Just as Lock manifested his Tailed Beast Mode—
The Nine-Tails in front of him finished gathering energy and fired the Tailed Beast Cannon from its mouth.
"Roar—!"
The black-tailed Beast Ball disappeared.
In its place, a terrifying golden rainbow of energy surged from the Nine-Tails' open maw.
The beam was dazzling, instantly lighting the entire dim sealing space like daylight.
Wherever it passed, the water on the ground evaporated and blasted backward, forming rings of wind pressure in the air.
Facing this terrifying attack, Lock showed only disdain.
He controlled the massive fox-shaped body of Tailed Beast Mode and raised his right hand, palm forward.
"Watch carefully, Kurama."
"This is how chakra energy is actually used."
As he spoke, the golden energy beam slammed into his palm.
The energy expanded violently, ready to explode.
But the chakra palm moved faster.
Before the explosion could occur, the palm transformed into a giant mouth that swallowed the beam in a single gulp.
At the same time, huge amounts of chakra gathered inside the palm of the mouth, wrapping the energy and compressing it further.
Then the chakra inside the palm shifted aside, opening a passage connected to the left arm.
The compressed energy traveled through that channel and gathered in the palm of the left hand.
Lock raised the left arm and pointed the palm directly at the stunned Nine-Tails.
Whoosh!
Wrapped in Lock's chakra, the energy now roared outward as a dark-red beam.
Its momentum was even more terrifying than before.
The previously bright sealing space turned crimson.
The next moment—
The beam slammed directly into the Nine-Tails' chest.
A massive explosion of light erupted.
More than half of the Nine-Tails' body was swallowed by the blast.
Unlike the Nine-Tails, which relied purely on brute force and overwhelming chakra—
Lock used refined combat techniques to parry and counterattack energy.
Of course, the biggest reason it worked was that both sides used almost identical Nine-Tails chakra.
"So amazing!"
"Our son is incredible!"
The entire exchange lasted only three or four seconds.
But Kushina saw everything and excitedly grabbed Minato's clothes.
She didn't care why Lock also possessed Nine-Tails chakra.
She only cared that her child was unbelievably strong.
Far stronger than Minato, who had needed the Reaper Death Seal to deal with the fox.
Minato watched Lock with a complicated expression.
Relief.
Curiosity.
And unease.
Just like the Nine-Tails' earlier explanation, he suspected the chakra Lock used belonged to the other half sealed in the Shinigami.
But he had no idea how Lock obtained it.
And that chakra clearly wasn't the Yin half.
Whether Lock was some new will born after that half died—
Minato rejected that idea.
A Kage-level ninja wouldn't fail to recognize his own child.
Lock ignored their reactions.
With a flash, he appeared directly above the fallen Nine-Tails.
"What are you planning to do to me?!"
The Nine-Tails had lost all arrogance.
Propping itself on its claws, its face showed fear and vigilance.
It even stopped calling itself "this old man."
Instead, it used "I."
"Naturally… I'll do what you planned to do to me earlier."
Lock sneered.
Suddenly, countless chains burst out around him.
They shot forward like living snakes.
In an instant, they wrapped around the Nine-Tails and pinned it to the ground.
"Adamantine Sealing Chains!"
"Damn brat! Let me go!"
"I surrender!"
The moment it saw the Adamantine Chains, the Nine-Tails immediately admitted defeat.
Using Lock's chakra, the chains were even stronger than Kushina's in her prime.
And they bound extremely tightly.
It felt like being tied up like a crab.
Far worse than the Four Symbols Seal, it normally stayed inside.
At least that seal gave it a spacious area to sleep.
Seeing Lock use the legendary chains, Kushina became even more excited.
She nearly tore Minato's cloak while tugging it.
"Lock actually learned the sealing technique of the Uzumaki Clan!"
"It seems the Third Hokage treated him well!"
"He must have sent someone to find this jutsu!"
"I used to think he wasn't a good person, but I misjudged him!"
"I need to apologize to him someday!"
Minato: "..."
He opened his mouth but said nothing.
He still needed answers from Lock and didn't want Kushina to beat him to death prematurely.
Lock ignored the Nine-Tails' begging.
He dismissed Tailed Beast Mode and stood directly on the fox's head.
Then he extended his hand and began extracting chakra from the Nine-Tails.
"You brat… you're actually serious?"
"I'm telling you, without my approval,l you cannot handle a chakra filled with hatred!"
In desperation, the Nine-Tails forgot something.
Lock's own emotions were already extremely dark.
As the chakra entered his body, Lock frowned.
"I can stack it… But I can't merge it."
The Nine-Tails chakra carried Kurama's will.
But the chakra granted by the system carried Lock's will.
Unless Kurama erased his own will and merged willingly—
Lock could only stack and borrow the power.
The Nine-Tails sensed the same thing.
Relief appeared on its face as it burst into laughter.
"Hahaha!"
"Brat, you can't devour me!"
"Hurry and release me!"
"If you make me happy, maybe I'll lend you some power!"
Lock narrowed his eyes at the foul-mouthed fox.
"Why would I need to borrow your power?"
"I originally planned to establish a Ninshū chakra link with you."
"We could communicate."
"I could even let you go outside using shadow clones."
"But you're so irritating…"
"Maybe I should just kill you instead."
The Nine-Tails froze.
Then it burst into laughter again.
"Hahaha!"
"You want to imitate the Sage of Six Paths?"
"You think you can connect consciousness through chakra?"
"You fool! I carry hatred! I'm tailed beast chakra! I'm yang attribute—"
The Nine-Tails' voice gradually faded.
Its mouth slowly closed.
Then its face changed instantly from arrogant to extremely awkward.
A forced smile appeared.
"Um… little friend Lock…"
"Is it too late for me to take back what I said earlier?"
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A/N: 40+ Advance Chapter Has Been Uploaded.
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