The next day, after Qiaoyi left to busy herself at the Tavern, Yagami woke up and unfurled the sealing scrolls Yuka had given him.
Blue secret medicine was truly a gift; he'd have to use it more often.
Yagami had previously learned the Contract Seal and Summoning Jutsu from Yuka, but this time she had provided a much larger collection of seals, all of them highly practical.
The first technique, Sealing Method: Infusion.
A sealing technique used to store items like kunai, shuriken, or even corpses into scrolls. With this, Yagami could manufacture his own ninja tool storage scrolls.
The second technique: Five Elements Seal.
A technique used to seal and disrupt an enemy's chakra. It divides the chakra into five parts, creating a stable sealing ring based on elemental generation. It was exceptionally effective against those with massive chakra reserves.
The third technique: Tongue-Cursed Puppet Seal.
Upon seeing this technique, Yagami thought to himself: 'Great. I've become Danzo.' He had actually obtained the Tongue-Cursed Puppet Seal even earlier than Danzo did.
This technique was complex. One would write tasks or commands onto a scroll, use their own blood as a medium, and seal the text and blood into the target's body to form a permanent seal. The victim would be unable to leak the contents of the seal; should they try to speak of it, their entire body would become paralyzed and immobile. Even if they became a corpse, the seal would destroy the brain, ensuring information never leaked.
After studying the scrolls for a while, Yagami donned his mask and left the Tavern's backyard, heading toward Nonō Yakushi's orphanage. He wanted to try contacting her to see if he could obtain intelligence on Root.
There were four or five orphanages in Leaf, but the village provided no funding for them; they relied entirely on charity. The village would raise the orphans of fallen ninja until they graduated from the Academy, but ordinary orphans received no such treatment. All the orphanages were struggling. If someone donated money, or if a grown orphan sent back some wealth, the orphanage would fare better; otherwise, it was a constant struggle to stay fed.
Yagami reached a courtyard in a remote part of the village and found the orphanage. To his surprise, he was received by an old acquaintance—Kurumi.
Kurumi was busy preparing simple New Year's gifts for the twenty-odd orphans and had no idea what this tall young man wanted. Since he was masked, she didn't recognize him.
Yagami said, "I heard there was an orphanage here. I have some extra money and wanted to do a good deed before the year ends by making a donation. You look quite young; where is your Director?"
Hearing about a donation, Kurumi said excitedly, "I'll go get the Deputy Director immediately!"
The Deputy Director was an older woman who explained that the Director had gone on a ninja mission and hadn't returned for a long time. Because of Nonō's "faulty" intelligence, the Mist had suffered heavy losses, making it impossible for her to stay there. No one knew where she had gone next.
Following the Deputy Director around the facility, Yagami saw the children living in triple-decker bunks and eating simple food with very little meat. The productivity of the shinobi world was incredibly low; whether in agriculture or industry, everyone lived hand-to-mouth. No one knew if their fields would be destroyed by Fire Style the next day. Meat was a luxury in the Land of Fire and even more so in Leaf village.
Twenty children were squeezed into a tiny classroom for lessons, with simple arithmetic on the chalkboard. The children were earnest and focused. Their faces and hands were clean, and their eyes were bright; despite the poor food, the orphanage was taking good care of them.
Yagami took out 300,000 Ryo and a letter. "This money is a donation for the orphanage. This letter of blessings is for your Director. I hope the orphanage continues to prosper."
Hidden within the letter of blessings were a partial Self-Curse Binding Seal and a communication code. Nonō had obtained the Self-Curse Binding Seal from the Uzumaki lab in the Land of Whirlpools. Seeing that partial seal, she would guess his identity and use the code to contact him. Her intelligence had been vital in saving the two Uzumaki Guardians; his cooperation with her had to continue.
Kurumi watched the tall young man leave, feeling that something was off. His voice felt strangely familiar.
...
After leaving the orphanage, Yagami wandered through the village. He sat on a bench, watching people move back and forth buying items for the New Year, feeling a sense of displacement.
He had spent the entire year on the front lines—first in the Land of Rivers, then the Land of Whirlpools. Returning to the village so abruptly was jarring. Furthermore, with the ANBU reform scheduled for after the New Year, there was currently nothing for him to do.
With his mask off, he realized he had no one to talk to in the village besides Qiaoyi. Yagami scratched his head, suddenly realizing he had forgotten how to live without the mask.
He followed the crowds, buying whatever they bought to add some New Year's atmosphere to the Tavern. A woman ahead of him entered a paper-cutting shop, and Yagami followed. He saw her buy some exquisite black paper cut-outs, so he asked for the same.
The beautiful shop clerk asked, "You wish to buy black paper-cuts? May I ask how many relatives you lost this year?"
Yagami froze. Looking around, he saw the shop was dominated by black decorations, with only a few white and red ones in the corners. He suddenly remembered that Konoha's funerals were primarily themed in black.
"My apologies," Yagami said, "I was daydreaming. I don't need the black ones. Please give me the red ones instead."
The clerk looked at the masked Yagami in surprise. "Heavens, finally a customer for the red ones."
With the Great War ending, Konoha's casualties were around 4,000. It was rare to find someone like Yagami who hadn't lost a family member. It wasn't that Yagami was lucky; it was that he simply had no relatives left to lose.
He left with a bag of red decorations but stopped after ten meters, remembering that Qiaoyi's sister had also died. Even though her sister had tried to kill her, Yagami wasn't sure if she would want to hang black decorations for her. He ended up tossing the red paper-cuts into a trash bin.
As he walked, he followed others into shops to buy candles, fruit, beef, and dango. He didn't know what he needed, so he just mirrored everyone else. He returned to the Tavern with bags of miscellaneous goods.
It was the final day of the year, and there were many customers. After dropping off his purchases in the backyard, Yagami went to the front to help Qiaoyi. The tavern was small, with only six tables and a bar. Seeing Yagami serving drinks and snacks, Qiaoyi felt a long-forgotten warmth. Having two people together finally made it feel like a home. She briefly thought of her sister, wondering if she would hate her from the afterlife.
The patrons in the tavern were boasting about how dangerous their battles on the front lines had been. Yagami's eyes landed on a specific individual: Senju Kaba, who had retired after losing a leg. He was drinking alone, his crutch leaning against the table.
Qiaoyi whispered, "Ever since his son and friends died, he's been coming here often to drink his sorrows away. Even with the New Year coming, he's still here."
Kaba's son had died even before Nawaki Senju.
"I'll go give him a side dish on the house," Yagami said.
When the plate was placed before him, Kaba looked up blankly. Seeing a masked young man who was the same height as his son, his eyes grew misty for a moment.
"On the house. Enjoy."
After the customers left, the two had a late-night snack together. Yagami finally reached the New Year. It was the 40th year of the Leaf, and he had reached his 18th birthday.
On the second day of the New Year, Yagami went to the ANBU base and learned that all members were to gather in the training hall. He felt a sense of relief. The rest period after the Second Great War was finally over. He had work to do again.
Entering the training hall, Yagami saw Danzo and Yellow Dog on the stage. The ANBU reform was about to begin.
***
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