Reverse Four Symbols Seal!

Green grass, a trickling stream.

Morning light spilled onto the riverbank, reflecting off the pebbles on the ground and casting a faint shimmer. Kuming sat shirtless on a rock by the river, while his Concealed Shadow Clone carefully wiped the wounds on his back with hot water.

At Kuming's feet sat a pot of boiled water, now murky with blood.

"Hiss..." The pain radiating from his back sharpened his mind. Two days had passed since he was ambushed, and after two consecutive days of travel, he had been forced to stop to tend to his injuries. Due to the lack of proper care, the wounds on his back were showing signs of infection.

Uzumaki Kuming could feel a faint dizziness, a sign that a fever was setting in. Fortunately, his constitution was robust enough that he wasn't bedridden.

"There isn't much distance left to the destination; if I push myself, I should be able to reach it in a day."

"I'm not sure if there are ambushes on this final stretch. It's better to rest for a day before continuing."

As the clone meticulously cleaned the wounds, Kuming's main body stared blankly at the flowing stream. These past two days had shown him the true cruelty of the ninja world. His previous understanding of the ninja world had been limited to manga and anime, and following the perspective of the fated protagonist Naruto Uzumaki, he had never truly had the chance to witness the world's brutality.

But after experiencing it all firsthand, he had gained an intuitive understanding.

Even with his sound mind, he felt shaken by those brutal scenes. In the past, he hadn't understood why young Kakashi was so withdrawn, or why Itachi would slaughter his own clan for the sake of the village's stability.

Now, he seemed to understand what those people felt in their hearts. Whether it was Kakashi or Uchiha Itachi, they had stepped onto the battlefield at the age of six; their immature minds must have been traumatized by the war. It was not hard to understand how those events catalyzed Kakashi's withdrawal or drove Uchiha Itachi to become obsessed with peace.

"The techniques I currently possess are not suitable for dealing with powerful ninjas."

"If I can survive and return this time, I must expand my repertoire of ninjutsu."

Kuming recalled the battle with Lord Earth; the problems he had exposed during the fight were too numerous. He knew too few types of ninjutsu, and even his shuriken skills lacked accuracy despite his immense power. Although he had mastered the Strength of a Hundred, its utility was limited by his young body.

He was like a soldier with countless bullets but no gun to fire them.

The Yin Seal and Strength of a Hundred were undoubtedly high-level ninjutsu, the Concealed Shadow Clone was highly practical, and the sealing arts passed down through the Uzumaki Clan were certainly not useless. Yet, when all these things were concentrated in the hands of a young child, they seemed to be of no use at all.

Uzumaki Kuming's chakra reserves were massive, yes, but his means of utilizing that chakra were far too few. Having seen the ninjutsu in the Scroll of Sealing from a young age, he looked down on ordinary C-rank techniques, and he hadn't even bothered to learn shurikenjutsu or kunai techniques.

He couldn't exactly burn the Deva Path with a Great Fireball or stab a Susanoo with a shuriken, could he?

From the very beginning, his focus had been on the S-rank ninjutsu in the Scroll of Sealing, believing that only those could help him survive the later "Gundam" era.

But the battles of the last two days had taught Kuming one thing: if he kept that same mindset, he would likely die long before he ever reached that era.

"Poof!"

While Kuming was lost in thought, the Concealed Shadow Clone behind him suddenly vanished. As the clone's consciousness returned to his brain, he knew his wounds had been treated.

After dressing his wounds, Kuming decided to rest by the river for the day, resolving to rest during the day and travel at night.

Relying on his Mind's Eye of the Kagura, Kuming could navigate even in the pitch-black night. Combat wouldn't be hindered either, and he felt that the darkness might act as a protective umbrella, reducing the detection range of potential enemies.

He released several Concealed Shadow Clones to expand the detection range of his Mind's Eye and set up a barrier around himself for security. These precautions would allow him to get a good night's sleep, as the continuous travel had exhausted his mind.

As time passed, night slowly fell.

After sleeping for a day, Uzumaki Kuming consumed a Military Ration Pill and began moving toward his destination. That night, he encountered no further incidents.

When the first rays of morning light shone upon the earth, Uzumaki Kuming, having traveled through the night, arrived at the destination of his assessment: Genmyoji.

"This should be the place."

"But something feels wrong."

The temple gates were tightly shut. Despite being the final destination for the assessment, there wasn't a single guard outside. Furthermore, several days had passed since Kuming encountered the enemies from the other village; no matter how inefficient the village's intelligence network was, they should have received word by now.

Besides, Konoha relied on ninja hawks to relay messages; it was impossible for the village to have received news while the people at the destination remained unaware.

"There is no one within my perception range."

"Should I go in?"

Having run for so many days to finally reach his destination, Kuming hesitated. The various anomalies suggested that the temple might be dangerous, but he was unwilling to leave without even stepping through the gate.

"I'll prepare a sealing technique and send a shadow clone to scout. If anything goes wrong, I'll leave immediately."

Having made up his mind, Kuming hid in a thicket. He quickly formed hand seals to create a shadow clone to stand guard, while his main body pulled a blank scroll from his ninja tool pouch, bit his finger, and began drawing runes on the parchment.

"Reverse Four Symbols Seal!"

Once the runes were drawn, Kuming quickly formed seals and placed a hand on the scroll to inject his chakra. The blood on the scroll solidified rapidly, then turned black, fixing the technique in place.

The principle of the Reverse Four Symbols Seal was similar to the Four Symbols Seal, but it was much easier to execute because the Four Symbols Seal was an offensive sealing technique that could actively seek out targets.

The Reverse Four Symbols Seal was different; it was a fixed seal. When activated, it sealed everything within a hundred-meter radius centered on the object it was placed upon. It could not actively seek out targets, and its expansion rate was very slow, making it less practical than the Four Symbols Seal.

Although the technique had many drawbacks, it was excellent as a rear-guard measure for a scouting clone. If the temple was full of enemies, the moment the clone activated the seal, the enemies would be forced to flee in panic, leaving them no time to hunt him down.

After completing the seal, Kuming took the scroll and handed it to his shadow clone, who then dashed out of the woods. Ignoring the temple gates, the clone vaulted over the high side wall.

"What happened? I can't sense the shadow clone's chakra?"

"It shouldn't have left the range that quickly."

Hiding in the bushes, Kuming lost his connection to the shadow clone the moment it crossed the wall. Shocked and feeling a sense of unease, he crouched low and retreated carefully, putting distance between himself and the temple once he confirmed no one was around.

"A barrier? No wonder I couldn't sense what was inside from the outside."

"My main body didn't even detect the existence of the barrier; it seems my training in sealing arts still needs improvement."

"I must have been discovered already!"

As soon as Uzumaki Kuming's shadow clone crossed the high wall of Genmyoji, it immediately sensed multiple chakra signatures within the temple. Several of them were incredibly intense, and the mere sensation of them brought a crushing sense of pressure.