Chapter 167: S-Rank Trait: Yin Seal ( 1 & 2 Update)
An empty and secluded large mansion in the Leaf Village.
"Damn it! Why are you so disobedient?"
"Your spot is right here! Don't run off!"
"You, and you! Both of you go over there!"
Mitarashi Anko stood in front of a cluster of snakes, pointing at them with extreme dissatisfaction.
Since becoming Orochimaru's student, she spent all her time dealing with these snakes.
After all, the Ninjutsu she learned was inseparable from them.
"Little girl."
Just then, a gloomy voice sounded. "Where is Orochimaru?"
"Who are you? You scared me!" Anko subconsciously stepped back, turning to look outside the gate.
"I am Shimura Danzō, the leader of Root!" Danzō said with a slight frown.
But then, a pang of sadness hit him.
Root... it no longer exists.
He had been the leader of Root for over a decade, only to be stripped of the position over a trivial matter.
Danzō was truly unable to tolerate this.
Yet, facing Hiruzen Sarutobi, he was furious but dared not speak out.
However, he knew clearly that doing nothing was a slow death.
Thus, Danzō turned his attention to the next Hokage.
Although Tsunade was currently soaring in popularity, the Leaf Village was not without competitors.
That was Orochimaru!
As one of the Leaf's Three Sannin, his strength and reputation were no less than Tsunade's.
And most importantly, Danzō and Orochimaru had collaborated multiple times, knowing many of each other's secrets.
For instance, the Hashirama Cell experiments, or the Wood Release experiments.
If Sarutobi were to find out, both of them would be finished.
Because they stood on the same front, if Orochimaru became the Fourth Hokage, Danzō would be able to reclaim his Root organization.
"Who is Shimura Danzō?" Anko tilted her head, thought carefully, but genuinely had no recollection.
"..." Danzō's expression instantly darkened.
How did Orochimaru teach his student? She doesn't even know who I am?
But now he was the one asking for help, so he didn't dare lose his temper.
"Anko, let him in."
A white snake slithered up to the two, speaking in a human voice.
"Yes, Sensei." Anko waved her hand carelessly. "You can go in!"
"..." Danzō felt a sense of the tiger in the sun being bullied by dogs.
He composed himself and followed the white snake into the living room, which led to a basement.
"Orochimaru." Danzō said, glancing at the dense, cluttered equipment.
"What is it?" Orochimaru's voice was slightly hoarse, and he didn't lift his head.
"A partnership." Danzō went straight to the point. "I can help you become the Fourth Hokage."
"Oh?" Orochimaru gave a faint smile, his tone somewhat mocking. "Do you want to rely on me to get Root back?"
Although he had been focused on experiments and forbidden jutsu research at home, he was aware of the major happenings in the Leaf Village.
"Yes." Danzō was displeased, but he could only admit it.
"I have no interest in the Hokage position," Orochimaru refused. "And competing with Tsunade is too draining."
As her teammate, he was quite clear on how easy it would be for Tsunade to become Hokage if she wanted to.
If he were to compete, he would have to pay a significant price.
This would severely impact his experiments and Forbidden Jutsu research.
After all, he was now on the path of seeking immortality.
"Given Tsunade's personality, if she becomes Hokage and learns of the things you've done, will she still tolerate you?" Danzō said gravely.
The room immediately fell silent.
"Are you threatening me?" Orochimaru fixed him with a cold stare.
"This is not a threat." Danzō shook his head. "This is a highly likely future scenario."
"Is that so?" Orochimaru exuded a chilling aura. "I could just leave the Leaf Village."
"You can leave the Leaf Village, but can you acquire so much money and so many test subjects outside?" Danzō countered.
Orochimaru frowned.
This was indeed a problem.
"If you become Hokage, you can have anything you want," Danzō tempted him.
"Competing with Tsunade is troublesome," Orochimaru said expressionlessly.
"It would normally be troublesome, but now is a time of war," Danzō shook his head. "You only need to achieve a few major victories."
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes, falling into thought.
The main reason he was called one of the Leaf's Three Sannin and held such high prestige was his performance during the Second Great Ninja War.
What Danzō suggested was indeed a good strategy.
"Even though Root has been dissolved, its members and influence still remain." Danzō continued. "With my assistance and your ability, you will certainly be able to compete with Tsunade!"
Orochimaru remained silent.
"And don't you want the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan?" Danzō smiled. "War is the best opportunity to acquire them."
"You've convinced me." Orochimaru's eyes shifted.
Whether he could become Hokage was uncertain, and he wasn't fully confident against Tsunade.
However, gathering test subjects was certainly feasible.
"Excellent." Danzō secretly sighed in relief. "A pleasant partnership."
He had even been considering bringing up the Wood Release boy, Yamato, if Orochimaru had refused.
Fortunately, it didn't come to that.
"Call me if you need anything else." Orochimaru waved his hand.
...
Two months later.
Outside Tsunade's house.
Hoshikawa stood in place, closing his eyes.
Under his manipulation, threads of chakra flowed like water into his forehead.
As time passed, they finally reached a critical point.
A pale blue-purple mark quietly appeared on his forehead, then spread out to form an upright diamond shape.
The Trait System prompt appeared immediately.
[S-Rank Ninjutsu Trait: Yin Seal.]
[Trigger Condition: Successfully perform this Ninjutsu.]
[Effect: This Ninjutsu automatically reaches the Proficient level.]
As expected, the Yin Seal was an S-Rank Trait, his first S-Rank Trait at that.
Hoshikawa exhaled.
It took him nearly a year and a half, but he had finally mastered the Yin Seal.
Although the process was lengthy, it was all worth it.
Hoshikawa reached up and touched his forehead. It felt smooth and no different from before.
He sensed it briefly and could feel the immense volume of chakra accumulated within the Yin Seal.
It was noteworthy that this much chakra was not the limit.
Hoshikawa could continue to store chakra in the Yin Seal during his daily training.
In other words, the Yin Seal was like a bank: limitless, easy to deposit, and easy to withdraw. Highly convenient.
Hoshikawa's thoughts moved, and he began to regulate his body's functions.
The feeling of fatigue was instantly swept away. He felt as refreshed as if he had just woken up from a good night's sleep.
Of course, mastering the Yin Seal didn't mean the end.
It still needed to be paired with another S-Rank Ninjutsu: the Creation Rebirth: Strength of a Hundred Technique.
Simply put, this technique acted as a power amplifier, allowing the Yin Seal to operate at maximum output.
The advantage was automatic healing of all injuries; the drawback was an extremely high chakra consumption.
Hoshikawa stretched.
He looked up, squinting at the bright sun in the sky.
After entering June, the temperature in the Leaf Village had rapidly risen.
Hoshikawa turned to look at Yūhi Kurenai and Nohara Rin, who were practicing.
The two Ninjutsu they were learning were the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique and the Spirit Transformation Technique, which they had acquired two months ago.
Kurenai had better talent, and the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique was less difficult, so her progress was quite noticeable.
Hoshikawa estimated she would master it in another half a month to a month.
However, Rin's learning progress was quite slow.
In two months, she had only barely managed to get started.
She hadn't achieved even a single out-of-body experience, let alone using her spirit for long-distance travel and attack.
"It's almost noon. I'm heading out to find Sensei," Hoshikawa called out. Without waiting for their reply, he turned and left.
But he didn't go to the casino first; he went to the Hokage Tower.
Since the ANBU ninja Haru came to deliver intelligence two months ago, it had become a regular occurrence.
It felt as though Hiruzen Sarutobi had tacitly accepted Tsunade as the next Hokage.
However, since ANBU ninjas were busy and sometimes couldn't make it, Hoshikawa would proactively go to the Hokage Tower to obtain the information.
In the past two months, the Hidden Sand and Hidden Cloud Villages had been fighting fiercely.
The two sides were trading blows, but overall, the Hidden Cloud Village held the absolute upper hand.
Given enough time, the Hidden Sand Village would inevitably be unable to hold out.
The question was just how long they could last.
Hoshikawa quickly arrived at the ANBU office in the Hokage Tower.
"Long time no see, Hoshikawa."
An ANBU ninja wearing an elephant mask greeted him first.
Hoshikawa came by now and then, and since he was Tsunade's student, everyone had become familiar with him.
Of course, this was mainly because the ANBU was not like Root with its brainwashing.
Root ninjas were brainwashed, ruthless, and loyal only to Shimura Danzō.
But ANBU ninjas, aside from being stronger, were no different from normal ninjas.
"Uncle Zō," Hoshikawa responded with a smile.
Both Zō (Elephant) and Haru were code names.
Hoshikawa had no idea what they looked like or what their real names were.
This 'Zō' had a few appearances in the original story.
During the Leaf Crush Plan, when Orochimaru fought Sarutobi, Zō was the live commentator standing outside the Four Violet Flames Formation barrier.
"You came at a good time. A major event just happened on the Land of Frost battlefield." Zō handed him a scroll.
Hoshikawa curiously opened the scroll and raised an eyebrow.
Just yesterday, Rasa led the Hidden Sand Village's Puppet Brigade and destroyed the Hidden Cloud Village's largest supply depot in the Land of Frost.
In war, logistics were crucial, second only to the front-line fighting.
This supply depot was meant to provide the Cloud Village's army with two to three months of provisions. Its destruction was a devastating loss.
Furthermore, Rasa had severely damaged the Cloud Village's morale.
This was because he had a brief skirmish with Yugito Nii, who had arrived later, and managed to suppress her.
In the ninja world, there weren't many ninjas who could suppress a Jinchūriki or a Tailed Beast.
Rasa happened to be one of them.
His Magnet Release Gold Dust possessed terrifying offensive, defensive, and large-scale area-of-effect capabilities.
In the original story, he had repeatedly suppressed the rampaging One-Tails Shukaku.
The Two-Tails Matatabi was about the same strength as the One-Tails, perhaps even weaker, so it was normal for Rasa to suppress her in a short period.
Hoshikawa shook his head.
He felt that Pakura's position as acting Kazekage was precarious.
Rasa had been severely wounded by the Third Raikage before, so he had been recovering for two months.
Now, with this single move, he had already matched Pakura in prestige.
But this was all internal Hidden Sand Village business and irrelevant to him.
Hoshikawa's purpose in gathering intelligence was to determine how much training time they still had.
It seemed the Hidden Sand and Hidden Cloud Villages still had plenty of fighting left to do.
"I'll be going now, Uncle Zō." Hoshikawa returned the scroll and turned toward the casino.
The casino was bustling, regardless of the time.
Hoshikawa scanned the room and saw Tsunade sitting at a gambling table.
He walked up and noticed her extremely disgruntled expression.
As expected, it was lose, lose, lose again.
"Hoshikawa?"
Tsunade's eyes brightened. She immediately pulled him in front of her and said excitedly, "You've come at the perfect time!"
Taken by surprise, Hoshikawa bumped into her side. A sensation of soft yielding was transmitted to his shoulder.
He subconsciously glanced down, understanding the reason, and silently thought, no wonder.
Tsunade was immersed in gambling and completely oblivious to his accidental encroachment.
She suddenly smiled broadly. "I finally won!"
"Sensei."
Hoshikawa said without changing his expression. "It's time to go back and eat."
"Don't be a buzzkill... Huh? Have you learned the Yin Seal?"
Tsunade glared at him, then suddenly noticed the diamond mark on his forehead and was stunned.
"Mhm."
Hoshikawa casually picked up the remaining money on the gambling table. "We can come back and play after we eat."
"Wait!"
Tsunade instinctively grabbed his hand. "Let me play for just half an hour more!"
"No way!" Hoshikawa shook his head.
Tsunade tried hard to pry his hand open, but after a moment of stalemate, she couldn't.
She got annoyed, opened her mouth, and bit down hard.
"..."
Hoshikawa felt the warmth and pain on the back of his hand, and he instinctively let go.
"Hmph!" Tsunade took the money and sat back down at the gambling table.
"Sensei, are you a dog?" Hoshikawa complained, looking at the shallow teeth marks and saliva on the back of his hand.
"What are you saying?" Tsunade rolled her eyes. "Wait patiently for half an hour!"
"You're impossible." Hoshikawa sighed.
Half an hour later, Tsunade stood up satisfied, taking her money with her.
With the lucky boost Hoshikawa provided, she had recovered most of what she had lost that morning.
"How is your hand?" Tsunade suddenly remembered, grabbing his hand to check.
"It's fine." Hoshikawa showed her the back of his hand.
He possessed the B-Rank Trait 'Sealless Healing,' and since Tsunade hadn't bitten hard, the wound had completely healed within two seconds.
"I'll teach you the Strength of a Hundred Technique tomorrow." Tsunade released his hand, saying with a hint of emotion, "You learned the Yin Seal much faster than I did."
She had the strange feeling of being surpassed.
But in a way, she didn't dislike it.
As a teacher, she hoped her students would be more outstanding than her.
Before meeting Hoshikawa, Tsunade had always thought this wish would never come true.
After all, her Medical Ninjutsu was generations ahead of other Medical Ninjas.
"Sounds good." Hoshikawa nodded.
.......................
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