Three Months Later

In Konoha Year 50, on December 30, the last day of the year—in other words, New Year's Eve—

Three months had passed in the blink of an eye since Tokiju returned to Konoha.

During those three months, he had trained almost every day to better control sunlight, moonlight, and starlight, while also delving deeper into Sealing Jutsu.

After all that training, he could now easily use moonlight to form all kinds of intricate objects.

And with his mastery of sunlight, he could now form a thruster behind himself—one whose direction he could control, no less.

That meant Tokiju could now soar through the skies. At last, he wouldn't have to jump from one damn tree branch to another when traveling.

Of course, that wasn't all he had done over the past few months. He had also developed many different applications for the Three Heavenly Lights.

Even his previously unfinished Light Clone had been perfected during those months.

He was now considering how to develop a Light Transformation Technique similar to Konan's Paper Transformation Technique.

Unfortunately, the idea was still in its early stages, and he hadn't come up with any leads yet.

The Aburame Clan did have a secret technique called Insect Transformation Technique, though. Perhaps it could give Tokiju some ideas.

But it was clearly a secret passed down only within the Aburame Clan. They certainly wouldn't let an outsider like Tokiju study it.

Since he couldn't get it in Konoha, Tokiju had no choice but to turn his attention to Konan of Akatsuki.

After three months of hard work, Sigurd had managed to build up a modest fortune. He had even founded a small trading company called Nibelungen.

Of course, when he established the company, he hadn't forgotten to provide funding for Akatsuki—and he had contributed quite a lot.

His aim was to get on Konan's good side and see if he could get his hands on her Paper Transformation Technique.

And without the people of the Ninja World knowing, Nagato had secretly used the Six Paths of Pain to kill Salamander Hanzō.

On the day Nagato made his move, Sigurd had gone out of his way to watch, witnessing the end of the so-called Demigod of the Ninja World.

It was also after that day that the mercenary organization known as Akatsuki was quietly born in the darkness of the Ninja World.

Back to Tokiju.

Over the past few months, Kushina Uzumaki had occasionally dropped by.

That's right—whenever she came over, Tokiju would have her and Uzumaki Miku discuss the Uzumaki Clan's Sealing Jutsu together.

Uzumaki Miku was now visibly pregnant, and Kushina had said that once the baby was born, she would have to be its godmother.

And when she and Minato had a child, she wanted their child to have Uzumaki Miku as a godmother, too.

Since Uzumaki Miku had been suffering badly from pregnancy symptoms these past few months, Tokiju and Kushina had only had her go over the basics of Sealing Jutsu.

Tokiju actually thought it would be more effective to wait until her pregnancy symptoms eased after the first three or four months before she began studying.

But she refused. She felt uneasy about eating and drinking every day without doing anything to help around the house.

So she desperately wanted to find something to do, and begged Tokiju and the others to let her work a little each day.

What could Tokiju say? He had no idea how to deal with that kind of anxiety during pregnancy.

So, helplessly, Tokiju spent a little time each day teaching her the basics of Sealing Jutsu.

Uzumaki Miku studied very seriously because she believed that if she mastered Sealing Jutsu, she would definitely be able to help Tokiju in the future.

While teaching Uzumaki Miku, Tokiju discovered something unbelievable.

Uzumaki Miku had an incredible talent for Sealing Jutsu.

Even while suffering from such a severe pregnancy debuff, she had easily mastered the basics of Sealing Jutsu. She was seriously impressive.

One day, when Kushina came by, she happened to discover that Uzumaki Miku was genuinely studying Sealing Jutsu.

As you might expect, Kushina joined the teaching team, too.

After all, Miku was one of her few remaining clanspeople. Kushina had no intention of holding anything back. If Uzumaki Miku wanted to learn, she was willing to teach.

Tokiju was all for it. While he and Kushina taught Uzumaki Miku, he also quietly picked Kushina's brain.

And he learned a lot, considering Kushina had been personally trained by her grandmother, Uzumaki Mito.

And what about Tokiju? After obtaining a detailed guide to the Uzumaki Clan's Sealing Jutsu, he had promptly disappeared for twenty years.

He had spent those twenty years teaching himself. There had been no one to answer his questions, so he'd had to figure everything out on his own. He'd learned it all the hard way.

Now that there was an expert in Sealing Jutsu from the Uzumaki Clan who could answer his questions, how could he not study as hard as he could?

And so, thanks to all the knowledge he gleaned over the past few months, Tokiju's mastery of Sealing Jutsu steadily improved.

As for Uchiha Hikari?

A while ago, she had gotten bored and gone to the hospital with Tsunade and the others to study Medical Ninjutsu.

She was also very interested in the medical system Tsunade had established.

After all, in the chaotic Warring States period, how many fewer people would have died if every clan had trained medical ninja?

Tsunade was also very fond of this future sister-in-law she approved of. She had even taught Hikari the Yin Seal.

As Tsunade put it, "How could a woman joining the Senju line not know the Yin Seal?"

Uchiha Hikari wasn't all that keen on learning the Yin Seal.

After all, the Yin Seal stored chakra, while her Mangekyō Sharingan technique, Yachihoko, absorbed it. In essence, they were somewhat similar.

During these past few months together, Uchiha Hikari had come to like this outspoken older sister, too. Tsunade made her feel the warmth of family again.

That was why she had agreed to learn the Yin Seal, just to humor Tsunade.

But everything changed when Tsunade told her that mastering the Yin Seal would let her stay young forever, just like Tsunade.

After all, what woman didn't want to stay young forever? And now there was a secret technique right in front of her that could make it happen. Of course she had to study it like crazy!

As for Shizune?

Once she had become familiar with the work at Konoha Hospital, Tsunade hardly had to supervise her anymore.

It wasn't that Tsunade had found a new favorite in Uchiha Hikari and forgotten her old one, Shizune.

Rather, Tsunade had already taught Shizune everything she could while traveling. The rest was a matter of steady practice.

After all, filling the Yin Seal's reservoir could take several years.

Of course, when Shizune had questions, Tsunade still answered them.

And just as Tokiju and the others were preparing to celebrate the New Year in peace and harmony, things were going terribly for Sigurd.

That very day, the Vermilion Ring he had worn on his thumb for ages without a peep suddenly sent him a message.