Ever since he had "stunned everyone with a single remark" at Kushina's house that day, Senju Chen's life had gained another routine besides his daily training: learning Sealing Jutsu from Kushina Uzumaki.
Tsunade was delighted to see it.
In her eyes, nothing could have been better than her little brother finding something he genuinely loved and having a cheerful, powerful senior like Kushina to guide him. Not only would this develop his ability to protect himself, but it would also help him completely escape the shadow of his past and give him another friend he could trust.
For this, she had even personally prepared an exceptionally lavish "apprenticeship gift," solemnly handing it to Minato Namikaze to pass on to Kushina. The way she went about presenting the gifts made it seem less like he was going to learn a craft and more like he was going to bring home a bride.
And so, Senju Chen's "Sealing Jutsu classes" officially began in an atmosphere that pleased everyone involved.
"No, no! Little Chen, look here." Kushina's voice brimmed with energy as she bent down, her warm fingertip lightly touching the sealing formula Senju Chen had just drawn. "This rune's corner needs to be a little rounder. That way, when chakra reaches this point, it'll flow smoothly past like a stream instead of hitting it like a rock and causing unnecessary energy loss!"
She leaned very close. A few playful strands of her signature long, crimson hair fell loose and brushed against Senju Chen's cheeks, tickling him and carrying a fresh scent of sunshine mixed with shampoo.
"L-like this?"
Senju Chen lifted his little face, a trace of "confusion" in his eyes. He obediently picked up his brush and carefully adjusted the corner according to Kushina's instructions.
The rounded corner reduces chakra collisions at the node, improving the formula's stability and activation speed. Great-Uncle Tobirama's notes mentioned that a more advanced technique involves building a miniature energy-buffering structure at the rune's corner. Not only can that eliminate losses, but it can even amplify the effect...
He had already studied this knowledge countless times in the scrolls left by the First and Second, which could rightly be called "Sealing Jutsu scriptures."
With Kushina Uzumaki helping him fill in the gaps, his learning progressed by leaps and bounds.
[Ding! Effective contact detected. Life energy resonance in progress... Infiltration and Differentiation progress +2%... Current total progress: 17%.]
The system notification ringing in his mind was his true objective.
"Yes! Just like that! Wow! Little Chen, you really are a genius!" Seeing his corrections, Kushina lavished praise on him, excitedly reaching out with both hands to ruffle his soft black hair. "You learn so fast! Much faster than that blockhead Minato did back then!"
Not far away, Minato Namikaze, who was helping trim the plants, heard her and smiled helplessly, his eyes full of affection.
Senju Chen, meanwhile, showed just the right smile of bashfulness and pride at being praised, while silently making calculations.
Physical contact gives the biggest progress boost, followed by close-range chakra sensing... Looks like I'll have to find ways to create more opportunities for "hands-on" teaching.
His days of "Sealing Jutsu classes" continued at this warm and efficient pace.
The "talent" Senju Chen displayed grew more astonishing by the day.
From the most basic "Binding Jutsu" to the slightly more complicated "Storage Seal," and then to "introductory Barrier Ninjutsu," which required delicate chakra control, he understood almost everything at a glance and mastered it as soon as he was taught.
Sometimes, after Kushina finished explaining, he would even ask questions that seemed innocent but went straight to the heart of the matter.
"Big Sister Kushina, if we switched the positions of this 'stability' rune and that 'amplification' rune, could we seal heavier things with less chakra?"
The question stopped Kushina, who had been enthusiastically preparing to demonstrate the Uzumaki Style Four Symbols Seal Simplified Version, dead in her tracks.
She lowered her head to look at the diagram and worked through Senju Chen's idea. A flicker of incredulous shock passed through her violet eyes.
In theory... it actually worked!
Although it would sacrifice some of the seal's longevity, under certain specific circumstances, this was undoubtedly an extremely creative approach to optimization!
"How... how did you think of that?" Kushina looked at Senju Chen as though he were a monster.
"I... I don't know either." Senju Chen scratched his head, wearing an innocent expression that said, "I was just saying whatever came to mind." "When I was reading Grandpa First's notes, I saw that he seemed to have drawn two unrelated formulas together... so I thought I'd give it a try..."
He cleverly attributed his "genius" to the "gradual influence" of his forebears' belongings.
The explanation was airtight.
"Lord First Hokage's notes..." At those words, Kushina immediately grew reverent. Her gaze toward Senju Chen gained something beyond simple fondness: recognition of and anticipation for his "bloodline inheritance."
As expected of Lord First's descendant! This kind of innate intuition wasn't something anyone else could hope to have!
Her gaze toward Senju Chen grew increasingly fervent, and her enthusiasm for teaching reached unprecedented heights. She wished she could impart everything she knew to him.
And amid this fervent "care," Senju Chen enjoyed the thrill of watching his system progress bar shoot upward.
In the blink of an eye, a month passed.
Over that month, Senju Chen became something of a "celebrity" in the circles of Konoha High Command.
Everyone knew that Princess Tsunade's precious little brother was not only a Wood Release genius but also a one-in-ten-thousand Sealing Jutsu prodigy. He had now been taken in as a disciple by the Uzumaki Clan's "Red Hot-Blooded Habanero," who spoiled him endlessly.
As a result, Minato Namikaze visited the Senju residence less often, because most of the time, he appeared at Kushina's house alongside Senju Chen. The sight of the three together was so heartwarming that many ninja observing in secret wore doting smiles.
That afternoon, the sunshine was just right.
In the courtyard, Kushina was teaching Senju Chen a fairly complex Barrier Ninjutsu-the Four-Sided Barrier, an introductory application of the Four Symbols Seal.
"...Remember, at the formula's anchor points in all four corners, your chakra output must be perfectly synchronized! Like this. Extend your perception outward and imagine they're your limbs!"
As Kushina spoke, she personally demonstrated.
Senju Chen sat cross-legged in the center, his eyes tightly shut and his fair little face full of concentration.
Following Kushina's guidance, he divided his chakra into four streams and precisely channeled them into the four rune nodes set up beforehand on the ground.
Humm-!
With a faint resonance, a pale gold, translucent square barrier instantly rose from the ground, enclosing Senju Chen.
The barrier's glow was steady and gentle, without the slightest flicker.
"It... it worked!" Kushina cried out in delighted surprise. She could feel that this barrier's stability was even more perfect than when she had first cast it herself!
She hurried forward and, the instant the barrier vanished, scooped Senju Chen up and happily spun him around a few times above her head.
"Little Chen! You were simply born for Sealing Jutsu! You're amazing!"
The young woman's natural fragrance and air of joy completely enveloped Senju Chen.
And at that very moment, the sound he had long awaited finally thundered through his mind.
[Ding! Life energy resonance has reached the threshold. Infiltration and Differentiation complete. Progress: 100%!] [Target: Kushina Uzumaki. Theft plan complete.]
It's here!
Senju Chen's heart gave a violent thump, but his face still wore that innocent, carefree smile as he let Kushina set him down.
[Stealable options generated. Please select:]
An icy system panel unfolded in his consciousness, displaying two lethally tempting options.
[Option A: Uzumaki Bloodline (high purity). After theft, you will gain immense vitality and chakra on the same level as the target, and fully inherit the Uzumaki Clan's bloodline talent for Sealing Jutsu, with an extremely high probability of awakening Adamantine Sealing Chains.] [Option B: Nine-Tails' power (root-level). After theft, entirely new Nine-Tails chakra will be generated within the host. Warning: this option will directly affect the core of the Jinchūriki's seal. The theft process may destabilize the seal. Extremely dangerous.]
Senju Chen's breath abruptly caught. He really could steal a Tailed Beast's power.
He looked at the two options before him, his mind racing.
Option A was the orthodox path, the foundation. With the Uzumaki Bloodline, his chakra reserves and staying power would undergo a qualitative leap as he grew older. Combined with his Senju physique and Wood Release, his future achievements would be limitless. This was the steadiest, safest choice, and the one with the longest-lasting benefits.
But option B...
Stealing the Nine-Tails' power directly! What a mad idea! It meant he could possess destructive power on par with Kage Level at just four years old.
"Little Chen, what's wrong? What are you thinking about?" Seeing Senju Chen suddenly freeze, Kushina gently shook his shoulders in concern.
Senju Chen came back to himself and raised his head, looking at Kushina's face, so full of sunshine and concern.
For the first time, his heart wavered violently.