Sealing Jutsu

Beneath the Tiger-Pattern Mask, the corners of Neji's mouth lifted slightly. He raised both hands and murmured almost inaudibly, "Divine Vacuum Strike!"

Boom! The blast thundered through all of Root. The entire Root Base shook as though an earthquake had struck.

Through his Byakugan, Neji saw the two Root shinobi and their Combination Ninjutsu blown apart by his Divine Vacuum Strike in an instant.

Crack, crack, crack. Part of the underground Root Base began to collapse, chunks of debris falling from above.

"Hm? He's using Special Insects to eat through the obstacles. Not bad." Neji had spotted what Aburame Ryoma was doing.

The barrier around the room that appeared to hold Root's Secret Technique remained intact, unaffected by the chaos outside.

Neji came to the barrier and held out his palm. He could sense that this was not a Sensory Barrier like the one covering Konoha. It was a Defensive Barrier.

Danzo had spared no expense. A barrier this strong would take at least eight people working in shifts every day to maintain. Whatever lay inside had to be precious.

Neji aimed his hand at a corner of the barrier, making sure he would not damage the Scrolls inside. "Let's see how sturdy this barrier really is. Divine Vacuum Strike!"

A muffled bang rang out, followed by a clatter as Neji shattered the purplish-black barrier.

The rush of air from the breaking barrier still sent some Scrolls unfurling.

The four Root shinobi sitting cross-legged to maintain it swayed as the barrier was forcibly destroyed.

Neji seized the opening. Four Shuriken flew out and struck them squarely in the throats.

"Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!" Neji saw the contents of an unfurled Scroll and breathed a sigh of relief. "So this really is where Root keeps its Secret Techniques."

"I need to hurry." Through his Byakugan, Neji saw the Root shinobi finish assembling and head toward him.

"Spirit Transformation Technique?" Neji opened a Scroll, read its contents, and shook his head. "Not the Ninjutsu I'm looking for. Set it aside."

"Wooden Man Technique. Not that either."

"Wood Dragon Technique. No."

"Oh, Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu? Not what I came for, but worth taking." As Neji searched the Scrolls, he had finally found a Secret Technique worth keeping.

A Storage Scroll could not hold much. It was no legendary storage pouch. Perhaps only the Treasure Tools forged by the Sage of Six Paths could hold large quantities of things in this world.

Storage Scrolls were only good for small objects, such as Scrolls containing Ninjutsu, and not even large ones.

"Wind Release: Vacuum Serial Waves? Why is a B-rank Wind Release technique taking up space here?" Neji was speechless. What was Danzo thinking?

"Wind Release: Vacuum Wave? Wind Release: Vacuum Great Sphere? What is Danzo doing?" Neji tossed the Scroll aside.

"Evil Sealing Method? It's a Sealing Jutsu, but not the kind I want..." Even so, Neji set the Scroll aside. He had brought few Storage Scrolls and could not afford to waste them.

"Five Elements Seal! At least I've got something." Neji had finally found a Sealing Jutsu that would do.

Neji remembered that the Pseudo-Nine-Tails Jinchuriki at the Fire Temple had been sealed with the Five Elements Seal. That meant it was at least capable of sealing Tailed Beast Chakra.

Without hesitation, Neji put it into a Storage Scroll.

"Let's keep looking. Huh, what's this? Yin Seal?" As Neji leafed through the scrolls, he found something unexpected.

The Yin Seal! It was an S-rank medical Sealing Jutsu developed by Tsunade. Neji had never expected to find it here.

It was the culmination of Tsunade's work, and it was far from ordinary. Storing Chakra was only one of its functions. It could also regulate Chakra, maintain bodily functions, preserve youth, and boost offensive power.

It was an exceptionally difficult, compound Medical Ninjutsu, combining Medical Ninjutsu and Sealing Jutsu. It was far harder than a typical S-rank Ninjutsu.

Tsunade, its creator, was the only person in the entire Shinobi World who had mastered it. Even Shizune, who stayed by Tsunade's side and could receive her guidance at any time, had not learned it.

"Good stuff. I'm taking it!" Neji stuffed it straight into a Storage Scroll.

Who knew? Neji might manage to learn it himself. There was no harm in dreaming. Mastering it would mean his Medical Ninjutsu had reached a high level.

"More Wind Release!" Neji picked up the next Scroll and tossed it aside in disgust.

"Still Wind Release! That Danzo..." Neji threw another one away.

"Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence?"

"Wood Release: Hōbi Technique? Wood Release: Hotei Technique?"

"Four Symbols Seal? Now we're talking!" Neji was delighted when he reached that Scroll.

The Four Symbols Seal was a sealing formula from the Uzumaki Clan, designed specifically to seal evil powers.

And what counted as an evil power in this world? Tailed Beasts, of course!

This was a Sealing Jutsu made to deal with Tailed Beasts!

The Four Symbols Seal was an S-rank Sealing Jutsu, on the same level as the Reverse Four Symbols Seal.

Back then, the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, had layered two Four Symbols Seals to create the Eight Trigrams Seal and seal the Nine-Tails inside Naruto, turning Naruto into the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

The Hokage had never lost control growing up. Even the Nine-Tails, the strongest Tailed Beast, was held fast by that seal. It could do nothing against it.

The seal could also convert the Nine-Tails' Chakra into the Jinchūriki's own Chakra. That was one reason the Hokage had such vast Chakra reserves.

Shukaku of Sunagakure, by contrast, often went berserk.

The Pseudo-Nine-Tails Jinchuriki at the Fire Temple had also gone berserk several times.

Clearly, neither the seal on Sunagakure's Gaara nor the one on that Pseudo-Nine-Tails Jinchuriki was particularly reliable.

"The Eight Trigrams Seal is probably the strongest conventional Sealing Jutsu," Neji thought.

Neji packed away the Scroll containing the Four Symbols Seal, glanced at the remaining Scrolls, and lost interest in searching further. He turned back and placed the Spirit Transformation Technique Scroll into his last Storage Scroll.

He brushed off dust that was not there, left the room, and used the Body Flicker Technique to head for the passage with the fewest Root shinobi.

"Aburame Ryoma? Fine. Let's meet him." Through his Byakugan, Neji saw that Aburame Ryoma's insects had already dug through the passage.

Neji did not slow down. He headed straight for Aburame Ryoma, whose passage had the fewest Root shinobi.

He had found what he wanted. Now the question was whether he could get it out.

The passage was pitch-black, but it did not hinder Neji at all.

Aburame Ryoma up ahead seemed just as unaffected. He ran at full speed.

The Secret Chamber at the end of the passage held things vital to Root. Aburame Ryoma dreaded to imagine what would happen if someone got hold of those Secret Technique Scrolls.