Chapter 82: The Harvest at Uzushio
Walking among the ruined eaves and broken walls, one could still faintly see the former glory of the Uzumaki clan.
Uzumaki Ina's face was full of reminiscence, many already-faded childhood memories surfacing in her mind. Genichi's focus, however, was on whether there was anything left to salvage in these ruins.
But it was clear that many places bore the marks of having been plundered. The Uzumaki clan had been destroyed, but it had fattened up the major ninja villages. Even Konoha could be considered a beneficiary. A large portion of Konoha's sealing techniques came from the Uzumaki clan. Some may have originated from Uzumaki Mito, but it was also possible they came from the clan after its fall. Only the higher-ups like Hiruzen and Danzō probably knew the truth.
His perception gradually spread out, enveloping the area with the abundant water vapor in the air, seeping into every nook and cranny. Passing through one dilapidated building after another, Genichi and Ina gradually entered the core area of the Village Hidden by Whirling Tides.
"Lord Genichi, I remember this place. When I was little, I used to play here with Kushina and my other friends," Ina said, pointing to a desolate garden. Next to it was a lake, now overgrown with weeds.
Genichi glanced at it, patted Ina's shoulder, and continued forward.
Relying on her childhood memories, Ina pointed out the ownership of each building for Genichi. This was the residence of a certain Jonin, that was the estate of a certain elder, or a certain office building.
Genichi visited them one by one, using his newly developed sensory ninjutsu, Heavenly Water, Boundless (Tensui Mukai), to sense for any unknown traps or hidden mechanisms. But it was obviously not that simple. After all, these places had been visited more than once.
Gradually, the two of them left the core area of the village.
"Huh?"
Just as Genichi was about to leave in disappointment, he stopped in his tracks, his gaze falling on a small, ruined courtyard.
Ina looked at it for a moment and shook her head. "Lord Genichi, I'm not familiar with this place."
Genichi smiled. "It's alright, let's go in and have a look."
The two of them entered the ruined courtyard, one after the other. Following the sensation he had felt earlier, they came to a room that was relatively well-preserved.
The wooden floor was covered in moss and dust, and there were several broken bookshelves. Many of the scrolls had already rotted away. It was clear that this had been a study.
Ina deftly went to check the scrolls, then said with disappointment, "Lord Genichi, these scrolls have rotted away. The words are no longer legible."
Genichi was not surprised. "This place is by the sea. The water vapor is abundant. It's normal."
"Come behind me for a moment and cover your mouth and nose."
Hearing this, Ina quickly moved behind him and covered her mouth and nose.
Genichi formed a hand seal, opened his mouth, and blew at the floor. A fierce wind instantly kicked up, sweeping away all the moss and dust from the wooden floor and revealing the already-decaying floorboards. In some places, the floorboards were missing, revealing the hardened ground beneath. Faint traces of a battle could even be seen.
"Lord Genichi, is there some kind of mechanism here?" Ina asked curiously. She couldn't see anything unusual.
"You'll know in a moment," Genichi chuckled. He then channeled chakra through his feet into the ground.
The next moment, a black sealing formula appeared on the ground and rapidly spread out, forming a giant jutsu pattern. This pattern was not only on the floor but also spread up the walls.
"It's a sealing technique!" Ina exclaimed.
Genichi was extremely gratified. It seemed this trip would not be for nothing.
"Lord Genichi, what sealing technique is this?" Ina asked.
Genichi looked at it carefully and said, "Reverse Four Symbols Seal (Ura Shishō Fūin)."
"If we try to break it by force, the seal will activate and will devour and seal everything here."
Yes, it was the same Reverse Four Symbols Seal (Ura Shishō Fūin) that had sealed a bridge.
"Let's retreat outside first." Genichi pulled Ina out of the study, then sent a shadow clone back inside to release the seal. This was just in case.
Although Genichi hadn't mastered the Reverse Four Symbols Seal (Ura Shishō Fūin), he had heard Kushina talk about it when he was learning the Four Symbols Seal (Shishō Fūin). And from the look of the jutsu pattern in the study, its release method was... the Four Symbols Seal (Shishō Fūin). Just like the release method for the Evil Sealing Method (Fūja Hōin) was to reverse the order of the hand seals, which then became the Evil Releasing Method (Kaija Hōin). The Four Symbols Seal and the Reverse Four Symbols Seal belonged to the same system of sealing techniques.
The shadow clone walked to the center of the study, where the core of the jutsu pattern was, formed a hand seal, and then pressed its right palm to the ground. "Release!"
In an instant, a white light bloomed from the jutsu pattern. When the light subsided, the pattern vanished, and a rumbling sound immediately followed.
Genichi and Ina looked over and saw the floor of the study split open, revealing a dark entrance.
However, Genichi still didn't move. He had the shadow clone go in to scout the path. After the clone confirmed that there was no problem, he then led Ina inside.
A flint lit a candle, illuminating the underground space.
Genichi looked around carefully. The space wasn't particularly large, about the same size as the study above, and even the layout was the same. There were many scrolls and books on the bookshelves. On the desk were a dried inkstone and brush, and an unrolled scroll. There were also some discarded drafts scattered on the floor.
Genichi carefully looked at the contents of the scroll and the drafts on the desk. They were about research on sealing techniques. Yes, the things here were well-preserved and had not been corroded by the moisture over time.
Genichi was overjoyed and quickly and carefully collected the unfinished research materials from the desk.
"Lord Genichi, these scrolls are all in perfect condition!" Ina's cheerful voice sounded from the side. "This is the scroll for the Reverse Four Symbols Seal (Ura Shishō Fūin)! And this is the Four Symbols Seal (Shishō Fūin)... and this, the Contract Seal (Keiyaku Fūin)."
Genichi turned around and saw Ina, as happy as a child who had discovered a treasure. He walked over and took a scroll, carefully opening it.
Five Elements Seal (Gogyō Fūin)!
Well now, it was the same as Konoha's sealing technique. But Genichi soon discovered that all the scrolls on the same shelf were about this Five Elements Seal. Annotations, and extended research based on it. Judging by the handwriting, they were all from the same person, probably the master of this study.
The more Genichi read, the brighter his eyes became. The Five Elements Seal (Gogyō Fūin) was a sealing technique cast based on the five nature transformations of wind, lightning, fire, earth, and water. Orochimaru had once used this sealing technique on Naruto, disrupting the Tailed Beast chakra circulation formed by the Eight Trigrams Seal (Hakke no Fūin) in his body, causing him great pain and messing up his chakra control. Jiraiya later broke this seal. Genichi hadn't mastered these five nature transformations, so he hadn't been able to learn this sealing technique.
And now, he was seeing derivative seals from this Five Elements Seal: a Water Seal, a Fire Seal, and an Earth Seal.
What a talent!
"Lord Genichi, there's a Golden Chain Seal (Kin sa Fūin) here. Is it the Adamantine Sealing Chains (Kongō Fūsa) you mentioned before?" Ina's voice sounded.
Genichi looked up, quickly put away the scroll in his hand, and walked over to take the one from her.
Golden Chain Seal (Kin sa Fūin)!
Genichi was puzzled. It wasn't the Adamantine Sealing Chains. He took another scroll from the shelf and opened it. Sure enough, it was research material on the Golden Chain Seal.
Genichi read through it carefully and finally understood. He smiled at Ina. "This isn't the Adamantine Sealing Chains (Kongō Fūsa), but a sealing technique developed from it. It's B-rank." And he noticed that the scroll did not specify that it was a secret technique.
Ina quickly asked, "Then can I practice it?"
Genichi nodded. "Of course."
"But the Adamantine Sealing Chains is more suitable for you. Of course, you can learn this sealing technique first. It will be much easier to learn the Adamantine Sealing Chains in the future."
"Pack it up!"
Ina nodded quickly and then began to get busy. There were several boxes in the corner, containing many blank scrolls. They now emptied them all and put all the scrolls from the bookshelves into the boxes.
Genichi continued to check the contents of the scrolls on the shelves. Unfortunately, they were all about sealing techniques. There was no Mind's Eye of the Kagura (Kagura Shingan), nor the Adamantine Sealing Chains (Kongō Fūsa). And many of them were semi-finished works.
Finally, Genichi also saw research on the Reaper Death Seal (Shiki Fūjin), which even included a method to release the seal.
Genichi's expression was slightly strange. "Don't tell me Orochimaru discovered this place and then found the method to release the Reaper Death Seal?"
Neither Minato nor Kushina knew that the Reaper Death Seal could be broken. And Orochimaru, only after his arms were sealed, had begun to search everywhere for the scattered materials of the Uzumaki clan and found a way to break the seal.
After packing all the materials into the boxes, Genichi took off the large scroll on his back. Inside were several smaller scrolls, all of which were sealing scrolls. After sealing the boxes inside, Genichi checked again to make sure nothing was missed, and then left the underground study with Ina.
Outside, Genichi suddenly remembered something about the Golden Chain Seal. Naruto and his team had once encountered the spiritual consciousness of a red-haired woman on an island with many summoning animals. The sealing technique that woman had used was similar to the Adamantine Sealing Chains, but also different. Could it have been this Golden Chain Seal?
Genichi couldn't be sure, nor could he be bothered to investigate it deeply. He continued to search with Ina.
Unfortunately, until the setting sun burned the sky red, besides some scattered materials, they had no other major gains. But Genichi was already very satisfied.
That night, the two of them spent the night in the desolate Village Hidden by Whirling Tides.
In front of the flickering campfire, Ina held the scroll of the Golden Chain Seal and studied it carefully. On the other side, Genichi was studying the three sealing techniques derived from the Five Elements Seal. After careful examination, he discovered that the materials on the desk were for an unfinished Lightning Seal.
"This Water Seal is very suitable for me."
"And it's not difficult to learn." After reading through the Water Seal, Genichi already had a good idea of it. The difficulty was only C-rank, chunin level.
He then looked at the Fire Seal, and soon he frowned slightly. He was reminded of the Fire Release: Heavenly Prison (Katon: Tenrō) from the Grass Village. And with this Fire Seal, the victim could not use chakra, otherwise, their body would be burned by the power of the seal, causing unbearable pain. The effect couldn't be said to be exactly the same as the Heavenly Prison, but it was remarkably similar.
"I remember the Grass Village is also one that likes to study the secret techniques of other villages!" Genichi secretly shook his head.
He then looked at the Earth Seal. Its effect was also good. The sealed person would be completely immobile, their body petrified. The difficulty was higher than the Water Seal, B-rank. The Water Seal and the Fire Seal were both C-rank. Of course, the rank didn't represent the power, just the difficulty of learning.
"It's a pity there's no Wind Seal. For now, I can only learn the Water Seal."
"But perhaps in the future, I can follow this predecessor's line of thought and develop the Wind Seal myself, and even complete the unfinished Lightning Seal."
"In the future, these will be the legacy of my Kinoshita clan!" Genichi was very thick-skinned.
(End of Chapter)
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