaku, so he shouted, “Karin!”

“I’m on it, Kuroto-sama,” nodded Karin as she immediately focused on Shukaku, gathering Chakra into her pair of Rinnegan, she spoke as she gazed into the Tanuki’s eyes, “Now stay quiet, Tanuki!”

Instantly, Shukaku’s eyes turned lavender, and the tailed beast immediately halted its movement halfway through.

With Shukaku under her control, Karin took deep breaths and extracted life Chakra and life force from the Type II Biological Armor she was wearing. With Shukaku under control, Kuroto mentally instructed Ryūzetsu to come toward the center of the Sealing Formation, which the girl followed along with Karin.

As Ryūzetsu arrived beside Gaara, Kuroto moved behind and stood with Karin while the girl bent down beside Gaara. She weaved the Bird hand sign, gathering her Chakra, and pressed both her hands on Gaara’s stomach.

Ba Dump!

Instantly, a resonant heartbeat echoed within the cave as Ryūzetsu and Gaara’s bodies glowed brightly, ‘Dragon Life Reincarnation!’

A moment later, all the life force from Ryūzetsu’s body began to transfer into Gaara’s, causing the boy’s body to regain its temperature. His cheeks and lips started to turn rosy, his eyes regained their focus, and his heartbeat was restored. In short, slowly but surely, the boy was coming back to life.

However, the effects on Ryūzetsu were the opposite. Her body grew colder, her cheeks and lips paled, her eyes lost their light, and her heartbeat faded. This was the result of using ‘Dragon Life Reincarnation.’

Kuroto and Karin watched Gaara and Ryūzetsu intently, especially Karin, as one day she might have to do the same for Kuroto, and she needed to prepare herself for that possibility.

As Ryūzetsu’s life force began to diminish, Kuroto weaved hand signs and pressed his hands on the Type II Biological Armor she was wearing, with the thought, ‘Let’s see… can Type II Biological Armor prevent her death?’

In fact, one of Kuroto’s purposes behind extracting Shukaku from Gaara’s body and having Ryūzetsu use the ‘Dragon Life Reincarnation’ on Gaara was to test if the presence of the Biological Armor could prevent the death of the caster of the reincarnation jutsu.

‘Overload Mode: Activate!’

The moment Kuroto activated the overload mode, Yang Chakra from Hashirama Cells flooded Ryūzetsu’s body, attempting to restore her life force and prevent her death. However, even though she physically recovered her life force, a void remained inside her—a palpable absence of a soul. With his Tenseigan, Kuroto could accurately perceive that the moment Dragon Life Reincarnation completed Gaara’s revival, Ryūzetsu’s soul departed her body, and she collapsed on the floor.

“Was it the exchange of souls?” muttered Kuroto with a pensive expression. If Ryūzetsu’s soul took Gaara’s place in the Pure Land, that would imply that recovering life force through the Biological Armor wouldn’t mean anything in preventing death.

Although both ‘Rinne Tensei no Jutsu’ and ‘Dragon Life Reincarnation’ serve a similar purpose, they are two distinct Jutsu with different mechanisms. Therefore, Kuroto couldn’t be certain whether Kain would also end up dying like Ryūzetsu or if she would survive.

“If I can prepare a seal to keep her soul inside her body as the life force is restored with Biological Armor, perhaps…” thought Kuroto as he decided to incorporate such a seal in the next iteration of Biological Armor, then he looked at Gaara.

At that moment, Gaara opened his eyes in confusion, “Where am I?”

“Gaara!” Karin exclaimed with joy. She had been really worried there for a moment, fearing that she might lose Gaara. Fortunately, Ryūzetsu’s Jutsu worked, and he was brought back to life in exchange for her life.

Kuroto checked Gaara’s state with his Tenseigan as he questioned, “How does it feel to die?”

“There was only silence… I didn’t feel anything…” responded Gaara, adding, “It was like waking up from a really deep sleep… It wasn’t so bad.”

Kuroto chuckled, “Few people can comprehend this feeling… and there are rare few who would describe ‘death’ in that manner. You truly are unique.”

“I see…” mumbled Gaara. He felt a little drowsy, and with Shukaku extracted from him, he also felt light, as if a great burden had been lifted.

After ensuring that everything was fine with Gaara, Kuroto spoke, “Well, you are stable for now. The next step of sealing the Puppet of the Box of the Ultimate Bliss will take more time as I need to make further preparations. You can use this time to adjust to your current state.”

“I understand, Kuroto-sama,” nodded Gaara.

At that moment, Kuroto got up and looked at Shukaku, “Well, it’s time to seal this Tanuki inside the Tea Kettle.” Following Kuroto’s words, both Karin and Gaara also directed their attention to the One-Tailed beast.

“Karin, prepare the Yin-Yang Rod…” instructed Kuroto as he approached the Sand Demon with the Tea Kettle. While he could create them himself, he wanted Karin to practice with her Rinnegan, so he instructed her to create them for him.

“Yes,” nodded Karin as she molded her Chakra into the Black Chakra Receivers and passed them to him, “Here you go, Kuroto-sama!”

Taking the Chakra Receivers from Karin, Kuroto inserted several of them into Shukaku’s body, then turned to Karin, “Can you feel the connection?”

Karin nodded, “Yes.” Now that Yin-Yang rods created from her Chakra were embedded in Shukaku’s body, she could sense it more clearly.

Kuroto nodded, “In case of emergencies, draw out Chakra from Shukaku using the Yin-Yang rods.”

Yin-Yang Rods essentially function as Chakra receivers. Through these rods, not only can Karin transfer her Chakra to others, but she can also extract their Chakra. Although the Type II Biological Armor she wears continues to provide her with Yang Chakra, it’s not foolproof. If the armor were to get damaged or degrade due to overuse of Chakra, it would put Karin’s life in danger. However, having a Tailed Beast as a Chakra battery in emergencies would provide additional security. It’s always better to be safe than sorry.

Understanding Kuroto’s intention, Karin nodded, “I understand.”

“Good,” said Kuroto, then he sealed the Tanuki inside the Tea Kettle. It wasn’t a difficult task for him since he was accustomed to sealing and unsealing Ryūmyaku inside the Gourd.

By the time Kuroto had sealed Shukaku, Gaara had also gotten up and asked, “Kuroto-sama, what should we do with her?”

Upon Gaara’s question, Kuroto looked at the girl. The current Ryūzetsu was nothing but a body without a soul, which meant she was both alive and dead at the same time. He pondered for a moment, then spoke to Karin, “Use her body as you try to master other powers of the Rinnegan… You can use that girl’s body to create one of the Six Paths.”

In order to be able to use the Rinne Tensei no Jutsu, Karin needed to become proficient with her Rinnegan. Starting with mastering the powers of the Six Paths would help increase her proficiency over the Rinnegan. Understanding this, Karin nodded, “All right… I will do that.”