Chapter Ten: Learning Another Foreign Language

Staring at the unremarkable building before him, Mizuki never imagined the Sealing Squad had fallen so far. Was this really a Sealing Squad? It was more like a gathering place for idle ninjas. It seemed that after such a long period of peace, Konoha's internal structure had become riddled with problems. The total number of personnel in the Sealing Squad was pitifully small, with only a few people organizing documents, having almost nothing to do with actual sealing. It seemed only after Tsunade inherited the title of Hokage would the Sealing Squad be reorganized.

Seeing this situation, Mizuki's heart sank; it appeared his hopes of finding an opportunity here had vanished.

He had originally assumed that, as one of the most high-end powers in the ninja world—even the Uzumaki clan, who excelled in sealing techniques, had been feared and wiped out—the place where sealing techniques were studied in Konoha would be a heavily guarded secret. He never expected to walk in so easily and witness such a pathetic scene.

In Mizuki's view, such a situation meant that the true core of sealing techniques and the primary research facilities were either hidden behind the scenes, with this place serving only for daily maintenance and document filing, or that sealing techniques had become a classified trump card held only by a privileged few.

Although sealing techniques had always kept a low profile, their importance was beyond doubt. From the Sealing Barrier Iruka used to the Fire Sealing Method Jiraiya employed, from the Evil Sealing Method to the Yin Seal, and from the Hyuga's Cursed Seal to the Jinchuriki seals, every one of them was an application of sealing arts. Even Kaguya Otsutsuki had been restricted by a sealing technique. Currently, it seemed the power and potential of sealing arts were immeasurable; judging by the known effects, there appeared to be nothing that sealing techniques could not achieve.

"Mizuki, why are you here?" An surprised female voice came from the side; it was Tsubaki Chie.

"I came to see you, Tsubaki." Mizuki turned and replied, "I'm heading out on a mission starting tomorrow, so I might not have much time to visit. I happened to be free today, so I came by."

"Eh? You never used to come by often. What's the interest today? Is the mission troublesome?"

"No, it's a mission assigned by the Third Hokage. It's not very dangerous, just very time-consuming."

"That's good. Mizuki, my shift isn't over yet, so why don't you look around? I have work to do and can't keep you company."

"Go ahead and get to work, Tsubaki. I'll just wander around."

Mizuki looked through almost the entire building, but aside from a few busy figures coming and going, he found nothing of value. He stopped someone and asked, "What are the books and scrolls on that shelf over there? Can I look at them?"

"Oh, those? Most of them are maintenance logs and processing records for Konoha's barrier arrays, along with a lot of other miscellaneous junk. Nobody knows if they're useful anymore. The information recorded inside is long outdated and will be destroyed soon. You can look, but you can't take them away."

"I see. I'm just looking to kill some time. Go ahead with your work, sorry to bother you."

Watching the generic-looking man leave, Mizuki unhurriedly pulled up a chair, picked up a book from the shelf, and began to read.

He had originally just wanted to kill time and try his luck, but gradually, the more he read, the deeper his frown became. After an unknown amount of time, Mizuki placed the scroll back on the shelf.

"I didn't expect such an unexpected harvest." Mizuki pressed his throbbing temples. "Sealing techniques... they seem even more dangerous and incredible than I imagined. No wonder even Kaguya Otsutsuki was helpless against them."

In Mizuki's view, the information on these shelves was meaningless if looked at individually, but if organized according to the logic of his past life, the conclusions drawn—while not providing him with immediate, tangible power—offered indirect gains that far exceeded his expectations.

"As it stands, the 'priority' of sealing techniques in this world is ridiculously high."

That's right, Mizuki knew a little bit about sealing techniques and understood the basic theories, but he had never studied them in depth, mostly due to a lack of intelligence. Most ninjas in the ninja world would likely treat these scrolls as trash, but Mizuki had caught a glimpse of the truth.

"Sealing techniques are the regulations and extensions of the world's will. Of this, I am certain."

In his past life, he had read a popular sci-fi novel called The Three-Body Problem, and a passage had left a deep impression on him. The gist was: "If you treat a painting as a story world, the painter is an omnipotent god. If the god punches a hole in the canvas every centimeter, the people in the story, after careful scientific research, would conclude a truth: 'Our world must have a hole every centimeter'." Isn't that ridiculous? To humans, punching a hole is just a language or rule told to the little people on the paper. Correspondingly, in the ninja world, if the various patterns and arrangements of sealing techniques were a language, then sealing techniques were the rules, laws, or truths of the world. All of this must be the fundamental rules deep within the world's core framework; as long as one understood them, one could obtain absolute, high-end power. Unless one could suppress them with absolute force or counter them with sealing techniques of their own, they would be very difficult to deal with.

"However, the power of sealing techniques requires a massive amount of trial and error to achieve results, which requires a vast amount of time to study. But time is exactly what I lack most right now. It seems I must find a way to seize existing sealing techniques and knowledge to study. Although relying on my past life's knowledge of linguistics, my talent for cryptography, and Mizuki's own existing knowledge, sealing techniques are my most reliable path to overtaking others."

Thinking of this, Mizuki pulled out another scroll and began to read slowly.

Without realizing it, the sun had shifted to the west, and Mizuki remained immersed in the pleasure of learning. Fortunately, this was one of the few talents he could still boast about from his past life.

Suddenly, Mizuki stirred; a restlessness came from his right arm.

It's Anko. Why did she come here?

"Huh? It's Mizuki. How come I see you everywhere? Here to see your little fiancée?" The voice arrived before the person did.

"Yes, but it's still early. I'm just killing time here waiting for Tsubaki to get off work. What are you doing here?"

"The sealing formulas for the Heaven and Earth scrolls of the Chunin Exams are supposedly kept here in the Sealing Squad. I'm checking to see if they're still around."

"Oh, I wouldn't know. But I doubt it; this place is a mess, and finding things is probably a nightmare."

"I'll go ask and see." After saying that, she marched off with her usual brisk efficiency.

Mizuki didn't think much of it and continued flipping through the scrolls until Tsubaki came to call him.

"You weren't interested in sealing techniques before, saying they didn't increase your power much. Why are you so engrossed in them now?" Tsubaki asked.

"I had nothing else to do, so I was just killing time. But after looking, I found them quite interesting."

"Oh? If you're interested, I can teach you. I don't know much, but it would be nice to discuss them together."

"That would be great." Mizuki was hoping for exactly that.

"Hmm, what do you want to eat tonight?"

"Potato stew with meat."

"Then let's go buy groceries together. It's been a while since we cooked together."

"Add extra meat, no cilantro."

"Hai, hai, I know." Tsubaki laughed.

Early the next morning, after filing his paperwork, Mizuki arrived at the Forest of Death.

"This is it. It really is huge. All the plants and trees are clearly a size larger than normal. It's hard to say what kind of terrifying things might be in the deeper parts."

Thinking this, Mizuki didn't hesitate and plunged into the dense forest.

After trapping and killing two elephant-sized wild boars, Mizuki let out a long sigh of relief and sat on a rock to rest.

Even two wild boars know how to set traps and coordinate pincer attacks; their combat intelligence is far beyond that of an average genin. If a few more came, even I wouldn't be able to handle them easily. No wonder this world could give birth to something as miraculous as summoning beasts. As long as they remain unchecked, the emergence of non-human intelligent life is only natural. In this world saturated with chakra, humans have long been accustomed to dealing with other intelligent creatures. However, what exactly are the goals of beings like the Snake Sage, the Toad Sage, or Katsuyu in involving themselves in human conflicts? Their motives are truly unpredictable.

After resting for a while, Mizuki resumed his search and cleanup work. As he was busy, his right arm began to heat up again.

What is going on? If it were just a coincidence yesterday, then today is impossible to explain. It was agreed that no one would come, yet I'm still being watched from the shadows? Mizuki couldn't help but feel a surge of annoyance.

Can I be certain I haven't slipped up, yet I'm still being monitored? It seems this matter isn't simple. But I don't have any immediate plans anyway; my original idea of setting up some contingencies in the Forest of Death will have to be put on hold for now.

Following this, Mizuki carried out his mission step by step, with one giant beast after another falling by his hand, until the sun was about to set and he decided to leave. He headed straight for the gate of the Forest of Death, only to find Anko Mitarashi already waiting there.

"How was it today?"

"Lord Anko, there are many issues and the workload is heavy. It's a bit of a stretch for the two of us to complete this mission in ten days; I believe we should request reinforcements." Suppressing his displeasure, Mizuki replied, "I think Iruka would be a good helper. Most of the beasts in the Forest of Death possess great strength but fight alone. Iruka's sealing barrier techniques are an excellent tool, perfectly suited for dealing with beasts that lack high intelligence."

"Hmm, I will report the situation to the Third Hokage. That's all for today, let's head back. Meet here again tomorrow morning."

"Understood." Mizuki was also eager to return early so he could have more time to ask Tsubaki about sealing techniques. Although his foundation was weak, hard work pays off. Confident in his own intelligence, Mizuki believed that while his talent for learning various ninjutsu and his combat aptitude might be average, mastering something like this—which was akin to learning a foreign language—would be much easier.