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Chapter 207 The Four Heavenly Treasures of the Uzumaki Clan!
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Dinner was warm and peaceful, the kind of quiet comfort that had become rare in the Tazuna household.
"Dinner was amazing as always," Tazuna said, patting his stomach.
"I'm glad you liked it, Father," Tsunami replied with a gentle smile as she began collecting the dishes. Her gaze fell on Inari, who was absently poking at the last bits of his rice.
"Something wrong, dear?"
"I… I miss big bro Naruto."
"We all miss him, kid. Those shinobi… they really shook things up around here, made this house feel alive again." The old man took a sip of his drink. "But listen, Inari... people like that come and go. That's just how life works. They show up, teach you something important, and then it's your turn to carry it forward."
Inari looked up, eyes wide at his grandfather's words.
Tazuna smiled faintly. "Besides, there's a big event coming up called the Chunin Exams, right? Maybe we'll go to the Leaf and cheer on Naruto and the others. Wouldn't that be something?"
"Yeah! I wanna go!"
Tsunami laughed softly at their enthusiasm, but the peace didn't last.
Without warning, the door to the living room creaked open as someone barged in. Three screams filled the room. Naruto and Oscar, startled, immediately joined in the screaming.
"WAIT, why are we screaming!?"
Oscar gave a helpless little shrug.
"N-Naruto, boy, is that you!?" Tazuna said, clutching his fork like a weapon.
"Yeah, sorry for the scare," Naruto said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "I used the Homeward Miracle to teleport outside of Uzushiogakure, and this was the closest place I could think of." He glanced around with a smile. "New house looks nice, by the way."
Tsunami blinked, trying to catch up. "Teleport? Why would you...? Are you alright, Naruto-kun?"
"Oh, I'm fine," Naruto said with a casual wave. "But sorry, can't really say why I teleported. Official ninja business." The light caught the Dragon Crest Ring on his hand as he said it, and it gleamed faintly.
"Well, would you like to have some dinner with us?" Tsunami asked. "You could rest a bit or—"
Before she could finish, Naruto's armor shimmered and vanished in a burst of light, leaving him in nothing but the cold night air from the window he'd opened.
Tazuna nearly choked on his drink. "Naruto, I know my daughter's quite the lovely lady, but if you plan on courting her, a slow approach might work better!"
Naruto blinked. "Is he drunk?" he asked Tsunami flatly.
Tsunami was already covering Inari's eyes. "Naruto-kun, please warn us next time you decide to undress in the living room!" she said, doing her best not to look, though her cheeks betrayed her composure.
"Sorry, no time," Naruto said briskly as yellow feathers began to sprout from his back.
All three of them froze, staring.
Then, with a sharp flap of wings, Naruto leapt through the window. In the blink of an eye, his body transformed midair, feathers spreading wide as his form shifted into that of a massive falcon. Oscar dangled comfortably from his talons as they soared into the night sky.
The family stood in stunned silence for a long moment, watching the moonlight glint off the falcon's wings as it vanished into the clouds.
Finally, Tazuna sighed, taking a sip of his drink. "Well… that's Naruto for you. Always leaves you wondering whether you're awake or dreaming."
Tsunami shook her head with a tired smile. "Speaking of dreams; Inari, it's time for bed."
"But big brother just turned into a bird and flew away…"
"Yes," Tsunami said patiently, "we all saw that. Now off to bed before I call him back, and you really don't want to interrupt his hero work, do you?"
Inari shook his head quickly. "No, ma'am." He padded toward his room, still murmuring to himself. "I wonder what it feels like to fly… Maybe next time, he'll take me with him."
"He just might, kid. He just might," Tazuna murmured with a soft grin, watching Inari shuffle off to his room before the door clicked shut.
Silence lingered between him and Tsunami, the kind that only followed something unbelievable—or, more accurately, something that involved Naruto.
Finally, Tazuna leaned back with a long sigh, pouring himself another drink. "You think if that kid can turn into a bird… what else can he turn into?"
Tsunami didn't even look up from clearing the dishes. "No."
"I'm serious! What if he can turn into, say… a girl? Or a supermodel? Hah! Imagine the possibilities!"
"Father, please..."
"I mean, if he ever gets a girlfriend, that relationship's gonna be wild. What if he turns into her just to see what it's like?"
Tsunami froze, then gave her father a flat, dead-eyed stare. "A lot of what you're saying is disgusting."
"What? I'm just being curious! Oh, oh... what if he turns into an octopus! All those arms..."
The bonk of a ladle connecting with his head cut him off.
"OW!"
"Jiraiya's a bad influence on you," Tsunami muttered, rubbing her temples.
Tazuna rubbed the growing bump on his head, chuckling through the pain. "Yeah, but admit it, the kid's gonna live one hell of a life as he grows."
Tsunami sighed but couldn't help smiling a little as she looked toward the open window, where the moonlight still spilled in. "He already is living one hell of a life. Still… it's nice to see him so determined. Wherever he goes, he always makes things feel brighter."
Tazuna raised his cup toward the sky. "To the flying knucklehead. May the world survive him."
"Amen to that."
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Flying was an experience unlike anything Naruto had ever known.
The wind didn't just rush past him; rather, it sang. It roared in his ears, brushed across his feathers, and carried him with a freedom so pure that it made his chest ache. The air grew colder the higher he climbed, sharp and clean, each gust threading through his wings like a living current. Below him, the ocean stretched endlessly, a vast mirror of silver-blue that shimmered beneath the moonlight. The stars seemed closer up here, scattered like glowing shards of crystal across the black expanse of sky.
Every beat of his wings sent a thrill through his body. Every turn, every dive, every rise through the clouds felt like a conversation with the wind itself.
Naruto channeled wind chakra through his feathers to slice through the air more easily, adjusting the flow to reduce resistance. Chakra reinforced his wings, letting him push faster, glide farther. The world below blurred into streaks of light and shadow.
After half an hour, his muscles burned pleasantly, the fatigue of his chakra catching up with him. Mid-air, he twisted into a roll and shifted back into his human form, landing lightly atop the rolling waves with Oscar clutched in one arm.
The little lizard immediately made a barfing motion.
"You okay, bud?" Naruto asked, amused. He reached into his inventory, pulling out the Grass Crest Shield and slinging it over his back. A faint green aura wrapped around him, rippling like wind through leaves. He could already feel his chakra restoring faster.
Oscar flopped onto Naruto's shoulder, groaning dramatically.
Naruto chuckled, rubbing his belly. "You did good, little guy. But I'm gonna need you at your best once we reach Uzushiogakure's borders. You'll be my eyes, yeah?"
Oscar gave him a pitiful look, blinking up at him as the boy stood barefoot atop the moonlit sea with his long hair swaying with the wind, green chakra glimmering faintly across his skin like foxfire.
"You'll use Soulsight to spot the gaps in the sealing arrays," Naruto explained, "and guide me through."
Oscar tilted his head, uncertain.
"Yeah, I checked. There are holes in the fuinjutsu arrays over Uzushio."
Oscar chirped weakly, still uneasy.
"Don't tell me you're scared of flying again?"
Oscar nodded shamefully.
"Hey, don't be. There's nothing to be afraid of." Naruto crouched and patted him gently. "Tell you what... we've got time before we reach Uzushiogakure. Let's fix that. Ready?"
Oscar hesitated, then gave a small nod.
"Good answer."
With that, Naruto's body shimmered and twisted, feathers bursting from his arms and back as he took on the form of a great falcon once more. He grasped Oscar gently in his talons and leapt into the air.
The lizard immediately squeezed his eyes shut.
Naruto tried to sigh, but the sound that left his throat was a harsh, grating caw that tore through the air. Irritated, he focused, causing the shape of his throat to change, cords of muscle writhing and knitting themselves together where none should exist. His beak split slightly down the middle, bending and reshaping with wet, organic sounds. A row of small, human-like teeth pushed through the edge of his beak, glinting unnaturally in the moonlight.
A sound followed—something halfway between a rasp and a growl.
"Os–car," the bird croaked, his new throat still adjusting to speech. The word came out mangled. He flexed his beak once, testing it, and then said more clearly, "Oscar, open your eyes!"
He slowed his flight, wings spread wide as they drifted above the clouds. "Come on, buddy. The sky's not so scary. There's a whole world waiting for you... you just have to look."
Oscar peeked one eye open… and froze.
The night sky above them was breathtaking as an ocean of stars, their light rippling across the clouds like reflections on water. The moon hung enormous and golden, spilling its glow over the rolling mist. The world below looked like a dream: islands scattered like jewels, the sea glimmering like liquid glass, and the horizon painted in shades of deep blue and violet.
Oscar chirped softly, a sound of awe.
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
Oscar chirped again, louder this time, his fear forgotten.
"Good. Now that you're seeing straight," Naruto said with a grin, banking through the clouds, "let's start practicing our flight signals. You guide me through traps, I follow your cues. Ready, partner?"
Oscar straightened up proudly and gave a confident chirp.
"Atta boy." Naruto's wings caught the wind again as they soared higher, two specks of light racing through the night sky.
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It took Naruto several hours of steady flight to finally reach the outer edge of Uzushiogakure's territory.
From this height, the land itself looked like a massive seal carved into the earth, its lines faintly glowing with dormant chakra. Every instinct screamed that one wrong move would tear him apart.
"Alright, buddy," Naruto muttered, his distorted bird-voice soft but firm. "This is it. You're my eyes. Guide me through."
Oscar's Soulsight began flaring. He chirped once while pointing a tiny claw toward a thin ripple in the air.
Naruto flapped his wings once and dove.
The world blurred into streaks of blue and white as he plunged toward the invisible maze that surrounded the ruins.
"Oscar, left or right?"
Oscar's eyes flared again, seeing the spiritual geometry no normal being could. He chirped twice, signalling left, sharp turn.
Naruto banked hard, feeling the edge of a chakra barrier in the red zone scrape against his wingtip. The energy hissed like acid, burning through a few feathers. He winced, feathers molting into ash, but pushed through the pain.
The next layer came fast—an array of spiraling seals floating in the air like glowing mandalas, spinning with slow, deceptive grace.
Oscar chirped frantically, pointing upward.
Naruto shot upward, threading the needle between two glyphs that pulsed with nature energy. The glow chased his shadow, flaring to life as if trying to grab him. The edges brushed his leg, and pain lanced through his body like molten iron.
"Damn it!" Naruto hissed, wings faltering for half a second.
Oscar screeched and pecked at his shoulder as a warning. Naruto refocused, channeling wind chakra to steady himself. He could feel the barrier reacting to his chakra signature, like a living thing sensing prey.
"Alright, we're almost there… three more layers!" Naruto grunted. Sweat—or maybe blood—glistened on his talons as he tucked his wings and dived again.
Oscar guided him through by sound now, his chirps rhythmic, measured. Each one told Naruto where the gaps opened, how the chakra currents shifted, and where he had to fold his wings to slip through before the openings closed again.
One array flared to life behind him, its symbols spinning violently, and suddenly thousands of glowing seals launched forward like shuriken.
"Not good, not good!"
He summoned a gust of wind chakra from his wings, blasting himself forward just in time as the Reverse Tetragram Seals detonated behind him.
Naruto didn't slow down. He pushed through another breach, wings skimming the edges of invisible barriers, until finally the crushing pressure vanished.
They burst into the heart of Uzushiogakure.
Naruto slowly glided down, wings spread wide to soften his descent.
"Any other traps, Oscar?"
The little lizard shook his head.
"Good." Naruto's feathers rippled and folded back into his skin as he shapeshifted midair, landing lightly on the cracked remains of the Altar of Beginning.
He exhaled and reached into his inventory, pulling out a golden Estus Flask. "Man, that flight took more out of me than I thought." He took a long sip, the warmth spreading through his body as the burns on his arms and the singed feathers along his shoulders began to heal.
Looking down, he poured a bit of Estus into his cupped hand for Oscar, who eagerly drank from it like it was the finest nectar in the world.
Naruto let out a low whistle as he surveyed the destruction. "Even though I saw it from a distance, seeing this much damage up close… damn. It's like someone dropped a thousand explosive seals on it."
A familiar voice answered, calm and ancient. "It was done to ensure that no one could claim the Uzumaki's greatest treasure."
The surrounding seals flickered to life in red spirals, and from their glow, Mito Uzumaki's spectral form materialized before him.
"Ah!" Naruto yelped, fumbling for his gear. In a flash of light, his armor equipped itself piece by piece, courtesy of his inventory. He wasn't that shameless to be naked in front of his great-great-grandmother.
"That's a curious little fuinjutsu you've got there. Did you craft it yourself?"
"Oh, this? Nah, not a fuinjutsu. Just something I picked up in Lordran. I only know the basics of sealing—like a few tags, explosive seals, the usual."
"Well," Mito said kindly, "don't be embarrassed by that. Every fuinjutsu master starts somewhere. You're still young, after all."
"Yeah, well… 'young' is relative," Naruto said.
"How old are you now?"
"Twelve," Naruto replied without hesitation.
Mito gasped. "There is no way you're twelve, dattebane!"
"Ha! You've got a verbal tic too! Guess it runs in the family." Naruto tilted his head thoughtfully. "But you might be right. With all the time I've spent in Lordran, I'm probably closer to thirteen."
Oscar gave a small shrug.
"Come on, Oscar," Naruto said with mock sternness. "We gotta give Gran-Gran-Gran-Gran the accurate info."
"You cheeky brat," Mito huffed, placing her hands on her hips. "You added an extra gran just to tease me! If I still had a solid body, I'd bop you on the head right now."
"It was just a joke!" Naruto said quickly, raising his hands defensively. "Besides, it's not like anyone can tell our ages anyway. I don't look twelve, and you... well... you look way too beautiful for your age."
"Hmph. Looks like you inherited your father's silver tongue."
"Guess I got that from both sides of the family."
Naruto glanced around the shattered altar. "So, uh… Gran Gran Gran, I gotta ask... why send me here at all? You didn't know that I barely know any fuinjutsu, you're technically a ghost, and this place looks like it's one strong breeze away from collapsing."
"Oh, I never expected you to actually fix it."
Naruto and Oscar sweatdropped.
"…You didn't?"
"No," Mito said pleasantly, as if this were the most reasonable thing in the world.
Oscar made a tiny squeak of disbelief.
Naruto groaned, dragging a hand down his face. "So let me get this straight... you sent me through enough traps to kill a small army… for something you didn't expect me to fix?"
"Precisely. I needed to see if you were worthy of reaching it first."
Naruto sighed, muttering, "Great. I am not the only Uzumaki that is insane."
Oscar chirped in agreement.
"Well, I expected you to come here with the others," Mito said, giving him a mildly reproachful look. "You were supposed to cooperate, not sneak off alone."
"Well, Kakashi-sensei and Jiraiya know plenty about fuinjutsu. You figured they could help me fix the altar?"
"Oh, heavens no." Mito actually snorted with a surprisingly undignified sound for the First Hokage's wife. "Neither I, nor Kushina, nor even Minato had the skill to repair the Altar of Beginning. The altar was made by the first Uzumaki. It's far beyond anything our later generations could manage."
"Then why send me here?"
"Because, before I died… I sealed something here."
A soft glow shimmered in the air between them. Lines of fuinjutsu spun outward in a spiral before folding in on themselves, forming a small storage seal. With a puff of smoke, something fell into Naruto's waiting hands.
It was a white fox mask, smooth and pristine despite the centuries. Crimson rings circled its narrow eyes, and red sigils curled along its surface like living ink. Its sharp ears rose elegantly, and the faintest trace of chakra shimmered along the seams.
Naruto turned it over in his hands. "It looks like something ANBU would wear. What is it?"
"That is the Uzumaki Mask of Whispers. A jutsu is sealed within it. When you wear it, it will activate and allow you to read the Uzumaki clan's hidden scrolls."
Naruto blinked twice. "Wait, what? Read them? Like, they're in another language or something?"
"Wait, wait... I'm sorry, you lost me. What?"
"All Uzumaki clan scrolls are written in poetic cipher. Without the mask, the words remain nonsense, or worse, misleading. Only those taught directly by another Uzumaki or using that mask can read them correctly."
Naruto whistled low. "So it's basically a safeguard for clan secrets. That's… actually kind of genius."
He grinned, though a hint of mischief crept into his voice. "Still, for something surrounded by a labyrinth of death traps, this feels like a pretty small reward, dattebayo."
"Don't take that tone with me, young man."
"Sorry, Gran Gran Gran," Naruto mumbled quickly, Oscar lowering his head beside him as if in solidarity.
"It's fine, dear. And for what it's worth, this isn't all I meant to give you."
Naruto perked up slightly. "There's more?"
"Yes," Mito said. "But first, let me ask you something important. What has Konoha told you about the Uzumaki clan?"
Naruto hesitated, rubbing the back of his neck. "Technically… nothing. I mean, I'm just a genin, and apparently, you've got to be at least chunin to even hear about the clan. So, I guess I would've learned eventually. Maybe."
He gave a small shrug. "The only reason I even know what I do now is because some mysterious guy gave me Tobirama's journal. And recently, I got Kakashi to spill some the beans on the Uzumaki clan's destruction."
Mito's eyes widened. "Didn't Minato or Kushina teach you anything?"
"They died… the day I was born."
For a long moment, Mito said nothing. Her face fell, hands rising to cover her expression as equal parts grief and guilt.
"Yeah. It's… been that kind of life, ya know?"
When Mito finally spoke again, her tone was quieter, but there was an edge beneath it. "Then what of your legacy, child? What have they told you about that?"
"Legacy? I didn't even know I had one until a few months ago."
Mito's eyes narrowed, her spectral form flickering faintly. "Who is the Hokage of your time?"
"Hiruzen Sarutobi."
The air around Mito flickered like a storm lantern in the wind. Her gentle, grandmotherly expression hardened into pure fury. "That spineless old monkey?!" she hissed, her spiritual form flaring with red light. "He's still alive? That man has decades of explaining to do! When he reaches the Pure Lands, I swear I'll drag him out by his beard and make him answer for every mistake!"
"…Uh, thanks for the enthusiasm, Gran Gran Gran."
Mito crossed her arms, fuming for a moment before regaining her composure. "The second you return to Konoha, you will demand your birthright. With the Mask of Whispers, you'll be able to access the Uzumaki Clan Library that I entrusted to your mother."
"Yes, ma'am!" Naruto said quickly, snapping into a salute with Oscar.
"Good." Mito's voice softened slightly, pride seeping through her stern tone. "Now listen carefully. Hidden in Konoha's outskirts lies the Uzumaki Mask Storage Temple. You must find it. There, among the relics, is the Mask of the Three-Legged Crow. It will only respond to an Uzumaki's chakra. Once you claim it, the mask will lead you to where I sealed away the Nine Divine Masked Beast Jutsu."
"That sounds strong!"
Mito nodded gravely. "It is. To give you a sense of scale, this jutsu is one of the Four Heavenly Treasures of the Uzumaki clan created by Oden Uzumaki himself."
Naruto sucked in a deep breath, feeling his pulse quicken as both hearts hammering in his chest, a thunderous rhythm that filled his ears. "What… what are the Four Heavenly Treasures?"
"The first was the Rune. The second is the Ethereal Shield, known to the outside world as the Yata Mirror. The third, the Sakegari Longsword, more famously called the Sword of Totsuka. And the last… the Nine Divine Masked Beast Jutsu. These four treasures are the greatest creation of our founder, Oden Uzumaki."
Each word hit Naruto like a strike to the chest. He could almost feel his clan behind him, a thousand voices whispering from the depths of time.
He took a shaky breath, his grin wide and uncontainable. "Gran Gran Gran… did my mom ever use it? The Nine Divine Masked Beast Jutsu?"
"No. I never revealed the location of the treasure to anyone. Not even to your mother."
"Why not?"
"Because she never passed my test. I asked her to tame the Nine-Tails. She could borrow its chakra, yes, but she never truly mastered the beast."
Naruto's fists clenched at his sides, voice rising before he could stop himself. "That's ridiculous! Just because of some stupid test, you kept a jutsu from her? A jutsu that could've saved her life?"
Mito's eyes softened, and her voice took on that steady, gentle tone only grandmothers could summon. She reached out, her hand passing faintly through his hair, glowing like sunlight through mist. "This anger... it isn't really you talking, my boy. It's your grief. Your pain. And your confusion."
"Sorry… I just... I don't even know how she died. But I can't help thinking if she'd been stronger… maybe things could've been different."
Mito stepped closer, her spectral arms wrapping him in a ghostly semblance of a hug. "Maybe so. But remember, if your mother had truly tamed the Nine-Tails, she would have been unstoppable already. She wouldn't have needed the Nine Divine Masked Beast Jutsu."
Naruto nodded slowly, trying to take comfort in her words. "Then… why make it rely on the Nine-Tails at all? Why build something that dangerous around something so unstable?"
"The jutsu draws power most easily from the Nine-Tails because of its nature," Mito said. "It's the purest form of chakra. The Nine Divine Masked Beast Jutsu was designed to harness that chaos and turn it into creation."
Naruto tilted his head. "So… why give it to me? I don't have the Nine-Tails anymore. Do you want me to go hunt him down or something?"
"No, my dear. Whatever you decide to do with the Nine-Tails is your own path. The jutsu works best with its power, but it can still be used in other ways."
Naruto grinned, his mood lifting a little. "Well, I'd say coming here was worth it. I got a way to my Uzumaki inheritance and two Heavenly Treasures!"
"Two? Has Konoha found the Yata Mirror or the Sakegari Longsword?"
Naruto shook his head. "Nope. I'm talking about the Rune. The reason I came here in the first place is to fix the Altar."
"Naruto… how could you possibly intend to repair it?"
Naruto smiled in that infuriatingly confident way of his. "With a little help from magic."
Three shadow clones puffed into existence behind him. Together, they began to channel chakra into the catalyst, weaving the chakra-enhanced Repair Spell.
Mito watched in stunned silence as a radiant storm of light cascaded over the shattered altar. The air trembled with the sound of flowing time and singing chakra. The place began to hum again, alive, awake.
When the light finally faded, the Altar of Beginning stood whole once more.
Mito stared at it, her voice trembling. "I… I haven't felt that presence since I was a child."
For the first time, the great Mito Uzumaki looked like she might cry.
The Altar of Beginning was breathtaking in its restored form. A monument of living stone and intricate lines of sealing formulas carved in perfect symmetry, spiraling outward like veins of stone carved into the earth.
But Naruto's gaze wasn't fixed on the array. His eyes rose to the massive ash tree that now stood in the center of the altar. At first, it seemed beautiful until he noticed the rope hanging from one of its highest branches.
A heavy silence fell over him. His throat went dry.
He remembered the story of Oden Uzumaki hanging himself for nine days and nine nights.
"Gran Gran Gran… how exactly am I supposed to get my rune?"
"Just as our founder did, my dear. Every member of the Uzumaki who wishes to bear the Rune must walk the same path. It is our rite of passage."
She turned to face him fully. "Naruto… you must hang yourself."
The world went still.
Naruto blinked twice, slowly turning his head toward Oscar, who just stared back.
"…"
"…"
"I mean, it's not the strangest thing I've done."
Oscar sighed.
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Author's Note:
And next time on Naruto: The Chosen Undead, watch as our boy Naruto literally hangs himself to get a power-up!
Anyway, jokes aside, let's move into today's Q&A, because this chapter opens up some important lore stuff that I wanted to expand on a bit.
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Q: Is the Yata Mirror and the Sword of Totsuka related to the Uzumaki Clan?
Answer: Canonically? We don't know. The manga and databooks never clearly explain where either weapon came from or who forged them. The only thing we know for sure is that both are spiritual artifacts connected to Itachi's Susanoo, and they're both absurdly broken in terms of power scaling.
Here's what we do know from canon:
The Sword of Totsuka (sometimes referred to as the Sakegari Longsword) is described as a Kusanagi-type blade imbued with an extraordinarily powerful sealing jutsu. Anything pierced by it is absorbed into its gourd and sealed away forever inside a genjutsu realm of eternal drunken dreams. The sword doesn't even have a tangible form, as it's made entirely of spiritual energy, capable of cutting through anything regardless of physical resistance. Orochimaru spent years hunting for it and failed. Itachi somehow obtained it, or possibly inherited it, though how remains completely unexplained.
The Yata Mirror is another spiritual weapon. An ethereal shield capable of repelling any ninjutsu or taijutsu attack, whether physical or spiritual in nature. It achieves this by instantly altering its own properties to perfectly counter whatever it's defending against. If it's hit by fire, it becomes water. It's basically the ultimate defense.
How these two artifacts appear and disappear with Itachi's Susanoo is also a mystery. The most accepted theory is that he's summoning and desummoning them from the spiritual plane, as they're not actually a part of his Susanoo, but tools bound to his spirit.
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So why connect them to the Uzumaki clan?
There are actually two reasons behind my interpretation.
1. The Sealing Connection
The Sword of Totsuka possesses one of the most powerful sealing techniques in the entire series. A sealing so potent that it can trap an Edo Tensei soul, which is essentially immortal. If that doesn't scream Uzumaki craftsmanship, I don't know what does.
Think about it: every top-grade, overpowered sealing jutsu in the Narutoverse tends to trace its roots back to the Uzumaki in one way or another. Their clan literally built the foundations of sealing jutsu. From the Shinigami contract to the Eight Trigrams Seal, their techniques define the highest forms of spiritual control.
So when I see a blade that can seal, I see the fingerprints of the Uzumaki all over it.
2. The Spiritual Connection
For my version of the Uzumaki clan, I'm leaning heavily into the spiritual and metaphysical side of their legacy.
Runes that can interact with souls. Mito sealing a piece of her soul as a lingering presence. The clan's canon ties to the Shinigami itself.
So when I looked at the Yata Mirror and the Sword of Totsuka—two divine, soul-bound weapons that operate entirely in the spiritual realm—it made perfect sense to tie them to the Uzumaki.
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Q: What is the Nine Divine Masked Beasts Jutsu?
A: Well… I'm not going to reveal it just yet. But don't worry, as this jutsu isn't some random OC power I cooked up out of nowhere. It's actually based on something canon-adjacent. You'll understand exactly what I mean when it's revealed in-story.
That said, I'll give you guys a small hint.
The Nine Divine Masked Beasts Jutsu is directly connected to the Uzumaki clan's masks.
I'm sure you remember when Orochimaru and his crew broke into the Uzumaki Mask Temple in Konoha and used the Reaper Mask to free the Four Hokage's souls. That whole sequence was one of the most fascinating, creepy, and mystical moments in the series for me.
On my first watch, I loved it. On every rewatch since… I just got more and more annoyed that Kishimoto completely ignored the Uzumaki clan.
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Quick Rant Time: Like seriously, Naruto is the main character, one of the last known members of the Uzumaki clan, and the descendant of some of the most legendary seal masters in history. Wouldn't you think… maybe, just maybe… his clan heritage should've been a major part of his growth?
This kid's entire character arc revolves around loneliness, identity, and legacy, and we barely get anything about his family.
Instead, we got endless lore drops about the Uchiha.
Again.
I mean, I love the Uchiha story as much as anyone, but imagine how much more powerful Naruto's journey would've been if he explored his roots as an Uzumaki.
Imagine a parallel between Naruto and Sasuke:
two orphans from clans wiped out due to the shinobi world, both seeking to understand their pasts but walking different paths to healing.
Sasuke learns vengeance. Naruto learns endurance and understanding.
That would've been peak storytelling.
Both inherit their legacies and change the shinobi world rather than the nonsense reincarnation plot line we got in canon.
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Back to the Question:
Anyway, before I spiral into another rant, the Nine Divine Masked Beasts Jutsu is my way of filling in that missing piece of Uzumaki lore.
It ties together the masks of the Uzumaki and the spiritual arts of sealing.
I'm blending what little we know from canon with my own original expansion of the Uzumaki clan's mythology.
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I hope you guys enjoyed this little dive into my Uzumaki lore expansion, as it's been one of my favorite things to write so far.
Let me know what you think:
Do you like the idea of tying the clan's masks and sealing arts into a grander jutsu?
Do you guys like the idea of the Totsuka Blade and Yata Mirror being Uzumaki clan weapons?
Do you have your own theories about what the Nine Divine Masked Beasts might be?
Next chapter's going to be a wild one, trust me, and Naruto's rite of passage is about to take a dark, mythic turn.
Stay tuned, and as always, thank you for reading!
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[ Personal Note: First off, thanks a ton to all of you for sticking with this story. Seriously, you guys are awesome. Now, if you're interested in supporting me on P@treon, let me just say that over there, I post these massive 5k-word chapters. But heads up, if you're jumping to P@treon, you'll need to start from Chapter 95, since that's where this chapter lines up with the content there.
To everyone here just reading along, please don't forget to leave a comment! Honestly, your comments make my day, and they let me know you're as invested in this story as I am. So yeah, thanks again, and I hope you have an amazing rest of your day!