Fuinjutsu Scroll

The moonlight tonight is truly beautiful!

At this moment, Hyuga Gen was in high spirits; he had not expected Karin's mother to give him such a massive surprise.

Initially, Hyuga Gen had assumed that whatever was left for Karin would be something valuable or of sentimental significance. He never imagined it would be a scroll—a scroll recording the sealing jutsu of the Uzumaki Clan.

Hyuga Gen took a cursory glance and immediately spotted several sealing techniques that had appeared in Shippuden, such as the Adamantine Sealing Chains, the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, the Four Symbols Seal, the Eight Trigrams Seal, and the Contract Seal.

Of course, there were others as well—sealing techniques that had never appeared in Shippuden, and whose names Hyuga Gen had never even heard of.

Hyuga Gen counted them; the scroll recorded as many as thirty-six types of sealing jutsu. Furthermore, he could tell that these were not ordinary techniques, but rather high-level sealing arts.

Hyuga Gen could not fathom why Karin's mother would possess such a scroll. A scroll like this could easily serve as the Uzumaki Clan's most prized heirloom.

If Uzumaki Kushina had possessed such a scroll, Hyuga Gen would not have been overly surprised, as she was, after all, a princess of the Uzumaki Clan.

But for Karin's mother to have it was truly inconceivable. Could she have had some special status? As Hyuga Gen pondered this, he felt it was highly probable.

Skills like the Adamantine Sealing Chains, in Hyuga Gen's view, were likely tied to one's bloodline. Since only Uzumaki Kushina and Uzumaki Karin were ever seen using them throughout Shippuden, perhaps Karin's mother had been just as noble as Uzumaki Kushina.

Of course, no matter how much he thought about it, he would reach no conclusion. Whether she was noble or not, no one knew anymore. What mattered was that he now had high-level sealing jutsu to learn, even if he was only benefiting from Karin's fortune.

Aren't Karin's things my things? Hyuga Gen thought with a touch of shamelessness.

He admired how Karin's mother had managed to keep such a powerful item hidden all this time, never using the scroll to trade for a chance to stay in the Land of Grass, choosing instead to keep it a secret.

As a member of the Uzumaki Clan, she clearly understood the importance of this scroll, which was why she had kept it hidden. From this, one could see that she valued this scroll more than her own life; otherwise, she would have handed it over to the Grass Ninja long ago.

Of course, what Hyuga Gen did not know was that if it weren't for him, Karin's mother would never have intended to give this scroll to Karin. She might have let it remain buried in the earth forever, knowing that Karin would not be able to protect such a thing.

It was precisely because of him, and the promise he had made, that she knew Hyuga Gen would protect Karin well. She also did not want the heritage of the Uzumaki Clan to be severed, so after much deliberation, she had made this decision.

"Why do you keep looking at me like that? Are you not afraid of me anymore?" Noticing Karin watching him, Hyuga Gen couldn't help but tease.

"Mm," Uzumaki Karin's small face flushed, the sound seemingly emerging from her nasal cavity.

That afternoon, to ensure Uzumaki Karin wouldn't be afraid of him, Hyuga Gen had chattered on and on, talking about the Byakugan, the Kekkei Genkai, and, most importantly, her mother.

"You don't need to be afraid. I won't come over. I'll leave the roasted meat here; you can come and take it yourself." Hyuga Gen had originally intended to hand the food to her, but seeing Karin shrink back in fear, he stopped.

"Eat. If I wanted to kill you, I would have done it already. I wouldn't go through the trouble of poisoning your food."

Karin knew he was right, and seemingly understanding her own predicament, she said nothing and took a bite.

After the first bite, she couldn't stop, for the roasted meat was simply too fragrant and delicious.

"My name is Hyuga Gen. This Byakugan is a unique Kekkei Genkai of our Hyuga Clan, much like the special constitution of your Uzumaki Clan."

"This is my partner, Xiaojin. It doesn't eat people either, so don't worry," Hyuga Gen said, pointing to the large bird not far away.

"Eat slowly, no one is going to snatch it from you. There's more here." As he spoke, Hyuga Gen held out more meat to her. This time, she wasn't afraid.

"The reason you are here is because I saved you. Your mother has passed away, so they wanted to capture you to replace her on the battlefield." As he said this, Hyuga Gen looked at the little girl before him with concern.

To his surprise, she only slowed her eating, her expression dimming; it seemed she had long anticipated her mother's passing.

Even so, as she ate, tears couldn't help but stream down her face, eventually becoming a torrential downpour.

Seeing this, Hyuga Gen quickly pulled her into his arms and gently patted her back. Before long, she had actually fallen asleep in his embrace.

Of course, she didn't sleep for long before waking up. Once awake, her state of mind improved significantly, and Hyuga Gen began his chattering once more.

"Before she died, your mother entrusted you to me. From now on, you will stay with me."

"Your mother left something for you at the place where you used to live. Do you remember that place? Shall we go take a look together?" Hyuga Gen said to Karin.

Karin nodded slightly.

By evening, under Karin's guidance, they finally arrived at their destination, only to find nothing but ruins before them.

Looking at the ruins, it wasn't hard to tell that a small wooden hut had once stood there. The item Karin's mother had left for her was hidden underground in the northwest corner of the house.

For others, finding that item in these ruins might have been a hassle, but for Hyuga Gen, it required no effort at all—he simply had to activate his Byakugan and look in that direction.

Before long, Hyuga Gen made a discovery. He found an iron box with something inside. Hyuga Gen knew this must be what Karin's mother had left for her.

Hyuga Gen ran over, dug out the iron box, and after confirming there was nothing else around, they departed.

Finding a place to rest, Hyuga Gen handed the box directly to Karin and began preparing dinner.

At first, he hadn't paid much attention, but when Karin picked up a scroll to examine it, his interest was piqued. When he saw the characters for "Dead Demon," he couldn't sit still.

"May I take a look?" Hyuga Gen asked, suppressing his excitement.

Karin looked at him, hesitated for a moment, but then handed it to Hyuga Gen.

When Hyuga Gen saw the contents, his initial excitement calmed down. A moment later, he returned the scroll to Karin.

"This scroll is very important. Make sure you don't lose it, and never let anyone else see it," Hyuga Gen said gravely. This scroll was comparable to the forbidden jutsu scrolls of Konoha; if others found out about it, it might trigger a bloodbath.

"Then I'll leave it to you to keep safe for me."

"That works. I'll give it back to you once we return home." With that, Hyuga Gen placed the box into his scroll storage space.

He thought about how he had left without leaving any word, running off to the Land of Grass on his own. Having been delayed for several days, he had no idea what the situation in Konoha might be.

They probably all think I'm dead.

Thinking of Hyuga Natsu and his grandfather, a bad premonition arose in Hyuga Gen's heart. He decided to rush back to Konoha that very night.