"The most common type of seal…"
Touma, Taisei and Kotetsu all stood in a loose circle down on the forest floor. After the earlier fiasco, Touma reassured Kotetsu that they would not be doing any kind of testing up in the trees. Taisei didn't care where they had to go, as long as he got to learn about static seals. While talking, Touma pulled open a pouch on his side and retrieved a tiny flat square of wood.
"...are those that store Chakra."
On the square of wood, a complicated character was carved into its surface. Taisei barely glanced at it, while Kotetsu stepped forward to get a better look. Touma kept the square in his right palm while he continued.
"However, while those that store Chakra are the most common, reproducing a technique is often the most simple."
Putting the square between his index and thumb, he lightly squeezed the wooden piece. Kotetsu watched with fascination as the character momentarily glowed a soft white. Nothing seemed to occur. Kotetsu thought he might have missed something, and was about to voice his concern, when Touma tossed the square down into the dirt. As soon as it hit the ground, the wooden square seemed to grow several times in size, morphing and shifting in a lifelike manner.
The squirming chunk of wood slowed to a crawl, before coming to a complete stop several seconds later. In total, it grew to about the size of Kotetsu's torso, making him wonder at the purpose of such an item. His thought was cut short as Touma continued his speech.
"That was an example of a reproduced technique. A basic, useless technique, but still a technique. All it required was my Chakra to perform the jutsu. You see the utility, yes?"
After a pause, Kotetsu realised that the question was for him. He mentally scrambled to review the last few seconds, trying to come to a conclusion that wouldn't sound obviously made up on the spot. The image of Touma holding the square bothered him.
"I guess I can sort of see the utility. But, what's the point if you have to carry them around? Shinobi are already carrying plenty of other tools. And, if these seal symbol things translate into handsigns, then doesn't that mean, like…"
He counted off his fingers silently before continuing.
"...For instance, one fire release jutsu like the fireball takes four handsigns to use. So, I would need something like one of these squares with four characters on it? Is that right?"
Kotetsu glanced up at Touma to see how rational his understanding was so far. The old Senju tilted his head in consideration, then gave a slight nod.
"So then what's the point? Do you write out these seals dozens of times, then just keep them sitting around? What if you need one jutsu and accidentally grab the wrong kind? Or… uh…"
His words faltered as he glanced back down at his hands, something like light almost dawning in his eyes. Touma was satisfied that the boy had begun to understand, until Taisei stepped up to Kotetsu with a smug look.
"If you cannot see the immense utility of seals, then you really are just a hopeless barbarian…"
Taisei patted Kotetsu's suddenly tense shoulder, before stepping back with a shake of his head. The light in Kotetsu's eyes shifted toward anger as he turned to glare at Taisei.
"What's your problem? Can't handle someone who knows how to fight?"
Kotetsu stepped forward, pressing into Taisei's personal space. The two boys turned to face each other fully. Before they could get into any kind of shouting match, Touma spoke up.
"That is enough. Keep it civil."
Neither boy moved for a heartbeat, until Kotetsu stepped back first, prompting Taisei to relax. Touma spoke before any more glaring could ensue.
"You are correct in that keeping objects around such as that would be untenable. That is why we do not."
Touma slipped his hand back into the earlier pouch. After a second of rummaging around, he retrieved a scroll no larger than a finger. Carefully untying the rough hewn string holding the paper together, he slowly revealed its contents. Both Kotetsu and Taisei leaned their heads in to get a good look. To Kotetsu's surprise, the entire surface of the scroll was covered in dozens of neatly arrayed characters, none of which he could understand. After giving both boys the opportunity to see the complicated seal, Touma tossed the scroll a distance away, where it landed against the matted forest floor.
Kotetsu was ready this time, his soul sight active, eyes flicking between Touma and the scroll. Touma's soul, which was a light yellow in colour, swirled and swelled with willpower as he prepared to do something. The scroll, however, seemed to contain no willpower whatsoever. Just as Kotetsu was about to take a step forward and get a better look, thinking that maybe he just couldn't see the willpower, Taisei made a comment under his breath.
"Woah… That's a lot of Chakra."
Kotetsu turned to Taisei with a question on his face, almost missing the spectacle entirely. In front of him, Touma casually lifted both hands to his chest and formed a handsign. The motion pulled Kotetsu's attention forward, where he was just in time to see the flash of string-like yellow willpower extend from Touma's foot toward the scroll. The willpower, which Kotetsu figured must have been a line of Chakra, made contact with the scroll.
From the scroll came a tree, boring its way into the sky with inexorable force. What began its life as a tiny sapling quickly expanded into a small tree several meters in height, before exploding into what Kotetsu recognised as a giant maple tree. Branches unfurled, leaves unveiled, and roots indulged in the untapped ground beneath their feet. By the time the tree slowed its spontaneous growth, it had grown easily over fifteen meters, and boasted an impressive span roughly half as wide.
Kotetsu's mouth had been left hanging open at the raw display. His eyes traced the tree from its crown to the trunk. If only viewed by itself, Kotetsu would have never guessed that this tree had only existed for less than a minute. However, glancing around at the giant redwood trees that made up the forest, it was blindingly obvious just how out of place a maple tree was. Which raised an immediate question, one Kotetsu was quick to ask.
"Why a maple tree? Why not grow one of the other trees?" He waved his hand around to the surrounding redwoods.
Touma had watched the display with the two kids, enjoying the sight all the same. At the question, he turned to face Kotetsu with an assessing look. He spoke after a silent hesitation.
"I suppose it would not hurt to tell you."
He glanced back up at the tree, admiring his own handiwork.
"You see, my people share a special connection with this species of tree. When a Senju awakens their Kekkei Genkai– Wood release, their first manifestation is always that of a maple tree. The exact reason for this is unclear, but it has remained consistent with every Senju throughout our history."
Kotetsu stared up into the swaying branches and their countless leaves. The current summer season left the leaves a delicate green in colour. As he watched, several of the leaves broke from a sudden gust, leaving them twirling softly to the ground. In that brief moment, the three continued their silent appraisal of the tree, until Touma picked the lesson back up.
"I have now shown you two types of seals. The first seal reproduced a technique using active Chakra. This seal," He waved one hand at the tree, "showcases the unsealing of static Chakra, in combination with a seal to reproduce a simple wood release technique."
Glancing wistfully at the tree, he added offhandedly, "Due to the nature of the seal, this tree will not last more than a few days due to being constructed purely out of Chakra."
Kotetsu scrunched his face at the old man's explanation. He thought about that character on the earlier square of wood. When compared to the large number of characters he spotted on the scroll, he wondered at their usefulness. He saw no point to these static Chakra seals, when the ones made with active Chakra were more immediately effective. While considering this, he suddenly recognised some of the terms the old man used.
"Active Chakra? Static Chakra?" He was pretty sure the old matriarch lady had asked him about both of those.
Touma nodded. "Those terms refer to two separate states of Chakra. You are plenty familiar with active Chakra, and perhaps static Chakra to an extent, even if you do not know its name. You use active Chakra every time you use jutsu, or enhance your physical capabilities. It is Chakra that you actively control. Static Chakra, meanwhile, is Chakra which you have removed your control over. It is an important aspect to all of Ninjutsu. By removing control, the Chakra retains a finite state or form, usually imparted with a specific concept, unable to be reclaimed afterward."
Kotetsu stared back with a blank expression as he tried to focus on the subject. Touma's rather verbose explanation left Kotetsu struggling to understand the idea, leading to an awkward pause as he tried to get his brain in gear.
"So… uh, you said the Chakra I use, I mean, when I infuse it… that's what active Chakra is?"
Touma nodded his head once again in confirmation.
Kotetsu thought about the explanation of static Chakra, but several things didn't make sense. The first thing he was confused with was the usage of static Chakra. Why would someone ever bother removing their control over Chakra at all? The second thing was that Touma's usage of the word 'control' implied willpower, at least to Kotetsu. But whenever he removed his willpower from the Chakra, usually by accident, it evaporated into nothing. Perhaps Touma was referring to something other than willpower, but Kotetsu needed to verify.
"What do you mean by control?"
Touma's eyebrows raised slightly, before he replied. "I am referring to mental energy."
Kotetsu felt his own eyebrows raise at the response. That didn't make much sense.
"But, how are you supposed to remove mental energy from Chakra? So far, my Chakra just disappears if I even lose track of it."
"That is a side effect of improper Chakra control." Touma answered succinctly.
Kotetsu and Touma stared at each other for several seconds, neither saying anything. From somewhere behind, Taisei watched the witless barbarian with a steadily unraveling sanity.
"Oh." Kotetsu answered, clearly not understanding. He quickly followed his own words.
"Can you teach me how to get better?"
This time, Taisei stepped forward to respond.
"You're only here to learn about the basics of seals. You really think we would just teach you about a fast method for mass destruction-"
"-Yes." Touma cut off Taisei's speech, which likely would have wound up to a rant.
Kotetsu had been turning an evil eye on Taisei, but whipped back around at Touma's response. Smirking, he glanced back at Taisei, who now stood with a dumbfounded expression on his face.
"It is necessary for you to understand the distinction between active and static Chakra. To do that, I will eventually have you create static Chakra." Touma continued on.
"However, that will come later."
Both boys turned to face Touma. Taisei shifted to a closed off expression, while Kotetsu showed interest. Even if he didn't yet understand the importance of static Chakra, he wouldn't pass up an opportunity to learn more about Chakra control.
Touma needed more information about Kotetsu if he was going to properly teach him anything.
"Now, Kotetsu… What is your experience with ninjutsu? Where do you think you stand with Chakra control, your technical understanding of handsigns, and fundamental skills?"
Kotetsu paused to think over his answer.
"Uh… well, I understand that you need handsigns to perform ninjutsu. And…" He hesitated, "...Like you said, I don't think I have very good Chakra control. But I can control my fire release techniques easily, no problem. So, uh, I think I would put my overall skill at… maybe… decent?"
Touma looked at the boy with an inscrutable gaze.
"And what do you think of the usefulness of seals, so far?"
Kotetsu had an answer prepared.
"I can see why you would want stuff like the square thing from earlier. If I had one of those, but for fire, I could just throw fireballs around, which sounds really cool. But, the scroll…" He paused, thinking, "...I don't get it. It just seems like a more complicated way to get the same result."
Touma nodded at the answer, clearly expecting that line of reasoning. He held up a finger as he dug around in his pouch again.
"I have something else to show you."
While Kotetsu watched, Touma retrieved what looked like a wooden handle from his pouch. It held no blade, and a strange pattern of shapes covered its surface. Touma held the handle up for Kotetsu's inspection. Peering closely, Kotetsu noticed that the pattern consisted of unreadable characters, which he guessed must belong to a seal. Somewhere behind, he heard a sound like choking, and turned to find Taisei open-mouthed, staring at the handle in surprise. Kotetsu didn't understand what was so impressive.
With a sudden flick, Touma tossed the handle up into the air, letting it spin several times, before catching it with his right hand. He did this repeatedly. Each time he flicked the handle up, Taisei flinched.
"Father, please… don't play with that…"
Kotetsu glanced between the father and son, noting Taisei's suddenly nervous posture, and Touma's relaxed expression. The old man continued his game of tossing the handle around.
"Taisei, procure a wooden target, please."
Taisei slinked away, keeping one eye on the spinning handle while he did as Touma asked. His hands flipped through three handsigns, followed by placing both hands flat on the ground. With a shake, the earth before him split, and a smooth wooden dummy emerged from below. It appeared to rise exactly to Touma's height, and bore a remarkable resemblance to the old Senju, at least in general shape.
Taking several steps back, Taisei wearily glanced at his father. Touma had remained standing, playing with the handle, his eyes following the object with each toss. At Taisei's glance, he caught the handle and wrapped his fingers around the base. Pushing past Kotetsu with a burst of wind, he collided with the wooden dummy, stabbing directly into the figure with the handle. A thunderous sound cut the air as several large spikes of wood protruded from the dummy's back, its form now split into several smaller pieces that tumbled to the ground.
Kotetsu stood in complete awe at the demonstration. In the corner of his vision, he spotted Taisei watching with an uneasy look. A thought crossed his mind at seeing the older teen upset, and he tucked it away for later. Touma ripped his right hand down, then up, pulling it away with a crunch of wood. He turned to face Kotetsu, his earlier casualness now replaced with a serious expression as he spoke.
"This is only part of what seals can accomplish. You can produce weapons any warrior can wield, tools any shinobi could master, powers any soldier can abuse." he gestured at the handle, still clutched firmly in his right hand.
"This weapon merely requires touching one end to your desired target to activate. However, some active Chakra must be present to trigger the weapon."
He looked at Taisei as he said that.
"This is another example of a static seal. It has been imbued with large amounts of static Chakra, paired with another seal to reproduce a technique. However, what you need to understand is that…"
He paused to examine the violated combat dummy, its purpose fulfilled, before glancing back down at the handle and continuing.
"...This weapon is capable of being mass-produced. The difference between active Chakra and static Chakra is the presence of your control. What that means in practice, is that while you may only have so many active seals at a time, due to sealing strain…"
he gestured over at the lump of wood formed from the square, its seal powered with active Chakra.
"...you may create as many static seals as you like, within your own limits of Chakra output, and Chakra degradation, of course." He said, holding up the handle once again.
Kotetsu remained silent as he considered what he'd seen. This changed a lot, as far as he was concerned. He could see the purpose of each type of seal, though now he wondered on the point of active seals, when he could just produce as many static seals as he desired.
"Why would anyone choose active seals over static seals then?"
A glint appeared in Touma's eyes, and he nodded in approval.
"There are a few differences. The most obvious being that static seals require Chakra to be present at all times for the seal to function, while active seals do not. You may construct the framework for an active seal, then power it with Chakra any time you wish, assuming you can adequately interpret the seal. With static seals, the Chakra will eventually degrade or exhaust itself, and must therefore be replenished."
Kotetsu felt his eyes widen. That made a lot more sense, at least for the difference between static and active seals. He was sure there were other things that he could have explained later. But right now, he had no clue what it meant to 'interpret' a seal.
"I think I get it. So, where do I start?" A spark of excitement pushed Kotetsu to rocking back and forth on his feet as he thought about the possibilities. He imagined using scrolls to produce great walls of fire, spinning vortexes, propelling himself around with white hot jets of fire, and seals summoning flames that wrapped his chiselled frame with burning armour…
"You will copy this character." Touma's answer broke Kotetsu from his grandiose delusion.
His attention snapped forward to find Touma holding up another wooden square with the aforementioned character perfectly carved into its surface. He stared at it for several seconds, his delusions of grandeur falling to the wayside at the sight of the puny square.
"Whuh?" Kotetsu squeaked.
Touma fished another square from his pouch, holding it up to reveal a blank surface.
"You need to carve the seal into these squares. You will use active Chakra to perform this task. Once you have perfected that, you may proceed to utilising static Chakra."
Kotetsu stood in place for a moment, clearly hesitating, before reaching out and plucking both squares from the old man's hands. He peered at the character with confusion.
"Uuh… I don't know what this means." Kotetsu relayed.
"I know." Touma replied.
Glancing up with a look that questioned the old Senju's faculties, he asked, "...will you tell me what it means?"
Touma explained.
"This character, in simple terms, represents the 'horse' handsign. As you know, the horse sign is common for most fire release techniques. Like the sign, this character mostly represents the conceptual idea of creating and controlling fire itself."
Kotetsu stared blankly up at Touma. Touma stared back. The old man continued, ignoring Kotetsu's cluelessness of the subject.
"Of course, that is a rather crude way of representing the concept, though I am sure you are plenty familiar already. Its strength lies in the generalisation of the concept, not just of creating fire, but creating power. Since, as you are plainly aware, fire has much association with the concept of power, and strength."
Kotetsu felt his eyes twitch. Touma was cut off before he could continue.
"Yeah… of-of course. I know all of that. Hah. Hahah. Who wouldn't know any of that? And… the generalisation, concept, thing. Yep. Only an idiot wouldn't know any of those words."
A snort came from somewhere behind Kotetsu, who felt his ears burning. Touma saved him from further embarrassment.
"Ultimately, as long as you understand that this character represents the 'horse' handsign, your understanding will translate into the seal. That is the first rule of seals, after all."
Touma held up a finger as Kotetsu immediately opened his mouth. He shut it.
"Yes, there are rules. However, they are more like guidelines to help you understand seals, both in reading and writing. The first of these rules…"
He moved his finger down to point at the blank square still held in the boy's hand.
"...is the rule of interpretation."
—
Kotetsu sat cross legged, hunched over several piles of tiny wooden squares, pinching one square in his left hand while carefully plotting a kunai over its surface with the right. The kunai, borrowed from Taisei, sat awkwardly between his fingers as he made attempt after attempt to follow Touma's instructions. At the beginning of this so-called lesson, Touma had handed him one square after another, until eventually just dumping dozens of them on the ground between the two. As Kotetsu made yet another blunder, Touma commented on his efforts.
"You are still focusing too much on the shape. Do not worry about precision, simply focus on pouring your Chakra into the character."
Kotetsu groaned as he stared down at the newly ruined square, his half-complete character ruined by a single mistake. It wasn't like he hadn't tried, again and again, with minutes burning away into hours. Touma kept his comments short and to the point, yet always guiding. Even though he had yet to produce any results, Kotetsu felt like he was getting closer to… something.
The process for explaining a seal seemed simple at first. All he had to do was flow his active Chakra into the character as he was carving it. Touma had explained that for active seals, Chakra is usually imbued after the seal is made, but for the purpose of learning, Kotetsu was both laying the Chakra and carving the symbol. When Kotetsu asked why, Touma told him it was to both strengthen his Chakra control, and to understand the precision required for laying Chakra to form a seal.
"I don't get how the Chakra is supposed to stay. It doesn't make any sense at all…" Kotetsu complained.
For Touma's part, he spent the last several hours thinking about Kotetsu's situation. While the boy was busy figuring out seals, Touma silently evaluated him. Kotetsu's claim that he was "decent" with his skills in Chakra appeared to be half true, though Touma had not expected any sort of realistic answer. When it came to manipulating Chakra within his body, Kotetsu seemed to have no issue whatsoever. He demonstrated this earlier while wall walking. However, the moment Chakra left the immediate touch of his body, it was almost like his control ceased entirely. His Chakra grew rough and jagged, as if he was trying to shape it by hand. As far as Touma knew, that should not happen. He had never seen a case of improper Chakra control like this, so he needed more information on how the boy approached Chakra.
"Will you explain your process to me?" Touma began.
Glancing up from the ruined square, Kotetsu eyed the old man leaning over him.
"Whadya mean?"
"I mean, tell me how you are controlling your Chakra."
Kotetsu squinted.
"I grab the Chakra and put it into the square."
Touma arched an eyebrow as Kotetsu answered, before responding, "Please elaborate."
"I grab it with my will… er, mental energy. I need to move the Chakra, so I grab and move it where I want it to be!" Kotetsu became flustered as he tried to explain.
Grabbing his chin, Touma rubbed it thoughtfully. Ignoring the slipup, Kotetsu's method seemed outlandish. For whatever reason, he viewed his Chakra and his mental energy as two separate components. He posed another question.
"How do you view the process of infusing your Chakra? What happens from your perspective?"
Kotetsu just stared back, unable to answer. He thought it was obvious.
"Infusing my Chakra is just… telling it what to do. But I need my mental energy for that."
The answer was technically correct, but Touma prodded further.
"And… how do you view your Chakra itself?"
Kotetsu scowled. "I can't see my Chakra."
"Not what I mean. What I meant is, how do you interpret your Chakra? What do you picture when you infuse it, how does it feel to move the energy within yourself?"
Touma crossed his arms as he waited for Kotetsu's answer. For Kotetsu's part, his eyes unfocused as he thought about the question. He mentally reviewed what Chakra was.
Chakra was power, he knew that. His willpower was… not power, yeah. His willpower was his control, so it was himself. So if Chakra was power, and his willpower was him, then how did he see it?…
"...I dunno." Kotetsu answered, slumping over.
Touma remained standing over the dejected Kotetsu, waiting for anything. Taisei, who had been silently working a distance away, called out.
"Father, will you check my work?"
Touma glanced over at his son. Taisei's nose had remained buried in the scroll he'd been scribbling in, but now he was looking their way. Touma shifted his gaze back down to Kotetsu, who was now picking at random litter on the forest floor. Sighing, he moved to attend Taisei.
While the two Senju were doing whatever, Kotetsu was busy trying to figure out why he was so bad at this. He really thought that he had grown as a shinobi. He felt like he had crossed a threshold, and that everything would get just a little easier from here on out. Yet here he was, carving stupid little characters into stupid little squares. The longer his Chakra was outside of his body, the less control he retained.
That single issue is what caused him to fail each time so far, except for various outliers such as his hands slipping from stress. After several hours, his frustrations had bubbled into real anger. His hands shook from being clenched too tight. He stared down at them, focusing, forcing them to relax as he mentally let go of his anger. He wondered why it was so difficult to gain control over his own body sometimes.
Gain… control. A thought occurred to him.
Dropping the kunai from his right hand, he held the hand out front of him, splaying his fingers. He spread them further, veins shifting under the skin. He formed a fist and released it several times.
"Uh… huh."
When he had discovered willpower, he began thinking of his Chakra and willpower as distinct parts. He was using his willpower to instruct and control the Chakra in a specific way. But his body was doing what his mind wanted it to. He didn't need to give special instructions to his body, he just did it, and it happened. People don't usually see their body and mind as separate, but rather as the same thing, which is how he saw it too. He was he, Kotetsu was Kotetsu, in both body and mind. And like his body and mind, why wasn't that the case with his Chakra and willpower?
Trying something new, he closed his eyes, imagining a pool of Chakra in his head. It calmly swirled beneath his body, which stood on top of the pool. He imagined himself reaching down and grabbing a fistful of the energy with his right hand. With his real body, he felt the warm rushing feeling of Chakra pool together in the same hand. This was how he had been controlling the Chakra before; literally grabbing it with his mind, his willpower, and throwing it around like a child splashing in a puddle. But that was wrong. He needed to become the Chakra, to merge his willpower and Chakra completely into one, to remove the step of willpower telling his Chakra what to do, and just do it.
With a breath, Kotetsu allowed himself to fall completely into the pool. He opened his eyes.
He grasped the kunai once again as his Chakra began to infuse. Pitting the blade against the smooth surface of another square, he carefully guided the active Chakra into the kunai, feeling no resistance. The energy smoothly travelled along the edge and down to the tip. This time, he knew he had it for sure. All he needed to do now was keep the Chakra steady…
Taisei stood by as his father reviewed the carefully designed seal. He had made sure to double and triple check his work before asking Touma to look it over, but he was still exceedingly nervous. This was the first time he'd ever been allowed to create a completely static seal, with stored Chakra and all, and he wanted to make sure to get it right the first time.
It had been a little over two years since Touma had started teaching him about seals, and the arbitrary waiting periods between major lessons were agonising. His previous lesson on active seals had been over three months ago, and he could barely wait for the chance to finally learn static seals.
"I see no issues with this." Touma finally spoke after what felt like forever. He had only been reviewing the seal for a minute.
Smiling, Taisei went over the seal one more time, appreciating his own craftsmanship, before bending down to place the scroll on the ground. As he did so, Touma glanced over to where Kotetsu sat. Just as Taisei was about to activate the seal to prove his work, a loud crack echoed through the clearing, and Kotetsu was sent flying backward from where he sat with a yelp.
Taisei jerked his head up at the disturbance. For a second, he thought that maybe Kotetsu had finally blown himself up, and after seeing the roiling fire rising from the ground, that only boosted his suspicion. Kotetsu skid to a stop a short distance away, his arms flailing in an attempt to pat himself free of loose flames. Broken pieces of metal that belonged to the kunai flew somewhere over his head. The burning pile of wooden squares began to settle, all of their energy having been consumed in the wild flash of heat.
Touma had caught most of the action, on account of never having removed his senses from the boy. Even while inspecting Taisei's sealwork, which he could see was near-perfect, his attention had remained on Kotetsu. Before the explosion that sent Kotetsu sliding back, Touma felt a subtle change in the boy's Chakra. It was like a ripple that spread across his body, changing his Chakra from that of a wild dishevelled mess into a neat, sharp form. After that change occurred, Kotetsu had begun his latest carving attempt, taking only a few short seconds to complete his work that time.
The results of his seal were instantaneous, and dangerous. As far as Touma was aware, Kotetsu had not even tried to activate it. The moment he completed the general shape, the Chakra placed within the seal automatically shifted its nature to fire release. The conversion itself happened in so little time, that Touma failed to perceive the change. This suggested that Kotetsu's elemental nature was strongly rooted in fire. Touma decided that this would be a troublesome problem for the boy to face, as his raw nature seemed to far outmatch his control, for now.
His gut told him to observe this potential threat from a distance. His teaching side told him otherwise.
Kotetsu was busy snuffing out the last few sparks on his arms, when he realised that he felt… incredible. Across his body, the contained flow of Chakra rushed through him, across his skin, into his chest, down his spine, flowing past his arms and legs, and circling into his hands and feet. It seeped into the deepest parts of his body. Since he wasn't in immediate need to survive fighting against a group of Senju, he wanted to take his time exploring this new feeling. However, Touma's approaching footsteps cut short his plans.
Kotetsu looked up at the old Senju, who stopped a few short steps away.
"Did I pass?"
Peering down at Kotetsu with scrutiny, Touma answered back.
"That depends on how you interpreted the seal."
After staring blankly at Touma for several seconds, Kotetsu sighed and fell back onto the hard dirt with a thump. Ultimately, he still didn't know what it meant to 'interpret' the seal. Touma clearly saw his frustration.
"What were you thinking about while carving that seal?"
Kotetsu had mostly been focused on infusing his Chakra, with maybe a little bit of daydreaming about seals spewing massive amounts of…
"...Fire. Lots of fire."
Touma didn't even bother to give him a look.
"There is your interpretation. You thought of fire, so you created fire."
Kotetsu sat up abruptly.
"It can't really be that simple. Can it?"
"It is. Now that you know, you pass."
Touma's face remained unchanging as he answered. Kotetsu stared off at the leftover cinders from his accident. While he was thinking, he noticed a tapping sound from his side, and he turned to find Taisei, arms crossed, one leg bouncing erratically. A scroll lay by his feet. Kotetsu popped up from the ground with a casual motion, his infused Chakra still held just beneath his skin. Taisei gave him a bored look.
"Don't get ahead of yourself. So you can make a measly burst of flames. You haven't seen anything yet…"
As Taisei spoke, his right foot tapped the ground right by the scroll. Kotetsu glanced down at the paper, flicking through his soul sight, but not seeing any willpower within the object. He crossed his own arms to mirror Taisei.
"And just what are you gonna do, huh? Grow a bush?"
Taisei did not respond to the goad. Kotetsu was mostly just seeing how angry he could get the older boy. Despite his prodding, he remembered that it was Taisei's seal that had caught him. He would not forget that. Even still, he was curious as to what kind of seal Taisei had made. And since it appeared to be a static seal, like the earlier handle, he wanted to know even more. With bated breath, and a fake haughty expression, he waited for Taisei's response.
He got one.
Taisei looked to Touma for approval, finding him standing just beside Kotetsu. The old Senju nodded once. With a deep breath, he held both hands, formed a sign, and crunched down hard on the scroll with his foot.
As Kotetsu had been told, one advantage of static Chakra was the possibility for a shinobi to bypass their limit of actively infused Chakra. For someone like Taisei, his active limit sat around 25% of his total Chakra pool. This meant he could only infuse around 25% of his Chakra at any one time, without losing control or wasting any Chakra. One downside of static Chakra was, of course, the inability to reclaim that Chakra once it is made static.
Taisei had poured that 25% into this seal, formed into static Chakra. The only thing left to do was to match it with his maximum active Chakra.
He stomped down on the scroll, hard. Kotetsu watched as a wave of willpower shot down his foot and joined with the scroll. The ground erupted with force as suddenly, over a dozen wooden pillars grew from the earth, each half a meter wide, forming a ring that easily spanned fifteen meters in diameter. The pillars extended with rapid speed until they were taller than the maple tree, continuing on with various levels of growth. Kotetsu nearly fell back on his butt as the growing pillars left him with a sudden sense of vertigo.
Taisei remained standing, arms still crossed as he waited patiently for Kotetsu's response. For Kotetsu's part, he didn't have anything to say beyond grunting vaguely. However, upon looking into Taisei's smug face, a flash of memory gave him a great response.
"Uh… show off."
Taisei's smug expression shifted to annoyance, and he lifted his nose in Kotetsu's direction, maintaining eye contact.
"I suppose anything would be impressive to a barbarian like you."
"I'm going to punch you."
Taisei unfolded his arms slightly at the casually mentioned violence. Touma responded off-handedly, still inspecting the ring of randomly sized pillars.
"No punching. Not yet."
Fear flickered in Taisei's eyes at the comment before it was concealed. Kotetsu's gaze remained locked on his for several more seconds. With a sudden smile, Kotetsu flopped backward, breaking eye contact and landing flat with a thump. Running his hands through his hair, he stared up into the treeline above, distant branches now obscured by large wooden pillars. From somewhere in front, Taisei appeared.
"...What are you doing?" Taisei questioned.
"Relaxing. Why?"
Taisei arched an eyebrow in response.
"You just don't seem like the type to be carefree." He noted.
Remaining on the ground, Kotetsu's smile turned to a grin. His grin brought forth a giggle, quickly erupting into a full howling laughter, tears streaming down his face. He wiped his eyes repeatedly, but the tears kept coming. Touma and Taisei glanced at each other with worried expressions. Kotetsu remained laying down, his fit of humour lasting a handful of seconds longer, before he calmed enough to speak.
"I… Hah… I seem carefree, you say?"
Looking at Kotetsu cautiously, Taisei answered after a moment.
"...Yes."
He returned his eyes upward to the forest. Memories from his time out here flashed through his mind. All of those experiences, to him, had felt difficult, because they were. But then, he unlocked these strange memories from his father, and the word difficult suddenly had a lot more meaning. Compared to Kouga, Kotetsu's life really was carefree.
"Maybe… I have had it easy."
Kotetsu didn't say anything else, as his mind not only caught up with the events of that day, but of the last several weeks. His new life with the Uchiha clan had come to an abrupt end, and now he was here. Thanks to those memories, he could get to know his father, and maybe even his grandmother. He was sure that other memories would come, but for now, he was content. Everything had happened so fast, from his new understanding of Chakra control, to his father's memories, leaving the Uchiha clan, and this strange introduction to the Senju clan.
Thoughts of his Hyuuga family swirled up to the surface. His sister, mother, late brother, and even those he knew better than others such as Niko. And… Masato. He wasn't sure what to think about the clan leader, knowing what he knew now about the betrayal. Those feelings were still raw, and he felt uncomfortable dwelling on it, so he simply didn't. As he laid there, revisiting memories, a set of thoughts that had plagued him more the older he became burst forward. He was going to run out of time, and it was a problem he didn't know how to handle.
He was supposedly free to return to the Hyuuga clan after two years, the time limit imposed by the 'Trial of Survival', something that had barely been explained to him. But what did his return entail? Could he really just walk in, acting like nothing happened, and return to his previous life? Returning after learning everything he knew, after everything he had done, and after all of the people he'd met? Assuming he could even leave the Senju clan any time soon, not that he would do so without his sword.
If he did return to his family, would that mean he'd have to do missions and fight for the Hyuuga as a real member? What if he had to fight someone he knew? In that scenario, what if he was fighting someone from the Uchiha clan?
An image of Atsuo, bent over, blood spilling from his arm flashed before him. He didn't know what happened after he left. He didn't even know if Atsuo was still alive. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know, if he could stomach the answer. A thought coalesced, crystallising into a sudden, intense, body-tingling decision.
He didn't want to fight any of them. Not the Uchiha, or the Hyuuga. It was a childish fantasy that carried more weight than it should. He had not even the vaguest idea of how to make that dream happen, at least logically. However, he did know that whatever path he took to get there, he needed to get a lot stronger.
And for now, he believed that the Senju clan could get him there.
—
"...He passed out."
Taisei softly clicked one foot against Kotetsu's leg. The boy remained unconscious.
"Actually, I believe he simply fell asleep." Touma commented. The old man stood off to one side, observing Kotetsu with a sharp gaze. With his senses, he had felt Kotetsu's infused Chakra safely return to its inert form, so it wasn't a case of Chakra exhaustion. Though, he didn't exactly sense how much energy the boy put into that earlier seal, but it couldn't have been that much.
"Should I wake him up?" Taisei said, bending down, a mischievous grin splitting his face.
"No, I do not think that is necessary. With this training method, I suspect that he will pick up static seals quickly. Leave him be for now."
Taisei remained squatting, staring down at Kotetsu's peaceful expression. There were many unanswered questions about the strange boy, none of which he desired, he told himself. This was just another barbarian, no different than Rata, no different than Jumaru, or any other Senju his age. Taisei blatantly ignored the speed at which Kotetsu picked up seals. He ignored his own senses telling him that this boy was more than just a barbarian.
"Come, let us continue your training while he rests." Touma beckoned Taisei away, back toward their treehouse. Dusk had begun to fall.
"What if he wakes up, sees we are gone, and tries to escape?" Taisei questioned.
Touma raised an eyebrow, looking at his son with sudden consternation. Before he could speak, Taisei seemed to remember something.
"Oh… yeah. That seal. If he runs, it will act as a tracker, right?" Taisei asked, glancing down at Kotetsu. He had not really inspected the giant seal that was wrapped around the boy's body. He was shocked that Kotetsu couldn't sense it himself, seeing as it covered his skin like cobwebs.
"It is not just a tracker." Touma answered ominously. Taisei nodded in acknowledgement.
Standing, Taisei moved to his father's side. With a final glance back at the strange boy, he followed his father back to their home.
—
Somewhere, on a cloudless afternoon hidden beneath the cover of maple and oak trees, a young man treaded a path. He had a braid of dark brown hair that fell to the middle of his back. Clean grey robes hugged his torso, and leggings woven from dark cloth fell just short of his ankles, stopping above a pair of wooden sandals. He moved with a casual grace, his attention forward, maintaining a jogging pace while avoiding every root, ditch and hanging branch he encountered. After sustaining this speed for several kilometers, he finally approached his destination, entering a large clearing right at the edge of a marsh.
As expected, his rivals were already present in the clearing. Three other individuals stood a distance apart, sizing each other up, attempting to weigh their odds of survival. The young man realised that the others had not been here long, if they were still trying to gauge one another. Breathing a sigh of relief, he hoped that their lesson for this week would not be as harsh as the previous week.
A frigid presence brushed against his back, and his hackles rose. Before that moment, he had not heard, smelled, seen, or detected any Chakra presence at all. Turning slowly, he attempted to convey a mild reaction to the disturbance, despite his heart's efforts to burst from his chest. His nervousness did not recede upon seeing the cold pair of moon-white eyes that peered back.
Even though Emilia Hyuuga stood a foot shorter than the young man at five feet tall, his height advantage did nothing to diminish her authority. She wore a similar outfit to his own, her pitch black hair tied in a loose knot that cascaded down her shoulders and back. By the time her critical eyes finished inspecting his attire, he finally gathered enough wits to speak.
"Hello, sensei. What manner of torture do you have planned for us today?"
Despite his own unease at the young woman, he tried to remind himself that her manner was how she showed strength. Emilia continued her stare for a moment longer, weighing his answer, before eventually pushing past him.
"Something that will require your full attention."
Slowly letting go of his breath, but not the tension in his shoulders, Niko Hyuuga hurried to catch up as Emilia made her way out toward the group. His anxieties turned to the upcoming training as she elaborated further.
"It is time to test the limit of your reactions."