Chapter 10: Versatility of Sealing Techniques.
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto. Naruto is the work of Masashi Kishimoto.
Author's Note: Thank you for reading the story! Chapter 10 is the first milestone of the story, let's aim for chapter 20! As always, thank you for sharing your opinions in the reviews, I always read them and I get awesome ideas from them! ^-^
While humming a tune, Naruto arrived at a forest. The forest was inside Konoha walls, but it was fairly large. This forest was the opposite of the Forest of Death. It was located on the left side of the village and didn't have a name.
Although the forest wasn't deep and after a few hundred meters, you would see the walls, Naruto was satisfied with this forest. It was because he couldn't leave the village walls, so he had to make do with what he got.
Bending over a spot under a tree, Naruto channeled his chakra on the unsuspecting soil.
Poof!
With a small cloud of smoke, a black bag appeared.
Clang…
Picking it up, the sound of metal hitting against each other rang in his ears. Untying the bag, Naruto nodded as a dozen of kunai greeted him from inside the bag. Aside from the kunai knives, there was also a closed scroll inside the bag. Seeing that it was left untouched, Naruto didn't bother with it. He didn't even touch it, nor did he touch any of the dozen kunai.
Instead, he picked up the dozen kunai using chakra.
"Hmm, I should sharpen these after I'm done with my warm-up."
The reason why he didn't seize the kunai knives by hand was that it was connected to the unopened scroll. If he used chakra, the kunai's connection to the scroll would be severed and it would be safe to pick up. If he didn't use chakra, the scroll would activate, and he would be blown to bits.
The scroll was a giant explosive tag. "Giant" compared to normal explosive tags, anyway. The entire scroll had a modified formula of the Explosive Tag seal. He called it "Explosive Scroll Seal," pretty original. Its power is a hundred times deadlier than a normal explosive tag. If a kage were to carelessly open the scroll, unless they had a god-like physique, they would die.
'Too bad it takes weeks, or even months, to write the Explosive Scroll Seal, and the success rate of making one is not even 10%.'
Naruto sighed and closed the bag. Looking around, Naruto saw exactly a dozen of red dots drawn on the forest tree. Those red dots were another formula of seals that he invented. He called them "Target Seals." As its name suggests, it is meant for target practice.
After a kunai, senbon, shuriken, or other projectile hit the Target Seal, the target seal will release the multi-colored powder that Naruto prepared. The powder is mostly composed of sand.
Naruto counted the bee-sized red dots on the trees.
'Seven,' Naruto smiled. Only seven out of twelve Target Seals were visible, which means that the other five are hidden behind trees, rocks, or other obstacles around the forest.
Naruto jumped, seemingly flying several meters in the air. Then, as if possessed by a dancing spirit, his body twisted and turned mid-air, defying gravity.
Swoosh—wooooosh—!
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Naruto released a dozen of kunai knives simultaneously. For one moment, it seems like none of the twelve kunai would hit the Target Seals, but as if a ghost was behind the kunai knives, all twelve kunai knives struck each other and changed direction.
When he landed, Naruto frowned and shook his head.
"Tsk, I only heard ten Target Seals go off…"
Seven of the visible Target Seals around him were struck, evident by the multi-colored sand that stuck to the kunai knives. After picking up the seven kunai knives, Naruto went around the forest and took out the other three that successfully struck the Target Seals.
As for the other two that didn't go off, they were slightly below or above the Target Seal, missing it by a few centimeters. Taking out those two kunai knives, Naruto returned them to the black bag, making a mental note to sharpen them before he leaves the forest.
Walking deeper into the forest, Naruto only stopped after arriving at an open area illuminated by the sunlight. The open area had a big boulder in the middle where he could sit. He placed that boulder there when he was six years old, and it was not a pretty experience.
Sitting on the boulder, Naruto lifted his shirt and revealed the bandage wrapping around his waist. He was not injured, the bandage was a storage scroll. Tapping it and channeling chakra inside the storage scroll, Naruto took out a book.
The book had an orange cover and nine black stripes that wrapped around the orange cover. It didn't take a genius to figure out that this book was a reference to nine tails.
The book was about a story of a young soul watching over the world. The young soul protected the world while hidden in the darkness. The young soul sacrificed everything it had to prevent the world from falling into the darkness of war.
Naruto has yet to finish the book, nor was he planning to finish it any time soon. He could finish the book in one day, after all, he was a ninja and his writing speed is leagues ahead of any regular author, but he didn't do that. Instead, he planned to write this story over the course of months, perhaps years.
It's one of his ways to pass the time, especially when he was stressed out and tired from his monotonous lifestyle. He was a living being, not some kind of robot. He needs to rest too, even if it's just for a day or two every year.
Scribble…
As the hours pass by, Naruto found himself lost in the world of his book. Each scene he wrote was done after a long time of imagination. He would picture the scene he wanted to describe in his head, and then he would try to experience the world he made before writing it down. This way, he would prevent himself from finishing the book too fast.
Raising his head, Naruto saw the sky was painted red. Clouds had retreated into the distance, and the sun was slowly sinking into the earth below. Dusk was fast approaching.
Clap! Clap!
Clapping his hands in satisfaction, Naruto closed the book with a pleased smile on his face.
Snap!
Lifting his shirt up, Naruto channeled chakra into the storage seal on his waist and stored the book in the seal. Confirming that the book was properly stored, Naruto stood up, brushing off the accumulated dust on his body.
As he was about to leave the forest, his ears twitched.
After six years of using the nine tails' chakra to improve his body, Naruto can hear sounds from hundreds of meters away.
"Someone's in the forest?"
After he occupied this part of the forest, no one came near this forest ever again. They said something about "the demon's lair," and the like but he couldn't care less about the civilian's hushed whispering behind his back. What he cared about was that no one disturbed him, not even ninjas.
It wasn't that ninjas hated him. Well, most of them do, but those who didn't keep a good distance away from him as a form of respect. He was, after all, the kyuubi's jinchuuriki. He kept them safe by keeping the nine tails' inside his body, so those few ninjas respected him.
Unfortunately, they were the minority.
Upon hearing someone nearby, he got suspicious. Without another thought, Naruto closed his eyes and activated his sensing abilities.
Although he could hear sounds from a long distance away, the sounds that he heard were muffled at best. Sensing others through chakra sensing was still the superior option.
[One kilometer away]
"Is it ready?"
A masked ninja asked. He had brown hair and a tall build. He was wearing a cloak that covered his entire body with only his head visible. His mask covered the lower part of his face, revealing his cold, brown eyes.
"Yes. The preparations are ready. Remember the task, do not harm the target. Lord Orochimaru will not be forgiving if the target is harmed."
Another masked ninja replied. This one had blonde hair and short stature. He was also wearing a cloak not too different from the first ninja. He too was wearing a mask that covered the lower part of his face.
"Understood," the brown-haired ninja nodded.
"Good. We have to hurry, our presence here is not welcome. It's only thanks to lord Danzo that we can infiltrate the village unnoticed," the blonde masked ninja said.
"I know."
Then, their figures turned into black shadows that quickly approached Naruto's location.
[With Naruto]
Sensing that they were going toward him, Naruto frowned. He couldn't hear their conversation, nor did he know that they were talking in the first place, but he could feel their intent.
"Am I their target? Who the hell would want to target me? I don't think I offended anyone… aside from the villagers," no matter how much Naruto searched his memory, he couldn't think of anyone who would want anything to do with him.
"Oh well. From their chakra level, they're only chunin rank. My chakra is jonin-level already, but I don't think I can win in an honest battle even with that advantage."
With the Uzumaki bloodline and the nine tails' chakra, Naruto's chakra had long reached the jonin level. Despite this, he never fought with anyone. Furthermore, no ninja was willing to train with him, so his taijutsu was above average at best.
The fox inside his belly was of no help either. The fox's fighting style was what you would expect from a giant nine-tailed fox.
That's why although his enemy only had chunin-level chakra, their experience, and combat ability are also chunin-level, while only his chakra is jonin-level. The rest of his abilities were barely genin-level, aside from his sealing technique and his kunai throwing skills.
'I should make some traps.'
Getting into action, Naruto pulled out a brush and a bottle of ink. After opening the lid of the ink bottle, he infused chakra into the brush and dipped the chakra-infused brush into the ink.
The ink swirled around the brush as if it was alive. Seeing this, Naruto nodded in satisfaction.
Crouching down, Naruto began writing a seal on the ground. Weirdly enough, the soil didn't absorb the ink. The grass didn't even hinder Naruto, they were like popcorn that would fly away when his brush touched the grass blades.
As a level 3 seal master, Naruto gained the ability to write seals on any surface.
"Fuuin: Earth Coffin Seal."
Earth Coffin Seal was Naruto's own invention. As the name suggests, the seal would encase the target in soil. Although it was useful in trapping the opponent, it only worked if the target stepped on the seal. If not, then it was just a fancy decoration.
'If the Earth Coffin Seal can't trap them, I have to think fast and formulate a seal on the spot. Otherwise, I'll have no choice but to fight them using taijutsu… what else can I do…?'
Gently caressing the brush on his palm, Naruto brainstormed for a few seconds before he came up with an idea. Dipping the brush into the ink bottle, Naruto drew a seal on the nearby trees.
"Fuuin: Erosion Seal."
"Fuuin: Erosion Seal."
"Fuuin…."
After drawing seals on as many trees as he could, Naruto waited in front of the first seal, the Earth Coffin Seal, in order to bait the masked ninjas who wanted to harm him. While waiting, he took an apple and sat on the ground to lessen the other party's vigilance.
Crunch… crunch—
Swoosh! Swoosh!
A couple of bites later, two masked ninjas appeared in front of Naruto. Naruto played his part by acting "surprised."
"Is he the target?" The brown-haired ninja asked.
The blonde ninja nodded her head, "Yeah—"
"Who are you?!"
Before the blonde ninja could agree, Naruto yelled.
"Tch, noisy."
The blond ninja snorted and glanced at his companion. Seeing this, Naruto gazed downwards and saw that they skipped over the Earth Coffin Seal. He sighed inwardly but still acted his part.
"Oh well, I shouldn't talk to the dead. Fuuin: Activate!"
When Naruto glanced downwards, the two masked ninjas noticed it and after Naruto activated the seal, they immediately jumped up.
Seeing the two jump up, Naruto took out six kunai from the storage scroll on his waist and threw them above the two masked ninjas.
The kunai went over the two masked ninjas, making them scoff in disbelief.
Clang!
However, the six kunai behind the two masked ninjas suddenly changed directions and flew toward them.
"What?! How?!"
Without any time to react, the two masked ninjas turned around and raised their arms to block the incoming kunai.
Puck! Puck! Puck!
When the two ninjas landed, their arms were dyed red, and both of them had three kunai embedded in their arms. Glaring at Naruto, they were about to rush him when…
Creaaak—boom!
Before the two ninjas could look around, seven trees suddenly fell on top of them and crushed their bodies.
Dust covered the area, making it difficult to see but Naruto had his eyes closed. He was sensing the faint chakra signals below those giant trees. Only three trees landed on the two ninjas, while the rest landed on the other trees nearby or on the other direction of Naruto and the two ninjas.
When he arrived above the trees that fell on the two ninjas, he opened his eyes and saw the blood splattered on the ground. Blood was still oozing out of their bodies, but their bodies had long been unrecognizable.
When he yelled to "activate" the seal below the two ninjas, it was actually just a distraction. The Earth Coffin Seal activated, yes, but that wasn't Naruto's real intention. Apart from the Earth Coffin Seal, he also activated the Erosion Seals.
A few seconds after the Erosion Seals, the trees around them lost a chunk of their trunk and resulting in them falling down like fallen giants.
The six kunai he threw served to guide the two ninjas to the ideal spot for them to be crushed.