Blood Pact Cursed Seal

Shiraishi Yoshijo intended to use Butterfly Habitat Valley entirely as a prison; the Ninja Butterflies living here were quite adept at taking care of people.

Mei walked out of the main hall.

"You arrived at just the right time; the type of cursed seal you wanted has been developed."

Mei tossed over a scroll, and Shiraishi Yoshijo hurriedly caught it to examine it closely.

After reading it, he fell into deep thought.

Things like cursed seals were, in truth, simple if you looked at them one way, and difficult if you looked at them another.

Ultimately, a cursed seal still fell under the category of a Sealing Technique.

To seal one's own Chakra, blood, or spiritual energy and implant it into another person's body—that was a cursed seal.

When the time came to activate it, one only needed to communicate with the seal implanted in the other person to gain complete control over them; it was quite convenient.

He walked up to a cage, opened it, and gestured for the person inside to come out.

The ninja walked out trembling; he dared not refuse.

He had seen with his own eyes his companions being strapped to experimental tables and toyed with until they died.

He knew very well that such would be his own fate.

Yet, the moment he saw this youth, he could not control himself; the fear had seeped deep into his marrow.

In his eyes, the youth before him had become the very embodiment of a demon.

Once the ninja stepped out, Shiraishi Yoshijo bit his finger as recorded in the scroll and began to draw a Sealing Array on the man's body.

After the Sealing Array was finished, he began to form hand seals and then slammed his palm onto the array.

The Sealing Array began to shrink, rapidly forming the pattern of a butterfly.

Seeing that butterfly pattern, Shiraishi Yoshijo glanced at Mei.

Mei smiled sweetly and said, "A personal preference."

Shiraishi Yoshijo tried activating the cursed seal.

The ninja's eyes suddenly rolled back, and he stood frozen in place, unable to move.

Shiraishi Yoshijo manipulated him to take two steps, then frowned.

"This should be considered a Blood Pact Cursed Seal; it's a bit troublesome to control, and its stealth is poor—it would be very easily discovered by others."

"This is already the best version developed so far. If you really want to achieve the effect you described, it will require at least another ten years of research."

There was no other choice; Shiraishi Yoshijo had to put away the scroll and make do with it for now.

He released the cursed seal, and the ninja scrambled back into the cage like a madman.

"I plan to use this place as a prison and establish a new research facility in Konoha; the conditions here are too backward."

"As you wish. By the way, how many of the seals on your body have you filled?"

"Twenty-six. The four Butterfly Seeds I'm raising have fully matured, but I can only control twenty seals at most. You've placed so many acupoint seals on me—how exactly am I supposed to control them?"

"Keep raising Butterfly Seeds; raise five more."

Hearing this, Shiraishi Yoshijo's expression turned ugly.

He could already feel his life force slipping away clearly from the four Butterfly Seeds he was currently raising.

If he raised five more without receiving a replenishment of life force from Mei, he would live for five years at most.

"Can you stop coming up with these terrible ideas? If I raise five more Butterfly Seeds, I can only unlock fifty seals at most, and my body won't be able to keep up."

"You are already researching cell activation; once that is completed, won't your body be able to keep up?"

Indeed, if the research on cell activation were completed, even with an abundance of Chakra in his body, he would not be in danger of exploding to death.

"Why raise five at once? Can't we take it slowly?"

"The human body requires balance. If you don't do this, you won't be able to use that Five-Element Ninjutsu of yours."

Hearing Mei mention the Five-Element Ninjutsu, Shiraishi Yoshijo frowned.

The Five-Element Ninjutsu was a Ninjutsu he had developed himself.

He used the shape transformation of Earth Release to create a long spear, then added the nature transformations of Fire, Wind, Water, and Lightning in sequence; it was a long-range Ninjutsu with peerless power.

If he had used this move against Hanzo, he feared the demigod would have already fallen.

"Is there no upper limit to raising Butterfly Seeds?"

"As long as I am willing to channel life force to you, there is theoretically no limit."

"How many can an ordinary person's body withstand at most?"

"Two."

Shiraishi Yoshijo took a deep breath; he understood that if he continued to raise them, he would likely never be able to leave this woman.

His mind raced, but he did not agree.

The moment Mei saw his expression, she knew what he was thinking. After a moment of thought, she changed the subject.

"Of course, you don't have to raise them. You're already very strong as it is, but I don't understand why you hide your various abilities."

"Countless ninja in the ninja world have died due to intelligence leaks. You don't understand the potential of people, and there is no such thing as a perfect Ninjutsu."

"Do you plan on hiding for your entire life?"

"Keeping one's true strength hidden is also a remarkable talent."

"I'm just afraid that if you play the pig for too long, you'll actually turn into one."

Shiraishi Yoshijo was speechless. Could she even speak like a normal person?

No, that wasn't right. This woman only looked like a human; in essence, she was still an anomaly.

If he stayed with her for too long, he was afraid he would turn into an anomaly himself.

"Alright, I'm heading back. Let me think about the matter of the Butterfly Seed."

Shiraishi Yoshijo returned home and unexpectedly saw Takemoto Anna.

Now eighteen, Takemoto Anna had grown into a very beautiful woman.

She had resigned from the hospital and started taking over family affairs.

"Entering my house without greeting me is trespassing. I could call the police to arrest you."

A vein throbbed on Takemoto Anna's forehead. Having grown up together, she still couldn't understand the thoughts of this lunatic.

Storming up to the door, Takemoto Anna began to pound on it violently.

Amidst the "bang, bang, bang" sounds, Shiraishi Yoshijo stared at the door, which was already showing cracks, with black lines running down his forehead.

"If you break the door, you'll have to pay for it!"

"Pay for it? You already owe my family over fifty million ryo. My family is almost hollowed out because of you, and you still have the nerve to mention money?"

Shiraishi Yoshijo: "..."

He who eats another's food is soft-mouthed; he who takes another's money is soft-handed.

He had completed quite a few missions over the years, but it wasn't enough to cover the deficit.

Although the clan's industries were quite profitable, the money was basically all spent on the clan members.

He was also raising over a dozen types of Summoning Butterfly.

If he relied solely on doing missions to feed the Summoning Butterfly, he wouldn't know when he'd ever save enough.

The first time he borrowed money, it was quite embarrassing. The second time, his skin grew thicker. The third time, practice made perfect. The fourth time...

Well, anyway, whenever he went to borrow money now, he only said two words.

"Give money."

Every time Takemoto Masamasa heard those two words, the flesh on his face would twitch uncontrollably, and his teeth would grind with a clatter.

"What did you come to find me for? To invite me to your house for a meal?"

Takemoto Anna gave him a deep look and said gloomily, "There is a kind of beast in this world that eats more than a pig and is worse than a dog. Do you know what kind of beast that is?"

Shiraishi Yoshijo blinked his eyes as if playing innocent.

He certainly knew that Takemoto Anna was insulting him, but unfortunately, his skin was thick enough now that he didn't take it to heart at all.

Ever since he started researching the Digestion Technique, his appetite had grown to a level unimaginable to ordinary people.

Inviting him to dinner was probably equivalent to inviting a hundred people to eat.

Eating did indeed increase vitality, but wanting to achieve immortality just by eating was a fantasy.

He had roughly calculated the data while researching the Digestion Technique: if he ate non-stop every day, he could increase his lifespan by about three days.

Eating for a year to gain three years of life sounded pretty good.

But it wasn't like that at all.

What would be the point of a life spent only eating, eating, and eating?

The most critical thing was that his wallet couldn't handle it!

The money he spent on food every year was also a huge expense.

And that was only the data after using the Digestion Technique.

If you didn't know the Digestion Technique and tried to do this, you'd just be waiting for a perforated stomach.

Even if you had good digestive function, you would gradually find yourself unable to keep up, and you wouldn't be able to eat even if you wanted to.