Chapter 346 – Absorbing the Nine-Tails' Chakra
Uchiha Kei and Hyūga Ayaka worked together with near-perfect coordination.
Once Kazuma had completely left the area, the two of them swiftly entered the cave.
Ayaka had already mapped out every seal Kazuma had set in place, and more importantly, she had thoroughly analyzed the methods to dismantle them. As a result, it took very little time before the scroll was placed directly into Kei's hands.
To be honest, acquiring what he wanted so easily felt almost unreal to Kei.
But after giving it some thought, it was only natural.
Against opponents like these, even a direct, forceful seizure wouldn't have been particularly difficult. After spending so much time and effort planning the operation, if it hadn't gone smoothly, that would have been strange.
After returning to the inn where they were staying, they were surprised to find that Kakashi had already returned.
Even more so, he appeared just as Kei and Ayaka were about to head back to their rooms—clearly waiting for them.
With no choice, Kei brought both of them into his room.
"I thought it'd take you longer to get back," Kei said casually as he found a place to sit.
"Your side went pretty well. I've already heard some rumors."
"Yeah. Everyone worked hard—especially once they realized how serious this was," Kakashi replied with a nod.
Indeed, the smooth progress owed a great deal to the coordination between the stationed shinobi and the ANBU.
The moment Kakashi handed the task over, the local ANBU grasped the gravity of the situation. True or not, they followed orders without hesitation, mobilizing immediately.
With Shadow Clones and Transformation Jutsu working in tandem, they pushed rumor-spreading to its absolute limit. In barely half a day, most of the city had already heard whispers of the story.
And that was only the beginning.
Given time, they were confident the rumors would ferment into the most widely discussed topic in the capital.
What none of them had expected was the emergence of another rumor later that evening—one that didn't interfere with their work at all, but instead amplified it.
The tale spread that Konoha's famed war hero, the head of the Military Police Force, had arrived in the capital—
and that he had dealt harshly with the Daimyō's guards before demanding a private audience.
On its own, this story carried a negative slant.
But paired with the earlier rumors, it painted a completely different picture.
Kakashi had heard this as well, which was why he hurried back.
The task Kei had assigned him no longer required close supervision.
He had a strong feeling more instructions were coming.
What surprised him, however, was that neither Kei nor Ayaka had been at the inn when he returned.
"By the way," Kakashi asked, puzzled,
"what were you two doing tonight? And what's my next assignment?"
"For now, we rest," Kei replied calmly.
"We may act as early as tomorrow."
As he spoke, he produced the scroll.
"If a few things check out, then as for what we did earlier—it was simple. We watched an interesting show… and retrieved this."
"That scroll…" Kakashi frowned slightly.
"So this really contains the Nine-Tails' chakra?"
"Like I said, it still needs verification," Kei shook his head.
"If nothing's wrong, then yes. And even if something is wrong, it's not like there aren't other solutions."
Those "other solutions," of course, meant interrogating Kazuma with the Sharingan—
and forcing out whatever truths he was hiding.
Even doing it this way would inevitably bring negative side effects.
For example, people might claim that "this testimony was given under Uchiha Kei's control and doesn't reflect reality,"
or even suggest that "Kei simply used this man's mouth to say what he wanted him to say."
Kei couldn't be bothered to care about any of that.
As long as the body of the man named Kubo Kengo remained in Kazuma's possession, everything could be resolved easily.
"I understand," Kakashi nodded.
Kei's contact with the Nine-Tails' chakra was already an established fact—there was nothing complicated about it.
"So all I need to do is rest properly and be ready to act tomorrow, right?"
"Yes. Do you remember the mission order I gave you earlier?" Kei smiled faintly.
"Your opponents are four Lightning Release users with excellent coordination."
"Of course," Kakashi replied seriously.
"My task is to persuade them. But before persuasion comes force—I'll need to subdue them first."
"As long as you understand," Kei said, giving him a brief look.
"Tomorrow will depend on your performance."
His gaze then shifted toward Ayaka.
Ayaka immediately understood what he meant. She stood up without hesitation, signaling her departure.
Kakashi followed suit. Kei still needed to examine the Nine-Tails' chakra, and staying any longer would only interfere.
Soon, both of them left the room together, and the sudden silence made the space feel noticeably emptier.
Kei stared at the scroll in front of him, falling briefly into silence.
What he had told Kakashi earlier was only part of the truth.
He was already completely certain—this scroll contained the Nine-Tails' chakra.
Having seen Kazuma's memories, there was no room for doubt.
Taking a deep breath, Kei formed hand seals according to the method Ayaka had given him. The seal on the scroll loosened easily, and he unrolled it.
Instantly, an orange chakra filled with destructive intent and dense negative emotions spilled out, flooding the room.
Kei calmly sensed the chakra. Moments later, his eyes turned crimson as the three-tomoe Sharingan spun to life, and dark chakra surged from his body.
He slowly extended his hand.
The black chakra came into contact with the orange chakra—
—and in the very next instant, the Nine-Tails' chakra reacted as if drawn by a fatal attraction.
Before Kei could even regulate the flow, the orange chakra was completely devoured by Susanoo.
"…This is bad."
Kei froze for a moment, his expression turning awkward.
He had only intended to absorb part of the chakra and reseal the rest as proof of task completion.
The loss could be explained as normal depletion during inspection.
But Susanoo seemed to possess an overwhelming hunger for tailed-beast chakra.
Or perhaps, after tasting the Three-Tails' chakra once before, it had grown addicted.
Either way, Kei couldn't stop it.
"Whatever. It's gone, then it's gone."
He shook his head calmly.
"I'll see if I can release some chakra from Susanoo later and reseal it."
In theory, it was entirely possible—after all, the chakra now belonged to him.
Still, he had never actually tried it.
What he did know was that Susanoo could use tailed-beast chakra to dramatically enhance its combat power.
Right now, however, he had no time to dwell on theory.
The Nine-Tails' chakra behaved very differently from the Three-Tails'.
It was violent, unstable, and overwhelmingly powerful.
Even in such a small quantity, its quality far surpassed the Three-Tails' chakra.
So this is the favoritism of the Sage of Six Paths, Kei thought coldly.
He closed his eyes.
The black chakra around him surged violently, erupting with icy, oppressive pressure. Cracks began to spread across the walls of the room.
At the center of the dark chakra mass floated an irregular orange core.
That core was the Nine-Tails' chakra.
Its intensity and reaction far exceeded Kei's expectations—but so did the results.
Even without full synchronization, he could already feel Susanoo's strength increasing.
Keeping his eyes closed, Kei began actively controlling the chakra.
"Just as expected," he thought.
"In terms of activity and aggression, the Nine-Tails' chakra completely surpasses the Three-Tails'. But this level isn't unmanageable—probably because the quantity is small."
The next instant, his eyes snapped open—now transformed into the eerie Mangekyō Sharingan.
Terrifying ocular power pierced straight into Susanoo.
Under Kei's absolute suppression, the Nine-Tails' chakra was forcibly restrained, trapped inside an invisible cage.
It struggled violently.
But no matter how fiercely it resisted, it could not escape.
Gradually, the resistance weakened.
As Kei continued increasing the pressure, the Nine-Tails' chakra began to resonate faintly with Susanoo.
Slowly, the orange core at the center of the black chakra started to fade.
Time passed—how much, Kei didn't know.
Eventually, the dark Susanoo returned to its original, colorless state.
No trace of orange remained on the surface.
Yet within Susanoo, the Nine-Tails' chakra had already merged completely with the black chakra.
A terrifying presence continued to radiate outward.
The cracks in the inn's walls spread even further.