Four Symbols Seal

This really wasn't Yatsuhashi's fault.

He genuinely hadn't known that learning ninjutsu required an additional fee.

This was Inuzuka Yuka's first time encountering a situation like this, too.

After all, the ninjutsu in the treasury all had clearly marked prices.

Who could have guessed that someone with the highest-level gold permit

wouldn't have a single coin to his name?

Just as the atmosphere grew tense, footsteps sounded from the end of the corridor.

"What's going on, Yuka?"

The leader in charge of security on the archive's first floor,

Inoichi Yamanaka, strolled over at an unhurried pace.

"Is there something wrong with the scroll?"

After asking the two of them what had happened,

Inoichi Yamanaka first froze, then burst into laughter.

"Hahaha! Kid, your name's Uchiha Yatsuhashi, right?

You Uchiha really do always find ways to surprise me."

Yatsuhashi awkwardly rubbed his nose. "Uh, yes."

Inoichi Yamanaka glanced at the gold Ninjutsu Scroll, then stopped laughing.

The last time this thing appeared in the archive, he mused, it was that fellow Minato Namikaze.

It seemed like only yesterday, and he'd already become the Fourth Hokage, someone everyone looked up to.

This kid must be in the Hokage's good graces!

"All right, all right."

Inoichi Yamanaka waved a hand. "I'll make an exception this time and let you study first. But—"

He leaned closer to Yatsuhashi, then changed tack. "The money! You'll still have to pay it back afterward."

Yatsuhashi swallowed. "There's no way I can pay back that much money afterward, either.

How about we just forget it this time? I'll come back another day."

"Hey!"

Inoichi Yamanaka frowned and pushed the two Ninjutsu Scrolls Yatsuhashi had handed him back.

"The Four Symbols Seal is difficult to understand. I'll let you study it for free for seven days.

If you can't learn it, then at least Lord Hokage will know that not just anyone deserves a gold Ninjutsu Scroll."

That way, he wouldn't slight the Hokage, he'd have something to report,

and he could also make this overconfident Uchiha back down.

After all, this kind of advanced gold Ninjutsu Scroll represented the Hokage's will.

Not just anyone could easily get permission to use one.

Rejecting it outright would be far too tactless.

Inuzuka Yuka asked, "Leader Inoichi, wouldn't that be against the rules?"

Looking at Inuzuka Yuka, Inoichi Yamanaka felt a pang of emotion.

This girl is still too young. She doesn't understand the ways of the world at all.

She'll never become a leader if she stays like this.

Inoichi Yamanaka patted her on the shoulder. "Rules are dead, but people are alive."

With Inoichi Yamanaka vouching for him, Yatsuhashi was taken to a sealed training room.

"Ninjutsu scrolls are never allowed to leave the archive. You can only train inside."

Yuka explained coldly. "And you have one month.

Whether you've learned it or not, the time will expire, and there's no refund."

Yatsuhashi looked at the empty room and sighed helplessly.

Renting the room once cost that much money,

and there was no guarantee he'd learn the technique on his first try.

He understood now.

These days, a shinobi without money couldn't even afford to learn ninjutsu.

Fortunately, he wasn't particularly skilled at using ninja tools,

which had saved him a huge amount of unnecessary expense without his even realizing it.

It took a while before a staff member finally brought over the scroll.

To prevent accidents, the archive's catalog and the actual scrolls were kept separately,

and something like the Four Symbols Seal was stored on the heavily secured third basement level.

"Thanks."

Yatsuhashi took the scroll but didn't open it right away.

He glanced at the cold, hard floor,

then simply lay down, planning to get some sleep first,

because he hadn't slept all night thanks to Anko.

After all, a clear head was essential for learning.

The members of the Barrier Team on the archive's first floor sensed what was happening and found it unbelievable.

After all, shinobi who came here and paid the fee

always got straight to training, making the most of their time.

Yatsuhashi was probably the only person who had ever slept in a training room.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

Yuka knocked on the door. "This is the archive, not an inn!"

"I'm tired. I'm taking a nap."

With that, Yatsuhashi closed his eyes. Before long,

his soft, intermittent snores really did sound from inside the training room.

"..."

Seeing this, Yuka was so angry she laughed. "Leader Inoichi, look at him!"

Inoichi Yamanaka rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"The Uchiha Clan... With a mindset like that, it's no wonder they can awaken the Sharingan.

Yuka, perhaps this is part of what makes the Uchiha so unique."

A day and a half later.

"Whoo..."

Yatsuhashi stretched languidly before finally waking up.

He loosened his limbs, still in no hurry to learn ninjutsu,

and leisurely opened the bento that had been brought to him.

"Not bad."

Yatsuhashi chewed on a Military Ration Pill and spoke indistinctly.

Inuzuka Yuka, watching from the monitoring room, was once again left dumbfounded.

"How is this learning? He's clearly here on vacation!"

Only after he'd eaten his fill did Yatsuhashi finally pick up the scroll.

Inoichi Yamanaka, Inuzuka Yuka, and the others chatted idly,

all ready to watch Yatsuhashi make a fool of himself.

Yet what happened next shocked them once again.

Just two hours later,

Yatsuhashi got to his feet, straightened his clothes,

and prepared to hand back the scroll and leave.

"???"

Inoichi Yamanaka and Inuzuka Yuka both froze.

"You're done learning?"

Inoichi Yamanaka asked in disbelief.

Yatsuhashi nodded. "Yeah, I've memorized it all."

Yuka couldn't believe it. "How is that possible? The Four Symbols Seal is a secret technique of the Uzumaki Clan.

How could you learn it after looking at it just once?

The Uchiha Clan really is an arrogant bunch!"

Looking at Yuka's chest as it rose and fell slightly with anger, Yatsuhashi suddenly had an idea.

"Want to make a bet?" Yatsuhashi asked softly.

"What are we betting?" Yuka asked without thinking.

"If I really have learned these two techniques, you pay the remaining two hundred thousand ryō in rent for me."

Yatsuhashi waved the IOU for the two hundred thousand ryō that Inoichi Yamanaka had written for him.

"If I haven't learned them, I'll admit I'm the kind of 'arrogant fool' you say I am."

Yuka pushed up her glasses, a cold smile curling her lips. "Fine!"

"Leader Inoichi, sorry to trouble you. Please witness this."

Yuka planned to have Inoichi Yamanaka use a secret technique of the Yamanaka Clan to prove that Yatsuhashi hadn't learned the technique.

After all, how could anyone learn a Sealing Technique after looking at it just once?

Even Minato Namikaze, the genius universally recognized by the village,

who was now the Fourth Hokage,

had taken around half a month to master it completely.

As far as Inuzuka Yuka was concerned, Uchiha Yatsuhashi was simply showing off.

However, Yatsuhashi refused to let Inoichi Yamanaka examine him.

"No need to go to all that trouble." Yatsuhashi looked at Yuka, his gaze clear. "Take out your scroll."

"What are you going to do?" Yuka warily took a step back.

"Just a demonstration." Yatsuhashi spoke calmly. "Since we're verifying it, let's test it in practice."

Yuka hesitated, but still took out her personal scroll.

She wanted to see what tricks this kid could pull.

The next moment, Yatsuhashi formed Hand Seals.

His movements were clumsy, but the technique still worked.

"Four Symbols Seal: Seal!"

A powerful sealing force surged forth at once,

and the scroll Yuka had placed on the ground suddenly transformed against her will into a streak of light,

which was sealed directly inside Yatsuhashi's body.

"!!!"

Inuzuka Yuka and Inoichi Yamanaka both stared wide-eyed.

This wasn't merely memorizing the technique. He had completely mastered the Four Symbols Seal.

How was that possible?!

That was the Four Symbols Seal! It wasn't a technique just anyone could learn!

"Since I've learned the Four Symbols Seal,"

Yatsuhashi shrugged. "I don't need to prove that I've learned the C-rank Summoning Technique too, do I?"

"You... You..."

Inuzuka Yuka's face turned bright red, and she couldn't get a word out.

What she didn't know was that

Yatsuhashi had been able to tackle even those cellular experiments in the laboratory all by himself.

Learning a Sealing Technique that "only required rote memorization and chakra control"

was as easy as an adult doing elementary-school arithmetic.

Even though Inuzuka Yuka was unwilling,

she kept her word and accepted her loss.

She paid Inoichi Yamanaka the two hundred thousand ryō on Yatsuhashi's behalf.

Because the Four Symbols Seal came with a free trial, they hadn't charged Yatsuhashi anything for it,

but he'd still have to pay for the Summoning Technique afterward.

"Where's my scroll?"

She held out her delicate hand and glared fiercely at Yatsuhashi. "Give my scroll back!"

Yatsuhashi felt the chakra inside him and smiled bitterly. "Um... The Four Symbols Seal used up too much chakra,

and I'm a little drained right now. I can't undo it yet. Give me two days to rest and recover, and I'll return it to you."

"You!!!"

Inuzuka Yuka was so angry her teeth ached, but there was nothing she could do.

The tail behind her stood ramrod straight.

Looking at the innocent-faced Uchiha before her,

Inuzuka Yuka felt, for the first time, that the intelligence she'd always been so proud of had been completely outmatched.

That bastard had definitely done it on purpose!

"Truly, the younger generation is something else. Heroes rise from the young!"

Unlike Inuzuka Yuka, Inoichi Yamanaka gazed at Yatsuhashi with undisguised admiration.

To prevent information about ninjutsu from leaking, every ninja who left the archive

had to receive the Cursed Seal of Tongue Eradication from Inoichi Yamanaka.

Yatsuhashi was no exception.

But as soon as Inoichi Yamanaka placed the Cursed Seal of Tongue Eradication on him,

Yatsuhashi had already decided

that he would find a time later to use his dojutsu to erase it.

After all, he didn't know whether the Cursed Seal of Tongue Eradication

had any other hidden tricks.

To be safe, it was better to remove it as soon as possible.