After receiving authorization from the village's highest authority, Sunagakure prison officially joined Hii Kōri's daily track. Not every day, but about two or three times weekly.
Those previously derelict guards—after being joyfully transferred from their posts—were never seen again.
Probably gone to meet their ancestors (big lie).
On each visit, he brought extra snacks for Bunpuku. Daily meals had already been upgraded to Kazekage Building quality—diet levels have skyrocketed. Add Hii Kōri's snacks, and Bunpuku jokingly called him "Māra Pāpīyas"—the temper hindering cultivation.
To which Hii Kōri strongly requested being called "Mahākāla" instead.
His commonly used hand seal was the Īśāna Seal. Īśāna was considered a synonym transformation of Maheśvara in esoteric Buddhism, and Mahākāla existed as an incarnation of Maheśvara.
If he had to be a "villain," naturally he'd choose Mahākāla—frequently appearing in manga, always high villain-rank.
Bunpuku, whose Buddhist scriptures differed from Hii Kōri's previous world's versions, naturally knew nothing of this. But since the kid liked it, he went along.
After all these years, only Hii Kōri regularly visited, even debating Buddhist principles with him. Those never heard insights greatly benefited Bunpuku.
But from Hii Kōri's standpoint, his most pressing question had been answered on first meeting. Subsequent Zen discussions merely served to adjust his mental state.
Yes—adjust mental state.
The chūnin exams were easy. But not long after becoming chūnin, "Vegeta" grabbed him and made him work in both the Barrier and Sealing Teams at the same time.
They were just ordinary members, but people who knew what was going on understood what was meant by this. "The village has decided—you're now in charge of Barrier and Sealing."
Hii Kōri wanted to refuse, but he was a nine-year-old who had just been promoted to chūnin, and he didn't want to take on such a big responsibility. However, Vegeta offered him a lot of money.
You will earn twice as much money, you will be able to take part in a free workshop with a forge, you will have no restrictions on your experimental project, and you will receive subsidies that only require Kazekage approval.
You're tempting me? No researcher could resist such a test!
After getting to know the Barrier and Sealing teams and releasing Bunpuku in his workshop, Hii Kōri officially started teaching.
Then he had a bad dream.
"What part of this basic configuration don't you understand?! Speak! Look me in the eyes! Talk!"—such words were heard almost daily by the teams.
There was no need to actively draw out negative energy; just two hours of teaching made his blood pressure rise. The Uzumaki pendant was used to seal the cursed energy that was building up.
Hii Kōri began to think that the reason Sunagakure couldn't learn sealing might have something to do with where it was located. The logic behind this was similar to the idea that Kumogakure was known for its love of robbery and that Iwagakure was known for producing few geniuses.
He taught diligently. The sealing team studied hard. But they stopped at a point where they didn't know enough to move on.
If he hadn't practised zazen meditation with Bunpuku, he would have turned into a cursed spirit right away.
Because Bunpuku and Shukaku were in frequent contact, it was natural to deal with Shukaku when installing seals.
With Bunpuku acting as an intermediary and having seen a lot of sinister cursed spirits, Hii Kōri and Shukaku (whose first impression was decent) got along relatively well.
Most likely.
Initially, Hii Kōri sought unknown secret history from Shukaku. But Shukaku wasn't "all-knowing about this land"—he was two eyes black, a complete idiot.
Not knowing about the white-haired alien three-eyed girl was understandable—legend said tailed beasts were created by the Sage of Six Paths after she was sealed.
But not knowing about the Sage himself? "Created then barely saw him"?
Yin–Yang Release? Didn't know that either?
Such a big tailed beast—what use are you?!.jpg
Every conversation ending with Shukaku's "don't know" devolved into roughhousing in Bunpuku's consciousness space.
Fighting fiercely, but Bunpuku felt Shukaku actually enjoyed playing with Hii Kōri.
Sunagakure lacked large water sources for Water Release practice, but Bunpuku's consciousness space had water everywhere.
If it looked like water, felt like water, tasted like water—it was water. Adhering to the will-led spiritual world, Hii Kōri completed Water Release training lacking practical experience.
Probably feeling he'd lost face, Shukaku offered to "teach" his Magnet Release as reward for sealing him, freeing Bunpuku.
Unlike original ninja who mix The chakra's nature to create kekkei genkai, Shukaku's Magnet Release was innate instinct. He used it instinctively—couldn't teach.
So Shukaku chose to share a portion of his chakra with Hii Kōri for his own research.
A transaction was completely kept secret. The tailed beast chakra Hii Kōri extracted was insufficient for even incomplete tailed beast transformation—basically one-use.
But he just needed samples. Used up, he could ask Shukaku for more. Better to remain hidden.
Not that the village would forbid it—but as a ninja, hidden trump cards were essential.
Like accumulated chakra and cursed energy in his pendant, the One-Tail chakra he studied, various weapons in his wrist scroll.
Like the initial completion of the Yin-Yang circulation prototype.
Yin and Yang Release were most closely tied to spirit and flesh in this world.Precisely for that reason, they were firmly confined to their respective natures.
Yin—symbolizing spirit—had almost no effect on the flesh. Yet cursed energy, also originating from negative emotions and derived from the spirit, could strengthen the flesh without hindrance.
Leveraging this subtle characteristic, Hii Kōri could temporarily use cursed energy as a separating medium, simultaneously circulating Yin and Yang chakras through the meridian system. He could even, conversely, incorporate spiritual or physical energy into utilization.
Life and death, the cycle of reincarnation, spirit and flesh, karma… Though differing from previous world's theories, zazen meditation allowed him to perceive these mysteries.
Not overnight enlightenment, but this spiritual growth greatly benefited him.
From this perspective, calling Bunpuku "master" was a truly heartfelt expression of admiration
***
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