If you recognise it… I don't own it.
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"Nartuo" – Middle
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"What does this cure of yours entail?" Shizune asked, "And why do you require assistants?"
"While I studied the Seal," The Seal-Master replied softly, "I noticed that it was made up of several distinct features. The visible seal being the most obvious one. While the ink itself was the other. Most of Jiraiya-sama's work had concentrated on the seal. I chose to start by studying the ink and the method of delivery."
"Why?"
"Because Jiraiya-sama hadn't. If you do what you have always done, you'll always get what you always got." The Seal-Master shrugged, "And after all, Orochimaru is able to create seals with simply a touch of his hand. While he is melodramatic, I did not feel that he would simply bite a person to implant a seal if he did not have specific requirements about the formation of the seal.
"I see things from a different angle. In studying the ink I discovered that it isn't ink."
"What is it?" Anko asked confused.
"Orochimaru is in reality the snake many people refer to him as. The ink is actually a combination venom."
"What?" Anko yelped. The shock in her face mirrored by Gai and Shizune, "He poisoned me? And you didn't tell me?"
Anko's hand had snapped to her Seal.
"To a certain degree, yes." The Seal-Master nodded, "I was a bit worried at first. From my studies of the venom it indicated that you should be in constant agony, until all your muscles locked up and you died. However considering that you were still alive some ten or so years after the initial exposure there was no need for immediate panic."
"You should have reported it!" Shizune declared furious.
"She's survived this long. Would a few weeks make that much difference? And quite bluntly… I'm a ninja. We keep secrets. Sometimes even from each other. She wasn't dying. There wasn't an issue. I just needed to figure out why."
"Why?" Gai whispered, rather uncharacteristically for him.
"Basing my deductions on the principle that it hadn't killed you yet, it was unlikely to do so in the near future." The Seal-Master shrugged, "Also I did not know why the venom level had not reduced significantly. Based purely on the body's immune system, the venom level should have been barely noticeable given the length of time since its application. Or been at such high levels during the application that your death would have been near instantaneous."
"So then how?"
"The answer to that lay in the Seal." The Seal-Master's voice had a slight smile in it.
"Hang on," Anko frowned, "You said you studied the ink… The venom."
"Using my knowledge of the venom," The Seal-Master sounded pleased that she'd queried, "I was able to build a better base upon which to understand the Seal itself. By knowing more about its purpose I was able to understand more about the Seal. There was a summoning element among the various patterns. I analysed it further and discovered that it had many elements in common with the seals used for summoning animals, like the scroll that Hatake-san uses. Though the seals were not complete, I recalled a description of a jutsu that Jiraiya-sama uses that summons the esophagus of a toad around the caster. Through analysing the various sub-seals, I noticed a negative feedback system controlling the summoning. From there, with a few experiments, I was able to discover that the Seal summons venom from one of snake that Orochimaru is able to summon to replenish the venom in the Seal."
"It's constantly replaced?" Shizune breathed in horror.
"Yes. The body's immune system cannot be rid of it, and constantly fights against it. I'm sure Anko-san's medical reports will indicate higher than average levels of white blood cells in her blood stream, as well as a slight consistent temperature, which has probably been written off as merely standard for her."
"But why aren't I dead?" Anko pressed.
"Another element in the Seal restricts the movement of the venom in the Seal. It cannot travel any further than the small area around the Seal… That is without Orochimaru releasing it, which he no doubt does to gain a tactical advantage in any confrontation with yourself, Anko-san."
"I knew he was the cause."
"And you were right. Indeed in many ways the Seal itself is nearly perfect. I can only fault one part of its manufacture… It does not do what Orochimaru intended."
"The transformation… But how does that occur?" Shizune pressed, "What did he need to change? Can you tell?"
"Most of the elements were distinct and intact. I doubt that Orochimaru would have needed to alter them to suit his purposes to any degree. I also doubt that he would have chosen to. For all that Orochimaru is a genius when it comes to ninjutsu, his understanding of seals is very limited. From my own studies I could have devised a seal that would be far more effective in achieving his aims, with far fewer unnecessary components."
"You could do better?" Shizune was horrified.
"It is not something that I would care to do. But it is possible. However I would be loathe to do so. And I also lack a key component."
"Which is?"
"I said the ink was a combination venom. The primary component was the poison. However the secondary and no less important, if not more so, element was a large number of plasmids encoding for several highly unique and specialised proteins. I theorise that it is these proteins that allow for the transformation of the cursed individual, particularly as one of the Seal components allow for the rapid spread of the plasmids and the subsequent protein production, however unlike the spread of the snake venom element of the venom it is dependent upon the cursed person's desire."
"Then why use it? I mean it should be something easy to ignore."
"Carrot and stick." The Seal-Master seemed to be mourning, "Initially the Seal's restriction on the venom component isn't perfect. It stabilises over time. However use of the secondary component, the transformation element, blocks the pain, by use of enorphines. The victim associates the use of the Seal with the reduction in pain. In addition the transformation element increases the store and flow of available chakra to the victim… I would not be surprised if Orochimaru has lost many victims to this fact."
"What?"
"While the Seal appears to increase the chakra supply, in reality all it simply does is mimic the chakra pills used by the Akimichi clan to a certain degree. It encourages the burning of fat and other tissues to replenish lost chakra at an astonishing rate. The major difference is that the loss of tissue is not from obvious places on the victim, as that would be a worrying indicator to the victim… Instead the tissue lost is internal."
"But that would kill them." Shizune frowned.
"Orochimaru is no fool. He knows that it would. However by incorporating a seal usually found in the operating rooms of hospitals he is able to allow the victim to reverse any damage they have done to their internal organs, over time, provided they have enough food. On a side-note, his food bills must be relatively high in comparison to most villages; it is a possible method of tracing his base locations, assuming that most if not all of his ninja are victims of the Seal. The major problem with the increase in chakra is that the victim may die of catastrophic organ failure before the fight is over. It is interesting to note that while in a quick fight Orochimaru's ninja would have the better odds, a fight of attrition would actually be more beneficial to their opponents, if the Seal is activated. I am of the belief that the Seal was actually the cause of death of the bone-ninja who fought the Kakekage and Rock-san. It is also to be noted that the first and second stage of activation of the transformation would probably be in an attempt to increase the length of time the Seal can be activated for the victim. However I cannot claim to understand Orochimaru's thought process."
"You seem to be doing well so far?"
"So why was my Seal a failure?"
"Structurally it wasn't. The Seal itself is overcomplicated and contains far too many conflicting sections, but for what Orochimaru designed it for, it is perfect. The issue was with the combination venom."
"You cannot be serious."
"The ratio was off. There was too much of the snake venom to the plasmids. This caused the plasmids to be denatured. Thus rendering the Seal useless to Orochimaru's plans. This is also the practical reason as to why I could not produce my own version of the Seal. Though my ethics and morals would also prevent me from doing so. I would presume that in initial tests he didn't activate the transformation component in his victims, which were more than likely untrained civilians, and therefore useless for his plans after the initial tests. More than likely simply to test that he could correctly apply the Seal and that the snake venom component worked to his satisfaction. The chakra component could only be tested by a trained ninja as it requires knowledge of chakra to display the effects. In many ways, Anko-san, you could say that you were extremely lucky. One flaw."
"That still doesn't explain their loyalty to Orochimaru."
"Carrot and stick." The Seal-Master emphasised, "Release the snake venom when the victim is disobedient. Reward the transformation. In addition there was reference in the files to a secondary ingested substance used to further enhance the transformation element. This theory is partially supported by the detail that Uchiha Sasuske was unable to transform fully until he left the Village and was placed inside the coffin. I would suggest that analysis of the ritual would benefit our knowledge of the Seal. The full effects of the secondary substance and the reasoning behind the coffin may be the cause behind the loyalty. I am afraid I have not fully studied psychology or I would be better placed to offer an opinion."
"So how do we remove the Seal? You did say you had a method."
"Yes, hence the presence of my two companions tonight. The major problems in removing the Seal are easily listed. One, the snake venom. Two, the position of the Seal, it is near a major artery, a major tenketsu point and near the lymph system. In fact, due to the depth of penetration of the Seal it actually touches the first two and comes very close to the third. One of my companions has had a great deal of training in healing, while the other has studied the chakra system intimately. Between the three of us we should be able to remove the Seal without any danger to Anko-san."
"But how?"
"The first stage involves erasing the snake venom summoning part of the Seal… Once that has been achieved, Haku can begin on removing the venom from Anko-san. In doing so, I fear that the few plasmids that remain unchanged may try to 'infect' the chakra system. Haru will temporarily block the flow of your chakra in the local region to prevent its spread. The difficulty is in not causing permanent damage, so he will have to continually monitor the area. I will slowly unravel each of the sections of the Seal. However this will take time and patience, I cannot be certain of how much time. If the procedure is successful, I will provide a written record of how to replicate the feat for the future. Along with a seal matrix to remove the Seal."
"Thank you."
"Anko-san, if you would lie here." The Seal-Master and his companions arranged themselves so that they were arranged in a triangle formation.
"Why lie?"
"We do not know how this will affect you. Should you collapse due to exhaustion or something else, it will be easier and safer if you are already in a lying position. I would suggest that you remain as still as possible."
Anko pulled her coat off, revealing that she was wearing what she had been wearing to all of these meetings underneath, the purple strapless top. She then lay down at the request point and waited.
She felt the placement of a piece of paper over her Seal. Then the almost ritualistic event began.
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This is a small snippet from a Naruto story. I won't give many details, except to say that the Haku referenced is not Zabuza's Haku. And yes this story features a Seal-Master. However identity is not known nor are the assistants known.
I'm posting this to see if anyone can believe my explanation of Anko's Seal and if there are any obvious flaws or plot-holes in the description. Please feedback, I spent a long night on this, fully utilising Professor Google and Doctor Wikipedia.
Thank you.