Kushina's unconsciousness didn't last long. After all, it was just a rush of blood to the head. Once she calmed down and cooled off, she naturally woke up.
But when she slightly opened her bleary eyes, she realized she was leaning against Ryun's chest.
Before Kushina's eyes were a pair of rough hands and a small sealing technique scroll.
That not-too-broad yet dependable chest, the warm body temperature, and that peculiar yet pleasant masculine scent left her both flustered and strangely comforted.
She didn't know whether to sit up now. She was afraid of the awkwardness that would follow, yet she also felt somewhat attached to this chest she could lean on...
'Maybe... I'll wait a bit longer before waking up...'
The sweet fragrance of the girl was also incredibly alluring to a young man. Though Ryun's attention was focused on the scroll, and his mind wasn't filled with indecent thoughts, his breathing had unconsciously grown slightly heavier.
'My neck... hurts... What should I do...'
Keeping her neck tilted for so long without moving made Kushina feel stiff...
Just as she steeled herself to pretend to wake up, she felt a pair of hands gently place her on the grass.
In truth, Ryun had known for a while that the little girl was awake... At such close proximity, how could he not sense the changes in Kushina's breathing?
He just hadn't expected Kushina to stay still and continue pretending to be unconscious in his arms...
If it weren't for the fact that there were too many things in the scroll he didn't understand and he urgently needed his red-haired teacher to explain, he would've liked to see how long the little girl could keep up the act...
"Wake up, Kushina..." Ryun chuckled and lightly patted her cheek.
Soon, Kushina cooperated with his "performance," pretending to have just woken up.
Facing that meaningful, sunny smile, even though Kushina had mentally prepared herself, she couldn't help but blush in embarrassment.
"Pervert, what are you looking at!"
Kushina pushed the figure right in front of her to the ground and quickly stood up, her mind filled with the urge to flee.
"Hey hey hey... Where do you think you're going? You haven't even taught me the sealing techniques yet!" Ryun hurriedly called out to stop her.
Kushina hesitated for a moment but ultimately chose to stay.
"If you keep making those kinds of remarks, I won't teach you, and I won't talk to you anymore!" Kushina threatened, glaring fiercely at him.
"..."
Earlier, he had only been complimenting her, speaking from the heart. How had that become making remarks?
Girls' thoughts were truly hard to grasp. Ryun sighed helplessly.
"Fine... Today, whatever Teacher Kushina says goes..."
Hearing this title, Kushina's expression nearly cracked, almost making her laugh...
'I really want to bite this guy to death...'
Right now, she was both annoyed and amused, yet she couldn't do anything about this rascal.
Ryun broke off the tree trunk that had been pierced by Chidori earlier and invited the girl to sit beside him.
Kushina picked up the scroll and began explaining what sealing techniques were.
Ryun listened attentively, asking questions whenever he didn't understand something, and Kushina patiently answered each one.
By the quiet riverside, the two youths, no longer bickering, got along harmoniously.
Sealing techniques were far more complicated than Ryun had imagined. Just the basics alone would likely take him over a week to even begin grasping.
"Sealing techniques are really hard. Are you sure you still want to keep learning?"
As dusk approached, Kushina had finished explaining the two basic sealing technique scrolls she had brought. She wasn't sure how much Ryun had actually understood.
"Of course I'll keep learning. I've never been afraid of difficulty," Ryun replied with a smile.
"It's getting late. Should we head back?"
Ryun stood up, brushing off the dust from his clothes, then extended an invitation to Kushina.
"You've worked hard today. To show my gratitude, this student would like to treat Teacher Kushina to dinner..."
"Haha... At least you have some conscience!" Kushina couldn't help but laugh.
"But I didn't tell my family in advance, so maybe next time..."
"That's easy to fix. I'll just go with you to explain, won't I?" Ryun shamelessly took her small hand in his.
"!!!"
"But..."
"No buts. After dinner, big brother will take you to the night market." Still holding her hand, Ryun coaxed her step by step.
The little girl quickly lost the ability to think straight, her mind now occupied solely by food and fun...
Ryun created a shadow clone to go home and inform his family, then took Kushina to the Senju clan's territory.
To their surprise, they ran into Mito Uzumaki right at the entrance of the estate.
'So this is... the first Nine-Tails Jinchūriki?'
Ryun politely greeted Mito Uzumaki, but his mind was racing with thoughts.
At this point, Mito Uzumaki was old and frail. Her once-vibrant long hair had lost its luster, fading to a dull brown, a sign that her lifespan was nearing its end.
'Why... is her chakra so weak?'
Ryun didn't feel any pressure from this version of Mito Uzumaki, which struck him as highly unusual.
With his powerful spiritual energy, his perception was exceptionally sharp. He could clearly sense the oppressive aura from Orochimaru—the strength of someone's chakra could generally be gauged.
As a member of the Uzumaki clan, renowned for their vast chakra reserves, Ryun couldn't sense much chakra from Mito Uzumaki at all.
Not only that, but he also couldn't detect even the slightest trace of the Nine-Tails' presence. It was as if she were just an ordinary, elderly woman...
Without knowing her identity, even a sensory-type ninja might not notice anything unusual about her.
The reason Ryun couldn't sense the Nine-Tails' chakra was actually due to the stability of the seal within Mito Uzumaki.
The jinchūriki was so stable that the Nine-Tails couldn't influence the outside world at all.
'Ah, so that's why her chakra feels weaker than mine. I almost forgot about this sealing technique...'
Noticing the diamond-shaped mark on Mito Uzumaki's forehead, Ryun suddenly understood.
That was the Uzumaki clan's Strength of a Hundred Seal. This sealing technique had countless uses. Normally, one only needed to store a certain amount of chakra in it, allowing the seal to maintain eternal youth. In battle, it could also serve as a "hidden reserve" of energy.
Most of Mito Uzumaki's chakra was stored within the Strength of a Hundred Seal. If the Nine-Tails showed any signs of rampage, she could use the vast chakra within to suppress it forcefully.
Having lived to this age, especially after the death of her husband, Hashirama Senju, she no longer used the chakra in the seal to maintain her appearance. Now, her chakra had only two purposes:
First, to prevent the Nine-Tails from going berserk.
Second, to sustain her daily bodily functions, allowing her to live longer while waiting for the new "Nine-Tails vessel" to fully mature!
While Ryun was secretly observing Mito Uzumaki, the old woman had also been carefully studying him.
As a princess of the Uzumaki clan, she naturally possessed keen sensory abilities as well.
"Uchiha Ryun, is it? What a good child you are!"
Mito Uzumaki reached out and gently patted the unruly hair on Ryun's head.
She couldn't help but feel that this child's eyes... seemed a bit too bright!
That was the outward manifestation of exceptionally strong spiritual energy and ocular power!
Even without activating his Sharingan, in Mito Uzumaki's eyes, Ryun's gaze was vastly different from that of an ordinary child.
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