My Cursed Seal Can Be Soft or Hard
"Don't think I'm a fool. The only disciple he can be truly proud of is you!" Anko's eyes were filled with tears. "He must have seen you before he left. It was just a matter of saying a few words, why didn't you do it?"
Shuichi's expression turned serious. He knew he could indeed keep Orochimaru there, but that would be preventing the other from realizing his dream. "I hope you think this through carefully. Everyone has the right to choose freely. Teacher Orochimaru leaving the village is his own decision."
"A ninja is someone who endures to achieve their goals; that is their Ninja Way of the ninja. Since the village's rules will restrict him, what's wrong with leaving?"
"If I force him to stay, our relationship will only worsen. People need to understand each other. He's pursuing what he wants, and as his disciple, all I need to do is support him wholeheartedly."
"You'd better calm down during this time!" Shuichi didn't intend to be a mentor or a babysitter. "The Chunin of Konoha are all capable ninjas who can stand on their own. Being young is not an excuse for being willful."
"I'll be very busy with other things in the future. You can ask your former teammates to go on missions with you and see if you're a qualified captain."
After leaving Anko behind, he quickly returned home to conduct his research. Orochimaru left behind a lot of data before he left, including all the information related to the Cursed Seal and all the experimental records of the First Hokage Cells. This was an extremely valuable treasure.
Knowing that Shuichi wanted to pursue Sage Mode and formidable combat power, he specially improved the Cursed Seal and provided him with many enhancement options for reference.
Because this disciple's knowledge has become increasingly profound, and his Medical Ninjutsu and Fuinjutsu are at a high level, he is fully capable of starting his own research.
Given the recent tense atmosphere in the village, Shuichi plans to open a small laboratory outside the village, focusing his efforts on mastering his own unique Cursed Seal.
"All done, all the equipment is ready. Research really is expensive!"
After Orochimaru had been gone for some time, Shuichi finally escaped the watchful eye of Mokui and, very cautiously, had his underlings in the Daimyo's Mansion's mansion secretly obtain experimental equipment.
After all, the Third Hokage valued him highly, fearing he might become the next Orochimaru. If his purchase of experimental equipment were discovered, it would likely cause a lot of trouble.
In the underground laboratory, various bottles and jars were neatly arranged on the table. Apart from miscellaneous nutrient solutions and other auxiliary tools, there were four key items: First Hokage Cells or Modified White Zetsu Cells, Jugo Cells, Jugo's Body Fluid, and Shuichi's own Blood and Flesh Cells.
Orochimaru's final version of the Heaven Scroll is essentially a mutated pseudo- Jinchuriki. Part of his soul is similar in nature to that of Tailed Beast, except that one uses Tailed Beast Chakra while the other uses Orochimaru's Senjutsu Chakra.
Shuichi certainly wouldn't modify his soul now, and probably wouldn't dare to do so in the future. His goal is simple and direct: to increase the controllability of the Cursed Seal and continuously enhance its power. Therefore, he only needs to work on his flesh and blood tissue.
The specific idea is not complicated; it can be summarized as fusing the characteristics of the three types of cells so that one can easily control the Cursed Seal.
Jugo Cells can produce special enzymes for Sage Mode; the First Hokage Cells, improved by White Zetsu, have a high affinity for Natural Energy, thus accelerating the absorption power when activating the Cursed Seal; and the addition of Shuichi's own cells allows the body to easily adapt without rejection, and greatly enhances control.
Once this triple-cell combination is successfully created, it can be sealed inside the body using Cursed Seal method, and it can also lay the foundation for direct transplantation of First Hokage Cells in the future.
Although it sounds simple, it is foreseeable that it will take a lot of time. It is not easy to cultivate cells that perfectly inherit the three characteristics. Just finding the most suitable ratio requires a lot of experiments, and the final result even requires a bit of luck.
As the village's top expert, he has many tasks and limited free time, but for his bright future, he can only give up more of his enjoyable life.
Time flies, and more than a year has passed in the blink of an eye.
The years following the Third Great Ninja War should have been a period of rest for the villages, but it seems that every year something big or small happens that keeps things from calming down.
Fortunately, the Shinobi World has been much quieter recently, and Shuichi has been living a very relaxed life. He usually takes Shisui, Kurenai, Ishikawa Tatsuki and others on routine missions. Occasionally, when there is an important mission, he will lead Anbu squad to set off. With his strength, he can handle it without much difficulty.
By the middle of this year, he had turned 16, so the system naturally chose to add points to level 3 Flash, increasing his X-ray vision range to a radius of 30 meters and shortening the cooldown time to one month.
In addition to his missions, he also kept up with his own training, even though the experimental research wasn't progressing very quickly. He also took the opportunity to test the power of the unfinished version of the Cursed Seal.
Because training alone was rather boring, he often sparred with Kakashi, Shisui, and others, which saved him a lot of time on instruction...
In the training ground today, only Kakashi and Shuichi are there, but they didn't turn into environmental destruction experts because the training exercises are lightning and earth.
Shuichi clasped his hands together, forming only one hand seal throughout, and chanted, "Earth Release: Earth Wall!"
With a thunderous roar, a massive, perfectly square cube was instantly lifted up, while he remained standing atop the ten-meter-high pillar of earth. "Come on, but be careful not to charge too hard, or you'll end up in the hospital for another month."
Kakashi's expression was slightly solemn. A ball of earth the size of a human head had risen from the earthen wall opposite him, and it was moving up, down, left, and right with great agility. In fact, he had never seen anyone else with such exaggerated Earth Release skills in his life, not even the Third Hokage.
At this moment, he activated his Sharingan, staring intently ahead, and quickly began to move, "Ox-Rabbit-Monkey, Lightning Cutter!"
He gathers Lightning Release Chakra in his right hand, forming a sharp blade in the center of a large amount of lightning. Under Shuichi's tutelage, when 16-year-old Kakashi used this technique, its power was already close to the level when it first appeared in the original work.
"Crackling sound..."
Kakashi maintained his Lightning Cutter and charged towards the earthen wall at incredible speed. His goal was to hit the shifting ball of earth, but this was no easy feat; he had recently broken five ribs...
As he rapidly approached the wall, the unremarkable earthen wall seemed to come alive, and five thick stone pillars instantly arched out from beside the earthen ball, crashing towards him.
This time, Kakashi's Sharingan was firmly locked onto the wall. At the critical moment, he dodged to the side, and a stone pillar just grazed his shoulder. At the same time, he lunged forward and thrust out, hitting the earth ball with great precision.
"Boom!"
"Huff, huff..."
Kakashi was panting heavily, his body covered in cold sweat; he had almost ended up in the hospital again. "How did you do that Earth Release? It's unbelievable! It's like it has a life of its own!"
"And its hardness is so high, is this kind of Shape Transformation something you can train?" He looked at the stone pillars with disbelief as they retreated back into the wall, and the pits that the Lightning Cutter had dug were filled in at the same time.