Sealing Technique

Shiraishi Yoshijo was so comfortable that strange sounds escaped his mouth.

The hand left his chest.

In an instant, Shiraishi Yoshijo fell from heaven to hell.

The sense of loss that swept through his body left him completely at a loss.

He stared at Mei, stammering, "Th-this is life force?"

"Impossible. How could this happen? What did you do?"

Shiraishi Yoshijo's expression was a jumble of emotions. He couldn't understand what had just happened.

He knew that Chiyo of Sunagakure could use a reincarnation Ninjutsu in the story.

But that was a forbidden technique. It used the user's life force to give life to someone else, and the user died after performing it.

What Mei had just used on him definitely wasn't that kind of Ninjutsu. It seemed more like her own ability.

The ability to manipulate life force?

Shiraishi Yoshijo's gaze instantly grew feverish. He stared at Mei with a lecherous grin.

"Lady Mei actually has this kind of ability. That's truly astonishing. Could I learn it?"

Mei replied with an enigmatic smile, "Who knows? So, are you willing to raise a few more Butterfly Seeds?"

"I just replenished all the life force you'd lost."

Hearing Mei still ask him to raise Butterfly Seeds, Shiraishi Yoshijo's expression gradually returned to normal.

"Even if you replenished my life force, my Chakra reserves can't possibly support this many Butterfly Seeds at once. I can raise one more, at most."

"If I asked you to raise them, I'd obviously have a solution in mind."

Mei tossed him a scroll.

Shiraishi Yoshijo took it and studied it carefully.

The scroll showed a diagram of a human body, marked with countless acupuncture points.

After two years of studying Medical Ninjutsu, Shiraishi Yoshijo was familiar with the body's acupuncture points.

As he carefully examined the marked points, he began to understand.

He continued reading. It seemed to be some kind of Sealing Technique.

Shiraishi Yoshijo hadn't even begun to learn Sealing Techniques, so he couldn't make sense of it. He could only roll up the scroll and look at Mei.

"The acupuncture points marked on the diagram seem to be paired. I can't make sense of the Sealing Technique."

"Even if you understood the Sealing Technique, you couldn't perform it on yourself."

"Then why show me this scroll?"

Mei didn't answer. She appeared outside the hall in an instant.

"Come with me."

Shiraishi Yoshijo followed close behind her to the plaza.

At some point, black markings had been drawn all over the plaza.

Ten people stood around it. Among them, Shiraishi Yoshijo spotted his grandfather, Shiraishi Yukihito.

"This Sealing Technique requires an extremely high level of Chakra control. You need to raise at least three Butterfly Seeds before you'll have the necessary control."

"Go sit in the middle of the plaza. I'll have them perform the Sealing Technique on you."

Shiraishi Yoshijo let out a breath, but didn't move right away.

He wasn't an idiot. He could see that Mei had prepared all this in advance, and her motives were definitely not simple.

"Why are you doing all this for me?"

"I told you I wouldn't hurt you. I just want you to get stronger quickly."

"Can't you tell me what you want me to help with?"

"I definitely won't tell you yet."

"What if I refuse?"

The smile vanished from Mei's face. She stared at Shiraishi Yoshijo and said, word by word, "Then I'll kill you."

So that was how it was.

Shiraishi Yoshijo understood that he had no choice.

He walked to the center of the plaza and sat down cross-legged.

"Take off all your clothes and lie down."

Mei's cool voice rang out again.

Shiraishi Yoshijo sighed and began to undress.

The ten people around the plaza began forming Hand Seals, and the black markings gradually lit up.

After about five minutes, Shiraishi Yoshijo noticed that the markings seemed to come alive, slithering over his body like snakes.

They gradually took shape along the acupuncture points marked on the scroll.

The Sealing Technique formed very slowly. Shiraishi Yoshijo waited from nightfall until dawn, then from dawn until nightfall again.

It took nearly forty hours for the Sealing Technique to finally be completed.

Once it was done, Shiraishi Yoshijo got dressed and looked at Mei. "I think we need to understand each other better."

Seeing that the Sealing Technique was complete, Mei smiled again.

They returned to the hall.

"What do you want to know? I'll tell you whatever I can."

"What exactly does that Sealing Technique do? And what are you?"

"You came looking for a Sealing Technique last time because you wanted to solve your problem with Chakra reserves, right? This Sealing Technique can give you more Chakra than you can imagine."

"As for me, I'm obviously a butterfly."

Shiraishi Yoshijo took a deep breath. "I don't feel like my Chakra has increased. And you say you're a butterfly, but all the Ninja Butterflies here were once people. Who did you turn into?"

Mei laughed, appeared in front of him in an instant, and held out her hand.

Shiraishi Yoshijo hesitated, then held out his own.

When their hands clasped together, an enormous amount of Chakra flowed from Mei's hand into his body.

There was so much Chakra that Shiraishi Yoshijo felt as if his body were about to burst.

His body's pathways couldn't withstand the strain, and some of the smaller ones began to rupture.

Shiraishi Yoshijo's eyes widened. "What are you doing?"

"Quiet. Try guiding the Chakra into the acupuncture points covered by the Sealing Technique."

Shiraishi Yoshijo did as she said. It took him over an hour to guide all the Chakra into place.

Once he had finally calmed down, he wiped the cold sweat from his brow and said, "This Sealing Technique stores Chakra in the acupuncture points?"

He quickly sat down cross-legged and began carefully sensing the seals on the points throughout his body.

One, two—he kept counting. When he reached three hundred, he opened his eyes and stared at Mei in shock.

That enormous amount of Chakra had filled only three acupuncture points. If he filled all the points...

Shiraishi Yoshijo couldn't even imagine how much Chakra he would have.

Nor could he imagine how he'd survive with that much Chakra.

If he really released all the seals, just the Chakra he'd received moments ago would be enough to make his body burst.

If he released all three hundred seals, he'd turn to dust in an instant—not even a scrap would remain.

No human could withstand that much Chakra, and he wouldn't be able to control it either.

No matter how monstrous his Chakra control was, it would still be impossible.

Mei tossed him a scroll. "This explains how to use the Sealing Technique. From now on, use your ability to absorb Chakra to take it from other people, then guide it into the acupuncture points and seal it there."

"If you want to use the Chakra stored in the seals, you can release them one acupuncture point at a time. The stronger you become, the more seals you'll be able to release."

Shiraishi Yoshijo's mouth twitched. "How am I supposed to control that enormous amount of Chakra after releasing the seals?"

"That's why I told you to raise more Butterfly Seeds. The Chakra control they grant you will solve that problem perfectly."

"You've certainly thought everything through for me. Is sealing this enormous amount of Chakra in my body connected to the favor you want from me?"

"Of course. This is already a simplified version."

A simplified version?

Shiraishi Yoshijo didn't know what to say.

"There's one more question you haven't answered. Who did you turn into?"

"Obviously, one of your ancestors."

Shiraishi Yoshijo took a deep breath, forcing down the urge to curse at her.

"I don't know what you want me to help with, but I imagine it'll require an enormous amount of Chakra."

"You know I'll die the instant I release all the seals. So you're treating me like a tool?"

Mei narrowed her eyes with a smile. "You're not as stupid as you look. Don't worry. I told you I wouldn't hurt you. After all, you have good potential."

"Later, you can bring people with special constitutions here. I'll seal them, then they can die in your place. Doesn't that sound good?"

Shiraishi Yoshijo froze for a moment, then gradually understood.

He mused, "You want me to teach the Secret Technique to other people?"

To control that much Chakra, someone would need monstrous Chakra control.

The only way to gain that kind of control was to inherit the Secret Technique of the Shi-Die.

But could that really work?

The Secret Technique was the foundation of his family. If he taught it to others, what would become of them?