Usually it's up to Orochimaru to train us but for some strange reason he's been busy lately.
He's left us on our own for a while to work on things we already know. It's working out alright for now but if this keeps continuing... well let's just say I'll make it worth his time. I didn't let him live so I can be ignored. I let him live to make use of him myself.
...
"Yeah. Can't say the same for the wall though." I pry myself out of the deep body-sized dent and gracefully fall onto my feet even though I'm upside down. Shinobi training does pay off in surprising ways. "I don't get why this isn't working."
"What are you attempting to do?" Sasuke asks as he's fluidly moving from one pose to the next.
"Alright, so you know how most explosive seals have a default timer of five seconds?" I dust myself off and move back to where I was working. There's a crater in the ground and the table I was using is obliterated.
"Yes." Sasuke does an elaborate twist with his sword as if he's batting away an enemies blade that is aimed at is back. It's a brilliant display of flexibility and coordination.
"Well I'm trying to make it so that you can choose how long the timer is going to be. Unfortunately it doesn't seem like I can make it completely up to the user." Using a minor earth jutsu I raise up a platform of stone as a makeshift table and lay out a new piece of sealing paper.
"Shame. What's your plan now that it failed?" Sasuke flips through the air and throws a kunai at an imaginary foe before landing and swiping twice at the foe's ankles. He's slowly moving faster and faster.
"It didn't fail. Well I suppose from you're point of view it did but in reality I discovered a new way to not accomplish it. With each 'failure' I come that much closer to succeeding. Anyways I'm going to tweak my design a bit, instead of leaving the fuse time up to the user I'll make preset increments. Something like channel your chakra into this branch to make it last five seconds, over here for ten, there for thirty, and finally here for a minute. If this works I could make any combination of timers I want."
"Why would you possibly need that?" Sasuke asks as his blade starts to move so quickly it's a blur. He's no longer ramping up his speed, he's moving as fast as he can. It's actually very impressive to move that quickly and still be able to aim precisely. No doubt his fancy red eyes are helping him out.
"Honestly I probably never will. As long as I have a blank sealing tag it's feasible that I'll be able to craft one to exactly my specifications whenever I need to and on top of that it'll be a rare occurrence when I have to use a tag instead of one of my jutsu. Let's be honest my jutsu can be way more destructive than a simple explosive tag. I bet I can outdo even the really high end ones too."
"You don't need to tell me that. I've seen your fire and wind combo, it melts stone. Why are you wasting time making the seal then? If your jutsu is so much better and you can craft one to exactly as long as you need it, why make the variations?" He starts twisting and twirling becoming a whirlwind of flashing steel. With each rotation his sword is in a new angle, no two spins are the same. This is an attack meant to overwhelm someone with the sheer number and speed of his strikes.
"Proof of concept I guess? I wanted to see if I could leave a crucial part of a seal up to the user. That was what it was an hour ago at least, now it's more of a challenge to see if I can make a seal with varying fuse times so I'm willing to cheat a bit. And done!" I admire the four identical seals on the table.
"So you're saying brace for incoming explosions?" Sasuke dully says from his spot.
"Oh do shut up it's not like they're even bothering you. They're a good addition to your training, it tests how well you can work under duress and stay focused. Nothing like a good explosion to distract you." I spread out the seals a fair distance apart, far enough that their own underpowered explosions won't damage the integrity of the others. They're basically fancy fireworks. Hey I'm testing things I don't need to make huge explosions!
"Here we go! Testing five second fuse." I pump chakra into the seal and wait. Five seconds later the seal illuminates and a small bang echoes across the field.
"Sweet. It didn't break itself with the extra parts. Testing ten second fuse." Sure enough ten seconds later there's a bang.
"Fantastic! I thought that the added parts would make it too unstable but it is completely ignoring them. This is great!" I spark up the thirty second one next. After a very long half minute passes I'm rewarded with a bang.
"Yes! If this next one passes then it's a success!" I supply chakra to the final seal.
Nothing happens.
"Is it a dud?" Sasuke asks after a long pause. "Should it have gone off by now?"
"I think so? I don't exactly have a clock down here. I mean it's only a minute how long can that be?"
BANG!
"WOOT!" I jump up and do a victory fist pump. "Take that you stupid seal arrays! I know how you work now bitches! Muahahaha! Kneel before my almighty power! Bow to your savior, no, your god! Submit to my awesome awesomeness!"
"Alvarcus."
"I am both the beginning and the end! I am the one who controls your very existence! I am your maker and your destroyer! Bow I say! Bow and maybe I shall spare you!"
"Alvarcus!"
"Hmm what?" I turn to Sasuke. He's staring at me like I'm a lunatic.
"You have serious issues. What the hell was all of that?"
"I... uh... got a little excited?" I sheepishly scratch the back of my head with an innocent smile. "Nothing to worry about."
"Just don't do anything stupid like that again. What kind of an idiot says he's a god? Bow before me? I am the beginning and the end? Seriously if you keep this up I might start thinking you need professional help. They're just seals! That's it! Seals! Not that big of a deal!"
"For now. Sure I'm barely past using the basics but just wait until I get to the more advanced stuff. Who knows, maybe I'll make a conceptual seal or something."
"A conceptual seal? What the hell is that?"
"A seal that seals away a concept. For example it could seal away your concept of pain then you'd have no idea how much damage you're actually taking. I could cut off a limb and you wouldn't even feel it."
"... Have I ever mentioned how much I cherish and treasure our friendship? Because I do."
"Smart move Sasuke, smart move."
Too bad only the best of the best, the seal masters that stand above even other seal masters, have started to dabble in that particular branch of fuinjutsu. It's something that only a handful of people have attempted and fewer have succeeded.
I don't think Jiraya has touched them at all and he's considered one of the best – if not the best – seal master alive right now. I doubt I'll ever be able to reach that level, especially since I plan on focusing on a whole different branch entirely to make the Sword of Totsuka but Sasuke doesn't need to know that.
...
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