“Kid, what’s your name?” “Gekko Senzan, of the Hidden Leaf’s Gekko clan.” “Right.
Do you have any bugs on you?
You know…
the edible kind?”
Senzan was momentarily dumbfounded.
‘What the hell?
Edible bugs?’
Suddenly, he remembered the kikaichu bugs Shibi had planted on him earlier.
‘Don’t tell me he means those?’
“You mean these?” he asked, casually pulling out the insects Shibi had given him.
To block Shibi’s chakra sensing during his infiltration, Senzan had deliberately stuffed them all into a small glass bottle.
Seeing the bugs trapped in the glass, Chomei smiled.
No, scratch that—it literally started drooling.
“Yes, yes, yes!
It’s been so many years since I last had a good bug,” Chomei murmured, practically panting.
“Slurp…
And I can sense a decent amount of chakra packed inside these little guys.
Absolute delicacies.”
Senzan’s eye twitched as he watched the mighty Tailed Beast drool like a starved dog.
He had prepared an entire arsenal of persuasive speeches, but looking at Chomei now, it seemed none of that was necessary.
‘Bugs?
Fine, whatever.
I’ll just have to cozy up to the Aburame clan from now on.
I am the head of the Gekko clan, after all—even if the clan only has two members.’
“Here, knock yourself out.” He tossed the bottle to the beast.
Without even looking, Chomei snapped its jaws and swallowed the whole thing in one gulp.
Senzan was left utterly speechless.
‘Bro, the bottle was still on them.
You eat glass, too?!’
Crunch.
A crisp shattering sound echoed in the air as the glass was instantly ground into fine powder and swallowed down along with the bugs.
At that exact moment, stationed outside the great waterfall, Aburame Shibi’s expression subtly shifted.
“What’s wrong, Shibi?” Suzaku asked.
“Just now, every single insect I left with Senzan died simultaneously.”
Nara Suzaku’s face darkened at the news.
Logically, Shibi’s kikaichu were incredibly discreet.
No one would actively target a few random bugs.
And even if they did, they wouldn’t wipe them all out in a single instant.
If all the bugs were dead, what did that mean for Senzan?
‘Damn it.
Should we abort the mission?’ The thought flashed through Suzaku’s mind, but he quickly dismissed it.
“Let’s wait a few more days,” Suzaku decided grimly.
“Maybe it was just an accident.”
“Ah!
Delicious!
It’s been ages since I tasted bugs this good!” Chomei sighed in pure bliss.
“You’re a good kid!”
The satisfied beast immediately handed Senzan the equivalent of a ‘good guy’ card—not that Senzan particularly wanted it.
“So, what do you say, Chomei?
Want to get out of here with me?” Senzan asked smoothly.
“I guarantee you’ll get to eat bugs like this every single day.”
Since good food was apparently the beast’s weakness, he was fully prepared to exploit it.
With his flawless invisibility, sneaking into the Aburame compound to swipe a few bugs would be a walk in the park.
“Hmph, do you think I’m just some mindless glutton?” Chomei huffed, though its massive body trembled with barely contained excitement.
“Let me tell you, my appetite is enormous!”
In truth, Chomei had been imprisoned for far too long.
Freedom…
it couldn’t even remember how many years it had been since it last felt the open sky.
It had been so long that its memories of the outside world were starting to blur.
An old memory slowly drifted to the surface of its mind.
The nine of them, the Tailed Beasts, sitting in a circle.
Back then, it hadn’t fully matured yet—it had just been a very large, larval bug.
And sitting before them was Hagoromo Otsutsuki, the Sage of Six Paths.
Their creator.
‘Tch.
Old man, does this kid count as the one you said we’d eventually meet?’ Chomei thought wistfully.
‘Whatever.
I’ve had enough of rotting in this cage without my freedom.’
With that thought, Chomei finally made up its mind.
“Listen, brat.
Even if I wanted to leave with you, how exactly are you going to seal me inside your body without the proper jutsu?”
Every Jinchuriki required a robust sealing technique to contain a Tailed Beast.
It was an absolute necessity.
An ordinary seal wouldn’t cut it; it had to be an exceptionally powerful one.
“Oh, that?
I’ve got it covered.
Look here.” Senzan pulled out a scroll and unfurled it.
A striking, intricate pattern of four swirling symbols was drawn across the parchment.
“This is called the Four Symbols Seal.
I…
acquired it from a very powerful ninja,” Senzan explained confidently.
“With this, I can seal you perfectly and completely inside me.
Once that’s done, you can leave this place with me, head back to the Hidden Leaf, and live the high life.” This chapter is updated first at g.com.
Chomei didn’t know the first thing about human sealing formulas, but seeing the little guy puff out his chest with such absolute confidence, it assumed it would be fine.
“So you’re going to seal me right now?
How do I cooperate?”
That single question stopped Senzan dead in his tracks.
Talking a big game was one thing, but actually executing the jutsu was a completely different story.
Sure, he had memorized the Four Symbols Seal, but how on earth was he supposed to stuff a beast the size of a mountain into his stomach?!
Perhaps sensing the boy’s internal panic, Chomei gave its body a violent shake.
Amidst the heavy, rattling chakra chains, the beast’s colossal form began to shrink rapidly.
Moments later, a miniature version of the Seven-Tails hovered in the air before him.
“Is this size better?” Chomei asked.
“When it comes to altering body size, Shukaku and Saiken are way better at it.
But then again, one is made of sand and the other is literal slime.
Tch.”
Chomei wiggled its shrunken body.
Though still bound by the glowing chains, the massive reduction in size allowed it a bit more freedom of movement.
“But Chomei, if I just seal you up right now, won’t the guards outside instantly realize you’re missing?” Senzan asked, his tactical mind kicking in.
“Is there any way we can trick them?”
He suddenly recalled a story about the Eight-Tails severing a tentacle to fake its own capture.
A similar decoy maneuver seemed absolutely vital right now.
Chomei pondered for a moment.
“You have a point.
Will my molted shell work?
It already contains my chakra, and if I pump a little extra into it to maintain its vitality, it should fool them for at least half a year.
What do you think?”
Senzan broke into a wide grin.
It turned out this giant bug was just as devious as he was to actually have a trick like that up its sleeve.
“What are you smiling at?
I’ve lived for countless years!
Is it so weird for a Tailed Beast to have a few tricks?” Chomei snapped, feeling slightly self-conscious under the boy’s knowing gaze.
“Hahaha!
Chomei, I’m starting to think we’re a match made in heaven,” Senzan laughed.
“Alright, I’ll prep the jutsu formula.
Get your decoy shell ready.
Let’s get out of here and go enjoy some actual freedom.”
Boy and beast exchanged a firm look, both nodding resolutely.
They immediately set to work.
The Four Symbols Seal was originally a secret technique of the Uzumaki clan.
By harnessing the cyclical power of the four symbols, it created an incredibly potent barrier designed to lock away immense, malevolent forces.
The jutsu left a distinct formula etched onto the target’s skin, capable of perfectly sealing a formidable entity within a chosen vessel for an extended period.
It was a terrifyingly complex technique.
If Jiraiya hadn’t handed over a scroll with such painfully detailed instructions, Senzan would have never been able to learn it in a single lifetime.
But now, he was fully prepared to trace the blueprint and pull off the heist of a century.