Sealing Technique

In just over ten days, Mizuki had become famous—specifically, famous for his complete lack of motivation. He would sleep brazenly in the Mission Hall while on duty, treating his colleagues as if they didn't exist. Fortunately, Mizuki always clocked in and out on time and made no errors in his work, so no one had come to cause him trouble yet.

"Honestly, even if you sat a pig here, it wouldn't make much difference. Might as well go home and sleep early," Mizuki complained with bleary, sleep-filled eyes.

"You are really going too far, Mizuki. If this continues, it will affect our village's image in the eyes of our clients," a voice from the side complained with dissatisfaction.

"Is that Kotetsu Hagane? Isn't it Iruka? Huh, why is Izumo Kamizuki missing too? Are you all slacking off?" Mizuki, who hadn't noticed when the people around him had changed, was confused by the situation.

"Sigh, Iruka had something to attend to and left, so I'm covering his shift. Izumo already swapped out and left," Kotetsu Hagane said bitterly. "Mizuki-sama, you look so exhausted. Would you like to rest a while longer?"

"No need," Mizuki checked the clock on the wall. "It's almost time to clock out. I need to hurry home and eat."

"Don't you ever look at what you've been doing all day?"

"I've been sleeping all day," Mizuki replied righteously.

"Then what are you doing at night?"

"Sleeping at night, of course. What else would I be doing?" Mizuki looked at Kotetsu with a gaze of utter contempt for an idiot. "Do you even have to ask that?"

Ignoring the fuming Kotetsu, Mizuki stood up, ready to head home.

"Mizuki, are you ready to go?" Tsubaki Chie had come to pick him up.

"Mm, Tsubaki, you're just in time. Is everything prepared?"

"It's all ready. Let's go back. Are we having potato stew with meat again today?"

"No, let's make curry today. A change of pace."

"Alright, then let's hurry. Curry takes a long time to make; we need to start cooking early."

"It's fine, no rush. If it gets too late, don't go back—just stay at my place~"

With that, Tsubaki took Mizuki's arm and they strolled away, leaving a trail of single men behind them, utterly devastated by the public display of affection.

Back home, the sky had turned completely dark, but Mizuki and Tsubaki were not the lovey-dovey couple one might imagine.

"Mizuki, do we really have to do this? If you just ask the village for help, you'll definitely be fine," Tsubaki said with concern.

"I can't, Tsubaki. The village can't find out about this. This thing is too similar to Anko Mitarashi's Cursed Seal; anyone could see I have ties to Orochimaru. If it's discovered, it'll be a huge problem. If something really goes wrong, I might be locked away for the rest of my life."

Scaring Tsubaki a little was for the best; it would prevent her from accidentally letting something slip.

Tsubaki fell silent after hearing this.

"Don't worry, I won't have any more dealings with Orochimaru. As long as this sealing technique works and the Cursed Seal doesn't flare up, no one will know. Besides, if I don't resolve this quickly, the burden is too great. My body won't last much longer."

Recently, Mizuki had been using every spare moment to rest and conserve his strength. Even with his increased appetite, his health was deteriorating day by day. If this continued, someone would surely notice that something was wrong.

"It really won't be a problem, right?"

"Of course. When have I ever lied to you? Besides, the wedding date is approaching. I don't want anything to happen and miss the most important moment of my life. Rest easy, Tsubaki. You go start dinner, and I'll prepare the materials for the ritual. We'll start once we've eaten."

"Alright then." Seeing his resolve, Tsubaki made up her mind.

After dinner, once everything was tidied up, Mizuki activated the room's Surveillance Barrier. There were no abnormal chakra fluctuations.

"No one is watching."

Just as expected, no one would specifically monitor a grown man and his fiancée alone in a room late at night.

With everything ready, Mizuki brought out the materials he had prepared over the past few days and began carving the sealing array, with Tsubaki occasionally stepping in to help.

After checking the carving multiple times to ensure there were no errors, Mizuki sat in the center and said to Tsubaki Chie, "It's your turn. Don't be nervous. Take your time; we have plenty of it."

Hearing this, Tsubaki took the materials and began tracing the sealing runes onto Mizuki's body, especially on his back, where he couldn't see clearly himself.

Time slowly ticked by, and sweat began to bead on Tsubaki's forehead, mostly due to the nervousness of performing the technique for the first time.

After a long while, Tsubaki said, "It's done."

"Did you also finish adding the Reverse Sealing Technique?" Mizuki asked.

"Yes, I left the backdoor just as you requested. As long as you trigger it with the mental fluctuation you designed, the seal will reverse and drastically stimulate the Cursed Seal," Tsubaki said with deep concern. "But according to your description, triggering the Cursed Seal will consume a massive amount of life force. Why would you leave such a vulnerability?"

"Better safe than sorry. I might need it, though I hope that day never comes," Mizuki replied.

In truth, there was one important point Mizuki hadn't mentioned. He had already placed a Four Symbols Seal on his own spirit. As long as he left this master switch that could be opened, he could temporarily unleash immense power, while his own fragile mind and soul would be protected by a second seal. Compensating for physical damage was far easier than repairing the spirit.

"Then let's begin. Are you ready?" Mizuki confirmed one last time.

"Mm, I'm ready."

Nodding, Mizuki and Tsubaki each extended their left and right hands, respectively, and formed the combined hand seals.

Mizuki had considered completing the seal alone, but for one, he had made slight modifications to it. Furthermore, according to the original story, the pain of stimulating the Cursed Seal and the seal itself was enough to make one unable to move, and the seal was a jutsu that required precise control. Mizuki had no choice but to find someone to assist him. His fiancée, Tsubaki Chie, was the most trustworthy person he had. He had no choice but to have Tsubaki, who lacked physical strength and chakra, combine her efforts with his to perform the technique.

Seeing that everything was prepared, Mizuki channeled his chakra to activate the Cursed Seal on his right arm. The hideous seal gradually changed shape, turning into red markings that spread across his entire body. The bone-chilling pain nearly caused him to black out.

"Tsubaki, start~"

"Right." Tsubaki pressed her left hand onto the Cursed Seal on Mizuki's right arm. "Evil Sealing Method!"

Instantly, the sealing array on the floor emitted a hazy white light, and the sealing runes seemed to leap up like pulled threads, concentrating on the arm performing the technique. Waves of pain, as if piercing deep into his soul, struck him incessantly, making Mizuki feel that death might be a better alternative. A massive amount of chakra converged through their joined hands and was injected into the sealing array on Mizuki's right arm through Tsubaki's left hand.

In just a few minutes, Mizuki felt as though he had experienced a lifetime of pain. Just as he was about to reach his limit, he heard Tsubaki shout, "Seal!" He felt a sudden tightening in his right arm, and all the energy in his body seemed to concentrate in one spot. After the agonizing pain, a sudden sense of relief washed over him. Drained of all strength, Mizuki collapsed involuntarily. Seeing this, Tsubaki hurriedly caught him and lowered him gently to the floor.

"Is it done?" Mizuki, soaked to the bone, panted out.

"Yeah, are you alright?" Tsubaki was equally exhausted, her face covered in sweat.

"That's good, I'm fine~" With that, he fainted.

This was the most sound sleep Mizuki had enjoyed in a long time; he didn't think about anything, knew nothing, and was so exhausted he didn't even dream. He hadn't felt the sensation of waking up naturally from a deep sleep in ages.

Waking up in the morning, Mizuki found Tsubaki asleep by the bedside.

"Looks like you stayed up all night taking care of me. Sorry to make you worry." Regardless of whether she could hear him, he reached out a large hand to stroke Tsubaki's fair, sleeping face.

"Hm? Mizuki, you're awake?" Ninjas were truly alert creatures; the slightest movement was enough to wake her.

"Tsubaki, thank you. I'm sorry for making you worry again."

"As long as you're okay," Tsubaki said with a smile. "Do you want to take the day off?"

"No need. My work isn't that strenuous; I just sit there. It's not tiring."

Tsubaki pursed her lips and smiled. "Your reputation is already ruined. Even where we are, we've heard the rumors about you."

"It's better not to pay too much attention to rumors, otherwise life becomes too difficult," Mizuki said dismissively. "For instance, if you stayed the night here and we both showed up late, what kind of rumors do you think would spread?"

"Oh my?" Tsubaki was surprised at first, then grew shy. "What should we do then?"

"What's there to fear? We're almost late anyway, let's just make breakfast and take our time."

"Is it that late already? Why didn't you say so sooner? Let's go!" Before Mizuki could react, she was already trying to drag him out the door.

"Tsubaki, if we go out looking this disheveled, the rumors will only get worse, you know?"

"Then hurry up and get ready! You're going to be the death of me."

"What's the big deal? No matter what others say, you're my fiancée. Shouldn't they be envious and jealous?"

"Who's envious? You talk too much, just hurry up."

By rushing, Mizuki managed not to be late.

"Hey, Kotetsu, why is it you again? Didn't you come by yesterday?"

"Yesterday was a substitute shift; today is my turn on duty."

"Is that so?" Mizuki said idly. "The weather is really nice today."

"Stop talking nonsense and get to work."

"Hey, I haven't had breakfast yet. Don't you see the dango in my hand? Want a skewer?"

"Thanks, I'm good. Why are you so late today?"

"I was too tired last night and overslept."

"Too tired?"

Seeing the envious look on Kotetsu's face, he knew he had been misunderstood, but Mizuki wasn't about to explain.

After finishing his food in a few bites, Mizuki asked, "What are we doing next? It seems like there haven't been many missions lately. It's quite quiet."

"If you're that bored, take this stack of mission orders to the Third. These are all high-priority requests specifically highlighted by him."

"Alright, I'll go." Mizuki took them and flipped through them casually.

"Land of Waves mission? It seems my warning wasn't entirely useless," Mizuki thought. "Even though the Third said he didn't care, he must have investigated. Even without going to the Land of Waves, with a ninja's methods, extracting a bit of information from a drunken old man is simple; it can be done without anyone noticing. Now it seems the Third has caught on. Sending a genin squad requires a high-level jonin leader as insurance, so Hatake Kakashi is the logical choice. It also serves as a test for Sasuke Uchiha and the Nine-Tails jinchuriki. This is for the best; it's better to smooth out any changes caused by the butterfly effect I've created recently."

Without sufficient strength, sticking to the original plot and maintaining an information advantage was the only way to pass each hurdle.

When Mizuki arrived at the Hokage Office, Hatake Kakashi and his squad were already there. It seemed he was right on time.

"The hero and his righteous companions are about to embark on their path of leveling up by killing monsters. As a former villain turned mission NPC, I haven't even found the key entry point yet. I'm truly unwilling to let it go."