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Chapter 139 - Chapter 139 – What kind of miserable situation is this? Ah~ It's only gotten worse~

The Nine-Tails' chakra surrounding Kushina receded, and she returned to her original attire.

Looking at the flower blooming in her hand, Kushina's small head was filled with big question marks.

"I've mastered a technique that can borrow the power of the deceased. Each time I use it, a bit of their power lingers behind. Hmm, maybe one day you'll suddenly see me sprout a pair of Mangekyo Sharingan?"

Kei Yamanaka scratched his cheek, casually attributing his newfound Wood Release ability to "borrowing an account to log in."

"Amazing~!"

Kushina nodded blankly, as always instinctively backing up her boyfriend.

After a brief pause, she asked again.

"Why did Kurama act like that? And what about earlier—'your power is too strong,' was that related to some past event?"

"Isn't your focus a little off?"

"Eh~ Is Kei fishing for more compliments? Should I praise you a bit more then?"

"...Forget it. I'll just tell you the story of how Bushy-Hair and Melon-Patch competed to see who could pee farther."

Kei gave an exasperated eye-roll.

As he continued recounting the stories from before and after Konoha's founding, he and Kushina made their way toward the Noodle Shrine.

Arriving at the shrine, they sat on the veranda and started their breakfast.

Within less than ten minutes,

Uzumaki Honoka arrived carrying a small wooden bucket and a rag.

After greeting him,

Kei wolfed down the last of his steamed buns in three bites.

He left a Flying Thunder God mark on the veranda before instantly using the Flying Thunder God Technique to teleport to the river in Konoha for water.

Meanwhile, Kushina and Honoka grabbed various cleaning tools from storage

and efficiently cleared away the dust, fallen leaves, and garbage that had blown inside.

Little by little, they restored the shrine to its former condition.

"All these masks on the walls—does each one represent a... uh, deity?"

Kei voiced his curiosity aloud.

"Mm, this one is the Sea God, this is the Moon Goddess, this is Inari Okami, this is the Fire God, this is..."

"Then does each of them have a contract and unique sealing technique like the Shinigami?"

"Not exactly. From what Grandma Mito said, most of the deities vanished a long time ago. Only three remained, each possessing a distinct contract and sealing technique."

"Did Grandma Mito preserve them all?"

"She only kept the Dead Demon Consuming Seal. As for the other two, Grandma Mito mentioned one was the 'Ama no Iwato Sealing Technique,' contracted with the deity Ama no Iwato, and the other was the 'Togakushi Sealing Technique,' bound to Togakushi-no-Kami… Honoka, do you know any of those?"

Kushina hesitated for a moment before turning to ask Honoka beside her.

With Uzu no Kuni's fall, many of the Uzumaki Clan's traditions were lost. After all, Grandma Mito was human, not divine; there's no way she could've learned and preserved every single jutsu.

"My parents never learned such advanced techniques."

Honoka shook her head.

She didn't know nearly as much about this stuff as Kushina did.

Besides, techniques that required divine contracts clearly weren't something regular clan members could master!

"Hehe~ Actually, Lady Mito left behind quite a few unique techniques. Wanna go take a look at them together sometime?"

"Huh? Can we really?"

"Of course!"

"Kushina, you're too sweet~"

"That's because Honoka's just so adorable!"

The two girls linked arms and leaned in, whispering excitedly to each other.

Meanwhile, Kei Yamanaka's gaze fixed on the wall where no fewer than twenty-seven masks were lined up.

Just how long ago had that been?

And what kind of power did Ama no Iwato Sealing Technique and Togakushi Sealing Technique truly possess?

He wondered if allowing Orochimaru to study them might help uncover the secrets of those lost sealing techniques.

"Forget it..."

With slight regret, Kei shook his head, choosing not to curse the old Konoha leadership any further.

He'd already ranted at them far too many times. He was tired. Just leave it as is.

Looking at the nearly cleaned-up Noodle Shrine thanks to the hard work of the two young women,

his mind drifted to the purple-tier trait [Borrowing an Account to Log In]. Perhaps he should summon Hashirama Senju first to get the contract signed.

After all, what if Kushina suddenly wanted to meet her grandfather—Mito's husband?

"Kushina, I need to run off for a bit. If you need me, use this to contact me."

Kei called out to Kushina while raising his arm and pointing at his wrist.

"Mmhm!"

Kushina waved cheerfully and agreed, then immediately turned back to Honoka, going back to their secret girl talk.

Swish~

Using the Flying Thunder God Technique, Kei materialized inside the Root Base.

He greeted his shadow clone currently working on paperwork at Danzo's desk, then glanced at the 'Danzo' crouched nearby, engrossed in a comic book.

Then, he turned and walked out of the office, heading toward the deepest restricted archive chamber within Root headquarters.

Ten minutes later.

After releasing layers of seals, he withdrew a sealing jar holding a palm-sized piece of flesh.

Once again using the Flying Thunder God Technique, Kei returned to the dense forest where he had previously experimented with Wood Release.

Using Wood Release: Four-Pillar House Technique, he temporarily built a wooden shed.

After placing Hashirama's flesh on the floor, he swiftly traced an extremely strange-looking formula around the tissue using chakra.

As the final stroke of the formula completed,

dense layers of strange symbols began glowing with brilliant azure-colored chakra light.

A dim, deep-looking door that exuded rotting decay and stormy darkness manifested directly at the formula's center.

"Tsk~ Still need to use something he cares about to call him out. What a pain."

Kei inwardly grumbled.

Thinking about what Hashirama might care about,

he called out toward the door.

"Master Hashirama, I'm married to your granddaughter Tsunade's sister. Won't you come out and see your granddaughter? See how Konoha is doing now?"

"No reaction?"

Kei frowned slightly at the completely unmoving door, then tried a different approach.

"Master Hashirama, terrible news! Your granddaughter Tsunade has become the Fourth Hokage and is driving Konoha into ruin! Hurry out and save us!"

"Still nothing?"

"Master Hashirama, the Third Great Ninja War has erupted. Konoha is under siege from the Four Great Hidden Villages. We're about to be wiped out! Someone save us!"

"Damn it!"

"Hashirama! Madara said he can piss farther than you and skip stones better too! Back then, if you hadn't stood behind him throwing off his aim..."

Crash!

Yamanaka Kei hadn't even finished speaking when the crumbling gate was kicked wide open.

With a stormy expression and an oppressive aura surrounding him, Senju Hashirama strode out from the Pure Land.

"You've met Madara? Damn it! That bastard never beat me even once!"

"...Yeah."

Kei nearly facepalmed as he looked at Hashirama's ethereal form.

(╯‵□′)╯︵┴─┴

Konoha could be destroyed and he wouldn't come out of the Pure Land, but mention Uchiha Madara and he storms out in a rage?

And the first thing he does is ask whether he's met Madara or not.

Is this what it means to share such deep bonds with your archenemy?

"Your chakra signature feels foreign. I'm certain I've never seen you before. Madara died before me—how could you have met him?"

"Uchiha Madara used the Shishien (Transcriptive Seal) to seal away the power of Izanagi. After his death, he rewrote the reality of his own death and came back to life."

"Hahahaha! I knew that bastard couldn't die easily like that! Man, I got tricked!"

In a carefree manner, Hashirama clapped his hands on his hips and burst into loud laughter.

After laughing his fill, he scratched his head in frustration and pressed further.

"So let me guess—Konoha is about to be destroyed again, so that's why you summoned me here to help? Ugh, no matter the era, war just never ends!"

"Ah, actually, that part was just a little white lie."

"Makes sense. With your Chakra Reserves and the power of Wood Release, things shouldn't be that desperate anyway. Then… what about Tsunade?"

"That... was also made up."

Kei raised one eyebrow, inwardly sighing at how terrifyingly strong Hashirama's sensor abilities were.

They had just met, yet Hashirama had already sensed both his chakra amount and the Wood Release Kekkei Genkai on him.

"Is there even one truthful word coming out of your mouth?"

"I really am your granddaughter's brother-in-law."

"What a weird way to phrase it... Isn't my granddaughter's younger sister still just my granddaughter?"

Hashirama rubbed his chin thoughtfully. His expression suddenly changed drastically when he considered possible reasons behind such a scenario.

What a tragic situation!

He was already dead, yet he was still dragged into a tangled family mess involving his son and daughter-in-law?

"I'm saying that based on Lady Mito."

As soon as Kei said those words, Hashirama froze completely. After a long pause, he finally spoke hollowly.

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