Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

Chapter 1036 Action and Suppression

That's right, Hiruzen Sarutobi wasn't 'invisible'; he had observed the battle between Minato Namikaze and Obito long ago using his 'telescope technique'.

At that time, the two of them were even fighting over Naruto in that room!

However, just as he was about to take action, he was stopped by Jue, who had already located him.

Indeed, Jue's direct combat strength is not strong.

But that depends on who you're comparing it to.

Compared to Qingming, he is naturally not strong, but compared to others, not to mention anything else, his Yin Escape ability alone is enough to entangle many Kage-level powerhouses.

Not to mention, for this mission, he had specially prepared several specially trained White Zetsu, and with their combined strength, Hiruzen Sarutobi was unable to break free for a while.

"I just don't understand what price Obito offered him that made him work so hard?"

This thought flashed through Qingming's mind.

But he quickly regained his composure.

Others may not know, but Qingming knows very well that Hiruzen Sarutobi's strength is far more than what he is showing now.

It should be noted that more than ten years later, even in his old age, he was able to briefly contend with the First Hokage and the Second Hokage, although those were just 'defective products' summoned by Orochimaru.

However, the strength of the First and Second Hokage was undeniable; even when they were not at their peak, they were still far beyond the reach of ordinary people.

The fact that Hiruzen Sarutobi could fight them and even seal them away is enough to demonstrate his strength.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, known as the "Professor of Ninjutsu" for his mastery of all five basic chakra natures, possessed an uncountable number of ninjutsu techniques.

He's only holding himself back because he's in the village and can't use some of his more powerful ninjutsu.

Once the nearby civilians had mostly evacuated, or the situation became critical enough, Hiruzen Sarutobi was forced to use his full strength.

Therefore, Qingming believed that Jue was definitely not going to be able to stop them now.

unless
He's willing to give it his all!

But will it never happen?

The answer is naturally no.

Qingming was certain that no matter how much money Obito offered or how much promises he made, the other party would not reveal his full strength.

The reason is simple: Zetsu's goal from beginning to end has only been to rescue his mother, Kaguya Otsutsuki. He will not do anything that might cause this goal to fail.

This includes revealing one's full strength.

Therefore, it is foreseeable that Hiruzen Sarutobi will arrive soon.

At that time, it won't be so easy for him to take advantage of the situation.

Therefore, what he should do now is to capture the Nine-Tails as quickly as possible before it has a real opponent.

Only in this way can the possibility of self-exposure be reduced.

The best way to subdue the Nine-Tails, besides forcibly controlling it with the Mangekyou Sharingan, is undoubtedly to suppress it using Wood Release.

Fortunately, his Wood Release bloodline limit has now evolved to the level of (354/10000), which, in comparison to the Sharingan, is already at the level of three tomoe.

And that's not bad at all.

Of course, most importantly, there are now nearly one million points of natural energy stored in the sealed space in his abdomen.

These were all absorbed by the shadow clones before they returned to the village.

As long as he converts all this natural energy into Sage Chakra and then uses it to activate the Wood Release Kekkei Genkai, even if its evolution level is not high and even if he doesn't have any decent Wood Release ninjutsu, it will be enough to suppress the Nine-Tails for a short time.

If he could suppress the Nine-Tails, he would have a hundred ways to take it away.

Without hesitation, Qingming immediately focused his mind, mobilized the chakra within his body, and entered the sealing space formed by the 'Three Elements Sealing Technique' in his abdomen.

He then broke down this chakra, converting it into equal amounts of physical and mental energy.

Finally, the three energies merged within the sealed space, forming nearly one million points of Sage Chakra.

"Whoo~"

Letting out a soft breath, Qingming muttered to himself, "Very good, first step complete."

Then, he began to draw upon these Sage Chakra and channel them into his Chakra Meridians.

Limited by his insufficient levels of 'natural energy control' and 'chakra manipulation', he couldn't yet send all of these Sage Chakra into his body at once. In the end, he pushed himself to the limit and sent out about half of it.

However, even half of them would have nearly 500,000 points.

And this already surpasses 99% of ninjas.

Therefore, it is also a powerful force.

Feeling the Sage Chakra flowing through his body, Qingming felt a powerful sensation rush to his heart.

While the enhancement from these Sage Chakra techniques wasn't as comprehensive as 'Sage Mode,' it was still sufficient to strengthen a single bloodline limit.

Shifting his attention away from himself, Qingming looked at Uchiha Obito and Namikaze Minato.

At this point, the two of them were already some distance away from the Nine-Tails.

Without hesitation, Qingming immediately deactivated 'Heavenly Defense'.

Of course, he didn't forget to change his appearance before coming out.

He is now dressed as a mysterious person, completely shrouded in a black robe and wearing a mask.

When he appeared in front of the Nine-Tails, the group of Konoha ninja who were risking their lives to restrain the Nine-Tails immediately turned their attention to him.

These people didn't know whether he was friend or foe, so they didn't launch an attack rashly.

Qingming didn't give them a chance to speak or ask questions. He slammed his palm on the ground and unleashed the 'Pseudo-Tree World Descent'.

Well.
It involves using a large amount of chakra to create countless vines that wrap around the Nine-Tails.

Qingming didn't care about the consumption of chakra; his goal was to suppress the Nine-Tails in a short time and render it unable to resist.

And the result did not disappoint him.

The vines created by Sage Chakra, while not as powerful as a true 'Advent of the World of Trees', were enough to suppress a Nine-Tails that had lost its will and only knew how to destroy.

Then, countless vines sprouted from the ground, like countless poisonous dragons, climbing up the nine-tailed creature's body and wrapping around its nine tails and neck.

The Nine-Tails was immediately bound to its spot.

Realizing that its actions were being thwarted, the Nine-Tails, filled with rage, immediately let out a roar.

Then, it used its sharp claws to tear at the vines covering its body.

However, no matter how much it tears, these vines will recover in the next second and grow even more lush and resilient.

This is not only because Qingming is constantly supplying chakra, but also because of the inherent characteristics of Wood Release itself.

Why can Wood Release suppress Tailed Beasts?
The answer is simple: Wood Release can absorb the chakra of Tailed Beasts.

Just like now, the vines wrapped around the Nine-Tails are not only restricting its movements, but also constantly absorbing its chakra and then feeding back to itself, making the vines even stronger.

In a sense, the Nine-Tails is actually fighting itself.

This is why the Nine-Tails has been unable to break free from its restraints for so long.

It can be said that unless it can exhaust Qingming's chakra, or unleash power far exceeding its previous strength in a short period of time, such as releasing a Tailed Beast Ball, etc.

Otherwise, don't even think about gaining freedom from Qingming.

But will Qingming give it that chance?
The answer is naturally no.

After confirming that the Nine-Tails was temporarily suppressed, he did not hesitate and immediately took out a silver-white metal ball with a diameter of about ten centimeters from his pocket.

This metal sphere is none other than a container he specially crafted for the Nine-Tails.

Just like the containers that sealed the Four-Tails and the Seven-Tails, it was also made by him using pure chakra-conducting metal.

As for why we didn't use the containers that sealed the Four-Tails and the Seven-Tails?

It's simple, he's worried that the Nine-Tails will burst him apart.

After all, as the most powerful of the nine tailed beasts, one can never be too careful.

And looking at the current situation, it's all thanks to him creating one on his own.

Otherwise, it's not certain that we could trap the Nine-Tails.

Gathering his thoughts, Qingming stopped thinking about it and held the metal ball between his palms. He then began to form hand seals, preparing to unleash the 'Sealing of All Things' technique.

(End of this chapter)