Chapter 24

Exploiting Weaknesses

Ginocide02 - Thank you for your Critique and good Critique at that. As for the Critique, I pretty much agree, he is a bit too good, I began taking steps a few chapters ago to introduce more weaknesses into Tri, both mentally and physically. I've already compromised his emotional calm and this very chapter highlights just how to fully use his close combat weakness against him.

As for him being the main character, firstly he isn't but Naruto and Itachi have already pre-established character traits and personalities so I have to take more time to flesh him out but I can see what you mean by many things being from his perspective, there'll be ebbs and flows in regards to from perspectives, the next arc which starts from ch.26 will revolve predominantly around Itachi and Naruto with little from Tri.

"Asuma-san?" an intrigued Naruto asked his father, "Why Asuma-san?"
"I chose Asuma-san because his greatest strength is Tri's greatest weakness," The blonde Kage noted the lack of conviction on Naruto's face, "What?" he challenged. "No, nothing," Naruto replied, slightly started by Minato's tone.

"It's just," *Sigh*, "I'm unsure whether Asuma-san can prevent Tri from dictating their battle," he admitted. "You know, for all the times you mentioned the words Tri and dictate in the same sentence, you've never once explained what you actually mean by it," Kushina deadpanned. Naruto at the least had the good grace to look guilty at her comment.

"Erm, well I g…"
"Distance and pacing," Itachi butted in. "Don't let Tri dictate the distance or the speed a battle is fought at. You make things much harder for yourself if you don't. He likes it when he's in control, it's possible to knock him off his game when he isn't."

Genma, who to this point had been silently listening to the group conversation around him surveyed the Chūnin clean-up crew repair the finals bits of damage done to the arena floor, and there was still one more bout to go. Out of the three young Jōnin being tested Tri was the most mysterious of the three, outside of his sphere of friends and family people didn't know much the adopted son, they did, however, know he was a very talented Shinobi.

"Uzumaki Tri, Sarutobi Asuma you're next," Genma called after dropping back down to the arena floor, Asuma jumped into the fighting arena while Tri simply appeared in it.

"Show-off," Jiraiya scoffed. "Is it a good idea to put him against Asuma, Minato. We wouldn't want him to get hurt. You know how dangerous his Trench Knives are." He added, loud enough to be heard down below, earning him a blank, decidedly unimpressed stare from Tri himself. Naruto, Itachi amongst a few others noticed something everyone else missed however. "Very slick," Naruto quietly noted.

"Don't worry Sensei, he'll be fine." Minato replied.

"With the way you spoke, I get the feeling you don't think Asuma-san is the best opponent for Tri-kun," Kushina quietly asked of Naruto. The blonde shook his head, "No I don't, sure Asuma's very capable in close-quarters but his fighting style still relies too much on Ninjutsu."
"So who should your Tou-san have picked to face him instead?"
"Maito Gai would have been the perfect choice. He's a Taijutsu master and one of few Shinobi I'm certain is faster than Tri-kun is."

Genma looked at each competitor. Asuma had drawn his Trench Knives and was clad in the same outfit as Kakashi, the only difference being the sash around his waist.

While Tri was in the midst of removing his cloak, Genma watched him do so. It revealed grey sandals, full-length grey pants with wrappings around his right thigh, a black short sleeved shirt with mesh underneath and wrappings up his entire arm except for his right forearm, the Violet Sash around his waist almost looked out of place with how the colours contrasted with one another. The cloak momentarily obscured his face as he discarded it, when it reappeared Tri had a Sharingan in his left eye. 'Very interesting' he thought.

Wasting no time in raising his arm in front of him. He shouted "Hajime!" thus beginning the final bout.

The collective gasps rang around the arena as they too spotted the red sclera of the Sharingan on Tri's face and were focussed on that than the fight getting underway, even from this far away they could make out the red.

Fugaku was stunned into silence, he knew about Tri's mixed heritage but never at any time thought it possible for Tri to actually awaken the Sharingan. Furthermore it meant he'd have to deal with countless attempts to persuade him to reclaim the eye, by force if necessary.

Sasuke next to him had his hands gripped around the metal railing in front of him, his knuckles were quickly turning white, he was positively seething. How could this unknown 'half-breed' possess something he, a full-blooded Uchiha did not.

Blue chakra surrounded Asuma's trench knives as he rushed forward, he knew that Taijutsu was Tri's weakest field. Tri, however, simply stood still, allowing Asuma to rush towards him. The moment he crossed half-way however he found himself having to navigate a flurry of kunai and shuriken forcing him to a halt to block and dodge. He took his eyes off of Tri for the briefest of moments, he tried to re-establish visual contact when he noticed Tri was already gone.

Sensing a chakra signature behind he spun blocking the kunai descending towards him, his Fūton imbued blade slicing Tri's kunai in half, forcing the teenager to jump back. Seeing an opportunity Asuma weaved some hand seals, "Fūton: Fūjin no Jutsu" (Wind Release: Dust Cloud Technique). A stream of fast-moving dust emitted from his mouth straight at Tri. Aiming to strike him before he touched the ground, Tri however did hit the ground moments before the dust stream struck him, a flicker signifying he'd dodged it.

Asuma, forced to turn 180° again to find Tri weaving hand seals, the exact ones Asuma had just used. "Fūton: Fūjin no Jutsu" Tri uttered before firing his own dust stream towards the Jōnin, he rolled to the side to dodge. His eyes widened however when he noticed a kunai with an already burning explosive tag on the ground. The tag detonated but only a smoking log flew out of smoke. "Quick thinking Asuma-san," Tri commended the experience Jōnin now stood across the arena floor, a grin on both their faces.

"Those tags you created for disguising Kawarimi objects are a godsend, it's simplifies things so much," Asuma applauded, he'd discarded the disguised log onto the arena floor before the fight had begun. Tri simply inclined his head in thanks for his complimentary words.

"Kaa-chan, what happened?" Minusha asked her mother, tugging on her shirt. Kushina looked down towards her youngest and explained. "Your Nii-chan dodged Asuma-san's Jutsu while also copying it. Having copied it he used it against Asuma-san, aiming it slightly to the left, forcing him to dodge right straight into the explosive tag he placed after dodging, forcing Asuma-san to use Kawarimi to escape the explosion." Minusha face went from thoughtful to a grin, "Cool." Her excited reaction getting a dismissive grunt from Jiraiya.

"Ready to continue Asuma-san?" Tri asked, the Sarutobi's answer was to launch himself towards Tri, faster than before. Again the Uzumaki stood still, this time weaving hand-seals instead of throwing projectiles. "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu" (Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu). Not slowing down in the face of the giant fireball Asuma brought his hands together shouting "Fūton: Reppūshō," (Wind Release: Gale Palm)he'd aimed it sideways and used it to push him around the fireball, a second Reppūshō catapulting him towards Tri. Planting his fist into the side of Tri's surprised face, launching him into the wall, a small impact crater forming. The dust kicked up by the impact quickly cleared leaving a worse for wear Tri. Genma appearing by his side to check his condition.

Genma was about to call the match and Jiraiya was half-way through a smirk when Tri disappeared in a puff of smoke. Naruto chuckled as Jiraiya's presumptuous misfortune, "Well done Tri-kun, your Kage Bunshin lasted longer than I expected."
"How could you tell?" Kushina asked. "When the clone flickered into the arena, it was slow, too slow to be the real Tri." Naruto replied, just loud enough for the Toad Sannin to hear. Getting a snicker from Kushina and Tsunade as Jiraiya scowled.

"So where is Nii-chan?" Minusha asked. "Where indeed Minusha-chan." A voice said somewhere above them. Leaving her mother's side she ran to the railing and leaned out over it and looked up, she saw Tri standing on the edge of the stadium roof. He gave his little sister a quick wave and a smile before flickering to the arena floor.

Asuma gave him a grin before leaping forward once more, "Let's kick it up a notch," he shouted as he approached. His two trench knives still glowing that eerie blue. He got close and opened with a horizontal slash aimed at decapitating Tri. The young Uzumaki ducked under and jumped into a tight forward roll and with his hands firmly planted on the ground he drove both his feet into Asuma's chest only for the Jōnin's other arm to block. With his attack stopped he pushed off Asuma's arm to get some distance as the razor-sharp trench knife made another attempt at cutting into his flesh.

Again Asuma grinned, "Not bad kid. I definitely don't have to pull my punches so to speak." His young opponent humorously rolled his eyes.

Again Tri found himself ducking as a knife sailed through the air, a few errant pieces of black and red hair cut free from his head. He'd been caught off-guard by Asuma suddenly increasing in speed again, 'He's quicker than I gave him credit.' This time he used a small flashbang to get him out of Asuma's reach, the Jōnin forced to rapidly blink to clear his distorted vision. By the time it did Tri was well out of his range. "That was a little too close, It would appear that I too need to loosen the restraints."

Tri placed the index and middle fingers of his left hand on the underside of his right wrist and turned them 90° counterclockwise then he seemed to almost go limp as his arms and torso turned to jelly as he revelled in the removal of his weight seals. "It's not often I need to remove my weight seals Asuma-san, thank you."

Asuma had already assumed a defensive Taijutsu stance. 'And he's conceded the momentum,' Naruto dryly thought to himself. Tri formed the Snake seal. "Suiton: Bakusui Shōha" (Water Release: Exploding Water Shock Wave). Opening his mouth a vast body of water poured out quickly flooding the arena, it was only seconds before a body of water four feet deep became the new arena floor. Asuma internally groaned, yet despite the water's presence he decided on his next move. Genma meanwhile had been forced onto the arena side wall to avoid getting his feet wet.

"Where did he learn that?" Minato exclaimed. "We undertook several missions to Mizu no Kuni (Land of Water) during our time with the Jūnishi Hokage-sama," Itachi vaguely explained. "Sharingan?"
"That would be my guess, Hokage-sama," he said with a nod.

"Katon: Haisekishō" (Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning) Asuma spoke, the Tiger seal formed in his hands as he spewed a cloud of dark ash across their battlefield. "It's over." Jiraiya said with an air of arrogant assurance as the ash cloud continued towards Tri who again stood still while he analysed Asuma's technique. His response chosen Tri began weaving hand seals. "Suiton: Suijinheki" (Water Release: Water Formation Wall) Tri said spewing another wave of water to form a curved wall in front of him blocking the ashes progress. As he did Asuma struck the flint in his mouth and the ash ignited, a wave of fire racing towards Tri's wall of water.

Tri whisked through a few more hand seals while using a chakra infused foot to kick more water into his wall as he spoke again. "Fūton: Kamikaze" (Wind Release: Divine Wind). Tri opened his mouth again releasing a huge supercharged gust of wind, it pushed against the wall of water turning it into a tidal wave. The water clashed with the approaching flames, steam spewed across the arena as water hissed and boiled but after a few seconds the flames were completely snuffed out.

Asuma brought his arms up in front of his face as the water fell around him, he was expecting to be submerged for a moment and he was half correct as the water enveloped him. But the water remained, opening his eyes he found himself in a ball of water and that he couldn't move. He could see Tri on the other side of the arena but he was also to his left, one of his hands inside the sphere of water.

"Suirō no Jutsu (Water Prison Technique) and a clone? When did he have time to create a clone? Itachi, explain." Tsunade demanded. "The moment the water surrounded Asuma-san Tri-kun shunshined next to him, made a clone and Shunshined back to his starting position." The Uchiha explained. "How?" Shizune asked, "I was watching Asuma-san the entire time and I never saw Tri-kun, no flicker, nothing."

"Speed, plain and simple." Minato answered, causing Itachi to nod. "Hai, Hokage-sama. The flicker you see when Tri moves is quite frankly a gimmick, it's what he wants you to see. In reality his actual speed when his weight seals are removed is great enough that at full pelt my Sharingan takes a few moments to register it. He's fast enough to do what he needs and be back in his starting position before you can notice," he explained, "But it's not without its weaknesses," he vaguely finished.

"Humph, So the Gaki's quick, a little Fūton chakra and that little water ball will burst. He's not won yet." Jiraiya added, a little bitterness in his voice. "He knows Jiraiya-sama, just keep watching." Itachi bluntly replied, being able to understand rather better why Tri disliked the Sannin.

Looking back towards the ball of water the clone was forming hand seals with its sole free hand. Placing his free hand on the surface of the water ball the clone spoke. "Suiton: Suirō Fūin," (Water Release: Water Prison Seal) from his hand a seal quickly spread around the sphere. "That's a Chakra drain seal." Kushina noted, recognising the array designs, "When did he have time to draw it? That's a complex seal not to mention it's on water. Itachi…" The Uchiha chuckled as he was again asked to explain, he struggled to remember the last time he'd spoken so much.

"Tri-kun has dozens of seals already drawn on the palm of his hands using an invisible ink. He figured out a way to transpose seals from his palm onto another surface. The advantage of course is that he doesn't need to draw it but it means he has to get in close hence the use of a clone." Itachi explained. Leaving Minato and Kushina open-mouthed. "That's brilliant and he is teaching me it," Minato said with a slight tone of finality. Even Jiraiya had to mentally acknowledge the ingenuity, though he'd never vocally admit it.

Regardless, just as Jiraiya had pointed out, Fūton chakra was sufficient in bursting the liquid prison as the ball popped, the dispatch of the water clone following swiftly. Asuma took a deep breath, 'Ok, Ninjutsu ain't working. Itachi said he liked being in control, let's wrest it from him.'

The Sarutobi took another deep breath and then simply vanished, no sound, no flicker, nothing. Tri barely had time to register a look of surprise before a punch to the shoulder blade lurched him forward. After regaining his balance he spun to find, nothing. He shunshined away just as Asuma reappeared behind him. 'Asuma was holding back yet more speed? Well now I have a problem and he seems to still have plenty of chakra left, that seal doesn't work quick enough it seems, I'll have to correct that some time.'

Meanwhile up in the stands Naruto was quickly having to re-evaluate his prior estimations of Asuma, he couldn't miss the cocky smile on his father's face. "Yes, alright Tou-san. I admit it, you chose very well," he admitted irritably. Minato's grin only widening at his son's expense.

The next minute continued in the same vein, Asuma would be able to get in close and land a hit or Tri would just get away in time, it meant that Tri was completely stuck on defence, unable to shift the momentum back his way. Even the water underfoot didn't help, Asuma wasn't leaving any ripples on the surface nor was he making a sound.

It took him that entire minute to notice that Asuma hadn't been using his trench knives, well, at least not with chakra flowing through them because he could distinctly recall a trench knife clad punch bouncing off his skull, his ears were still ringing because of it. But he bore no Fūton inflicted cuts. 'And I can't seem to shake him off, I Shunshin and he's there within a second or two,' he thought, the frustration starting to set in and Naruto noticed.

"He's starting to get frustrated, he hasn't noticed how Asuma's able to keep so close to him and not even the Sharingan can help him there," he remarked, Itachi nodding his head in agreement, "So long as it's only frustration, not anger," he added, a comment that had Jiraiya mentally raise an eyebrow.

"Can't he use his summon like you did to give him some breathing room?" Kushina asked him. Naruto shook his head, "No, his summons aren't combat oriented. They're fantastic scouts and spies but they aren't fighters, fitting really."

Asuma was still coming to terms with how easy it was to keep up with him, Tri was the faster of the two of them but he was gobsmacked by how one dimension his use of extreme speed actually was, it was so easy to predict where he'd end up and thus very easy to get in close and land another hit.

Another Shunshin, another kick to the kidneys, Asuma had to admit, he could take the hits well.

'Yeah, that's enough of being blindsided,' pumping his legs with chakra Tri launched himself into the air, at the top of his jump he leaned back so he ended up-side-down, his hands briskly weaving hand-seals. "Shakuton: Kanetsujouki," (Scorch Release: Superheated Vapour)

There was no wall of flames, no firestorm. In fact it was near invisible. A wall of superheated air that seared flesh on contact and flash-boiled water. Having heard the name of the Jutsu and spotted the heat haze it was giving off Asuma could quickly deduce that it was extremely hot un-ignited air only awaiting a spark. He repeated a pattern of hand-seals he'd used earlier, "Katon: Haisekishō."

The very visible wall of ash met the not so visible scolding hot air, the two began mixing together. Then Asuma did two things, first he stopped the flow of chakra to his feet so that he began to fall into the water, secondly he struck the flint in his mouth. A spark was all that was needed and he had just provided one.

From Tri's perspective, things were much more sudden, the ash which had been mixing with his own Jutsu one moment suddenly ignited the next. It quickly dawned on him the danger he was now in, Asuma's ash would be hot enough to burn him to death but his own Jutsu would incinerate him. On instinct he Kawarimied with one of the remaining disguised kunai that Kakashi had distributed around the arena during his match.

Tri had rather stupidly forgone bringing any of his own, he was so glad he'd built safeguards into the Kawarimi disguise seal which meant he wouldn't literally end up in the ground. His 'insider' knowledge of their creation process also meant he also knew how to Kawarimi with someone else's tags, something he neglected to tell anyone else, nor write in the scroll that taught fellow Shinobi how to create them.

On the plus side it meant he escaped being turned into a pile of ash, on the downside he suddenly found himself under several feet of water, water that was already lukewarm and quickly getting warmer. Looking up at the water's surface, he could see the bright reds, yellows and oranges that signified the flames coursing above him.

In the stands they'd seen ash disperse and then erupt into flames that rushed across the entire arena floor. It was only a few seconds before the flames receded to be replaced by a fine hot mist of water vapour that hung low in the air. "Itachi?"
"It's somewhat difficult to make out but I can see two chakra signatures, they both seem to be ok."

Tri broke through the surface, taking a huge gasping lungful of air, the black spots in his vision quickly making way. It hadn't occurred to him he'd end up underwater so he'd quickly found himself running out of air. He dragged himself onto the water's surface as he continued reacquainting his body with oxygen and much to his exasperation Asuma was already coming towards him again.

He knew he couldn't pull himself out of the water in time before the Jōnin reached him so he let himself fall back in but not before remembering to actually take a deep breath this time.

Asuma brought himself to a halt, 'Damn, now he has a measure on control,' he lamented. He took a defensive stance while he waited for Tri to show himself which he duly did after a few seconds. Bursting from the water just behind Asuma saw the Sarutobi spin on the spot and cleave Tri in two only for the now two halves to burst into smoke, much to the relief of Kushina amongst others.

Several more copies of Tri burst out from under the surface around Asuma and it took him a total of ten whole seconds to dispel all five of them. The clones were almost clumsy in their attempts to engage him and didn't seem able to coordinate their efforts.

The seconds of inactivity ticked by and Tri had still yet to re-emerge. The loose dirt and dust had made the water murky, it was difficult to see deeper than a few inches.

The silence which was by now becoming neigh unbearable was finally broken as two figures burst out of the water which was surprising, the surprising factor being that only one of them was Tri. The Asuma that had been waiting atop the water shot off to assist the other who was doing a fine job of forcing Tri towards the wall.

Tri, kunai in each hand endeavoured as best he could to hold off Asuma?/ his clone? He knew not which but the arrival of the second Asuma to his left spelt the end as he quickly ran out of ground to concede as his back was literally to the wall.

With nowhere to go he soon lost the kunai in his right hand. With his last remaining kunai he desperately held off the Asuma on the left, in a fraction of a second he was able to charge a Rasengan in his right hand. In hope rather than expectation he drove the small Rasengan into the Asuma on the right only for it to go up in a puff of smoke. It was then he lost his second kunai and the trench knife placed at his throat.

From his spot attached to the wall Genma got perhaps the best view in the stadium, they were almost directly below him, he waited a few seconds to see if Tri could slither his way out of it but nothing happened. He dropped down to the water where he and his former Genin charge made eye contact, Tri nodded once before leaning his head back against the wall, his eyes shutting in resignation as he sighed.

"Winner, Sarutobi Asuma." The audience which had been relatively quiet for all three matches broke out in cheers and generous applause. Asuma lowered his trench knife and stored them both away, the two combatants shared a handshake as Asuma spoke. "How much chakra do you have left?" he curiously asked. "At a guess, four-fifths, maybe slightly less. You didn't provide me much in the way of opportunity to use it."

Tri pulled a storage scroll out of one of the many storage seals in his arms, as Asuma and Genma made their way back up to the stands he unrolled and activated it before throwing it into the water. The storage scroll acted as a drain as the water flowed into it. Before long the water was gone leaving behind a damp, muddy surface, he picked up the scroll he re-sealed it in his arm as he heard a conversation begin above him.

"So how many times did Jiraiya-san proclaim the fight to be over when it in fact wasn't?." Genma jokingly asked, poking fun at the Sannin. "Hmph, not as many times as you forgot to teach the Gaki manners it seems." He'd barely finished speaking before a Kunai flew just past his head, embedding itself deeply into the ceiling above. Following its trajectory Jiraiya found himself looking back into the arena at an eagle-eared and decidedly unimpressed Tri.

"You will show Genma-sensei the proper respect old man," he shouted up to him, a venomous edge to his voice. Jiraiya just smugly laughed at him, then Tri shocked everyone when he formed the Seal of Confrontation in his left hand, his eyes boring into Jiraiya's.

Everyone knew what it meant, the seal of confrontation meant exactly as it sounded, and in this context it was an invitation. Tri had challenged a Sannin, besides the fact that most… no everyone would consider it an inherently daft decision in picking a fight he surely couldn't win it was challenging him in so public a manner that left Jiraiya with no choice. He couldn't back down or he would lose credibility in front of the population of a village that revered the Sannin, well two of them anyway, internally though Jiraiya was actually delighted at the unexpected turn of events.

'Frustration and Anger. Appears that calm façade of yours Gaki has cracks,' Jiraiya laughed to himself. The opportunity to smack the cocky runt around was simply too good an opportunity to miss. 'Toying with him should be very entertaining.'

"Minato, I won't be held responsible for what happened to him." He said before jumping into the arena.

"Tou-san, Kaa-chan. Please place a curved barrier seal at the top of the wall. And Genma-sensei, make sure you're on the outside of the barrier please." Tri near demanded, never taking his eyes off the white-haired Sannin he disliked so much.

Both parents understood this fight would be a major clash, and they shared a nervous glance at one another. They also understood that this was going to happen regardless of whether the barrier was there or not.

Despite being nervous for their son they did as he asked placing a total of twelve intricate seal arrays equal distances apart at the top of the arena wall, when all the arrays were in place both mirrored each other with a quick flurry of hand-seals. The arrays lit up in a luminous yet pale yellow transparent light that formed a horizontal, circular field that sealed Tri and Jiraiya in.

Returning to their original positions Minato looked at Genma who in turn looking at him, the blonde haired Hokage nodded to the Jōnin. "Are you two going to be able to supply enough chakra to keep the barrier up?" Tsunade asked, both silently nodded.

"Is it entirely wise to let Tri-kun fight Jiraiya-sama?" Shizune asked them both, the concern evident in her voice. "Perhaps not but the animosity has been building between the two of them for years," Minato replied. "Yes because you did nothing whenever Jiraiya belittled or derided him," Tsunade retorted, a surprisingly hard edge to her voice.

"This is going to end terribly isn't it," Naruto sighed to Itachi next to him. "Probably," the young Uchiha muttered back. The collective comments from everyone left Rezano in edge and Kushina nervously clinging to her mother.

Again Genma caught the eyes of Minato, the Hokage's eyes said to him that he was worried, perhaps even a little scared of what might happen. Nevertheless the Hokage nodded to him again and he begrudgingly nodded in return once more.

Those in the crowd who hadn't yet cottoned on to what was happened were clued in when the two Shinobi down below assumed their stances.

Omake Entry One (Decided to start doing these to cover lesser mentioned events or further explain things I don't fully explain or elaborate on during the chapters. Don't expect one every chapter but I'll do one whenever I have an idea for one. And we passed 200 Followers! Yay! Thank you all.)

Rank required to view Fūinjutsu tuition Scroll: Chūnin

The disguised Kawarimi Tag

See inside this scroll for instruction and explanation of how to utilise the Disguised Kawarimi Tag or DKT for short.

Introduction: The DKT is a Fūinjutsu tag combing both a Henge and Kawarimi. This allows you, the Shinobi to hide your chosen Kawarimi object/s in plain sight and much closer than previously possible without it being discovered.

Fūinjutsu: The seal arrays used in the tag have been simplified to allow for easy creation. Please find Instructions on the drawing of these seal arrays enclosed with this scroll, please refrain from attempting to draw the array designs until you have completely read and fully understood how this tag works.

While not required, a level 2 Fūinjutsu knowledge is recommended.

If instructions are not present, damaged or in any way illegible please alert a Shinobi librarian as soon as possible.

Seal Array Descriptions:

Henge Seal – This seal is exactly as it sounds, it is the Henge technique in the form of a seal array. It is this that disguises whatever object you seal within this tag. Please note that once the tag has been henged it cannot be changed.

Storage Seal – A simple storage seal, whatever you store within is what the tag will disguise itself as when activated. Only seal one of this object, no more, even if it's only a grain of dirt. When activating the Trigger Seal ensure object is in direct contact with the Storage Seal array.

Location Seal – This element of the DKT is so a Shinobi might locate their unused tags either during or after combat. You can use this to double check their locations or to retrieve them for future use. You will find further explanation on this seal in the instructions further down but to summarise the seal will hold a trace amount of your own chakra that you'll be able to sense.

Insurance Seal – Please note that all DKT's are one use only! This is a deliberate design feature, not a Fūinjutsu fault. Once you have used Kawarimi with one of your DKT's, the tag will intentionally catch fire and burn to nothing. As you may have guessed by how the seal is named, this is to ensure the array designs do not fall into the hands of Shinobi from other villages.

Blood Primer Seal – As you will likely be drawing these arrays yourself, the Primer Seal is a built-in double checker. When activated it will confirm to you whether you have correctly drawn and integrated all seals. Activate only after all arrays have been drawn!

Trigger Seal - Only activate this last! Triggering this seal activates the tag entirely and seals away the object of choice, activating this sooner will irrevocably damage the tag.

Seal Activation Order:

Only attempt activation after all seals are drawn.

1) Blood Primer Seal – Allow a drop of blood to land within the hollow circle the array design surrounds. If nothing happens the seal is not correct, if the blood is absorbed then the tag is ready to be activated.

2) Trigger Seal – Place a finger onto the hollow circle in the array and allow some chakra to flow into it.

3) Storage Seal – Activated automatically by the Trigger Seal. Your chosen object will be sealed within the tag.

4) Location Seal – Activated automatically by the Trigger Seal. You should be able to sense it immediately or shortly after activation.

5) Insurance Seal – Activated automatically by the Trigger Seal. (It will only burn the tag after the object has used in a Kawarimi.

6) Henge Seal – Activated automatically by the Trigger Seal, once activated the tag will Henge into the stored object.

Find below instructions on the drawing of the above-mentioned seals.

End Chapter