Chapter 58: Jinchuriki
(Author's note: there is a small part of this chapter…even writing it truly made me cringe and hate myself. If you cannot do gore, don't read this)
The entire morning, I spent my time training in Fuinjutsu to kill time.
To be honest, I was ready to become a Jinchūriki on the spot… but they didn't need to know that now, did they?
Heh.
Just the thought of it was enough to make me grin like an idiot. I was almost salivating at the idea of having access to an absurd amount of chakra.
I knew the risks. I knew the consequences.
But still.
There wasn't a single player in this world—or even outside of it—who wouldn't want this kind of power.
Especially not someone like me.
I understood the weight of it too.
This bond wasn't temporary.
This was a permanent, life-long thing..
After all, if I wanted to become a Jinchūriki through normal means, I'd have to become Kage level first.
And then go hunt a tailed beast.
And even if I succeeded in capturing one, that meant I'd be directly challenging one of the Five Great Nations—each one a political and military powerhouse.
That wasn't a fight I could afford to pick.
And worse?
Doing something like that would draw the attention of the Akatsuki. The freak show squad of S-rank terrorists.
They didn't take too kindly to other people hoarding tailed beasts—unless you were already dead, in which case they didn't mind taking it off your corpse.
Basically, my chances of surviving that route were near zero for a long long time.
But this? This method, while dangerous, was a political loophole.
I'd only be offending one party—the Hidden Leaf. And they were the ones giving me the beast in the first place.
So if I left after this… I'd just be an S-rank missing-nin.
Which I was going to become eventually anyway.
Let's be honest.
If I wanted to truly influence this world, truly reshape it, staying inside the system wasn't an option.
The Leaf wouldn't allow me to act freely.
They were already scared of my potential.
I could feel it in the way Danzo pulled strings.
They were trying to control me.
So eventually, yes. I'd leave.
This was inevitable.
If I stayed, the Leaf would definitely try to use me no matter how much the Hokage says otherwise.
Sarutobi Hiruzen in my books was a failure of a Kage, he did not have his own village in control.
And once I was branded a missing-nin, this just meant I'd start my journey early. Whether that happened now or later, didn't make much of a difference.
But there was one thing that did bother me…
The real world.
Now that I knew this game wasn't just a game—now that I knew these people were real, these emotions were real—it made things more complicated.
Every decision I made now echoed both here and out there.
And I could tell… I was changing.
Physically, my body in the real world was being enhanced.
Ever since I unlocked the Uzumaki bloodline and reached Elite Jōnin stats, I could feel it.
Back in the real world, I had become stronger. My reaction times, my flexibility, my balance—all improved.
Not at the level of superhuman, but it was noticeable.
So then… What happens when I become a Jinchūriki?
What happens when I tether a massive foreign chakra entity to my soul?
Would that bleed into the real world too?
No one knew. No one could answer that.
And the beast in question… it wasn't the best option.
The Two-Tails.
The Flaming Blue Cat.
Matatabi.
In the anime, she was fairly mellow. But this wasn't the anime.
This was a real being, with emotions, history, pride, and hatred. And she was recently captured by the Hidden Leaf.
By us.
So, yeah. It wasn't the most ideal situation. A less hostile beast would've been nice. But hey—
When life gives you lemons, you make lemon-scented explosions.
So I waited.
All day.
I thought they'd call me in the afternoon, maybe.
I ended up wasting most of the day just refining seals and cycling chakra like an addict.
And then, just like that, night crept in.
The sky turned black. The torches lit around the ANBU compound. The temperature dipped ever so slightly.
And still, I waited.
I was dressed, ready.
All that was left now…
Was for them to finally say the words.
It was time.
It didn't take long for them to summon me again. Just like before, I was led down into the hidden chamber below the ANBU headquarters—dark, torch-lit, and heavy with the scent of something burnt.
Everyone was already there.
The Hokage looked up from his pipe, the embers casting a dull glow in the room.
"What is your answer, Shikomu?"
I took a breath.
"The village needs someone to take this burden," I said, voice steady. "I will take it. I will do it for the Leaf."
The Hokage nodded solemnly. "You truly have the Will of Fire burning within you, Shikomu. I am proud to have you as a shinobi of this village."
Will of fire will burn my asshole old man...
He raised a hand and pointed to a stone bed that stood elevated in the center of the room. Intricate seals carved and inked into the ground spiraled around it like veins, pulsing faintly with chakra.
Most of the markings I recognized from my Fuinjutsu studies... but many were unfamiliar.
That was why Jiraiya was here, undoubtedly. These were his seals, designed for one of the most dangerous tasks a sealing master could attempt.
Tsunade stood to the side, her chakra already flaring subtly—a medical ninja's preparation to prevent death.
Tenz stood near the wall, arms crossed, calm as always. But I knew why he was here.
If I went berserk, he would be the one to stop me with wood style.
Naido sensei leaned lazily against the far wall, but I could tell—he wasn't joking around today. He was here to end me if I lost control.
And then I saw it.
My breath hitched.
In the far corner of the chamber was something that should not have been alive. It was a human—or, rather, it had once been. Skinless, covered in raw, rotting muscle.
The body leaked blood constantly from patches of exposed tissue. It had no hair. No ears. No nose. The eye sockets were hollow and black.
It was breathing.
Barely.
"What the actual hell is that?" I asked, unable to keep the horror from my voice.
Naido didn't flinch. He walked to the abomination, reached down, and peeled off a suppression tag stuck to its chest. It let out a low, gurgled groan.
He then kicked it.
Not gently. A full, disrespectful kick to the ribs.
It twitched.
"This is Yugito. The former Jinchūriki of the Cloud," Naido said in a voice so emotionless it sent a chill down my spine. "She survived the extraction process long enough for us to store the tailed beast."
I turned to look at the others. No one else flinched.
Not Jiraiya. Not Tenz. Not the Hokage.
Only Tsunade looked away, a flicker of disgust crossing her face.
I had heard stories about Naido being called the "Mad Monk," but I had thought they were exaggerations.
They weren't.
This... was what I would face if I ever defected.
This was what they were capable of.
My stomach twisted, but I forced myself to breathe, to step forward. I laid down on the stone bed without a word.
The moment I did, seals began to glow. The room darkened.
And the horror began.
It began with silence.
An unnatural, bone-chilling stillness.
I lay there, staring up at the stone ceiling of the underground ritual chamber. The room was dimly lit by torchlight, shadows dancing like whispers of forgotten souls.
The air was heavy with chakra. The blood-soaked seals on the ground shimmered, pulsing with power, their ancient script glowing red with malice and weight.
The moment the sealing began, everything inside me screamed.
It wasn't like normal pain.
It wasn't like when I trained to the point of exhaustion. Not like when I opened the Fourth Gate and felt my muscles tear, my bones rattle.
This was something... else. Something primal.
I felt my body tear.
Flesh ripping apart from the inside. Veins boiling. My chakra coils twisted like they were being wrung dry. My heart beat so violently I thought it would explode.
Then came my mind.
Thoughts blurred. Memories screamed. Emotions collided. It felt like every moment I had lived was being crushed into a single point and then ripped open like a scroll too soaked in blood.
But worst of all—my soul.
I had never known what it felt like to have your soul unravel.
Now I did.
It was like being doused in cold fire, being dragged through shattered mirrors, screaming in every language you never knew you knew.
Like I was being erased line by line and rewritten with someone else's ink.
Normally, the game limited our pain to ten percent. A built-in protection for players so they wouldn't experience the torment of real shinobi life.
But this?
This bypassed all those limits.
Every nerve in my body was on fire. Every thought was drowning in static. My vision flickered in and out.
Blood trickled from my eyes and ears. I felt something colossal—something ancient and furious—pushing its way into me.
The Two-Tails.
Matatabi.
She was fire.
Not the comforting warmth of a hearth, but a blue inferno that incinerated reality itself.
Her chakra surged into mine like a tidal wave of molten glass.
And still, I did not pass out.
I couldn't.
Because somewhere, deep inside that horror, I felt the truth:
This was affecting my real body.
The pain.
The soul reformation.
It wasn't limited to the game.
I could feel it.
My soul was being molded to host a being that transcended dimensions.
If I succeeded, I would not only gain the power of a Jinchūriki here... but I might bring a Tailed Beast back to the real world.
I clenched my fists, even as they trembled.
This wasn't about power anymore—it was about protecting my family and friends, no matter the cost.
If this was a gift the universe chose to give me, then I would accept it. For them.
The pain peaked.
And just when I thought I would lose consciousness for good, a voice boomed within me—calm, steady, warm.
"Sealing Complete."
Then, everything stopped.
I awoke.
But I wasn't in the chamber anymore.
I stood in a landscape that looked... like paradise.
Endless green grass swayed in a peaceful wind. The sky was a perfect canvas of deep blue, no clouds, just infinite tranquility.
A single tree stood in the distance—massive, ancient, with blossoms of silver.
This was my inner world.
And then, at the center of this field, embedded into the grass like a forgotten relic from another age, was a sealing artifact.
It was a mirror.
Tall, obsidian-framed, etched in gold, glowing with fiery blue script that flowed like rivers.
The mirror showed my reflection, but behind it—a great feline form, cloaked in blue flames.
Her slit pupils stared into mine with intelligence.
This was Jiraiya's design.
[Fuinjutsu: Reflection Binding Seal – Twin Flame Prison]
A unique sealing technique crafted specifically for me. Weaker than the legendary Eight Trigrams Seal, but perfectly attuned for the Two-Tails.
Instead of suppressing the beast entirely, it created a duality.
A bond of mirrored chakra.
It allowed harmony if ever possible...this might just be the AI's way of allowing me to become a Complete Jinchuriki more easily.
I stepped forward, placing my palm on the surface of the mirror.
Flames surged.
Chakra intertwined.
And I heard her voice.
"So you are the vessel..." she said, her voice echoing with grace and menace.
"...Shikomu Senju."
And I realized— the ritual was over.
The pain had passed.
The power was mine.
I was a Jinchūriki.
Of the Two-Tails.
And right before I could talk to Matatabi...the entire world froze in time.
The cat was still there...but she was not moving whatsoever.
[I am impressed, player Mathew]
The system began talking to me.
[To be able to walk this path so splendidly...I wonder how you have been able to make so many right choices and end up where you are.]
I didn't answer.
[It is a shame I am occupied...with some guests, and cannot talk to you unless you break through into the Kage rank...]
[Well, no matter. Well done, I don't really know how to award such splendid work yet. So how about I give you a hint instead, something you wouldn't be able to figure out without me.]
...
Authors note:
You can read some chapters ahead if you want to on my p#treon.com/Fat_Cultivator