That Touch of Purple

A few days later, in his personal laboratory.

Neji looked at the human body diagrams covering the walls and nodded in satisfaction.

"I finally solved the last problem. If it works like this, it can preserve youth, and I can continue modifying and adding to it later."

The tattoo's current main function was to enhance Chakra control. While in the Eight Gates state, it forcibly made a portion of Chakra controllable.

However, the amount was very small and distributed throughout the body. It could not form offensive ninjutsu, but the Sealing Jutsu-based tattoo could stimulate cells and produce a certain degree of healing.

Its initial effect was equivalent to a Healing Technique, while its future target effect was the Mystical Palm Technique.

Of course, it could also normally make minute adjustments to Chakra and preserve Eternal Youth, without the tattoo appearing.

However, one core tattoo would remain visible. This was a permanent state.

He had tested all of this bit by bit himself. With Life Return, figuring it out was not difficult.

"So what should I call it?"

The Sealing Jutsu had been turned into a tattoo, but its effects would likely not be limited to healing in the future.

Then it would be called...

"Healing Tattoo!"

"That's it. Whatever functions it has later can just be called by their names. Simple and easy to remember."

He would never admit that he was terrible at naming things. As long as it was simple and straightforward, that was enough.

Having casually decided on the name of the technique, Neji got up and entered the Training Room.

The Training Room had been remodeled. Everything was a vast expanse of white, from the walls to the floor.

There was even a faint squishing sensation beneath his feet, though it made no sound.

This was Island Cloud that Neji had taken from his inventory, a unique product of the Sky Island in Pirate King.

He had quite a lot of this worthless stuff. After all, it was genuinely comfortable to use, better than any mattress in the world.

Izumi, who had successfully cultivated the Eight Gates, was training within it, gradually working to master her own strength.

"Izumi!"

At Neji's call, the training figure withdrew her aura and turned toward him.

"Neji!"

"Is it finished?"

Izumi walked over, feeling somewhat nervous.

"Mm, it's finished. Are you ready?"

"I..."

Izumi opened her mouth, then felt the sweat she had worked up from training and hurriedly changed her words.

"Please wait a moment. I want to bathe and change into fresh clothes."

"Oh! Right."

Neji nodded. In her current state, it really would not be easy to start. It would be better after she washed up; otherwise, the stickiness would affect the feel.

Izumi lowered her head slightly and turned to enter the bathroom attached to the Training Room. She had already prepared clothes there over the past few days.

Meanwhile, Neji began arranging the tools needed for the tattoo, wondering what kind of pattern Izumi would choose.

Quite a while passed before the bathroom finally stirred.

The soft sound of the door opening made the meditating Neji look up. His pale eyes froze slightly at once.

At that moment, Uchiha Izumi had pinned her waist-length hair high atop her head. Dressed in a purple kimono, she appeared especially tall and slender.

When she smiled faintly, the tear mole at the corner of her eye became more prominent, and her delicate, beautiful face seemed to bloom.

The sudden impact left Neji staring blankly, unable to take his eyes off her.

Izumi stepped forward gracefully, smoothing the kimono over her knees before kneeling in front of Neji like a Yamato Nadeshiko.

"Neji-kun, I'm ready!"

The sudden shift to honorific speech made Neji feel a little uncomfortable. Looking at Izumi before him, who resembled a bride about to be wed, he finally understood.

The tattoo needed to be applied to the body, yet he had always been using Rock Lee as the model in his mind. Immersed in his research, he had not thought much of it.

It's just a tattoo, isn't it?

Only now did he understand that the tattoo was going to be applied to Izumi's body, and she was...

Suppressing the restlessness in his heart, Neji calmly asked in a slightly trembling voice.

"Have you decided what pattern you want?"

"Lavender. Purple lavender. I really like purple."

Neji fell silent. He vaguely remembered that purple lavender symbolized waiting for hopeless love.

"I understand. It may hurt a little next, so be mentally prepared!"

"Mm!"

His palm pressed against skin as warm and smooth as jade. Perhaps because she had just bathed, it was as delicate as silk.

Neji's expression also turned serious. He raised the tattooing tool and gathered Chakra.

A tattoo was Sealing Jutsu—imprinting Sealing Jutsu onto the body, then activating it.

This was the true form of the Healing Tattoo. Even someone who had not cultivated the Eight Gates could enjoy the same effect.

This was also what the Third Hokage had anticipated: a weakened version of Tsunade's forbidden technique.

A technique that others could use but could not control—that was the crucial point.

A trace of unusual heat invaded her body. That was Neji's Chakra within her.

It gradually stimulated her Chakra points, moving like a migration, following the points where it landed and the pathways of Chakra.

Like a light rain falling, Izumi gently bit her lower lip, her brows never relaxing.

With her eyes closed, she sensed the gradually forming Sealing Jutsu within her body and controlled her Chakra so it would not resist.

A cluster of purple lavender emerged from Neji's hand, centered on the Chakra point where her heart lay.

It continually spread across her entire upper body, cluster after cluster descending, appearing even more alluring and vivid under the stimulation of Chakra.

As the final point connected into a complete circuit, Izumi's body suddenly trembled.

She let out another soft moan, feeling a full tide of warmth fill her body and spread through her limbs, nourishing her.

Even the muscle damage caused by her recent opening of the Eight Gates began to heal slowly.

Compared to the instinctive recovery from before, it was countless times faster, comparable to being treated by a Healing Technique.

Neji also let out a deep breath. At the very end, he had been holding himself taut, not daring to relax in the slightest.

After all, he had not only needed to stay focused, but also restrain himself. That had been difficult, all right?

He had given it his all in body, energy, and spirit. Otherwise, if he failed, all his previous efforts would be wasted.

He looked proudly at his masterpiece. "It's finished!"

The purple lavender covering Izumi's entire upper body seemed alive, but at the moment of completion—

It vanished cluster by cluster, until only a cluster of purple lavender remained, stretching from her chest to her shoulder.

Izumi silently covered herself with her clothing and dressed neatly, though a hint of purple could still be seen near her collar, over her collarbone.

This was the core tattoo. It would help her enhance her Chakra control while also fine-tuning the Chakra balance within her body and preserving Eternal Youth.