Sealing Jutsu

In just over ten days, Mizuki had become famous again—this time for having no motivation whatsoever. He blatantly slept at the Mission Hall while on duty, treating all his coworkers as if they weren't there. Fortunately, he still showed up and left on time, and he hadn't made any mistakes at work. So no one had come looking for trouble.

"Honestly, you could put a pig's head in this chair and it wouldn't make much difference. I might as well go home and sleep sooner," Mizuki grumbled, bleary-eyed.

"You've really gone too far, Mizuki. Keep this up, and you'll ruin our village's reputation in the eyes of our clients," a voice beside him complained.

"Is that Kotetsu Hagane? Wasn't that Iruka? Huh, where'd Kotetsu go, too? Did they all sneak off to slack?" Mizuki, who had somehow found himself surrounded by different people, was confused.

"Well, Iruka had something to take care of, so I'm filling in for him. Kotetsu's shift is over; he's already gone," Kotetsu Hagane said resentfully. "You look so exhausted, Mizuki. Why don't you rest a little longer?"

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

"Are you even aware of what you've been doing all day?"

"I've been sleeping," Mizuki said matter-of-factly.

"Then what do you do at night?"

"Sleep, of course. What else would I do?" Mizuki gave Kotetsu a look that said he thought he was an idiot. "Do you really have to ask?"

Ignoring Kotetsu, who looked ready to spit blood, Mizuki got up to head home.

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

"Yeah. Tsubaki, you're right on time. Did you get everything ready?"

"All ready. Let's go. Are we having pork and potatoes again today?"

"No, let's make curry for a change."

"All right, then we'd better hurry. Curry takes a long time to cook, so we should get started early."

"It's fine. There's no rush. If it gets too late, you can just stay over at my place~"

Then Tsubaki slipped her arm through Mizuki's and strolled off with him. Behind them, all the single men stood frozen in the wind, thoroughly envious.

By the time they got home, it was completely dark. But Mizuki and Tsubaki weren't exactly wrapped up in sweet, affectionate bliss.

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

"That's not an option, Tsubaki. The village can't find out about this. This thing looks too much like Mitarashi Anko's Cursed Seal. Anyone who sees it will know I'm connected to Orochimaru. If they find out, I'll be in serious trouble. I might get locked up for the rest of my life."

It wouldn't hurt to scare Tsubaki a little. That way, she wouldn't accidentally give anything away.

Tsubaki fell silent.

"Don't worry. I won't get involved with Orochimaru again. As long as this Sealing Jutsu works and the Cursed Seal doesn't flare up, no one will find out. Besides, if I don't deal with it soon, the strain will be too much. My body won't hold out much longer."

Lately, Mizuki had been making the most of every chance to rest and conserve his strength. Even though he was eating much more than usual, his health was still getting worse. At this rate, people would definitely notice something was wrong.

"Are you sure nothing bad will happen?"

"Of course. When have I ever lied to you? Besides, our wedding's coming up soon. I don't want anything to go wrong and make me miss the most important moment of my life. Relax, Tsubaki. You get dinner started while I prepare the materials for the jutsu. We'll begin once we've eaten."

"All right." Hearing him say that, Tsubaki steeled herself.

After dinner, once everything had been cleaned up, Mizuki activated the Surveillance Barrier in the room. He detected no unusual chakra fluctuations.

"No one's watching."

Just as he'd expected, nobody would go out of their way to watch an adult man spend the evening alone with his fiancée.

Once everything was ready, Mizuki took out the materials he'd prepared over the past few days and drew the sealing array. Tsubaki helped him from time to time.

After he finished drawing it and checked it over several times, Mizuki sat in the center and said to Tsubaki Chie, "It's your turn. Don't be nervous. Take your time; we've got plenty."

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

Time passed slowly, and sweat beaded on Tsubaki's forehead. It was her first time performing a jutsu, and she was too nervous.

A long while later, Tsubaki said, "Done."

"You've added the Reverse Sealing Technique I asked for, too, right?" Mizuki asked.

"Yes. I left the backdoor just like you wanted. If it's triggered by the mental fluctuations you described, the seal will reverse and greatly amplify the Cursed Seal." Tsubaki sounded very worried. "But according to what you told me, activating the Cursed Seal will consume a huge amount of your life force. Why leave that flaw in?"

"Just in case. It might come in handy. But I hope that day never comes," Mizuki replied.

There was another important point Mizuki hadn't mentioned. The Four Symbols Seal had already been placed on his mind. As long as he left this switch that could be opened, he could unleash tremendous power for a short time, while a second seal protected his frail mind and soul. It was much easier to heal physical damage than damage to the mind.

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

"Yes, I'm ready."

Mizuki nodded. One of them held out a left hand, the other a right, and together they formed the Hand Seals.

Mizuki had considered performing the seal by himself, but he'd made a few changes to it. Also, judging by the way the seal worked in the original story, activating the Cursed Seal and enduring the sealing process would cause such unbearable pain that he might be unable to move. The sealing technique required precise control, so Mizuki had no choice but to ask someone to assist him. His fiancée, Tsubaki Chie, was the person he trusted most. There was no other way, even if Tsubaki had less stamina and a smaller chakra reserve than he did.

When everything seemed ready, Mizuki circulated his chakra and activated the Cursed Seal on his right arm. The grotesque mark shifted into a series of red patterns that gradually spread across his body. The bone-deep pain nearly knocked him unconscious.

"Tsubaki, begin!"

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

At once, the sealing array on the floor gave off a hazy white glow. One by one, the sealing symbols leaped as if being pulled from the array, converging on Mizuki's right arm. Waves of pain that seemed to reach into his soul struck without pause, making Mizuki feel, for a moment, that he would rather be dead. Vast amounts of chakra gathered in their joined hands as they formed the Hand Seals, then flowed through Tsubaki's left hand into the sealing array on Mizuki's right arm.

In just a few minutes, Mizuki felt as if he'd endured a lifetime of pain. Just as he was about to give out, Tsubaki shouted, "Seal!" His right arm tightened, and all the energy in his body seemed to gather in one place. Then, after the agony, came sudden relief. Mizuki's body had been drained, and he collapsed. Tsubaki quickly caught him and gently lowered him to the floor.

"Is it done?" Mizuki panted, drenched in sweat.

"Yes. Are you all right?" Tsubaki was exhausted, too, and her forehead was covered in sweat.

"Good. I'm fine~" he said, then passed out.

This was the soundest sleep Mizuki had ever had. He didn't think about anything or know anything; he was so exhausted he didn't even dream. He hadn't woken naturally after a deep sleep in a long time.

When Mizuki woke the next morning, he saw Tsubaki asleep beside the bed.

"Looks like she stayed up all night taking care of me. Sorry for making you worry." He reached out and stroked Tsubaki's fair, sleeping face, whether she heard him or not.

"Hm? Mizuki, you're awake?" Shinobi really were alert creatures. The slightest sound was enough to wake them.

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

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

"No need. My job isn't complicated; I just sit there. It's not tiring."

Tsubaki pressed her lips together, smiling. "Your reputation's already awful. Even people at my place have heard the rumors about you."

"It's better not to take rumors too seriously. Otherwise, life gets exhausting," Mizuki said indifferently. "For example, what do you think people will say if you stay over here last night and then we both show up late?"

"Oh?" Tsubaki looked surprised, then blushed. "What should we do?"

"What's there to be afraid of? We're already almost late. Let's make breakfast and eat slowly."

"It's that late already? Why didn't you tell me sooner? Hurry up, let's go." Without waiting for Mizuki to respond, she started to pull him out the door.

"Tsubaki, if we go out looking this disheveled, people will spread even worse rumors, won't they?"

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

"What's the problem? No matter what people say, you're my fiancée. Are you saying you don't want everyone to envy you?"

"Who's envious? You talk too much. Hurry up and get ready."

After rushing all the way there, Mizuki managed not to be late.

"Hey, Kotetsu, you again? Weren't you here yesterday?"

"I was filling in yesterday. It's my turn to work today."

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

"Quit talking and get to work."

"Hey, I haven't had breakfast yet. Can't you see I've got dumplings in my hand? Want one?"

"Thanks, but no. Why are you so late today?"

"I was exhausted last night and overslept."

"Exhausted?"

One look at Kotetsu's envious expression told Mizuki he'd misunderstood. Mizuki wasn't about to explain, though.

Mizuki finished the food in his hand in a few bites, then asked, "What are we doing next? We haven't had many missions lately. It's been pretty quiet."

"If you're so free, take this stack of mission slips to the Third Hokage. They're all missions he's specifically asked us to prioritize."

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

"A mission in the Land of Waves? Looks like my warning wasn't completely useless," Mizuki thought. "The Third Hokage said he didn't care, but he must have looked into it. Even without going to the Land of Waves, it would've been easy for a shinobi to get information out of some drunken old man without anyone noticing. Now that the Third Hokage has caught on, he'll want to make sure the Genin team has a sufficiently powerful Jonin leader as a precaution. Kakashi is the obvious choice, and it'll also give him a chance to test Sasuke Uchiha and the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. That's for the best. I should minimize any changes caused by the butterfly effect I've set off lately."

Before he had enough strength, he needed to follow the original plot as closely as possible and preserve his information advantage to make it through each successive trial.

When Mizuki arrived at the Hokage Office, Kakashi Hatake and his team were already there. He'd arrived at just the right time.

"The hero and his righteous companions are about to set off on their monster-slaying, level-grinding adventure, while I, the former villain turned quest-giving NPC, still haven't found a way to get involved in the key events. It's hard to accept."