Yin Seal - Revised

The next day.

By the banks of the Naka River.

Tsunade had risen uncharacteristically early to bring Uchiha Gen out for training.

Amidst a series of booming roars, Ganghuo Uchiha and his companions hid within the jungle, their eyes burning with fanatical excitement as they kept a tight watch on Uchiha Gen, who was currently trading blows with Tsunade.

"This is... the genius of our Uchiha clan!!! To be able to cross hands with a ninja like Princess Tsunade at such an age!!!"

"Kid, your fist has enough power, but the speed at which you condense your chakra is still too slow! You must turn your control over the Strength of a Hundred chakra into an instinct. Only then will you be able to use it in battle without leaving yourself open to being exploited."

Throwing a punch that grazed Uchiha Gen's shoulder, Tsunade spoke in a deep voice as the fierce wind from her strike ruffled his hair.

Uchiha Gen remained silent, mindlessly throwing punches, each of which Tsunade caught steadily before launching a counterattack.

"Not enough, keep going!"

With a sudden, heavy punch that sent Uchiha Gen skidding back several meters, Tsunade stepped forward, closing the distance once more.

The booming sounds erupted again.

Two hours later.

Tsunade and Uchiha Gen both lay on the grass, looking thoroughly refreshed.

Don't misunderstand; they were just enjoying the thrill of a good fight.

"Your growth rate is truly terrifying. I estimate that if you were to unleash your full power, you could actually kill an average elite jonin. Tsk tsk tsk, it really is infuriating to compare people. When I was your age, I was still in the academy trying to figure out how to skip class and head to the casino."

Looking up at the white clouds in the sky, Tsunade spoke with a smile.

"I can't beat them."

Hearing this, Uchiha Gen simply shook his head slightly.

He had sparred with Ganghuo Uchiha, who had been protecting him. The strength of an elite jonin was indeed formidable; even though this was an elite jonin of the Uchiha clan—one who could take on three others—he was also an Uchiha, wasn't he?

"You're only eight years old. It would be abnormal if you could beat them, wouldn't it? An eight-year-old elite jonin—who would believe that if it got out?"

Tsunade rolled her eyes at his words, speaking with a speechless expression.

"Then would you believe it if someone in their teens killed the Six Paths as easily as slaughtering a chicken?"

Uchiha Gen remained silent.

The breeze blew gently, the grass blades rustling with a faint sound. The two lay peacefully on the grass like that, until...

"Gen, let's make a deal."

Tsunade sat up, her expression turning serious.

"????"

Uchiha Gen was stunned. No, you and Mito Uzumaki really are family, aren't you? Why do you both love doing this?

"Let's hear it."

Staring at the sky, Uchiha Gen spoke softly.

"Just as you said before, the war is about to begin. Nowadays, the friction between the various villages is growing, and Nawaki is about to graduate. Now... Grandmother is about to leave me. Once she is gone, I will only have that idiot Nawaki left as a relative. As for Nawaki's personality, he isn't actually suited to be a ninja, but as his sister, all I can do is support him, which is why I asked Orochimaru to be his teacher. But now it seems that even Orochimaru cannot guide him correctly. Graduating at this time, he will most likely be sent to the battlefield. As the grandson of the First Hokage, his status dictates that he cannot hide in the village. The battlefield is cruel. Although Orochimaru is watching over him, the Old Man clearly intends to train Orochimaru, so once the war breaks out, Orochimaru certainly won't be able to keep his eyes on Nawaki at all times, so..."

Tsunade's tone grew dejected.

"So, you want me to be his babysitter?"

Uchiha Gen tilted his head to look at Tsunade, his expression unreadable.

"...I know this request is unreasonable. After all, you are even younger than Nawaki, and even if your strength is great, you are ultimately still just a child who needs to attend the ninja academy. Asking you to go to the battlefield for my brother is an excessive demand, but I really don't want to lose any more family... Gen, with your strength, among the ninjas who have just graduated, you certainly won't run into any problems with the missions you receive. That is why I had such a selfish thought."

Tsunade spoke with apology; she herself felt that her request was too much. After all, that was the battlefield.

"Not interested. I don't like being around that idiot."

Looking at the apologetic Tsunade, Uchiha Gen turned his head away.

He had no intention of being a babysitter. If Tsunade had made any other request, he would have done his best to fulfill it, but regarding Nawaki, Uchiha Gen had absolutely no interest.

Taking care of someone so foolish, someone completely obsessed with recreating the glory of his predecessors yet utterly unable to face his own limitations, was too much effort.

And most importantly, Nawaki was fundamentally different from Tsunade and Mito Uzumaki; he had not yet moved beyond the concept of the conflict between the Senju and the Uchiha.

"Is that so... sigh, I should have expected as much. But it's fine. I only wanted to ask you to provide an extra insurance policy for Nawaki. Here, take this."

Tsunade showed no disappointment at his words; instead, she looked relieved, as if a burden had been lifted. She reached into her clothes, pulled out a scroll, and tossed it to Uchiha Gen.

"What is this?"

Catching the scroll Tsunade tossed over with one hand, Uchiha Gen sat up and looked at the scroll, which still held a distinct warmth, and asked in confusion.

"It was one of the things I originally intended to trade with you, but since it was developed for you in the first place, it doesn't matter if I just give it to you. Open it and take a look."

After taking out the scroll, Tsunade lay back down and spoke with a smile; for some reason, she seemed significantly happier after being rejected by Uchiha Gen.

"Yin Seal - Modified?!?"

Opening the scroll with suspicion and looking at the contents, a flash of surprise crossed Uchiha Gen's eyes.

He was naturally no stranger to the Yin Seal; whether it was Mito Uzumaki, Tsunade, or the future Sakura Haruno and Sarada Uchiha, all of them had practiced this secret technique.

"That golden chakra mode of yours is powerful, but the side effects are too great. The moment you used it for the first time, I thought of the Yin Seal.

However, the Yin Seal was originally a technique Grandmother created to extract and store the Nine-Tails' chakra in order to maintain the seal holding it.

In her original vision, she wanted to allow the next generation of jinchuriki to not necessarily have to be from the Uzumaki clan, but the Nine-Tails' chakra is simply not suited for storage; the connections between its chakra are too difficult to sever.

Because of this, Grandmother re-improved the Yin Seal into the secret technique we use today to store chakra. But since Grandmother used her own body as an experimental subject for these improvements, the technique was only suitable for women to use.

But now, I have asked Grandmother to help me improve this technique once more, and now, you can use it too. Your chakra reserves are already terrifying; combined with this technique and that chakra mode, I imagine you might even be able to defeat an elite jonin, and perhaps in the future... heh heh."

Tsunade wore a smile; she understood all too well just how suitable the Yin Seal was for Uchiha Gen.