"Why is Lady Mito paying attention to him? Could Sa and Mio have ties to the Senju? Or… are his ancestors Uzumaki or Senju who were scattered outside the clan?"
Question after question spilled from Orochimaru, and a trace of tension and unease appeared between his brows.
After all, Gojo Yoru was the student Orochimaru had picked at first sight—his greatest future support in becoming Hokage.
If Orochimaru hadn't truly liked him, he wouldn't have given Yoru that incredibly precious scroll—one that even included Orochimaru's understanding of Yin and Yang nature transformation—without conditions.
He also wouldn't have silently permitted the way Yoru addressed him.
Orochimaru didn't want to reach the critical moment only to have this excellent seedling stolen away.
Jiraiya rubbed his chin, suddenly enlightened. "No wonder that brat is so tall at this age. If he's connected to the Senju or the Uzumaki, that would make sense."
"He has no connection to the Senju or Uzumaki—at least none on the surface," Sarutobi Hiruzen said, feeding Orochimaru a reassurance pill as he puffed on his pipe. "You two are already jōnin who can stand on your own. Over these years, on missions, you've surely learned about tailed beasts and the jinchūriki of the major villages, right?"
"We have."
Orochimaru nodded instinctively—then suddenly thought of something. His expression changed sharply. He stared at Hiruzen in shock, then copied his gesture and pointed at the ceiling. "Don't tell me…"
Hiruzen nodded gravely. "Lady Mito can't hold on much longer."
"Sarutobi-sensei… don't tell me you're planning to transfer the Nine-Tails into Sa and Mio's child?" Jiraiya asked, completely ruining the mood.
"…"
Orochimaru and Hiruzen both stared at Jiraiya with speechless faces.
Ignoring that idiot, Orochimaru continued, "If I remember correctly, Tsunade's home is sheltering a survivor from the Land of Whirlpools. So the next host is her?"
After Hiruzen nodded, Orochimaru—already guessing the truth—asked a question he clearly knew the answer to: "What relationship does she have with Sa and Mio's child?"
"Desk mates. People who rescued each other, and who cherish each other," Hiruzen said without hiding it. "This morning, she brought the Uzumaki clan's Book of Seals to the Gojo house. Lady Mito didn't stop her."
"I understand," Orochimaru said with a nod—secretly delighted.
So that's why he's being watched. What an unexpected windfall.
In that instant, Gojo Yoru's status in Orochimaru's heart rose even higher.
Meanwhile, Jiraiya was green with envy, gritting his teeth. "That sneaky little brat! If I'm not mistaken, they've known each other less than a year, right? And in that short time he tricked the Uzumaki clan's Book of Seals into his hands? Where are all these love-brained girls when I need them?! Damn it—this cursed face-based world, just blow up already!"
Still ignoring Jiraiya's impotent rage, Orochimaru asked, "Sarutobi-sensei, did you invite us tonight because you want us to train Sa and Mio's child?"
"Exactly. I originally meant to choose one of you," Hiruzen said with a smile at Orochimaru. "But now it seems unnecessary. Since he's the student you chose, you'll be the one to train him."
"With pleasure," Orochimaru said at once, smiling—exactly what he wanted.
With Hiruzen's guarantee, he no longer had to fear someone snatching Yoru away halfway.
He just hadn't expected that the Uzumaki survivor staying with Tsunade would be in Yoru's class—nor that Yoru would capture her heart and gain the right to learn Uzumaki sealing arts.
What a remarkable kid.
Looks like he needed to prepare an extra, valuable gift for this future student.
…
Gojo Yoru had no idea that Hiruzen and his two students were discussing him.
At this moment, he was in the basement studying the Strength of a Hundred Seal.
He didn't dare keep the giant scroll—he had only copied a few sealing techniques, including the Strength of a Hundred Seal.
Reading the annotations, Yoru grew more and more amazed, thinking, "This isn't just a sealing technique… it's basically a castrated mini-version of Yin–Yang Release."
The Strength of a Hundred Seal was an extremely special technique.
It was a sealing technique, yet classified as medical ninjutsu. It compressed chakra and stored it in the forehead, involving Yin Release (the mind) as well.
Its ability to preserve a youthful appearance also related to Yang Release.
Considering it was an Uzumaki S-rank ultimate, it was hard not to suspect it was a product of the Sage of Six Paths' Yin–Yang Release tradition.
Especially since Tsunade built the "Strength of a Hundred Technique" and "Creation Rebirth" around it—it felt even more like Yin–Yang Release.
To master it, you needed not only talent in sealing arts, but also powerful chakra control and a certain understanding of the body and mind—medical knowledge, or understanding of Yin and Yang. You couldn't be missing any of it.
That was the training difficulty of an S-rank ultimate.
But fortunately, Yoru met the requirements.
And the method for training the Strength of a Hundred Seal was written clearly in the notes—Uzumaki predecessors had summarized their experience.
The first step was to form the diamond mark on the forehead.
How do you form it?
Sealing.
That step was the talent threshold.
Chakra is flowing. The Strength of a Hundred Seal requires siphoning off a thread of chakra from the meridians and forming a seal at a point that both Yang chakra and Yin chakra must pass through—so the seal keeps stealing a tiny bit of chakra from the flow, little by little.
This independent store of chakra doesn't just allow micro-adjustments that improve bodily function and keep the body in peak condition.
When needed, you can also release the seal and unleash a massive amount of chakra to boost combat power.
Even before fully mastering it, Yoru was already 100% sure:
The Strength of a Hundred Seal could store space–time chakra.
That was the same principle as storage scrolls.
Sealing and space–time were a perfect match.
What Yoru still wasn't sure about was this: after sealing away part of his space–time chakra, would those "evolved" cells keep secreting space–time power?
If the "cap" remained locked, then the idea of using the seal to increase space–time chakra capacity would fail.
But if sealing away space–time chakra made his cells "judge" it as consumed—and therefore continue producing more—then this technique would be, for Yoru, a divine art on the level of a pure-blood Ōtsutsuki.
He wouldn't need to wait for that sudden-death-like "evolution" anymore to break the capacity limit.
Even though it would require long-term accumulation, this trump card alone would be enough to let him flip the table at a critical moment.
Thinking that, Yoru wanted to start testing immediately.
But the Strength of a Hundred Seal wasn't a technique you learned overnight. It demanded a massive time investment.
Even probing the cells would take time—you'd need to form at least the initial seal first.
And speaking of seals…
Yoru suddenly had a wild, outlandish idea.
As for what it was—no one knew yet.
~~~
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