Pretending, Just Like Me... First Meeting with the First Nine-Tails Jinchuriki

Kushina had been unconscious only briefly. She had merely gotten overheated with emotion; after a moment to cool her head, she naturally woke up.

But when she slightly opened her bleary eyes, she discovered that she was leaning against Liuyun's chest.

Before Kushina's eyes were a pair of rough palms and a small Sealing Technique scroll.

That chest and shoulder were not particularly broad, yet they were enough for her to lean on. The scorching body heat and the strange, pleasant masculine scent left Kushina flustered, but also gave her an inexplicable sense of comfort.

She did not know whether she should get up right away. She feared the awkwardness that would follow, yet she was somewhat reluctant to leave the chest she could lean against...

Maybe... I should wait a little longer before waking up?

The delicate fragrance of a young girl was equally alluring to a teenage boy. Liuyun's attention was focused on the scroll, and though his mind held no improper thoughts, his breathing still unconsciously grew a little heavier.

My neck... is so sore... What do I do...

After keeping her neck tilted and remaining still for so long, Kushina felt like she could not bear it any longer...

Just as she braced herself and prepared to pretend to wake up, she felt a pair of hands settle on her shoulders before gently laying her down on the grass.

Liuyun had actually known long ago that the little girl had awakened... At such close range, how could he possibly fail to sense the changes in Kushina's breathing?

He simply had not expected Kushina to stay put, obediently lean against him, and pretend to be unconscious...

If there had not been so many things in the scroll that he could not understand and urgently needed his little red-haired teacher to explain, he would have liked to see just how long this girl could keep pretending in his arms...

"Wake up, Kushina..." Liuyun said with a soft laugh, patting her cheek.

Kushina quickly played along with his "performance," putting on the appearance of someone who had just awakened.

Faced with that sunny, meaningful smile, even though Kushina had prepared herself mentally, she still could not help blushing shyly.

"You shameless pervert, what are you staring at?!"

Kushina shoved the figure so close to her onto the ground, then hurriedly got to her feet. She even had the urge to flee the place.

"Hey, hey, hey... Where do you think you're going? You're trying to run without teaching me Sealing Techniques?" Liuyun hurriedly called out to stop her.

Kushina hesitated for a moment, but ultimately chose to stay.

"If you keep talking like that, then I won't teach you, and I won't talk to you anymore!" Kushina issued a harsh warning and glared fiercely at him.

"..."

He had clearly been praising her before, and it had been the truth. How had it become empty flattery?

A girl's thoughts were impossible to fathom. Liuyun sighed helplessly.

"Fine... Today, whatever Teacher Kushina says goes..."

At that form of address, the little expression on Kushina's face nearly broke, and she almost burst out laughing...

I really want to bite this guy to death...

At that moment, she was both annoyed and amused, yet there was nothing she could do about this incorrigible rascal.

Liuyun smashed the tree trunk that Chidori had pierced earlier onto the ground, then invited the girl to sit beside him.

Kushina picked up the scroll and began explaining what Sealing Techniques were.

Liuyun listened very attentively. Whenever there was something he did not understand, he asked on the spot, and Kushina patiently answered every question.

By the secluded river, the two youngsters, no longer bickering, got along remarkably well.

Sealing Techniques were even more complicated than Liuyun had imagined. Just the basics alone would probably take him seven or eight days of study before he could even get started.

"Sealing Techniques are very difficult. Are you really sure you want to keep learning?"

Near dusk, Kushina had basically finished explaining the two basic Sealing Technique scrolls she had brought. She had no idea how much Liuyun had understood.

"Of course I want to learn. I've never been afraid of difficulties," Liuyun replied with a smile.

"It's getting late. Shall we head back?"

Liuyun rose and dusted off his clothes before extending an invitation to Kushina.

"You worked hard today. To show my gratitude, this student would like to invite Teacher Kushina to dinner..."

"Haha... At least you have some conscience!" Kushina could not help laughing.

"But I didn't tell my family beforehand, so forget it..."

"Isn't that easy? I'll go home with you and let them know." Liuyun brazenly took her little hand.

"!!!"

"But..."

"No buts. After dinner, big brother will take you to stroll through the night market." Liuyun pulled her along as he patiently coaxed her.

The little girl quickly lost her ability to think. Her little head was filled with nothing but food, drinks, and fun...

Liuyun sent a Shadow Clone home to deliver a message, then took Kushina to the Senju Clan Grounds.

To both of their surprise, they encountered Mito Uzumaki right outside the manor gates.

So this is... the first Nine-Tails Jinchuriki?

Liuyun politely stepped forward to greet Mito Uzumaki, but his thoughts were churning inside.

Mito Uzumaki was now extremely aged. Her long hair had lost its former vibrancy and faded from its original color. Her dark brown hair signaled that she did not have much life left and that her life was nearing its end.

Why are her Chakra fluctuations so weak...

Liuyun did not feel any oppressive presence from Mito Uzumaki, which he found highly unusual.

With his powerful spiritual energy, his sensory abilities were also outstanding. He could clearly sense the pressure emanating from Orochimaru, and could roughly judge the strength of someone's Chakra.

Yet from Mito Uzumaki, a member of the Uzumaki Clan famed throughout the Shinobi World for their vast Chakra reserves, Liuyun could not sense any particularly powerful Chakra fluctuations.

And it was not just her. He could not sense even the slightest trace of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox's presence. She seemed to be nothing more than a frail, elderly "ordinary" old woman...

Without knowing her identity, even a Sensor-Type Ninja might not necessarily notice anything unusual about her.

The reason Liuyun could not sense the Nine-Tails' Chakra was actually because Mito Uzumaki's seal was stable.

The Jinchuriki was very stable, so the Nine-Tails simply had no way of affecting the outside world.

That explains why her Chakra felt even weaker than mine. I nearly forgot about this secret sealing technique...

Looking at the diamond-shaped mark on Mito Uzumaki's forehead, Liuyun suddenly understood.

It was the Uzumaki Clan's Yin Seal. This secret sealing technique had countless uses. Normally, one only needed to pour a certain amount of Chakra into it, and the Yin Seal could preserve one's youth. When battle was needed, it could also serve as a human body's "hidden reserve energy source."

Most of Mito Uzumaki's Chakra was stored within the Yin Seal. At any sign that the Nine-Tails might go berserk, she could use the vast Chakra within it to forcefully suppress it.

Having lived to this age, especially after her husband Hashirama Senju died, she had stopped using the Chakra in the Yin Seal to maintain her appearance. Now, her Chakra had only two purposes:

First, to continue preventing the Nine-Tails from going berserk and losing control.

Second, to sustain her daily bodily needs, allowing herself to live longer as she waited for the new "Nine-Tails vessel" to fully mature!

While Liuyun secretly observed Mito Uzumaki, the old woman was also carefully studying him.

As the princess of the Uzumaki Clan, she naturally possessed exceptional sensory abilities as well.

"Uchiha Liuyun? What a good child!"

Mito Uzumaki reached out and gently stroked the stray hairs atop Liuyun's head.

She kept feeling that those big eyes of his... seemed a little too bright!

That was the outward manifestation of exceptionally powerful spiritual energy and ocular power!

Even without activating his Sharingan, Liuyun's eyes and gaze looked vastly different from those of ordinary children in Mito Uzumaki's eyes.