Butterfly Habitat Valley was a place Shiraishi Yoshijo intended to use entirely as a prison. The Ninja Butterflies living there were quite good at taking care of people.
Mei emerged from the main hall.
"You came at just the right time. The kind of Cursed Seal you wanted has been developed."
Mei tossed him a scroll, and Shiraishi Yoshijo hurriedly caught it and examined it closely.
After reading it, he fell into thought.
Cursed Seals were simple in some ways and difficult in others.
Ultimately, Cursed Seals still fell under the category of Sealing Techniques.
Sealing one's Chakra, blood, or spiritual power and implanting it in another person was what made a Cursed Seal.
When the time came to activate it, all one had to do was connect with the Cursed 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 beckoned to the person inside.
The ninja stepped out, trembling with fear. He didn't dare refuse.
He had seen with his own eyes as his companion was tied to an examination table and tortured to death.
He knew perfectly well that the same fate awaited him.
But the moment he saw this boy, he couldn't control himself. Fear had seeped into his bones.
In his eyes, the boy before him had become the very embodiment of a demon.
Once the ninja had stepped out, Shiraishi Yoshijo followed the instructions on the scroll, bit his finger, and began drawing a Sealing Array on him.
When he finished drawing the array, he formed Hand Seals and then pressed his palm against it.
The Sealing Array began to contract, quickly forming the shape of a butterfly.
Seeing the butterfly design, Shiraishi Yoshijo glanced at Mei.
Mei smiled. "Personal preference."
Shiraishi Yoshijo tried to activate the Cursed Seal.
The ninja's eyes rolled back, and he stood motionless.
Shiraishi Yoshijo made him take a couple of steps, then frowned.
"This should count as a Blood Pact Cursed Seal. It's a little troublesome to control, and it isn't very inconspicuous. It'll be easy for people to notice."
"This is the best version we've developed so far. If you really want it to work the way you described, it'll take at least ten more years of research."
There was no choice. Shiraishi Yoshijo put away the scroll and decided to make do with it.
He undid the Cursed Seal, and the ninja scrambled back into the cage like a madman.
"I'm planning to use this place as a prison and establish a new research facility in Konoha. The conditions here are too primitive."
"Suit yourself. By the way, how many of the Seals on your body have you filled?"
"Twenty-six. The four Butterfly Seeds I raised have fully matured, but they can control only twenty Seals at most. You placed so many Acupoint Seals on me—how am I supposed to control them all?"
"Keep raising Butterfly Seeds. Raise five more."
At that, Shiraishi Yoshijo's expression darkened.
With four Butterfly Seeds, he could already feel his life force draining away.
If he raised five more without Mei replenishing his life force, he would live no more than five years.
"Could you stop making such terrible suggestions? If I raise five more Butterfly Seeds, I'll only be able to undo fifty Seals at most. And my body won't be able to keep up."
"You're already researching cell activation. Once you finish, won't your body be able to keep up?"
That was true. If he completed his research into cell activation, then no matter how much Chakra his body held, he wouldn't risk exploding.
"Why do I have to raise five at once? Can't I take it slowly?"
"The human body needs balance. If you don't do this, you won't be able to use your Five-Element Ninjutsu."
At the mention of Five-Element Ninjutsu, Shiraishi Yoshijo frowned.
Five-Element Ninjutsu was a technique he had developed himself.
He used Earth Release's shape transformation to create a spear, then successively added the nature transformations of fire, wind, water, and lightning. It was a long-range technique with devastating power.
If he had used this move against Hanzo, the demigod might have fallen.
"Is there no limit to how many Butterfly Seeds I can raise?"
"As long as I'm willing to send you my life force, theoretically, there's no limit."
"How many can an ordinary person's body handle at most?"
"Two."
Shiraishi Yoshijo took a deep breath. He understood that if he kept raising them, he would probably end up unable to leave this woman's side.
He thought it over, but didn't agree.
Mei could tell what he was thinking from his expression. After a moment, she changed the subject.
"Of course, you don't have to raise any more. You're already very strong. I just don't understand why you hide all your abilities."
"In the Shinobi World, countless ninja have died because information about them was leaked. You don't understand what people are capable of, and no Ninjutsu is truly flawless."
"Are you planning to hide your abilities for the rest of your life?"
"Keeping your strength hidden is a remarkable talent in its own right."
"I'm just worried that if you keep pretending to be a pig, you'll actually turn into one."
Shiraishi Yoshijo was speechless. Could she speak like a normal person?
No, this woman only looked human. In essence, she was still something else.
If he spent too long around her, he might turn into something else himself.
"All right, I'm heading back. I'll think about the Butterfly Seeds."
When Shiraishi Yoshijo returned home, he was surprised to find Takemoto Anna there.
At eighteen, Takemoto Anna had grown into a beautiful young woman.
She had already resigned from the hospital and begun taking over the family's affairs.
"You entered my house without asking. That's trespassing. I can call the police and have you arrested."
A vein popped on Takemoto Anna's forehead. They had grown up together, but she still couldn't understand how this lunatic thought.
Fuming, Takemoto Anna marched to the door and began pounding on it with all her strength.
Amid the loud banging, Shiraishi Yoshijo stared at the cracks spreading across the door, his face dark with dismay.
"If you break the door, you'll have to pay for it!"
"Pay? You already owe my family more than fifty million ryo. You've nearly bled us dry, and you still have the nerve to bring up money?"
Shiraishi Yoshijo: ""
When you took food from someone, you couldn't be choosy; when you took money from someone, you had to be obliging.
He had completed plenty of missions over the past few years, but they still hadn't come close to making up the shortfall.
The clan's various businesses earned a decent profit, but most of it went to supporting the clan members.
He was also raising more than a dozen kinds of Summoning Butterflies.
If he relied on missions alone to support them, who knew how long it would take to save enough?
Borrowing money the first time had been awkward. By the second time, he'd grown shameless; by the third, he'd gotten the hang of it. The fourth time...
Anyway, these days, he needed only two words when he went to borrow money:
"Give me money."
Every time Takemoto Masamasa heard those words, the fat on his face twitched, and his teeth ground together with a grating sound.
"What do you want? Are you asking me to come over for dinner?"
Takemoto Anna looked at him for a long moment, then said mournfully, "There's a kind of beast in this world that eats more than a pig and is worse than a dog. Do you know what beast I mean?"
Shiraishi Yoshijo blinked at her innocently.
He knew perfectly well that Takemoto Anna was insulting him. Unfortunately, he was so thick-skinned now that he didn't care at all.
Ever since he started researching the Digestion Technique, his appetite had grown beyond anything an ordinary person could imagine.
If she invited him over to eat, it would probably be like inviting a hundred people.
Eating did increase his life force, but the idea that he could achieve immortality just by eating was pure fantasy.
He had roughly calculated the numbers while researching the Digestion Technique. If he ate nonstop every day, he could probably gain three days of life.
Eating for a year would add three years to his life. That seemed pretty good.
But that wasn't the whole story.
What meaning was there in a life spent doing nothing but eating?
More importantly, his wallet couldn't take it!
He already spent a fortune on food every year.
And that was only after using the Digestion Technique.
If he tried to do this without it, he'd end up with a perforated stomach.
Even with good digestion, he'd gradually reach his limit and eventually wouldn't be able to eat, no matter how much he wanted to.
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