The Real Business on the Eve of the Exams

Takuma sat up in bed while the sky outside was still dark.

He reached back and pressed the Cursed Seal on his neck.

He hadn't slept well. In his dreams, he kept seeing that pale man with the long tongue grabbing him by the throat with one hand. Each time, he woke up gasping for air.

"God, this is annoying."

He muttered a curse.

After washing up and getting dressed, he passed through the kitchen on his way downstairs. On the stove sat the rice balls his mother had left him, along with a note: "Your dad and I went to stock up. We'll be back tonight. Good luck."

Beside the note was a carton of milk. Its packaging made it clear that it was from the system's supply of milk that never expired.

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

He headed through the alley toward Training Ground No. 3.

The official Chunin Ninja Exams began tomorrow.

He quickly reviewed all the cards in his hand: basic Water Release and Earth Release Ninjutsu, Mimicry Wood Release vines, the first-stage burst of the Cursed Seal, Spider-Sense and the chakra vision from his sunglasses, and the stamina granted by the Senju Bloodline and Healing Factor.

The most important one was the one he'd only just managed to get a handle on last night.

Takuma walked to the center of the field and stopped. Instead of warming up right away, he undid his shirt and looked down at his chest.

A pale blue Circular Mark sat in the center of his chest.

Throughout a month of training, Takuma had repeatedly tried 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. The energy was stored in its markings and released only when the seal was activated.

The problem was that activating the Cursed Seal carried the risk of losing control, and the violent impulse grew stronger each time.

He needed a gentler way to use it.

Then he thought of Tsunade's Yin Seal.

The diamond-shaped mark on her forehead stored chakra in ordinary times and released it all at once in battle. It could be used for combat, as well as to maintain her youth.

The principle was to seal small amounts of chakra in one part of the body over a long period, gradually building up a dense chakra reserve.

The Cursed Seal itself was already a half-finished Natural Energy collector.

What Takuma needed to do was simple in principle: draw the Natural Energy collected by the Cursed Seal out of its markings without activating the seal, and store it somewhere else.

The Cursed Seal's Natural Energy was incredibly unruly. Guide too much, and its corrosive effects would activate; guide too little, and he couldn't draw any out at all.

After one failure after another, he'd nearly given up. Then the image of the diamond-shaped mark on Tsunade's forehead came to mind, and a new idea suddenly occurred to him.

In the end, he found a solution: use the basic formula of Sealing Jutsu to construct a Small Chakra Seal in his chest.

The formula for a chakra seal wasn't complicated. The hard part was getting the precision and stability right.

But Takuma wasn't normal.

He had the Wolverine Healing Factor.

He'd lost count of his failures. Whenever the formula collapsed, chakra would surge backward and his chest would ache as if pierced by needles. Once, he'd even coughed up blood.

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

The mark lit up at once, blue light spreading outward from the center along its spiral pattern.

There was only a thin layer of Natural Energy stored inside.

"A glowing Circular Mark on my chest."

Takuma looked down at his chest, his mouth twitching.

"If I get another piece of armor from the system, could I stand at the entrance to Konoha, light up my chest, and tell the enemy, 'I am Iron Man'?"

His own mental image made him laugh.

It was too ridiculous to think about.

He prioritized his training for the day: first, confirm the seal's stability and how efficiently it could release energy; then, practice multi-angle attacks combining the vines with Spider-Sense; and finally, stop by Tenten's ninja tool shop—she'd said yesterday that she wanted to show him a new tool she'd made.

When the sun reached its peak, Takuma put away the vines in his hand and rolled his sore arms.

Tenten pushed open the wooden gate and walked into the training ground. She wore her usual dark blue short jacket, a ninja tool pouch at her waist, a bento box in her left hand, and a Small Chakra Seal in her right.

"So you are here after all."

Tenten looked around and sighed. "The whole village is out watching the commotion today, and you're the only one hiding here to train. Did you eat breakfast?"

"I had a rice ball."

"Then have some more."

Tenten handed him the bento box, then pulled out the Sealing Scroll tucked under her arm. "I also brought something to show you."

Takuma opened the bento box. Teriyaki chicken sat atop the rice, with a few pieces of pickled radish on the side.

He sat cross-legged on the ground and began eating as he watched Tenten unroll the scroll and form Hand Seals.

When the white smoke cleared, a long, slender chain lay on the ground.

It gleamed with the dark silver sheen unique to Chakra-Conducting Metal. Its links fit tightly together but moved freely.

Tenten picked up the chain and flicked her wrist.

The chain clinked crisply as it whipped through the air, moving as nimbly as a living thing. "It works as a flexible weapon on its own. Combined with your vines, it lets you attack from multiple angles—the vines restrict the enemy's movement, while the chain can bind them with great force or attack them directly."

Takuma took the chain and swung it around twice.

It was lighter than he'd expected, and the momentum felt smooth. The distinctive weight of the Chakra-Conducting Metal let it trace a steady arc through the air.

Takuma got to his feet and glanced down at his chest. His shirt covered the blue Circular Mark.

"By the way."

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

Tenten looked at him in confusion. "Tsunade, one of the Sannin? How could I have met her? I wasn't even born when she left the village. Why do you ask?"

"Just curious."

Takuma rolled his wrist, a faintly enigmatic smile on his lips. "Her Yin Seal is on her forehead, right?"

"We learned about it in Ninjutsu history class. A diamond-shaped mark that stores chakra. They say it can even preserve your appearance. What are you getting at?"

"Nothing."

Takuma undid the top button of his shirt, exposing the center of his chest. "I just wanted to show you this."

He channeled chakra into the seal.

The Circular Mark on his chest lit up at once, its blue glow clearly visible through his skin in the midday sun.

The glowing lines spiraled outward from the center, like a slowly beating blue heart.

Tenten's eyes widened.

"You—"

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

Takuma buttoned his shirt again. "I use the Natural Energy absorbed by the Cursed Seal, draw it out, then store it in the Chakra Seal in my chest. When activated, it can reinforce parts of my body. It's weaker than directly activating the Cursed Seal, but there's no risk of losing control."

Tenten's expression kept wavering between "That's impossible" and "How did you do that?"

"You... did this last night?" she finally managed.

"Yeah."

"You made it in one night?"

"Not quite one night."

Takuma worked it out carefully. "Most of the first half was spent failing. The Sealing Jutsu formula was unstable, and every time it collapsed I had to adjust the nodes. Good thing I heal fast, or I'd have needed several days to recover from coughing up that blood."

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

"Mori Takuma, could you try to think about how normal people feel when you say things like that?"

Takuma struck an exaggerated pose, arms spread wide, chest facing Tenten.

"If I get my hands on a suit of power armor, I'll stand at the entrance to Konoha, light up my chest, and hold my palms out."

He imitated a famous pose.

"I am Iron Man."

Tenten looked at his pose, the corners of her mouth twitching twice.

"That pose is genuinely stupid. And what do you mean, 'Iron Man'?"

"A legend from a distant land."

Tenten was already used to Takuma occasionally blurting out strange words.

She turned and walked toward the training ground's entrance.