Secret Technique: Earth Grudge Curse Seal

Inside the Senju Clan estate.

Hashirama, Mito, and Takayuki sat around the dining table.

Hashirama asked with the concern of an ordinary father, "Takayuki, what did Toji teach in class today?"

"The teacher made a commoner girl named Matsumoto Waka the class monitor, and he taught us the three principles of medical ninjas..." Senju Takayuki replied, looking somewhat dejected. "He didn't teach us medical ninjutsu; he just made us copy the three principles."

Hashirama and Mito listened with great interest, and Hashirama offered his take:

"In Konoha, no one understands medical ninjas better than Toji. You should just listen to him and do as you're told."

"That's right, Toji has his reasons for arranging things that way," Uzumaki Mito added from the side. "He wants you to keep the role of a medical ninja firmly in mind. Medical ninjutsu is extremely difficult to master; choosing this path means you must abandon the combat focus of a standard ninja. Staying alive is what matters most."

"I understand, Father, Mother."

Hashirama asked again, "Is there anything special about that girl, Matsumoto Waka?"

"She..." Senju Takayuki thought for a moment. "She's an orphan and has a snake coiled around her shoulder, but other than that, there's nothing special."

The couple exchanged a look, both wearing expressions of realization.

"I suppose Toji saw she was pitiful and made her monitor to look out for her."

"Toji is a man who truly possesses great love in his heart."

A week passed in the blink of an eye.

When Toji returned to the laboratory, the lights were burning bright.

During his absence, the Earth Grudge Fear had been following instructions to watch over Uchiha Yan and tend to her daily needs.

The Earth Grudge Fear could not handle anything more complex.

In essence, the Earth Grudge Fear created by Yang Release only possessed the intelligence of a three-year-old.

To ensure she was in peak condition for the experiments, Toji had relaxed many of the restrictions. Her range of motion was no longer limited to the operating table; instead, she was allowed to move freely within the six-square-meter room while wearing shackles.

Of course, the condition was that she wore the shackles, and her chakra remained sealed.

When Uchiha Yan saw Toji wearing his bird-beak mask again, she walked over quite voluntarily.

During this time, Uchiha Yan's behavior had been relatively docile.

Especially after being allowed to move freely, she had been much more cooperative with the experiments.

The trouble was that once she became cooperative, it was difficult for her to maintain the anger needed to stimulate her eyes. When it reached that point, Uchiha Yan would actually take the initiative to ask Toji to slap her or choke her... using crude physical stimulation to forcibly trigger her ocular power.

Toji felt this method was too rough and uncontrollable.

Thus, he chose to remove fish, eggs, dairy, and beans from her diet, keeping her in a state of long-term nutritional imbalance while injecting her with appropriate amounts of adrenaline to stimulate her brain and suppress her rationality.

Using the most scientific means to strengthen the most unscientific Uchiha.

"Tell me, how long do you intend to keep me locked up? When will my shackles and my chakra be released?"

"Chakra is out of the question, but the shackles can come off today."

Toji replied indifferently.

Earlier that day, he had submitted an application to Hashirama to study sealing techniques, with a very sound justification: before treating a patient, sealing their chakra to prevent interference with medical chakra would yield better results.

Hashirama had been very forthcoming, saying he would give him an answer tomorrow.

The only reason he hadn't agreed on the spot was that the God of Shinobi was not omnipotent. He did not know sealing techniques. In all of Konoha, only Uzumaki Mito likely knew them.

The method Toji currently used to block chakra was similar to the Hyuga's gentle fist, relying on striking 361 chakra points to temporarily seal the flow.

The flaw was obvious: if an opponent was too strong, or if the restraints loosened even slightly, they could break free immediately. He could not gamble on whether a Uchiha Yan with restored chakra would immediately activate Izanagi.

Only a true sealing technique was sufficiently secure.

But why give her freedom today?

Uchiha Yan herself was stunned. "Are you serious?"

Toji responded with action, clapping his hands together: "Secret Technique: Earth Grudge Cursed Seal Technique!"

A small segment of the Earth Grudge Fear's tentacles pierced out from his palm and drilled straight into Uchiha Yan's mouth. Under his precise control, the tentacle reached her beating heart and attached itself to it.

"Ugh—!"

"What is this?!"

For the first time, Uchiha Yan showed a look of terror.

No matter how insane her mind was, she was still a woman. Having this mass of pitch-black tentacles burrow into her body brought a wave of physiological nausea and fear.

"You can think of it as me carving a curse seal onto your heart, similar to the Hyuga's Caged Bird," Toji explained calmly. "The moment you make an uncontrollable move, the seal will activate, and you will die."

"Now, you are free."

Swish—

The Earth Grudge Fear emerged from Toji's back, easily severing the shackles on her body.

"I know you Uchiha have a secret technique called Izanagi that can rewrite reality. That is why your chakra seal cannot be lifted yet; it is the foundation of the trust between us."

Uchiha Yan rubbed her sore, numb wrists and scoffed:

"What kind of freedom is this? Rest assured, I, Uchiha Yan, keep my word. Even if I am to take off your mask, it will be after I have obtained greater power."

[Secret Technique: Earth Grudge Curse Seal] was a secret technique Toji had developed based on the results of his previous animal experiments.

He hadn't lied about the effects; in essence, it was a curse seal. The only hidden danger was that the Earth Grudge Fear tentacles used to terminate the host could potentially be physically removed.

It wasn't an absolute safeguard, but it was sufficient for the time being.

However, there was one thing he had kept hidden.

Under his research, the Earth Grudge Curse Seal would one day evolve into—[Secret Technique: Earth Grudge Parasitism].

By then, it wouldn't just be a matter of detonating a heart; he would be able to control living ninjas directly, just like manipulating laboratory mice.

It was just that, judging from the results of the animal experiments, controlling the body could potentially lead to the host's death.

Uchiha Yan was a very precious subject, and Toji wouldn't be so extravagant as to treat her as a disposable material for developing Earth Grudge Fear.

She was a specialized research subject for the Sharingan.

Toji pulled back his thoughts:

"Relax your limbs, then it's time to inject the adrenaline."

"Stop nagging, use a smaller needle."

Gospel Hospital.

The Director's office.

Matsumoto Waka, with a white snake coiled around her hand, knocked on the office door.

"Teacher Toji, I've come to hand in the medical squad's assignment."

"...Come in."

Toji was still wearing that white haori, hunched over as he handled paperwork. Seeing Waka enter, he stopped his pen and pointed to the desk: "Leave the assignment there."

"Yes."

Matsumoto Waka placed the assignment on the desk.

Just then, an unexpected change occurred.

As if drawn by something inexplicable, the white snake lunged suddenly toward Toji.

"Little White!!"

Matsumoto Waka's heart skipped a beat. She instinctively tried to stop it, but it was already too late.

Because of Little White, she had been bullied by others since she was a child.

Every time she went out with Little White, it was met with mockery and scolding from others, being pointed at and called a "freak."

Sometimes, she would even get beaten up because of the white snake.

But Little White was the only family she had left to rely on after her parents passed away. Even if she had to endure criticism and bullying, even if she was viewed as an outcast by the village, she had never once thought of abandoning Little White.

Matsumoto Waka had almost already envisioned the scene of being loathed and scolded by Toji.

I'll definitely be hated for this...

But the scene she had anticipated did not occur.

Toji looked at the white snake climbing onto his forearm. Far from showing any disgust, he supported his arm against his chest and gently stroked the snake's head with his other hand.

"What a lovely creature."

"Its name is Little White, right?"