Hiruzen persuaded me to die

The ninja from the Sealing Division, led by Yamato, rushed toward the gates of Konohagakure.

"Lord Hokage asked us to bring the Amber Purifying Pot. What could he possibly be planning?"The shinobi carrying the sealed artifact asked, puzzled.

He knew very well what was contained inside—the mighty Eight Tails, Gyūki.

Was the Hokage planning to transfer the beast to another container?

"I'm not sure," murmured the sealing team leader, shaking his head. "If the goal is to contain a tailed beast, a relic from the Sage of Six Paths like the Amber Purifying Pot is probably the safest option."

He had good reason to believe this. Tailed beast sealing required more than just any vessel. An ordinary container would shatter under the weight of a bijū's chakra. If the container cracked or the seal weakened, disaster could follow.

"The Amber Pot is a legendary relic. If there's no viable jinchūriki, then sealing the Eight Tails in it might be the most stable solution."

Yamato glanced over, his expression uncertain."Lord Hokage has mastered Wood Style. Perhaps he's found a better method for dealing with tailed beasts."

"Wood Style?!"The sealing team gasped.

"Captain Yamato, is that true?"

Yamato nodded."I saw it with my own eyes. You'll see it for yourselves soon enough."

Before long, they arrived at the village gates, where Naraku, garbed in his white Hokage robe, stood silently—calm as ever.

"Lord Hokage!"The sealing squad bowed with respect.

They didn't know if Naraku had truly mastered Wood Style…

But they all knew what mattered: he subdued the rampaging Nine Tails with his own hands, and single-handedly captured the Eight Tails from the hidden village of Kumogakure.

"Good. You brought the Amber Pot. Follow me—we're heading out a bit farther," said Naraku, turning on his heel.

The group followed, trekking roughly ten kilometers beyond the village borders before he finally stopped in a forest clearing.

"This will do."

Naraku surveyed the terrain, then gave the order:"Release the Eight Tails."

The sealing team leader swallowed hard."Y-Yes, sir!"

Even though he was trained in sealing techniques, he had rarely seen a tailed beast with his own eyes. His hands trembled slightly as he removed the lid.

The moment the cap was lifted—

Boom!

A wave of dark crimson chakra exploded outward from the mouth of the Amber Purifying Pot. In an instant, it surged into the clearing and materialized into a colossal form—the mighty Eight Tails, Gyūki!

Trees splintered. The forest was torn apart.

The sky seemed to tremble.

"Naraku!! I'll kill you!!!"

The Eight Tails roared, its eight octopus-like tails thrashing violently behind it.

The beast was furious. It had been sealed for so long it could no longer distinguish days from weeks, months from years. Within the Amber Pot, there was no sound. No light. Only endless void.

Compared to that, being inside Killer Bee—as annoying as the man's out-of-tune rapping had been—was paradise.

Now, with its hatred reignited, Gyūki unleashed its wrath.

"Is that... the Eight Tails?"A young sealing ninja's voice trembled.

"I-It's terrifying…"

Massive chakra waves surged as the beast swung its tails, creating cyclonic gusts across the ravaged clearing.

Naraku's eyes narrowed."This isn't at full power," he muttered.

His Tenseigan flickered, analyzing the bijū's energy levels."Strange. Eight Tails' chakra hasn't recovered since the last battle."

Yamato blinked."W-What do you mean, not recovered? It looks like a monster already…"

"The chakra levels are still as depleted as when it was damaged by my Golden Reincarnation Explosion," Naraku said calmly, his gaze shifting to the Amber Pot.

He stepped forward, his fingers brushing the ancient artifact.

"There's something about this… a barrier," he murmured.

He could feel it now—a high-density chakra barrier cloaking the inside of the pot, cutting the Eight Tails off from external chakra flow.

"No wonder… The Amber Purifying Pot is superior to the Red Gourd. It can even block the light of Infinite Tsukuyomi."

"To counter that level of genjutsu, you'd need chakra on par with the Rinnegan..."

Naraku's gaze grew sharp.

"That means this barrier is likely on a level beyond even the Rinnegan. No natural energy could reach the Eight Tails while it was inside. That's why its recovery stalled."

"Lord Hokage! The Eight Tails is forming a Tailed Beast Bomb!"

The sealing team leader was alarmed. A swirling orb of black and purple energy had begun to form in the beast's maw.

They were sealers, not fighters.

They couldn't survive a direct attack.

"Don't panic."Naraku's voice was calm, almost serene. He formed a single hand seal.

"Wood Style: Wood Expulsion Jutsu."

From beneath the ground, a towering, grimace-faced wooden shield erupted, encasing the entire sealing team like a dome.

Just as the final chakra coil solidified, Gyūki hurled the completed Tailed Beast Bomb straight at them.

"DIE, NARAKU!!"he roared.

BOOOOOM!

The blast consumed everything.

The land trembled, trees vanished, and the world roared with violent energy.

But when the smoke cleared…

The grinning wooden shield still stood.

Untouched.

The sealing squad stared, mouths agape.

"Th-That was… the full power of a Tailed Beast Bomb…"

"And it didn't even leave a scratch…"

Even the mighty Eight Tails blinked in shock.

"Th-That Wood Style…"

It remembered that jutsu.

That face-shaped shield, that oppressive force—it was the same as the one used by the legendary Senju Hashirama, the God of Shinobi.

The shield opened, revealing Naraku inside, calm and unharmed.

"It really is Wood Style…"One of the sealing ninja whispered in awe.

They had all felt it—the devastating tremors, the heat of death bearing down on them. And yet, they stood unscathed.

"Is this the true power of Wood Style?"Yamato whispered.

His own jutsu—like the Wood Wall Technique—could never hope to block a Tailed Beast Bomb.

"Now I understand how the First Hokage was able to capture all the tailed beasts so easily…"murmured the sealing squad leader.

"DAMN YOU!! HOW DARE YOU WIELD WOOD STYLE!!"Eight Tails bellowed.

Memories of being suppressed like a weak animal flooded back. Hashirama's shadow loomed over its rage.

Gyūki roared and launched a barrage of strikes with its massive tails, forming another Tailed Beast Bomb in the process.

But Naraku was already ahead.

He made a swift series of seals.

"Wood Style: Laughing Buddha Jutsu!"

From the earth, massive wooden arms burst forth, latching onto all eight of the Eight Tails' writhing limbs.

"Damn it!!"

The Eight Tails thrashed—but these arms weren't ordinary constructs.

They carried the binding might of Senju Hashirama.

Even with Gyūki's raw strength, it would take time to break free.

But Naraku didn't stop.

His hands flashed through another set of seals.

"Wood Style: Deep Forest Emergence!"

Suddenly, from the cratered battlefield left behind by the Tailed Beast Bomb, a forest erupted—colossal, living trees surged from the ground, writhing toward the Eight Tails.

Vines thick as towers coiled around its limbs and torso, tightening like an unyielding grip of nature itself.

The Eight Tails let out an agonized, thunderous roar.

It was being suppressed—completely, absolutely—by Wood Style.

And this wasn't the power of Hashirama.

This was Naraku.

The man who tamed the Nine Tails…

Now, he stood tall against another legend of chakra—

And crushed it.