Chapter 591: Kakashi's Yang Seal Form
Fifth Yang Seal Form
After returning to the Shinobi Sect, Nagato first went to report to Mugetsu.
Once Mugetsu confirmed that there were no issues, Nagato brought Sasori to Mugetsu's study.
Mugetsu did not begin speaking to Sasori right away. Instead, he set down the book in his hand and gestured for them to sit.
Sasori used the brief pause to observe the new legend of the Land of Rain.
Although he had participated in the Youth Martial Arts Tournament, Sasori had never paid much attention to Sōsuke.
This was only the second time he had met Sōsuke up close. The first had been in prison.
Perhaps because they were in a study, Sōsuke did not give Sasori the feeling of a battle scarred legendary shinobi. Instead, he seemed more like a refined literature teacher.
Of course, Sasori did not dare underestimate him.
Sōsuke's reputation was not empty hype. Even a famous powerhouse like Hanzō, leading elite forces, had failed to gain the upper hand against him.
In a direct battle, even with the Third Kazekage Human Puppet, Sasori was not confident he could defeat such an opponent.
"The Third Kazekage Human Puppet is just a Chakra core now. That secret should not have been exposed," Sasori thought, recalling the sealed scrolls that had been confiscated from him.
He felt fortunate that he had abandoned the Third Kazekage puppet body in the final battle. Otherwise, his situation might have been even worse.
If the truth about him assassinating the Third Kazekage spread, it would bring Sasori only trouble and no benefit.
Sunagakure would never again consider Chiyo's feelings. They would hunt him down and place a bounty on his head.
Sasori might not have cared before, but now he wanted revenge, and he did not want unnecessary complications.
Mugetsu lifted the teacup on the table, took a small sip, and looked at Sasori.
"Nagato told me you have something you want to discuss."
Even though Sasori had not spoken yet, Mugetsu had already guessed his purpose.
As a prisoner, what else could he possibly want besides an early release?
"That's right. I want to make a deal with you," Sasori said with a nod.
"I possess a unique puppet technique unmatched anywhere in the shinobi world. As long as you remove the Sealing Technique on my body and release me early, I can teach you that technique. I can also make three puppets for you free of charge."
Sasori laid out his terms in one breath, then calmly looked at Sōsuke.
He felt his offer was already generous enough. There was no reason for Sōsuke to refuse.
After all, he had only attacked a few Konoha shinobi. He had not killed any shinobi or civilians from the Land of Rain.
So in Sasori's eyes, Sōsuke had no reason to reject a valuable puppet technique just for the sake of a few outsiders whose interests had nothing to do with him.
"If that's all you have to say, then you can leave," Mugetsu said with a faint smile, rejecting him immediately.
Sasori's Human Puppet technique was indeed unique, but it was of little practical use to either Mugetsu or the Shinobi Sect.
For Mugetsu, puppet techniques would not directly improve his own combat power.
And as for the Shinobi Sect, none of its members specialized in puppetry. Even if they acquired the Human Puppet technique, no one would truly know how to use it.
"You mean you refuse?" Sasori frowned, staring at Sōsuke.
Then he seemed to remember something and quickly added, "My technique is called the Human Puppet technique. It allows me to turn human corpses into Human Puppets. Those puppets can not only use the Ninjutsu they had in life, they can even retain Bloodline Limits."
Sasori felt the only reason Sōsuke had refused was because he did not properly understand the value of the technique.
"My answer remains the same. If that is all you have to say, then you may leave," Mugetsu replied, still calm and completely unmoved.
Sasori stared at Sōsuke in disbelief, utterly unprepared for such a firm response.
He had expected shock. He had expected Sōsuke to raise the price, perhaps demand more puppets, or even attempt to recruit him directly.
He had never imagined Sōsuke would refuse so quickly and so completely.
This was the Human Puppet technique, a revolutionary leap in puppetry as far as Sasori was concerned.
Unlike Sasori, Nagato showed an expression that practically said he had expected this.
Sasori thought he had merely attacked a few Konoha shinobi Sōsuke did not care about, but Nagato knew the truth.
The people Sasori had attacked were all Mugetsu's disciples.
To be honest, Nagato felt Mugetsu had already shown remarkable restraint by not killing Sasori on the spot.
After all, Sasori had not only attacked Mugetsu's disciples, he had clearly intended to try again in the future.
Yet Mugetsu had not killed him. He had merely sentenced him to ten years of forced labor. By shinobi standards, that was already excessive mercy.
Now Sasori still wanted to get out early so he could continue targeting Kakashi and the others. Nagato could only feel that Sasori was constantly brushing against death.
"You are not a puppet master, so perhaps you do not understand what this truly means." Sasori kept going. "If you kill Hanzō and then turn him into a Human Puppet, you would possess a Hanzō with no mind of his own, one entirely under your control."
"And if you apply this technique to yourself, you can achieve eternal life."
To make Mugetsu understand the value of the Human Puppet technique, Sasori went even further and revealed its greatest secret. Through it, one could theoretically obtain immortality.
Even so, Mugetsu's answer did not change.
Sasori was refused again.
For the first time in a long while, Sasori felt a deep sense of being profoundly underappreciated.
He possessed such a technique, yet it still was not enough to exchange for freedom.
"Then increase the number of puppets to five. Just reduce my sentence by five years and allow me to continue researching puppetry in my free time," Sasori said through gritted teeth.
He had already lowered his demands as far as he could.
What he truly feared was wasting ten full years, because after that long, he might no longer be able to kill Kakashi.
If the time could be reduced to five years, and if he were allowed to continue improving himself, Sasori was still confident he could succeed.
Just as Sasori thought he had finally made enough concessions, a thought flashed through Mugetsu's mind.
This time, instead of refusing or agreeing outright, Mugetsu asked a different question.
"Can your Human Puppet technique be used to make only part of a limb? The kind that can function normally, just like a real arm or leg."
Although Mugetsu was not interested in Human Puppets themselves, if the technique could be adapted into effective prosthetics, then it would be genuinely useful.
For ordinary shinobi, arms and legs were indispensable.
Without hands, they could not form hand seals. Without legs, they lost mobility. Lose either, and their shinobi career was effectively over.
But if they could use proper prosthetic limbs, the situation would be different.
Once adapted, such limbs might even become more useful than the originals.
After all, puppet limbs could be equipped with various mechanisms and hidden functions, giving them certain advantages over flesh and blood.
They could also benefit civilians, not just shinobi.
"Technically, there's no problem," Sasori replied, "but it doesn't have much meaning."
In his mind, if one was going to modify a body, then one should convert the whole thing into a puppet body. Just replacing an arm or a leg felt pointless to him.
Seeing Sasori answer, Mugetsu finally spoke again.
"If you want to cooperate, that can be arranged. But forget the conditions you just proposed. Listen to mine. If you can accept them, then we cooperate. If not, this matter ends here."
Sasori clenched his fists again.
He felt that he had already lowered himself to the limit, yet Sōsuke still was not satisfied.
At that moment, Sōsuke's calm face seemed particularly infuriating to Sasori.
"I do not need you to make Human Puppets for me. If you can perfect the technique and create limbs that both shinobi and ordinary people can use normally, then I can reduce your sentence by five years," Mugetsu said.
"From now on, you will no longer work as an ordinary forced labor prisoner. Nagato will decide your tasks. If he judges your performance to be excellent, then your sentence can be further reduced by one to four years, depending on your conduct."
Mugetsu truly did not care when Sasori would be released.
Compared to Black Zetsu and Uchiha Madara lurking in the shadows, Sasori was a minor figure, one who would be easy to deal with later if necessary.
Still, it was admittedly wasteful to leave a talent like Sasori doing ordinary labor.
So Mugetsu simply handed Sasori over to Nagato and let Nagato decide how to use him.
After all, Mugetsu's original intention in keeping Sasori alive had been to temper Nagato.
After hearing the terms, Sasori's clenched fists gradually loosened, and his face filled with surprise and confusion.
The conditions Sōsuke offered were, in fact, better than the ones Sasori himself had proposed.
Even without Nagato's performance based sentence reduction, he could already earn five years back. If he received the highest evaluation, his sentence would effectively shrink to only one year.
For the first time, Sasori felt he truly could not understand Sōsuke.
It was too bizarre.
Sōsuke had no interest in a technique that could enhance strength and even grant a form of immortality, yet he cared about making prosthetic limbs for ordinary people and shinobi alike.
What possible point was there in that?
"Well? Are you willing to accept those terms?" Mugetsu asked with a small smile.
He did not care in the slightest whether Sasori was released now or later.
If Sasori ever became a problem, handling him would be simple.
"If I am to research puppet techniques, then the seal must be removed during that time," Sasori said, quickly seizing on the key point Mugetsu had not mentioned.
"It will be removed when the time comes," Mugetsu replied.
With Nagato present, unsealing Sasori was not a serious concern.
After all, a Sasori with no puppets could only be easily suppressed by Nagato.
"I accept," Sasori answered immediately.
The terms were already better than what he had hoped for. Even if Nagato did not give him the highest score later, it would still not be a bad deal.
Once the arrangement was settled, Nagato quickly left the study with Sasori, no longer disturbing Mugetsu.
"You just finished a mission today, so rest for a day. No need to go to the construction team, and no need to start researching puppets yet," Nagato said.
Sasori looked at him speechlessly.
He had been hoping the seal would be removed today, but instead Nagato had simply given him a day off.
"I want to research puppet techniques," Sasori said.
"Fatigue is not conducive to research," Nagato replied.
"I'm not tired."
"Do you want your performance score lowered?"
Sasori fell silent at once.
He had to admit that Nagato had found the one thing that truly mattered.
Sasori wanted early release so he could take revenge, which meant Nagato's evaluation mattered enormously. It could reduce up to four more years from his sentence.
If it were anyone else, Sasori might not have cared enough to cooperate.
But after spending time with Nagato, he had come to understand that Nagato was both fair and reasonable.
As long as Sasori genuinely performed well, Nagato was unlikely to sabotage him for no reason.
In the end, Sasori obediently returned to his small room to rest.
Watching Sasori's retreating back, Nagato nodded inwardly.
He was not the type who liked threatening others with what they cared about, but he had to admit it was effective.
Once Sasori was gone, Nagato also returned to his own room and spread out mission records and maps.
"The focus from now on will be the north," Nagato said quietly, studying the region bordering the Land of Rain and the Land of Earth.
The central region of the Land of Rain had fewer problems than either the south or the north, simply because Amegakure had always been located in the center.
Before the Shinobi Sect reorganized the southern region, central Rain had already been the safest place in the country.
Meanwhile, in Konoha, Kakashi approached Mugetsu during training.
"Mugetsu sensei, I think I've reached the requirements. Could you take a look?"
Kakashi had been reviewing the Yang Seal while resting and now felt he had met the necessary threshold.
Mugetsu glanced at Kakashi's condition with the Appraisal Technique, confirmed that his Yang Seal proficiency was sufficient, then reached out and placed a hand on Kakashi's shoulder. Through Yang Release Chakra Nature Transformation, he adjusted Kakashi's body back to peak condition.
"You can begin," Mugetsu said after removing his hand.
"Thank you for the help," Kakashi replied.
Then he sat down on the ground, closed his eyes, regulated his breathing to the limit, entered the Transparent World state, and began constructing the Sealing Technique inside his body.
Mugetsu activated his Byakugan and watched him closely, ready to intervene with Medical Ninjutsu if Kakashi made any mistakes.
From Mugetsu's perspective, Kakashi proceeded steadily through every step until the seal was fully completed and Chakra began flowing into it.
When the Yang Seal accumulated enough Chakra, a lightning shaped mark appeared on Kakashi's forehead beneath his forehead protector.
"Mugetsu sensei, did I succeed?" Kakashi opened his eyes and asked, still somewhat uncertain.
"Yes. First try refining as much Chakra as possible into the seal. Once it has stored enough, try activating it," Mugetsu replied with a nod.
Seeing Kakashi master the Yang Seal in just over a month, Mugetsu could not help but feel a little emotional.
It had taken him and Tsunade more than two years to develop this Ninjutsu together, yet his disciple had reached this stage in not even a tenth of that time.
That naturally made Mugetsu feel a renewed sense of admiration for Tobirama.
Whether it was the Shadow Clone Technique or the Flying Thunder God Technique, the man's inventions were undeniably practical.
Kakashi himself also wanted to test the effects of the Yang Seal as soon as possible, so he closed his eyes again and began concentrating on refining Chakra.
At that moment, he was more excited than he let on.
In the past, Guy had been the one constantly dragging him into battle.
But now Kakashi wanted to challenge Guy himself.
With the Yang Seal, he was no longer the Kakashi who risked collapsing after using one full power slash.
The Chakra he saved through Thunder Breathing could now be used for Earth Release to create openings, or for more powerful Lightning Release attacks.
"Why is Kakashi resting so long today? Has he finally given up and decided to slack off?" Obito muttered as he noticed Kakashi still sitting motionless.
He was not planning to mock him just yet. He wanted to wait until the end of the day.
That way Kakashi would spend the whole day not training, only to suffer Obito's ridicule afterward. That would be the real loss.
.....
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