RedX43
patreon
[Konoha2] Chapter 94: Progress—Yin Seal!
🕑 Added 2025-06-30 16:29:45 +0000 UTCWhen Hajime arrived, Tsunade was cooking—but judging by Nawaki’s expression of distaste, her culinary skills clearly left something to be desired.
The moment Nawaki saw Hajime walk in with food, his eyes lit up. “Sis, Big Bro Hajime brought sake!”
Tsunade glanced back, gave a light snort, then looked at the questionable contents of her pot. Without hesitation, she tossed the spatula aside, turned off the stove, and walked out of the kitchen.
Nawaki eagerly helped Hajime unpack the food. Seeing that Tsunade didn’t look too pleased, he quickly fetched some cups and poured her a drink.
Hajime couldn’t help giving him a thumbs-up.
Nawaki chuckled and said, “Big Bro, I’m graduating next year—don’t forget to teach me ninjutsu!”
“Ninjutsu?”
Tsunade gave her brother a look, then asked Hajime, “What ninjutsu?”
“Rasengan?”
Nawaki’s eyes lit up. “Rasengan?”
“Just the name sounds super strong!”
Hajime leaned into the excitement, “A-rank difficulty. No hand signs.”
Nawaki gasped, “Awesome!”
“Big Bro, you’ll definitely teach me, right?”
Hajime smiled. “Then you’d better be ready for it.”
Nawaki patted his chest proudly. “Don’t worry, Big Bro—I’ll take it seriously and learn it no matter what!”
After all, he was going to be Hokage one day!
“I believe in you.”
That one sentence from Hajime made Nawaki even more fired up.
Tsunade watched the two of them, a hint of amusement showing in her eyes.
The three chatted and ate together. With Nawaki’s boisterous personality around, the atmosphere was never dull.
After the meal, Hajime and Tsunade went out for a walk.
“Thank you,” Tsunade suddenly said.
Hajime smiled. “No need to thank me. Even if Nawaki weren’t your brother, I would’ve liked him anyway.”
Tsunade glanced at Hajime’s profile, quickly looked away, and casually asked, “When are you leaving the Root?”
Hajime was slightly surprised but thought for a moment. “Probably soon.”
He estimated that once Uzumaki Kushina graduated, Hiruzen Sarutobi would call him out of the Root.
Although Namikaze Minato had graduated early, Kushina—the Nine-Tails’ Jinchūriki—likely wouldn’t graduate until age twelve.
That would be in Konoha Year 38.
Tsunade nodded thoughtfully.
Most people in the village didn’t know about the Jinchūriki, but she did.
She guessed that Wood Release would probably be used on the Nine-Tails’ Jinchūriki.
After nodding, she changed the subject. “How’s your Sage Mode training going?”
“Not bad,” Hajime replied with a smile. “I can already sense natural energy.”
The recent barrage of missions had made it hard to train, since Sage Mode required a calm, quiet environment.
But thanks to the status effect [Total Concentration], he had already reached the initial stage—sensing natural energy without relying on Wood Release.
Of course, he still had a long way to go before mastering it.
After sensing natural energy, the next critical step was to absorb it—and most importantly, find the balance point.
If he failed to find that balance, he’d be assimilated by natural energy.
Tsunade was shocked. “That fast?”
Hajime chuckled. “Wood Release helps with blending into nature.”
Tsunade suddenly understood, then said, “Seems like you won’t need the mucus from Shikkotsu Forest, then.”
Hajime replied, “Shikkotsu Forest… one of the Three Great Sage Grounds?”
Tsunade nodded. “I signed a summoning contract with them. The mucus secreted by the Slug Sage helps with sensing natural energy.”
“But the mucus is corrosive—it’s really rough on the skin.”
“You inherited Grandpa’s powers, so you can probably ignore that kind of damage.”
Hajime nodded in realization.
He hadn’t expected the aid for Sage Mode training from Shikkotsu Forest to come with such harsh side effects.
Was that why Tsunade never mastered Sage Mode?
As if reading his mind, Tsunade said directly, “That’s part of the reason.”
“Without the Slug Sage’s mucus, it’s nearly impossible to sense natural energy.”
“And even if I did manage to sense it, the training is extremely dangerous—over-absorbing can be fatal.”
“I can only vaguely sense natural energy, which makes it hard to control the intake.”
“And if I only absorb a tiny amount, it’s not really useful for someone like me.”
Hajime nodded slightly in understanding.
It was clear that Shikkotsu Forest hadn’t developed a system like Mount Myōboku, where the sage creatures could fuse with the user and extend Sage Mode’s duration.
Even Naruto, without using the Nine-Tails’ chakra, could only maintain Sage Mode for five minutes.
Jiraiya and Tsunade had large chakra reserves—definitely second only to tailed beast-level shinobi like the Third Raikage.
But even they likely couldn’t maintain Sage Mode longer than Naruto—its combat practicality was limited.
Then there was the future Fourth Hokage, who claimed not to be good at Sage Mode—but could activate it instantly.
Now that Hajime thought about it, that wasn’t a contradiction.
Namikaze Minato had decent chakra, though still far less than Naruto.
He might not even surpass Jiraiya or Tsunade.
So for him, Sage Mode really was difficult.
But once he had half of the Nine-Tails, things changed.
'My chakra is indeed more abundant than Jiraiya or Tsunade’s—it’s at the tailed beast level. But compared to the Nine-Tails, I’m still way behind.'
"Even if I master Sage Mode, I probably won’t be able to maintain it for long."
'I still need… a power source…'
Hajime sighed inwardly.
Seeing his furrowed brow, Tsunade thought for a moment and said, “You’ve inherited some of Grandpa’s strength—your chakra far surpasses mine and Jiraiya’s. You shouldn’t have trouble mastering Sage Mode.”
Hajime smiled. “That part I’m confident about.”
“But you’re right—duration is definitely a problem.”
“And that’s determined by chakra volume, which is hard to change.”
As he spoke, Hajime suddenly paused—he had just thought of something.
The Yin Seal, a chakra-storing sealing technique.
Tsunade seemed to realize something and said, “Chakra capacity can be altered, but the key lies in your ability to absorb and control natural energy.”
Training in Sage Mode wasn’t something that became easier just because one had great chakra control.
So even as a medical ninja, she didn’t have much of an advantage.
“My grandmother mastered a sealing technique that stores chakra. You’ve probably seen it before.”
Tsunade explained.
Hajime replied, “You mean the mark on Lady Mito’s forehead?”
Tsunade nodded. “Yes, it’s called the Yin Seal. It gathers unused chakra over time and stores it at the forehead.”
“However, this technique is quite difficult to master. It requires extremely precise chakra control.”
“And before it's fully formed for the first time, it interferes with your normal chakra usage.”
Hajime asked, “So you haven’t trained in this sealing technique yourself?”
Tsunade nodded. “If you're constantly on missions, it’s not suitable.”
Hajime then thought of the method used by Sakura and said, “Maybe the chakra seal on the forehead could be divided into two parts—one for the actual Yin Seal, and the other for daily use.”
“Like having two reservoirs—a big one for storage, and a smaller one for regular use.”
Tsunade’s eyes lit up. “That’s actually a great solution.”
She looked at Hajime and said, “If you want to learn this sealing technique, I can teach you.”
Then she added, “Think of it as a repayment—for teaching Nawaki ninjutsu, and for that suggestion you just made.”
Hajime chuckled inwardly, but outwardly he nodded with a smile. “Then I won’t be polite about it—but it sounds like I’m getting the better end of the deal.”
“How about this…”
He pretended to think for a moment and said, “Since the Rasengan is only an A-rank technique, I’ll pass down another S-rank ninjutsu to Nawaki.”
Tsunade hesitated briefly, then smiled to herself. “Then I’ll thank you in advance.”
If it were just for herself, she might have refused.
But for her younger brother Nawaki, who was soon to become a ninja, there was no such thing as too many techniques.
Even though the two siblings weren’t lacking in ninjutsu—even S-rank ones—there was a huge difference between those written on a scroll and those passed down directly by someone.
In response to her gratitude, Hajime said, “This is just a fair exchange—no need to be so formal.”
Tsunade nodded, then asked, “Can I ask what technique it is?”
Hajime thought for a moment. “I’ve developed two S-rank techniques myself.”
“The first one is an advanced version of the Rasengan. It adds Wind Release nature transformation and pushes shape transformation to its limit. It’s called the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken.”
“This technique is very difficult—I only recently completed it.”
Tsunade pondered. “Wind Release… Nawaki does have wind affinity. But any S-rank technique is going to be extremely difficult to learn—that’s what makes it S-rank.”
“If this is an advanced version of the Rasengan, do you plan on teaching it to Kushina and Minato too?”
Hajime smiled. “That depends on their training progress.”
“Before the Rasenshuriken, there’s an intermediate version: the Wind Release: Rasengan, which incorporates only nature transformation.”
“Of course, it could also be a Lightning Release Rasengan, or Fire Release Rasengan.”
“The Rasengan has immense potential for expansion and variation.”
Tsunade immediately decided, “Then Nawaki should first train in the Rasengan. After that, the Wind Release: Rasengan. If he masters both, then he can attempt the Rasenshuriken.”
Nawaki was born with five chakra natures: Wind, Earth, Water, Lightning, and Yin.
Hajime grinned. “Aren’t you curious about the second S-rank technique?”
Tsunade teased, “You’re not planning to teach both at once, are you?”
Hajime replied seriously, “Not entirely out of the question.”
Tsunade paused for a moment, then said, “I’ve already decided to have Nawaki apprentice under Orochimaru. He’s also interested in taking Nawaki as a student.”
She had previously considered having Hajime take Nawaki as a disciple, but hesitated because of Hajime’s Root background at the time.
Hajime looked at her intensely. “Not taking him as a disciple… doesn’t mean I can’t teach him.”
“Lady Mito passed Sage Mode down to me.”
“Besides, my Wood Release comes from the First Hokage.”
Tsunade’s heartbeat quickened. She avoided his gaze and asked, “So… what’s the second technique?”
“Genjutsu.”
Hajime smiled and explained, “Remember ‘sleepwalking’? The technique I developed is called Dreamwalker Technique—it’s a deep hypnosis that puts the enemy in a dream-like state, allowing you to control them like a sleepwalker.”
Tsunade shook her head. “Nawaki doesn’t have much talent in genjutsu.”
“The Rasengan series alone will take him a long time to master.”
Hajime shrugged. “Your call.”
That night, the two of them wandered around town for quite some time before finally parting ways.
After returning to the Root base, Hajime suddenly felt that it was time to buy his own house.
After all, money wasn’t a problem.
The next day.
After creating a few clones for training, Hajime wasted no time.
He quickly purchased a three-bedroom, one-living-room, one-kitchen, one-bathroom home not far from the Senju clan estate—for 30 million ryō.
Hajime couldn’t help but sigh: Real estate is absurdly expensive no matter where you go.
Fortunately, the money Kakuzu had "donated" to him back then left him quite comfortable.
Since he had few belongings in Root, moving was easy, and he moved into his new home discreetly.
Of course, all of this was reported to Danzō beforehand.
As for his reason? Preparing for his eventual departure from Root.
And secondly, preparing to win Tsunade over.
In short, it was all for the grand cause of Lord Danzō’s ambitions.
After moving in, Hajime took advantage of this rare free time to train Sage Mode seriously—with one Wood Clone assisting.
Further development of his space-time ninjutsu was entrusted to another Wood Clone.
(End of Chapter)
