"What? A mission?" Hearing that, Asuma suddenly perked up like he'd come back to life. "Wait, I'm already fine!"
Seiki teased, "You recovered awfully fast, didn't you?"
Asuma chuckled awkwardly, "It's heartache, you know? As long as I keep myself busy with missions and don't have time to dwell on things, I'll be okay."
Then he couldn't help but complain, "Seriously, we've barely seen any action all year. If this keeps up, I'm gonna go stir-crazy!"
Seiki shook his head slightly, "Peace without war is ultimately a good thing."
"That's true enough, but sitting around doing nothing is just too boring!" Asuma sighed.
"That's exactly why I thought of you first," Seiki shrugged.
"Haha, you really understand me!" Asuma exclaimed, but then hesitated, "I'm fine going on missions, but if you're leaving too, what happens if the monster comes to grab someone?"
"Don't underestimate Elder Danzo and Kazekage-sama. With them around, there won't be any problems." Seiki replied, his gaze sharpening slightly. "Also, the real purpose of this mission itself is actually about that monster!"
Asuma asked in surprise, "What do you mean by that?"
Seiki curled his right hand into a tight fist and lifted it to his chin, "According to legend, that land holds the Dragon Pulse Chakra—a source of nearly endless power. We might be able to use it to lure the monster over. After all, if it keeps running away from me every time it sees me, I won't get a chance to reseal it!"
Asuma hesitated, "But would that really work? That monster fears you terribly!"
Seiki mused, "Greed can overcome fear! If that Chakra is truly as immense as legend claims, it might outweigh its fear towards me."
Asuma became hesitant again, "Still, when fighting such a monster, are you sure it's okay taking me along?"
Seiki smiled, "Since only I can deal real damage to that monster anyway, it doesn't matter who goes along."
Asuma grimaced, "Though I'm happy to finally go on a mission, you make it sound like my presence is completely superfluous—like I'm just an unnecessary decoration!"
"You guys still serve important purposes," Seiki sighed. "The main problem with this mission is protecting Loulan when Satori launches his attacks. We shouldn't let innocent people suffer because of our mission, right?"
"Ahh, yeah..." Asuma scratched his head. "Old man Hiruzen does seem a bit careless about this."
"Actually, Hokage-sama also mentioned providing aid afterward and helping them uncover the hidden plot using our spies there," Seiki said with a sigh. "However, personally, though, I think it's dangerously overconfident—acting like our 'good intentions' justify everything, when in truth we might just be bringing ruin."
Asuma smirked after a beat, "So, should I go tell the old man to call this off then?"
Seiki shook his head gently, "No need to add pressure to Hokage-sama. The battlefield situation here has stagnated for too long, and Hokage-sama carries no less stress than us. Also, this decision was supported by most of the village."
"Asuma muttered in frustration, 'Being an adult is so damn hard!'"
"The truth is already quite clear," Seiki said, placing his hands on Asuma's shoulders. "As Ninja, we don't have the right to choose. The only thing we can do is try our best to keep the innocent civilians of Loulan out of this! And for that, we need you to play your part!"
"I understand," Asuma replied with a deep breath, his voice heavy. "Our mission is to protect the villagers while you fight that monster?"
Seiki nodded. "That creature has an extremely strong regeneration ability. It'll be difficult for me to defeat it quickly."
"I will protect them!" Asuma promised solemnly. "One last question—how are we going to lure that monster over?"
"Regarding how to attract the monster," Seiki explained methodically, "my plan has two parts—internal and external. Internally, we expose the conspiracy currently happening within that country, causing some of the Dragon Pulse Chakra [a powerful and unstable energy source hidden within Loulan] to leak out and awaken the monster's greed. As for the external factor, I'm sure Elder Danzo would be more than happy to take on the task of 'exposing' us!"
...
Seiki sat quietly alone in the room, shaking his head helplessly at the sight of the black sludge before him. "Still no progress, after all."
A full year had passed. Despite having real examples to work with, he hadn't just failed to master the Yin-Yang Release [an ultimate technique combining all Five Elements Release techniques]—he hadn't even taken the first step toward understanding it.
However, Seiki wasn't one to put himself down unjustly.
Although the Yin-Yang Release seemed like it should be as difficult to develop as a Kekkei Genkai, in reality, it was equivalent to fusing all Kekkei Genkai techniques together. He hadn't even mastered Kekkei Tota yet. Naturally, the Yin-Yang Release was out of reach for now.
Still, one thing puzzled him greatly.
"In my past memories, old Madara waited until he had taught Obito Uchiha's forbidden techniques, the Six Paths Technique, and Yin-Yang Release before finally pulling the plug on his own life. If even I can't manage it, how could Obito learn all of that in such a short time? Could having the Mangekyou and receiving guidance from a teacher really be that effective?"
Thinking about this, Seiki felt somewhat regretful for attacking Black Zetsu so severely back then.
"I was too impatient back then. I should've played along and taken advantage of their teachings for free before stealing Black Zetsu's body!"
After letting out a sigh worthy of a great humanitarian, Seiki resealed the black sludge once again.
"And there's also the trip to Loulan... Dragon Pulse Chakra, huh? I didn't expect myself to have replaced Minato's role." When he received this mission, Seiki had been quite surprised. "But actually, this makes things easier for me to act independently!"
In truth, the Dragon Pulse Chakra wasn't much of a secret to the higher-ups across the nations.
It hadn't been stolen simply because the chakra was extremely difficult to utilize. Some stubborn shinobi who refused to believe this ended up turned into stone statues buried beneath the desert sands.
As for using the Dragon Pulse Chakra as an energy source like the people of Loulan did, well, that required them to have established their own nation in the first place.
The various countries, unwilling to give up such a geographically advantageous location, simply lost interest after their initial surprise.
Although Sunagakure had shown some interest, compared to their greater need for food and water, obtaining additional energy sources wasn't considered particularly important.
Of course, this was also because they hadn't discovered the use of Dragon Pulse Chakra like Baizu had.
If their thinking had been just a bit more flexible—if they'd considered using puppet bodies to contain that overly powerful Dragon Pulse Chakra, just as Baizu did—they would've gone after Loulan without hesitation.
Even Seiki couldn't help but marvel at how Baizu, an ordinary Suna ninja who lacked outstanding talent, had surpassed traditional puppet masters in terms of creativity.
"Dragon Pulse Chakra is practically Sage Chakra concentrated from natural energy! Now that I think about it, when Kaguya Otsutsuki revived through Madara, the chakra absorbed from underground might've also been Dragon Pulse Chakra," Seiki mused, getting slightly excited. "Should I replace all the Nine-Tails chakra in my Yin Seal with Dragon Pulse Chakra?"
Sure, the One-time Sage Mode was handy, but it didn't last nearly long enough.
To save up on Sage Chakra, he usually only used Sage Techniques as a last resort, relying on Sage Mode's boost during normal fights—this made him feel like he was turning into some kind of Ultraman.
"Sage Chakra might be strong, but it's way riskier too. I'll need to test if it's even viable as a power source! Whether for storage in the Yin Seal or for some of my future plans..." With that thought, Seiki made his decision. "I have to get my hands on that technique form for controlling Dragon Pulse Chakra."
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