Eve of the Chunin Exams

Takuma sat up in bed while the sky outside the window was not yet fully bright.

He reached up to press the Cursed Seal on the back of his neck.

His sleep had been restless; the image of that pale man with the long tongue gripping his throat with one hand had appeared in his dreams repeatedly, and he had woken up gasping for air every single time.

"So annoying."

He cursed under his breath.

After washing up and changing, he passed through the kitchen on his way downstairs. On the stove sat rice balls left by his mother and a note: "Your father and I are going to restock, we'll be back tonight. Good luck."

Pressed next to the note was a carton of milk; judging by the packaging, it was the "never-expiring" milk from the system.

Takuma's mouth twitched. He picked up a rice ball, took a bite, and shoved the milk into his ninja tool pouch.

He walked along the alley toward Training Ground No. 3.

The final round of the Chunin Exams was tomorrow.

He quickly ran through all his cards in his mind: basic Earth Release and Water Release ninjutsu, the vines mimicking Wood Release, the burst of the first stage of the Cursed Seal, his Spider-Sense, the chakra vision from his sunglasses, and the stamina granted by his Senju Bloodline combined with his Healing Factor.

The most critical item among them was something he had only just grasped the threshold of last night.

Takuma walked to the center of the training ground and stood still. Instead of rushing to warm up, he unbuttoned his shirt and looked down at his chest.

In the center of his chest was a pale cyan Circular Mark.

During his month of training, Takuma had repeatedly attempted to convert the natural energy absorbed by the Cursed Seal into usable chakra.

When inactive, the Cursed Seal slowly absorbed natural energy from the surroundings. This energy was usually stored within the seal's patterns and was only released when the seal was activated.

The problem was that activating the Cursed Seal carried the risk of losing control; the violent impulses grew stronger each time.

He needed a gentler way to use it.

Then, he thought of Tsunade's Yin Seal.

That diamond-shaped mark condensed on her forehead stored chakra during normal times and released it all at once during battle, serving both for combat and for maintaining her youth.

The principle involved sealing trace amounts of chakra in a specific part of the body over a long period, accumulating a high-density chakra reservoir.

The Cursed Seal itself was essentially a semi-finished natural energy collector.

What Takuma needed to do was essentially simple: extract the natural energy collected by the Cursed Seal from its patterns and store it elsewhere without activating the seal itself.

The natural energy within the Cursed Seal was extremely unruly. If he guided too much, it would trigger the seal's corrosive nature; if he guided too little, he couldn't draw it out at all.

He failed so many times he almost gave up, until the image of the diamond-shaped mark on Tsunade's forehead appeared in his mind, and a thought suddenly struck him.

The solution he finally found was to use basic sealing formulas to construct a Small Chakra Seal on his own chest.

The structural formula of a chakra seal wasn't complex; what was difficult was the precision and stability.

But Takuma was not a normal person.

He had the Wolverine Healing Factor.

He lost count of how many times he failed. When the formula collapsed, the chakra would backflow, causing sharp, needle-like pain in his chest; once, he even coughed up blood.

Takuma looked down at the pale cyan Circular Mark on his chest and injected a small stream of chakra into it.

The mark suddenly lit up, and cyan light spread outward from the center along the spiral patterns.

The natural energy stored inside was only a thin layer.

"A glowing circular mark on the chest."

Takuma looked down at his chest, his mouth twitching.

"If I manage to pull a set of armor-type items later, can I just stand at the gate of Konoha Village, light up the lamp on my chest, and tell the enemies, 'I am Iron Man'?"

He was amused by the image he had conjured up.

The mental picture was too ridiculous to dwell on.

He prioritized his training for the day: first, confirm the stability of the seal and the efficiency of the energy extraction; then, practice multi-angle attacks using his vines in coordination with his Spider-Sense; and finally, visit Tenten's ninja tool shop—she had said yesterday she wanted to show him a new tool she had made.

When the sun climbed to its zenith, Takuma retracted his vines and stretched his sore arms.

Tenten pushed open the wooden gate of the training ground and walked in. She was wearing her usual dark blue outfit, with a ninja tool pouch at her waist, a bento box in her left hand, and a small Sealing Scroll tucked under her right arm.

"I knew you'd be here."

Tenten looked around and sighed. "The whole village is out watching the excitement today, but you're the only one hiding here training. Did you have breakfast?"

"I had a rice ball."

"Then eat some more."

Tenten shoved the bento box into his hands and pulled out the Sealing Scroll from under her arm. "I'll show you something while you're at it."

Takuma opened the bento box; teriyaki chicken was arranged over the rice, with a few pieces of pickled radish on the side.

He sat cross-legged on the ground and began to eat, watching as Tenten unfolded the scroll and performed hand seals.

As the white smoke cleared, a thin, long chain appeared on the ground.

The entire thing shimmered with the dark silver luster unique to Chakra-Conducting Metal, and the links were tightly interlocked yet moved flexibly.

Tenten picked up the chain and flicked her wrist.

The chain made a crisp metallic clinking sound in the air, moving as flexibly as a living creature. "Used alone, it can serve as a soft weapon. Combined with your vines, you can form cross-attacks—the vines are responsible for restricting the enemy's movement, while the chain handles high-damage binding or direct strikes."

Takuma took the chain and swung it twice in the air.

It was lighter than he expected, and the inertia while swinging was quite comfortable. The weight characteristic of the conducting metal allowed it to trace a stable arc through the air.

Takuma stood up from the ground and glanced down at his chest; his shirt covered the cyan Circular Mark.

"By the way."

He spoke up suddenly. "Have you ever met Lady Tsunade?"

Tenten looked at him with a confused expression. "Tsunade, one of the Sannin? How could I have met her? I wasn't even born when she left the village. Why ask that all of a sudden?"

"Just curious."

Takuma stretched his wrists, a mysterious smile playing on his lips. "Her Yin Seal is on her forehead, right?"

"We learned about it in ninja history class. A diamond-shaped mark, stores chakra, and it's said to maintain one's appearance. What are you trying to say?"

"Nothing."

Takuma undid the top button of his shirt, revealing the center of his chest. "Just wanted to show you this."

He channeled chakra into the seal.

The Circular Mark on his chest suddenly lit up, and the cyan light was clearly visible through his skin under the midday sun.

The light patterns spiraled outward from the center, like a slowly beating cyan heart.

Tenten's eyes widened.

"You—"

"The inspiration came from Tsunade's Yin Seal, but the technical route is different."

Takuma buttoned his shirt back up. "I use the natural energy absorbed by the Cursed Seal, extract it, and store it in the chakra seal on my chest. When activated, I can strengthen my body locally. The effect is weaker than activating the Cursed Seal directly, but there's no risk of losing control."

Tenten's expression flickered between "How is this possible" and "How did you do that."

"You... did this last night?" she finally managed to squeeze out.

"Yeah."

"You made it in one night?"

"It wasn't exactly one night."

Takuma calculated it seriously. "Mostly because I kept failing in the first half. The sealing formula was unstable, and every time it collapsed, I had to readjust the node positions. Luckily, I recover quickly, otherwise, the blood I coughed up would have taken days to heal."

Tenten was silent for three seconds, then spoke with a blank expression.

"Mori Takuma, could you please consider the feelings of normal people when you say things like that?"

Takuma struck an exaggerated pose, arms outstretched, chest facing Tenten.

"If I manage to get a set of mechanical armor later, I'll stand at the gate of Konoha Village, light up my chest, and point my palms outward."

He mimicked a certain classic pose.

"I am Iron Man."

Tenten watched his pose, her mouth twitching twice.

"That move is truly stupid. Also, what is an Iron Man?"

"A legend from a distant land."

Tenten had long since grown accustomed to Takuma occasionally spouting inexplicable vocabulary.

She turned and walked toward the gate of the training ground.