Qingyu: A Ninjutsu That Controls Time? (Third Update)

"I thought Mother didn't want Shion anymore----"

How could that be?

Miroku gently patted his daughter's back, her eyes slightly reddening.

"Mother promised Shion that she would definitely come back."

Shion lifted her tear-streaked face, wiped her tears haphazardly with her sleeve, and then suddenly remembered something. She peeked out from Miroku's arms and looked at Qingyu standing behind her.

"Big brother, did you save Mother?"

Qingyu looked at Shion's eyes, which were exactly the same as Miroku's, smiled slightly, and squatted down to look her in the eye.

"Everyone rescued them together."

"Will big brother come to the Land of Demons again? Shion wants to play with big brother."

Shion blinked, her face still streaked with tears, yet she already wore an innocent smile.

Qingyu reached out and gently patted her head.

"I'll come when I have the chance."

He withdrew his hand, stood up, and looked past Shion onto Miroku.

Minato Namikaze stood to the side, watching the mother and daughter embrace. After Miroku calmed down a bit, he stepped forward and asked, "Lord Miroku, should I reinforce the seal on the Mōryō? The Uzumaki Clan has some Sealing Technique that might increase its stability and prevent the Mōryō from breaking free again in the future."

Miroku gently shook his head.

"I appreciate Minato's kindness. But the key to sealing the demon lies not in the technique itself, but in the human heart."

"Wherever there are people, there will be ambition and greed. Even if you use the strongest Sealing Technique to completely seal away the demon, there will always be someone else tempted by power who will try every means to break the seal."

"Sealing Technique can seal away demons, but they cannot seal away the dark side of the human heart. This is the fundamental reason why priestesses throughout history have had to repeatedly perform sealing rituals, because the human heart is forever changing."

Qingyu listened to Miroku's words from behind and nodded inwardly.

Miroku is right. Even the Six Paths level seal set by the Sage of Six Paths himself, let alone the priestess's seal, was still broken, allowing Kaguya Otsutsuki to be resurrected.

In the end, a seal is just a door.

No matter how sturdy a door is, it will eventually be pried open if someone tries to pry it open from the outside.

Miroku snapped out of his thoughts, handed Shion to the head maid, and then turned to face the ninjas from Konoha and Cloud Village.

"The successful sealing of the Mōryō this time was entirely due to everyone's help. Especially Qingyu- jun; if it weren't for his intervention, I would have already paid with my life to reseal the Mōryō."

She paused, her gaze sweeping over everyone present, finally settling on Tsunade and Minato Namikaze.

"As per the previous agreement with Konoha, the mission reward will be paid four times the original amount. Everyone from Cloud Village has also worked hard and will receive a reward. This is a small token of my appreciation as the priestess of the Land of Demons, and I hope you will not refuse it."

Four times the reward.

This means that the reward for this mission has far exceeded the amount originally agreed upon. Everyone present could feel Miroku's sincerity and gratitude.

Qingyu hadn't expected Miroku be so generous.

The original reward was one million taels, but now it's four million!

Tsunade, who was resting against Qingyu, immediately perked up when she heard the words "four times the reward".

"Lord Miroku is quite generous."

Miroku simply smiled and gestured for the guards to hand over the rewards to Konoha and Cloud Village respectively.

Toroi accepted the payment, weighed it in his hand, and a satisfied smile spread across his rugged face.

Although this mission failed to win over the Land of Demons to the Cloud Village's side, the reward and the information gathered about Qingyu and other Konoha Ninja made the trip worthwhile.

He bowed to Miroku, then turned and left with Samui and the rest of the Cloud Village.

Before leaving, Samui glanced back at Qingyu.

Her blue eyes lingered on him for a moment, then she looked away, followed Toroi's steps, and quickly disappeared into the night outside the shrine.

Qingyu ignored Samui's gaze.

Afterwards, Qingyu helped Tsunade into the room and re-examined the wound on her waist.

"Sister Tsunade, you should be fully recovered after a night's rest."

17

"Okay, you should get some rest early tonight too, and don't wander around."

Tsunade Teuchi, leaned back in the wooden chair, and her eyelids began to droop.

After expending a large amount of Chakra, waves of fatigue were washing over her, and she no longer had the energy to speak.

The immense emotions of the human heart rose and fell with Tsunade's breath.

Qingyu withdrew her gaze and walked along the corridor deeper into the shrine.

Miroku's sleeping quarters are easy to find; it's the largest room in the shrine.

Qingyu walked to the door of the sleeping quarters and was about to knock when the door was opened from the inside.

A tiny figure poked its head out.

It's Shion.

She was wearing a white nightgown, her long brown hair was loose and hung softly over her shoulders, one hand rubbing her sleepy eyes, and the other holding a plush rabbit.

"Big brother?"

Shion blinked and recognized Qingyu outside the door.

"Mother said we'll have guests tonight, and it looks like it'll be my older brother."

Seeing Shion struggling to keep her eyes open despite being so sleepy, Qingyu knelt down and gently rubbed her head.

Why isn't Shion asleep yet?

"I heard my older brother's footsteps."

Shion yawned slightly and said.

Qingyu paused slightly in her movements.

Although he didn't deliberately conceal his whereabouts, Qingyu's footsteps were usually very light, so much so that many ninjas might not be able to hear them, let alone a child of a few years old.

But Shion could hear that this child's priestess talent even surpassed that of Miroku.

In the original timeline, Shion's talent even made Miroku feel terrified.

Now that Miroku is alive and Shion can receive the complete priestess's inheritance, this child's future will likely be even stronger than in the original story.

"Big brother, are you here to see Mother?"

Shion's voice interrupted Qingyu's thoughts.

"Um.

Shion nodded, turned and walked into the house, calling out as she went, "Mother, Big Brother is here."

A soft candlelight shone in the bedroom.

Miroku sat at a low table, having changed out of her formal white priestess robes and into a light purple everyday outfit.

With her long brown hair cascading over her shoulders, and without the golden crown and formal attire, her demeanor shifted from dignified and noble to gentle and graceful.

She looked up and saw Qingyu walk in, and nodded slightly to him.

"Qingyu- kun, please have a seat."

Qingyu sat down cross-legged in front of the low table.

Shion sat down next to her mother, hugging her plush rabbit, and tilted her head to look at Qingyu.

She was clearly very curious about the older brother who had saved her mother.

Miroku gently pushed the scroll in his hand towards Qingyu.

"As previously agreed, these are scrolls of Shrine Maiden Sealing Technique, ranging from the most basic 'Demon-Sealing Mark' to the highest level 'Shrine Maiden's Complete Seal.'"

"Thank you, Priestess."

Qingyu took the scroll and unfolded it with both hands.

"Besides the scroll, I would like to ask the priestess to grant me another request."

Miroku picked up the teapot on the low table and poured Qingyu a cup of tea.

Steam rises from the cup, carrying a faint, refreshing herbal aroma.

What are the requirements?

She looked up at Qingyu, her eyes filled with curiosity.

Looking at Qingyu's young and handsome face, she wondered how long it had been since a man had entered her room.

"The age gap between us is too big."

Miroku hesitated for a moment before speaking.

Qingyu looked at Miroku's slightly flushed cheeks and instantly realized that the priestess seemed to have misunderstood something.

He likes mature, older women, but the sudden appearance of a widow is still a bit too exciting.

Furthermore, Miroku is slightly older than Tsunade is now.

This truck is practically turning into a large cargo van.

Qingyu shook her head inwardly.

"I want some witch's blood."

A rare look of surprise appeared on Miroku's usually solemn face.

Blood?

Her cheeks flushed crimson.

The thought that flashed through her mind just now left her speechless.

What was she thinking about?

Miroku picked up his teacup and took a sip, using this action to cover up his earlier lapse in composure and force himself to regain his calm.

She put down her teacup, exhaled softly, looked up at Qingyu, and her eyes regained their clarity.

"Qingyu- jun, what do you need my blood for?"

Miroku's voice returned to its usual calm, but if you listened carefully, you could still detect a hint of unease.

She lived for nearly thirty years, and since Shion's father passed away, no man had ever entered her bedchamber late at night.

Qingyu, this young and handsome Konoha Ninja, not only visited her late at night, but also asked her for the shrine maiden's blood.

This is probably the first time in the history of the Land of Demons.

"It's to better seal away the Mōryō. When Lord Miroku injected his Chakra into my body before, I discovered that my body has a unique ability to accept the power of the priestess. If I can obtain the priestess's blood, perhaps I can further understand the nature of this power and prepare for the Mōryō to break free again in the future."

Qingyu said these words without changing his expression.

While the real purpose is to fulfill the conditions for trait upgrades, this reasoning does make sense.

His body is more receptive to the shrine Chakra than ordinary people. If he can further understand the characteristics of this power through the shrine maiden's blood, he will be able to deal with it more quickly and effectively should the Mōryō break free of its seal again in the future.

Miroku hearing Qingyu's explanation, most of the misunderstanding in Maitreya's heart dissipated.

She lowered her head and shook her head silently.

They really let their guard down after sealing Mōryō.

Normally, she would never misunderstand someone's meaning so easily.

Perhaps it was because Qingyu saved her life that she instinctively lowered her guard against this young ninja.

"If that's the case, then it's fine."

Miroku stood up, walked to a cabinet in the corner of the bedroom, and took out a small ceramic dish and a silver blood-drawing needle.

As a priestess, she often needed to use her own blood to draw Sealing Technique arrays, so these tools were always kept in her bedchamber.

She sat down again opposite Qingyu, rolling up the cuff of her left sleeve to reveal her fair wrist.

Then I picked up the lancet and gently pricked the tip of my index finger.

A bright red bead of blood seeped from the fingertip.

Miroku moved his fingertips above the ceramic dish and gently pressed the wound, causing a few drops of blood to fall onto the white porcelain surface.

Miroku wiped the wound on his fingertip, then pushed the ceramic plate in front of Qingyu.

Is this enough?

"That's enough, thank you, Lord Miroku."

Qingyu took the porcelain plate.

[C-Rank Trait detected: The conditions for Shrine Maiden's Inheritance have been met]

[Should we synthesize it?]

Qingyu looked at the words that appeared before her eyes and recited them silently in her heart.

"Synthesis."

[B-Rank Trait: The Shrine Maiden's Inheritance]

[Effect: Chakra's suppression of monsters is increased by 100%, Chakra will affect time.]

A warm current surged from deep within the body, spreading along the meridians to every part of the body.

Qingyu could clearly feel a subtle change occurring in the nature of the Chakra within her body. The Chakra, which originally only carried a portion of the shrine maiden's power, was now actively integrating the shrine maiden's power into itself.

More importantly, the description in the latter half of the effect states that Chakra will affect time.

This gave him a jolt.

In the Shinobi World, although Space–Time Ninjutsu is called space-time, most of it is actually pure Space-Time Ninjutsu.

Minato Namikaze's Flying Thunder God Technique, Obito's Kamui, and Kaguya Otsutsuki's Amenominaka are essentially spatial transfers and projections, hardly involving the concept of time.

And now, this trait has actually granted him the ability to influence time with his Chakra.

Although it is not yet known what this "impact" specifically refers to, as long as this possibility exists, it is possible to develop true Space–Time Ninjutsu in the future.

"If we obtain Dragon Vein in the future, or acquire any traits from Dragon Vein, could we enhance this aspect?"

Qingyu pondered in her heart.

If possible, he might be able to learn time-manipulation Ninjutsu!