Chapter 44.4- One Thousand Hands

I smiled, trying not to show any of the nervousness I’d felt. I’d examined the seals a hundred and one times already. The Ninetails was going to be placed within my chakra network, but separate from it. It wouldn’t have any access to my mind or my emotions unless I let it. But if I failed to build a good relationship with him, then I’d have to spend a solid quarter of my chakra reserves focused on keeping him suppressed. With any other tailed beast, the chakra requirements would be much lower— the same would have happened if I was a perfectly compatible host like Kushina would have been. Instead, this was the Ninetails, and I remained myself. It would be costly, potentially crippling, but what was life without risk?

—

Why did every step of this seem to require me to be naked. At least this time as I laid on top of the stone tablet, a white piece of cloth had been laid over my waist to preserve my dignity. Thankfully Grandmother Mito did not have to be naked for this. That sight would have scarred me for life, for sure. Annoyingly enough both Hiruzen and Danzo were here.

He had insisted on witnessing the transfer with his own eyes, and the Uzumaki clan was not entrenched enough to say no to the Hokage without consequence. It was another humiliation I would make him pay for, in time. With my thoughts on Hiruzen, I never even noticed as the ritual began. We were in a massive sealing circle and there were close to a dozen Uzumaki around us weaving handsigns and funneling their chakra into this procedure.

“Tailed Beast Transfer Jutsu: Activate” Uncle Kaito intoned, and the seal around us lit up, coming to life in a matter of seconds. It released power that flowed into Grandmother Mito first, lifting her up from the tablet. She grunted as it ran through her before stopping at her stomach. The next thing, a red lumpy beam of chakra was leaving her stomach, flowing into the air before driving into my own stomach where the empty seal that Kurama would inhabit stood. The chakra flowed into me and I didn’t grunt like my grandmother did. No, I screamed. It felt like acid was being poured right into my veins- like I was drinking it, having it injected into me, and having it shoved into my arse all at the same time. It went without saying, that it was a uniquely uncomfortable experience.

And then it lasted for an eternity. I had no idea when I fell unconscious, and I would refuse to believe Grandmother Mito’s assertion that I’d only lasted two minutes before falling. I’d been conscious for at least an hour, I was sure.