Chapter 31

He thought that if he thoroughly researched these things, he would not be far from transcending mortality and achieving immortality. By then, the bottleneck of the chakra system would not be able to stop him at all.

The Nine-Tails inside the seal suddenly shuddered.

It had the nagging feeling that something bad was about to fall upon its head.

Its instincts told it that the source was that Uchiha brat outside.

"No, I need to hide!"

The Nine-Tails retreated deep into the seal, not daring to leak even a trace of chakra.

"Huh?"

Kushina was a Jinchuriki, so the Nine-Tails' little movements could not escape her notice.

She wondered, "What's with the Nine-Tails today? It's being so well-behaved. Is it afraid of something? How strange."

Still, this was a good thing for her. As long as the Nine-Tails did not make trouble, life was much easier for her.

Kushina glanced at Uchiha Yan, then turned to Tsunade. "Alright, leave the Sealing Jutsu to me. I guarantee I'll teach him until he gets it."

She patted her chest, brimming with confidence.

"Hehe, sorry for the trouble."

Tsunade narrowed her eyes and smiled. She could already imagine Kushina being crushed by Yan's monstrous learning speed.

It would definitely be interesting.

That day, Yan stayed at Kushina's house and began learning Sealing Jutsu.

Tsunade went straight back to the hospital to slack off.

Two minutes later.

[You learned Sealing Jutsu: One-Line Lantern Technique. Through practical application and mental simulations, you have fully mastered it.]

Ten minutes later.

[You learned Sealing Jutsu: Fire-Sealing Seal. Through practical application and mental simulations, you have fully mastered it.]

Half an hour later.

[You learned Five Elements Seal. Through practical application and mental simulations, you have fully mastered it.]

"How is this possible? He learned so fast, and mastered them so well?"

Kushina had taught him over a dozen kinds of Sealing Jutsu in one breath. Uchiha Yan mastered every single one as soon as he learned it, and became proficient immediately afterward.

Moreover, he used every one of them more smoothly than she did.

She was beginning to question her entire life.

"Are you messing with me?"

"You definitely learned these Sealing Jutsu long ago, didn't you?"

Kushina glared at Uchiha Yan, puffing up her cheeks in anger.

Otherwise, how could anyone be this abnormal? Learning it at a glance and practicing it to this extent?

Uchiha Yan helplessly shrugged and pinched his fingers together. "My aptitude is really only a tiny bit better than an ordinary person's. If I'd already learned them, why would I have come all this way to ask you to teach me? Because I think you're pretty?"

Kushina's cheeks immediately turned red. She raised a hand and tapped him on the head. "Don't talk nonsense. You're only three! Pretty or anything... even if you say that, I still don't believe you. You really never learned them?"

"I really didn't!" Uchiha Yan shook his head hard. "I figured it all out myself."

Kushina narrowed her eyes. "I'm starting to suspect that Sister Tsunade knew about this all along and deliberately sent you here to crush me."

The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. "No wonder she was so enthusiastic earlier, and even looked a little smug when she left. So she was waiting to laugh at me? That's too much!"

That woman was truly devious.

The more Kushina thought about it, the more certain she became that Tsunade had suffered a setback at Uchiha Yan's hands and been dealt a blow, so now she wanted to drag Kushina down with her.

"Just you wait!"

She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists, secretly swearing that she would make Tsunade pay later.

After coughing twice and noticing that Uchiha Yan was still beside her, Kushina quickly lowered her fists and put on a serious expression. "Since your aptitude is so good, keep learning from me. I want to see just how far you can go."

System notifications kept appearing.

He had completely mastered the Chakra Seal.

He had fully comprehended the Contract Seal.

He had perfected the Four Symbols Seal and, using it as a foundation, derived an entirely new Eight Trigrams Seal.

Uchiha Yan explained his insights to Kushina. The more she listened, the more shocked she became. "You're incredible! You actually derived an Eight Trigrams Seal from the Four Symbols Seal? It's far stronger than simply using a Double Four Symbols Seal—more complete and more powerful!"

In truth, she had heard Mito Uzumaki mention the concept of the Eight Trigrams Seal before.

But even the Eight Trigrams Seal used by Mito Uzumaki was, frankly speaking, just two Four Symbols Seals layered together.

At its core, it was still the same Four Symbols Seal framework.

But the Eight Trigrams Seal Uchiha Yan had just described was completely different.

That was a truly complete version.

It was countless times stronger than a knockoff crudely pieced together from two Four Symbols Seals.

Uchiha Yan smiled. "Not bad, right? Want to learn it?"

"Once we finish this new seal, it can completely replace that unreliable Pseudo-Eight Trigrams Seal on you. Then you'll be able to completely keep that thing inside you under control."

Uchiha Yan grinned at Kushina, his eyes carrying a hint of pride.

The moment Kushina heard that, her face went pale. She stared at him with wide eyes. "You... you already knew?"

"What else?" Uchiha Yan spread his hands, looking utterly unconcerned. "There's such a huge mass of special chakra sitting there. It's not like I'm blind. Besides, after studying so much Sealing Jutsu, I can sense the traces of the seal on you clearly."

Kushina lowered her head and clenched the hem of her clothes, her voice muffled. "Then... do you also think I'm a monster?"

"Huh?" Uchiha Yan rolled his eyes, looking speechless. "What is going through that head of yours? You've just got a little thing sealed inside you. Is that really enough to make you a monster?"

There was absolutely no logic to it.

(Nine-Tails: **! Who are you calling a little thing, brat? Your whole family are little things!)

Sensing Kushina's intense emotional fluctuations from within the seal, the Nine-Tails could not help extending a sliver of its consciousness to peek outside, only to find Uchiha Yan spouting such nonsense.

It instantly bristled.

If Uchiha Yan had not given it a strange, bone-deep sense of danger, it truly would have wanted to slap him and show that brat what a real difference in size looked like.

"Uh..." Kushina froze. Before her mood could sink, he had already left her caught between laughter and tears. "Do you even know what's sealed inside me? Does the Nine-Tails have so little presence in your eyes?"

"I know." Uchiha Yan shrugged, his tone as casual as if they were discussing what to eat that day. "It's just a Tailed Beast. What's so special about that? Just think of it as keeping a little pet in a cage. This Eight Trigrams Seal I came up with is simply a sturdier cage. Afraid it'll escape? Just replace the cage."

Kushina could not help bursting into laughter. "A pet? Hehehe..."

Put that way, the Nine-Tails suddenly did not seem so terrifying. It even seemed a little pitiful.

What exactly did Yan think Tailed Beasts were?

(Nine-Tails: I'd like to know what this brat thinks I am too!)

The Nine-Tails roared and prepared to force its way through the seal, sending out some chakra to properly teach Uchiha Yan a lesson.

But the instant it poked its head out—

"Hm?"

It met Uchiha Yan's icy eyes head-on. A terrifying pressure of spiritual power and golden-red ocular power crashed down over it like a bucket of ice water.

The Nine-Tails shuddered all over.

"Can't mess with him. Time to go."

It decisively shrank back into the depths of the seal.

A wise man did not fight when the odds were against him. A few insults were just a few insults.

"It's fine. That guy's thick-skinned. A couple of hits won't matter."

"If you really fight head-on, it's hard to say who would be the one suffering."

"Huh?"

This time, Kushina noticed something strange as well. She sensed that the Nine-Tails inside her seemed off. Looking at Uchiha Yan, she asked in surprise, "Can you see the Nine-Tails? What did you do just now? Why do I feel like it's a little afraid of you?"

She increasingly felt that this Uchiha boy was hiding quite a few secrets.

"It was nothing."

Uchiha Yan smiled and shook his head, his tone casual. "Just a little spiritual trick. You don't need to feel burdened by being a Jinchuriki. In my eyes, it's nothing at all. Let's hurry up and learn the Eight Trigrams Seal."

"Alright!"