What is Mahoraga's Roulette Used For

On the grassy lakeshore, Yakumo Kurama lowered her head, weaving a flower crown.

Footsteps approached from behind.

Yakumo did not turn around; she simply held the crown up, inspecting it against the sunlight.

"You're late, Sasuke Uchiha."

Sasuke stepped out from the shadows of the trees and came to a halt behind her.

"You knew?" Sasuke asked.

"I've known for a long time. We've met so many times now, I'm not that slow, am I?" Yakumo stood up and turned to face him, the freshly woven crown clutched in her hand.

She had grown taller over the past three years, and her complexion was no longer as deathly pale as before; a hint of color had returned to her cheeks.

Her plain kimono was neatly cinched at the waist, and her hair was tied loosely at the back with a ribbon.

"Sasuke Uchiha." Yakumo murmured the name, her lips curling slightly. "It's a nice name."

She then stood on her tiptoes and placed the flower crown directly onto Sasuke's head.

Daisy pollen brushed against Sasuke's forehead, and a few willow strands dangled by his ears. The size of the crown was a perfect fit.

It was clear she had woven it knowing exactly the circumference of his head.

Sasuke raised a hand, intending to take it off.

"Don't move." Yakumo gently pressed down on his wrist. "This is a punishment."

"Punishment for what?"

"For making me think you were a girl at the start."

Yakumo let go and stepped back, crossing her arms over her chest to look the crown over, nodding in satisfaction.

"You had Escaping Rabbit tell me your name was Kei. Kei—that name sounds like a girl's name no matter how you say it, doesn't it?"

"I even went out of my way to draw a portrait of you, talking to it every day, weaving crowns for it, and—"

She stopped abruptly, her cheeks flushing a faint red as she swallowed the rest of her words.

Sasuke's fingers brushed the edge of the crown, but in the end, he did not take it off.

"There was no need for the crown."

"There is a need." Yakumo's tone left no room for argument. "Those who toy with a girl's heart must accept their punishment. That's the rule."

"Who made that rule?"

"I just did."

"Besides," Yakumo's tone softened, her fingers clutching the edge of her sleeve. "I still have to thank you, Sasuke Uchiha."

She looked at Sasuke with earnest eyes.

"I wanted to be a ninja, but I only had talent for genjutsu, and I couldn't control my own Kekkei Genkai. Plus, I had Ido lurking inside me, waiting for a chance to strike."

"Back then, I really didn't know what else I could do."

She released her sleeve, letting her hands fall to her sides.

"It was you who taught me about cursed energy."

Three years ago, when Sasuke first met Yakumo by the lake, he had sensed that something was wrong.

The thing inside her was far too similar to a cursed spirit.

It was a pure collection of negative emotions, parasitic within a host, growing stronger by devouring the host's willpower.

Sasuke had come up with a solution at the time.

Cursed energy is extracted from negative emotions; if he could teach her to treat Ido as a source for extracting cursed energy, then the more she extracted, the weaker Ido would become.

As it happened, this was his specialty—much like draining the thing inside Naruto.

Over the following three years, every time Sasuke returned to Konoha to rest with Jiraiya, he would set aside time to see Yakumo.

From the basics of separating spiritual energy to stabilizing extracted cursed energy within the meridians, and finally, using that energy to suppress Ido's activity, he taught her everything.

Yakumo was a slow learner; she lacked a formal technique, though her genjutsu had improved somewhat.

Regardless, even without a technique, she could still use Ido as firewood.

"Can you go on missions now?" Sasuke asked.

"Not yet." Yakumo shook her head.

"The Hokage says my physical condition still needs observation for a while, but Kurenai Yuhi always seems happy whenever she comes to see me."

"Then it won't be long."

"Mm." Yakumo replied, then bent down to pick up a slender wooden box from the grass.

The box was made of light-colored paulownia wood, polished to a smooth finish without any lacquer, preserving the natural grain of the timber.

"Here." Yakumo handed the box to Sasuke with both hands. "The katana you wanted."

The wooden box felt heavy in his hand.

Sasuke Uchiha unlatched the lock and lifted the lid.

The blade lay against the black lining, measuring about two feet and seven inches—slightly shorter than a standard katana, with a very shallow curve.

The hilt was wrapped in deep blue cord, and the menuki featured two silver tomoe patterns.

The scabbard was coated in black lacquer, devoid of any superfluous decoration.

Sasuke gripped the hilt and drew the blade from its sheath.

The blade shimmered with a dark luster under the afternoon sun.

He could feel the cursed energy within him being gently tugged the moment it touched the hilt.

Sasuke had requested chakra metal from the Hokage back then and entrusted the Ninja Cat to find someone to forge this blade.

He had then handed the sword over to Yakumo.

There were two ways to acquire cursed tools.

One was to craft them using the bodies of cursed spirits or sorcerers, which was obviously not realistic at the moment.

The second was to imbue a weapon with cursed energy, allowing it to naturally evolve into a cursed tool.

However, for a weapon to possess cursed energy properties, it would take at least several years of constant handling to develop a patina and become a cursed tool.

But Yakumo's ability bypassed this process; her paintings could imbue objects with new attributes.

"A Grade 2 cursed tool." Sasuke turned the blade over, watching the dark light flowing through the temper line. "The stability is excellent, and the efficiency of cursed energy adhesion has increased by at least thirty percent."

"Only thirty percent?" There was a hint of frustration in Yakumo's voice.

"Thirty percent is already very good." Sasuke slid the blade back into its sheath.

"I'm not thinking about rule-breaking things like Special Grade cursed tools for now. At your current level, making Grade 1 cursed tools in the future shouldn't be a problem."

Yakumo pursed her lips and didn't respond, but the corners of her mouth slowly curled upward.

Sasuke closed the wooden box, tucked it under his arm, and looked at Yakumo.

"Thank you. This is a huge help."

The tips of Yakumo's ears turned slightly red, and she turned her head away.

"I was idle anyway. I can't keep suppressing Ido forever; I have to find something else to do."

Then, Yakumo walked over to the tree roots, bent down, and picked up another object from the grass: a golden wheel.

Yakumo handed the wheel to Sasuke. "Manifesting this wheel nearly drained me dry."

"But even after manifesting it, it seems useless." Yakumo frowned, her tone filled with obvious disappointment.

"I tried using it to adapt to simple chakra changes, but the wheel wouldn't turn at all. No matter how much cursed energy I injected, it just wouldn't budge. The duration is also very short."

Sasuke took the wheel and examined it closely.

This thing could only be used by Mahoraga; since he hadn't tamed Mahoraga, he naturally couldn't use it.

However, he could feel that this was indeed the object atop Mahoraga's head. If his hypothesis was correct, having this would prevent him from being killed by Mahoraga.

"How long can it last?"

"Three minutes, I suppose. And I have to be nearby. If the distance is too great, the cursed energy inside starts to dissipate."

Three minutes. Sasuke calculated in his mind.

"That's enough." Sasuke placed the wheel on the ground and nodded. "Three minutes is enough."

Yakumo looked at him, waiting for a few seconds, only to realize Sasuke had no intention of explaining further.

"That's it?"

"That's it."

"You're always like this—leaving as soon as the business is done. Whatever I give you, you just say it's usable or unusable." Yakumo sighed and picked up the Escaping Rabbit from the ground.

"Because it is indeed usable."

"That's not what I meant—"

Yakumo stopped, swallowed the rest of her words, and shook her head.

"Forget it. Where are you going now?"

"To take the genin exam." Sasuke tucked the wooden box under his arm, turned, and started walking. "For team assignments."

"Sasuke Uchiha still has to take the genin exam?" There was a hint of surprise in Yakumo's voice.

"It's the rules; everyone has to participate." Sasuke didn't look back, merely raising his right hand to wave dismissively.

Yakumo stood on the grass, the Escaping Rabbit resting quietly on her shoulder.

She watched Sasuke's retreating figure for a while, then lowered her head, picked up the other half of the flower crown she hadn't finished weaving, and slowly took it apart.

"...The flower crown actually suits you quite well."