Chapter 39: Adamantine Sealing Chains and the Chameleon
Northern Land of Rain, Poison Marsh.
This was a forbidden zone even Amegakure ninja refused to enter. Year-round rotting vegetation fermented beneath the swamp, releasing a purple neurotoxic miasma that cut visibility to less than five meters.
Three figures trod the turbid water like ghosts.
In the lead was Yahiko, Stand un-summoned, scanning the surrounding mist. Behind him, two lifeless "corpses" flanked left and right—Deva Path and Animal Path.
"According to intel, the summoning beast with invisibility is in this area."
Through Deva Path's mouth, Nagato's cold voice carried.
Yahiko halted. "Looks like a hide-and-seek expert."
Behind him, the strange crimson Stand appeared.
Epitaph.
In the snatched future, two seconds ahead, a mucus-slick, whip-tongue would lance from empty air and skewer Animal Path's skull like a sword.
No Chakra ripple—pure physical ambush.
"Interesting."
Without warning Yahiko stepped left, placing himself before Animal Path.
At the same instant, a violent golden Chakra detonated from his back.
"That is—"
Through Deva Path's Rinnegan, far away in Amegakure's tower, Nagato's pupils shrank.
With a crisp metallic clang, five arm-thick golden chains burst from the void behind Yahiko. Immaterial yet bearing Tailed Beast-crushing Seal power, they shot like serpents into the mist.
Thud!
Empty air gave a dull impact.
A thick, dark-red tongue materialized, coiled by the chains—the chameleon's strike caught and throttled mid-lunge.
Screee!
A shrill cry echoed.
The tongue thrashed with tree-snapping force, yet under Adamantine Sealing Chains it was a fish nailed to the board.
"Got you."
The chains' golden glare lit the poison swamp.
As they tightened, the air thirty meters ahead warped; a giant chameleon was wrenched out of invisibility, its scaly bulk flailing in the mud, single eye wide with terror.
It could not fathom how its prey had foreseen the strike.
"Nagato," Yahiko said quietly.
"Understood."
Deva Path Pain raised his right hand; the red-cloud sleeve slid back, baring a pale palm.
At the still-struggling chameleon, those lavender Rinnegan eyes released suffocating ocular power.
"Universal Pull."
Boom!
Irresistible gravity yanked the multi-ton chameleon skyward like a ragdoll toward Deva Path's hand.
As it hurtled in, silent Animal Path moved.
A black flash.
Animal Path leapt, driving a special black rod squarely into the beast's cervical Chakra node.
Shluck.
The rod pierced flesh, Rinnegan Chakra severing the chameleon's original consciousness.
The colossal lizard crashed down, spraying poisonous water.
Its pupils unfocused, then refocused—now bearing eerie purple ripples.
Capture complete.
The entire exchange, from ambush to subjugation, took less than five seconds.
Yahiko dispersed the golden chains; the solid Chakra scattered like motes of light. Turning, he met Deva Path's inquisitive gaze.
For a heartbeat the air froze.
Adamantine Sealing Chains, signature jutsu of the Uzumaki Clan—and the trump card of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Uzumaki Kushina.
Nagato, their descendant, recognized it at once.
"That technique…" Deva Path's tone stayed flat, yet Yahiko caught the doubt. "If I recall, it's a Kekkei Genkai of the Uzumaki."
Yahiko was an orphan; Nagato knew that better than anyone.
"Oh, this?"
No panic crossed Yahiko's face—only mild surprise.
"During the Nine-Tails Attack I saw Uzumaki Kushina use it to pin the Nine-Tails. In the crisis I felt a surge inside, like something broke."
He spun the tale with a straight face: "Maybe my ancestors had Uzumaki blood. In those chaotic times, who knows whose cousin married whom? Seeing a clansman's jutsu triggered my Awakening—makes sense, right?"
Mendel would weep.
Had Orochimaru been present, he'd have sliced Yahiko open for study.
But Nagato was no scientist.
Through Deva Path's eyes Nagato stared, the Rinnegan seeming to pierce every lie—yet finally he lowered his gaze.
Stand ability or sudden Kekkei Genkai…
As long as the man was Yahiko…
Truth was merely another meaningless process.
"I see."
Deva Path turned away, dropping the subject. "Whatever the power, if it helps your ideal, it is justice."
Yahiko smiled faintly and said nothing.
That was enough.
In a world where peace is born only from pain, unconditional trust is stronger than any explanation.
Leaving the swamp, the trio headed south into the Land of Rivers.
The air was less damp, yet war's scars were everywhere—burnt-out villages and sun-bleached bones left unburied.
"Intel says a pack of mad Hell Hounds has been attacking caravans and villages nearby."
Yahiko frowned at the map.
Hell Hounds—another powerful summon Animal Path needed. They run in packs; spot one and a hundred may already be surrounding you.
"People ahead," Animal Path said suddenly.
In a mountain hollow, hundreds of ragged refugees surrounded a crude altar, performing a bizarre rite.
"To escape the hounds' fangs, we must purify the flesh!"
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