After spending about a week in the Capital of the Land of Fire, the Konoha delegation finally set out for home and returned to the Hidden Leaf Village.
Upon arrival, Gekkō Hoshiyomi didn't head home right away. Instead, under the guidance of the Third Hokage, he followed Tsunade to the Senju Clan compound.
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was deeply concerned about the Terrifying Death Limit curse on Hoshiyomi. After all, Hoshiyomi had contributed significantly in the recent Chūnin Exams.
If it hadn't been for him single-handedly defeating both the Kaga Cult's main force and Cloud's hidden trump card—the Two-Tails' remains—the entire exam could have descended into chaos.
Now that Hoshiyomi had been cursed, Hiruzen felt it was his duty as Hokage to seek a solution. But awkwardly enough, even with his vast knowledge and reputation as a "The Professor" he was at a loss against this particular curse.
He had managed to analyze some of its mechanics. At its core, Terrifying Death Limit resembled a particularly sinister sealing jutsu.
It was much like the infamous Tongue Sealing Jutsu—only instead of activating when classified information was revealed, it triggered when the target attempted to use chakra.
The curse formula engraved on the victim's back would respond to chakra flow, spreading rapidly and reacting violently with the chakra itself, causing excruciating pain.
In other words, a standard Terrifying Death Limit curse was a kind of sealing technique that punished the user for accessing chakra.
Given time and the basic components of the curse formula, Hiruzen was confident he could eventually reverse-engineer and dismantle a regular version of the technique.
But the version affecting Hoshiyomi wasn't normal.
That's because Two-Tails chakra had been fused into the curse.
Even for a Jinchūriki, the Two-Tails' chakra posed a considerable burden—let alone for someone like Hoshiyomi, who wasn't a Jinchūriki at all. That fusion was the source of his intense pain.
This meant Hoshiyomi's condition wasn't just a sealing curse—it was a compound affliction, a combination of tailed beast chakra and curse technique backlash.
Separately, Hiruzen might have been able to resolve either one. But combined, they formed something entirely new and far more dangerous.
It was like mixing two poisons—say, hemlock and wolfsbane. You can't just combine their antidotes and expect it to work. (Assuming such antidotes even exist.)
The curse feeds on Hoshiyomi's blood, while the Two-Tails' chakra draws nourishment from his own chakra. This mutual dependency had created a vicious cycle.
The curse etched its seal into his back, and the Two-Tails' chakra concentrated all of Hoshiyomi's chakra in that same area to sustain itself.
The result? No matter which component you try to remove, you trigger the other.
If you try to suppress the Two-Tails chakra, it fights back instinctively, drawing more chakra from Hoshiyomi to defend itself.
But once his chakra starts moving, the curse activates. The combined reaction of too much chakra and the curse formula would likely kill him instantly.
On the other hand, if you try to attack the curse first, it's bonded with the Two-Tails chakra. That chakra can burn away any newly inscribed counter-seal using its fiery properties.
A deadlock.
At least for now, Hiruzen couldn't think of any way to break it. Which is why they were now seeking help from Mito Uzumaki.
As the Jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails, Mito might be able to neutralize the Two-Tails' chakra without activating Hoshiyomi's chakra, which would then leave the curse vulnerable and easier to deal with.
———
Senju Compound.
Over a year had passed since they last saw her, and Mito Uzumaki's face now bore signs of age. Her body had reached its natural limit—despite the Yin Seal preserving her life, it couldn't maintain youthful appearance forever.
After exchanging some pleasantries, Hiruzen went straight to the point and detailed the Terrifying Death Limit affliction on Hoshiyomi.
Mito listened quietly, then asked Hoshiyomi to remove his shirt so she could inspect his back. After a thorough examination, she gently shook her head.
Tsunade and Hiruzen's expressions changed immediately. Tsunade rushed forward and grabbed her grandmother's shoulders.
"Grandma, what do you mean by shaking your head? Don't tell me even you can't remove this curse?"
Mito smiled gently and patted Tsunade's hand.
"Hiruzen is oversimplifying things. Even the Nine-Tails can't forcibly extract the Two-Tails' chakra. Each tailed beast is an independent entity. One cannot simply consume another's chakra."
"If that were possible, the Nine-Tails would've devoured the weaker ones long ago."
Hoshiyomi furrowed his brow at that. So even Mito had her limitations.
It seemed she didn't know the true name of the Nine-Tails, nor the personalities of the various tailed beasts. But it made sense. Mito had sealed the Nine-Tails purely through force; her reserved demeanor was nothing like Naruto's clumsy, friendship-seeking approach.
Still, her next words caught everyone's attention:
"Before I married Hashirama, back in the Uzumaki Clan's archives in Uzushiogakure, I once came across records of Terrifying Death Limit ."
All eyes turned to her immediately.
Mito smiled as she continued:
"In truth, the decline of curse arts is closely linked to the rise of our Uzumaki sealing techniques. Both methods aimed to achieve similar results, so competition was inevitable."
"It was precisely because the Uzumaki perfected chakra-based sealing that blood-based curse techniques faded into history. But I never expected such arts to reemerge after over a century."
Tsunade made a face at Hoshiyomi that basically screamed: "Here we go again." It was clear this was the part of her grandma's lectures she hated the most.
Hoshiyomi also wanted to interrupt, but decided against it. Elderly people tended to ramble; there wasn't much point resisting.
Mito continued, calmly and methodically:
"Historically, our clan once fought a war against a religion that used curse arts. During that conflict, one of our ancestors was afflicted by Terrifying Death Limit ."
"What happened to him? Did he ever break free?"
"He tried everything... and failed. He concluded that no external method could undo the curse."