Meanwhile, inside Masahiko's home.
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[Reward Received: Special Ninjutsu Random Card.]
Staring at the floating reward, Masahiko pondered for a moment before deciding to draw it.
Cards labeled "Special" carried a high probability of yielding secret techniques. The last time he obtained a card of this rarity, it had been a 'Special Water Style Random Card'. That exact draw had granted him the Water Jellyfish, a technique that had perfectly compensated for the lingering flaws in his Collapsing Torrent.
Furthermore, he had developed an entire repertoire of secondary applications based on the Water Jellyfish's mechanics. For instance, the technique he had used the day prior to physically restrict Yakumo was a specialized variant, combining the Water Jellyfish with sealing jutsu principles.
A Special Ninjutsu would undoubtedly possess immense value.
'Let's gamble,' he thought.
[Reward Received: Chakra Absorption Jutsu.]
He immediately claimed the reward, and the necessary technical knowledge and muscle memory flooded his mind.
'Ah, so it's Yoroi Akado's Chakra Absorption Jutsu,' Masahiko realized, quickly identifying the flow of energy. 'Well, regardless of the source, anything capable of absorbing chakra is a relatively rare ability in this world. I suppose that easily qualifies as special...'
He entered the training space to test his new acquisition, and it did not take long for him to gauge its practical limits.
It was certainly useful. By making physical contact with his palm during close-quarters combat, he could forcefully drain an opponent's chakra for his own use. Furthermore, the absorption rate was significantly faster and much smoother than the lackluster display Yoroi Akado had shown in the original timeline.
Of course, it still was not instantaneous. Its direct combat value was better than nothing, but to Masahiko, its immediate worth lay elsewhere. Theoretically, since every living person in the ninja world possessed chakra, he could use this technique to infinitely sustain his shadow clones while they operated in the field, leeching off enemies to remain active.
The jutsu's upper limit was constrained by several factors. Further development could yield stronger effects, but since it strictly required palm contact, it simply could not compare to the world's absolute top-tier chakra-absorption abilities like the Rinnegan's Preta Path.
'However...' Masahiko's eyes narrowed thoughtfully. 'Could this specific mechanic be useful for Yakumo's current condition?'
Lost in thought, he fully immersed himself in the training space to refine the idea.
Early the next morning, before Masahiko had even gotten out of bed, an Anbu operative arrived at his door. The Third Hokage had summoned him to an urgent strategy meeting.
By the time Masahiko arrived at the conference room, several key figures were already present. Aside from Hiruzen, Koharu Utatane was the only absentee among the high-ranking advisors. The rest of the room consisted of Kakashi, Asuma, Shikaku Nara, Inoichi Yamanaka, and a Jōnin Masahiko did not immediately recognize.
"Hokage-sama, Advisor-sama," Masahiko greeted with a polite, deferential bow, immediately offering an apology. "Forgive my tardiness."
"We did not notify you in advance, so it is only natural you arrived late," Hiruzen replied, waving off the apology. He glanced at the others before continuing. "We called you here primarily to discuss Yakumo's situation. She trusts you... and perhaps, you understand her condition better than we do."
Masahiko swept his gaze across the room, quickly piecing together the political climate. 'They've already held a preliminary discussion, but Hiruzen wasn't satisfied with the outcome. That's why they brought me in to break the deadlock.'
Shikaku gave a brief rundown of their findings. They had already exhausted their initial options. Whether it was the Yamanaka clan's secret arts or other specialized methods, nothing could force the "demon" out. The entity had seemingly vanished into the depths of the girl's psyche.
Masahiko feigned a moment of deep, troubled thought before speaking. "I believe an outsider tampered with Yakumo, which triggered this sudden anomaly."
He turned his gaze toward Kakashi, then addressed the room at large. "Hokage-sama, seniors... I must ask. Over the past few days, has anyone spotted suspicious individuals operating within Konoha? Specifically, lurking around Yakumo's estate?"
The unfamiliar Jōnin spoke up, introducing himself. "I am Ryo Kitamura from the Barrier Team. We have not detected any suspicious chakra signatures or intruders recently."
Masahiko felt a flicker of disappointment, though he was not entirely surprised. In the original timeline, Shinno had managed to infiltrate Konoha to steal forbidden scrolls without triggering the alarms, proving he possessed an intimate understanding of the village's security measures.
Inoichi then interjected, explaining that the environment within Yakumo's mind was incredibly volatile. It was exceptionally dangerous, making it nearly impossible to cast their mind-transfer jutsu safely.
Danzō narrowed his solitary eye, his voice cold and clipped. "Why are you so certain an outsider is responsible? If we act on your assumption and this escalates, plunging the entire village into crisis, who will bear the responsibility?"
Anticipating the pushback, Masahiko stood up straighter, his expression resolute. "I was the first to arrive at the scene yesterday. I saw that monster with my own eyes. Its existence is utterly bizarre, and there appeared to be a specific, artificial seal or symbol carved into its forehead."
"What kind of symbol?" Hiruzen asked sharply.
"I could not get a clear look, but it resembled a kanji character. Furthermore, its physical body and clothing were nearly identical to Yakumo's, save for the face, which looked like it was wearing a demon mask," Masahiko explained. "More importantly, Yakumo retains her core consciousness. Inside that genjutsu nightmare, she actively fought to protect me and Kurenai."
Kakashi nodded in agreement. "I can corroborate that. Even when I was caught in the illusion and facing lethal danger, there was always a subtle opening left for me to escape. That had to be Yakumo's influence bleeding through."
Hiruzen fell silent, weighing the testimonies.
"I understand what you are all implying," Danzō stated, his tone flat and uncompromising. "But we cannot base the village's safety on a gamble."
"It is not a gamble, Danzō-sama," Masahiko replied smoothly, his voice carrying a quiet, unwavering confidence. "Last night, I formulated a viable solution."
Inside a secure Konoha Anbu base.
Kurama Yakumo lay unconscious on a specialized hospital bed positioned in the center of the room, surrounded by a complex array of medical monitors. Countless sealing formulas had been meticulously painted across the floor and walls in advance. Between the overlapping barriers and high-level sealing jutsu, it was absolutely impossible for anything inside to escape.
Simultaneously, the Yamanaka clan's secret arts were being channeled through the medical equipment, pooling their collective spiritual energy to violently suppress the anomaly raging inside the girl's mind.
A conversation echoed from the hallway just outside the heavy reinforced door.
"Masahiko, are you truly prepared to go through with this?"
"I am."
"The Nine-Tails' chakra sealed within Naruto is the most destructive tailed beast power in existence. Using it to violently devour the rogue chakra inside Yakumo so she can return to normal... what if it fails?"
"If it fails... then we are out of options," Masahiko's voice drifted into the room, laced with a poignant, manufactured sorrow that played perfectly to his audience. "But... I choose to believe in Yakumo!"
"Very well. Proceed."
"Thank you for indulging my selfishness, Hokage-sama!"
Masahiko delivered a deep, respectful bow to the empty air before stepping into the room, carrying the unconscious Naruto over his shoulder.
He approached Yakumo's bedside, letting out a soft, carefully calibrated sigh. "Yakumo, I am sorry. To help you, I might have to put you through a little pain..."
With that, Masahiko's hands blurred through a sequence of hand signs. In the next second, a sphere of swirling water manifested in the palm of his hand.
In the adjacent observation room.
Hiruzen, Homura Mitokado, and Kakashi stared intently through the one-way mirrored glass.
"He is extracting Yakumo's chakra," Kakashi observed. He had pushed his forehead protector up, using his Sharingan to perfectly analyze the underlying mechanics causing the sphere of water in Masahiko's hand to expand.
"To think he could develop a medical Water Style Jutsu to such an astonishing degree..." Homura murmured, thoroughly impressed by the delicate chakra control on display. "His talent for jutsu development is simply incredible!"
Hiruzen remained stoically silent, too focused on the tense operation to offer praise.
Meanwhile, in a separate, concealed room, Danzō stood with his hand resting on the hilt of his blade, ready to intervene at a moment's notice. His contingency plan was brutally simple—kill Yakumo, and the monster dies with her.
Inside the containment room.
As he continuously siphoned the volatile chakra from Yakumo's body using his new jutsu, Masahiko smoothly materialized a shadow clone, which immediately set to work extracting chakra from Naruto.
'Once Naruto's standard chakra reserves are sufficiently depleted, the Tailed Beast chakra will automatically leak out in response,' Masahiko calculated coldly, his internal monologue completely detached from the tragic hero persona he was projecting outward. 'And once that happens... the Nine-Tails' chakra will aggressively devour the anomaly inside you.'
Masahiko looked down at Yakumo, his external voice dripping with tender, desperate urgency. "You have to fight back, Yakumo. Stay strong! That entity may have stolen that bizarre chakra, but it does not belong in your body. You are the master of your own mind..."
Yakumo's facial expressions violently contorted, rapidly shifting between agonizing pain and raw, monstrous malice.
Suddenly, a terrifying, suffocating chakra erupted from her small frame.
In an instant, the pristine sphere of water in Masahiko's hand was corrupted, turning into pitch-black ink. Yakumo's eyes snapped open, blazing with an overwhelming torrent of hatred and fury.
The moment Idō fully surfaced, the ink-black chakra exploded outward, completely engulfing the Masahiko standing nearest to her bed.
Masahiko's body slowly began to dissolve, scattering into nothingness like a fading splash of water.
"Wait... no!" Idō shrieked.
The demon instantly realized something was horribly wrong. That wasn't his true body. It was a Water Clone cleverly layered with a subtle Genjutsu!
But it was too late.
Believing her beloved teacher had just been mercilessly killed right in front of her to save her life, Yakumo's rage shattered its limits, reaching an absolute zenith.
"You dared attack sensei?! GET OUT OF MY BODY!"
A terrifying wave of spiritual power—an invisible, crushing tsunami—exploded from within Kurama Yakumo.
In the very next second, a monstrous figure identical to her, save for the terrifying demon mask obscuring its face, was violently ejected from her body. There, faintly glowing upon the demon's forehead, was the kanji for "Zero" (零).
Idō had been forcefully expelled!