The clearing was quiet. Peaceful, even. Which honestly felt wrong. After everything that had happened lately, silence almost felt suspicious.
I sat cross-legged beneath the shade of a large tree, exhaling slowly as sunlight filtered through the canopy overhead. The destroyed hillside from earlier sat somewhere in the distance behind me, reduced to rubble because apparently using Rasengan with Tsunade's chakra enhanced strength technique was a terrible idea. And by terrible I mean terribly good idea.
But enough about that. This part was important. Way more important than blowing up hills for scientific purposes.
Carefully, I raised my hands, and the hand signs came slowly. This wasn't the kind of technique you rushed. Tsunade made that very clear before when I studied under her. One mistake and the backlash could range anywhere from "ow" to "congratulations, you ruined your chakra network."
Awesome.
My hands came together several times to form the seal, then one final time as I inhaled deeply, then slowly reached upward with two fingers pressing gently against my forehead. Chakra shifted. Moved. Compressed. Tiny. Microscopic. Ridiculously precise. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, a faint warmth bloomed beneath my skin. Lines of chakra spread outward before slowly settling into shape.
Diamond-shaped. Resting neatly at the center of my forehead.
The Strength of a Hundred Seal.
Or, well, the foundation of it.
"...Huh."
Weird. Honestly? It felt weird. Like there was suddenly an extra pocket, sitting inside my body, waiting to be filled. A really expensive chakra savings account.
"...Alright then." I rolled my shoulders. Time to suffer. Because now came the miserable part. Funneling chakra.
Normally, people accumulate chakra into the seal in tiny amounts. Little by little. Daily. And why is that? Simple, my dear Watson. Because shinobi had jobs. Missions. Wars most importantly. You couldn't exactly dump ninety percent of your chakra into a forehead diamond and then go fight enemy ninja. That was a fantastic way to get stabbed.
Me?
Well. I was technically on vacation. Or at least as close to vacation as a traumatized child soldier got. Minato had practically dragged me off the front lines. Yukino needed time to recover. So, given the downtime, I'd best abuse it.
Because if I could dump absurd amounts of chakra into the seal while sitting around doing nothing, why wouldn't I? Most shinobi had to build this thing over years. Tiny amounts. Bit by bit.
Me? Nah.
Eat.
Rest.
Sleep.
Repeat.
Dump everything.
Recover.
Do it again.
Theoretically, I could speedrun this nonsense. Not fully, I'd still need a lot of time to gather the necessary amount, but I could definitely get a lot in during this break and get a huge head start.
I grinned. "...Alright, forehead savings account."
Then I closed my eyes. And started pouring chakra into it. Slowly at first. Gentle. Measured. The seal drank it greedily. A strange sensation. Like pouring water into a cup you couldn't see.
After about an hour passed, I'd dumped most of my chakra straight into the seal. Sweat rolled down my neck. My breathing grew heavier. I realized there was another reason to do it slowly over time.
This shit was hellish.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Every single bit of chakra went straight into the seal. It was like trying to drain a pool through a pinhole.
By the end of it, I felt like death.
I stood up. Immediately regretted standing up.
My legs wobbled. "...Okay." I mumbled to myself. "...Maybe ninety percent chakra depletion was ambitious."
I nearly ate dirt. Caught myself. Barely. Worth it. Probably. Hopefully. Maybe.
By the time I got home, I looked terrible. Absolutely terrible. The door slid open. And immediately...
"...Why do you look like a corpse?" Yahiko asked.
Rude.
Konan blinked slowly. "...You look bad, Shiro..."
Traitor.
"I feel worse," I admitted, paused for a moment, and said. "...Actually, no. I think I transcended feeling."
Yahiko looked alarmed. "What does that mean?!"
"I don't know."
Which somehow worried him more.
Konan suddenly tilted her head. Her eyes narrowed slightly. "...What's on your forehead?"
I blinked.
Right.
The seal.
Yahiko immediately leaned forward. "What the heck is that?!"
"It's a seal."
"What kind of seal?"
"A very annoying one."
Helpful explanation. I know.
Well, I'd brough them some food with me on the way back so they shut up quickly and got to chowing down. Interrogations could wait for later.
I went to my bed and got a change of clothes, put on a shirt and dropped in. My body was shaking from chakra depletion, so I needed time to nap.
Of course people had different plans, and I heard a knock on the door, then the door opened without waiting, and Tsunade walked in like she owned the place.
Of course she did.
"Oh? Still alive? Shiro?" she asked casually as she came in.
I came out of my bed and went to greet her. "...Debatable."
She stared for a few seconds in awkward silence, like she didn't know what to say before eventually following up with straight brutality. "...Kid, you look like hell... Minato was right to bench you."
I laughed at that. "Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence, Sensei."
She snorted, then her gaze drifted upward toward my forehead. She took a step back as her brows lifted slightly. "...Oh! You actually did it."
I pointed weakly. "Started it."
"Already?" She sounded genuinely surprised.
Then impressed. "...Huh." Her arms crossed. "Guess I shouldn't expect less from my number one student."
I blinked. "...Aren't I technically Jiraiya's student?"
"Details. You're also mine now."
I decided not to question the terrifying blonde woman. Survival instinct. Probably.
Tsunade sighed lightly. "Anyway. I came by since I just checked on Yukino."
"Really? So, how is she? Do you reckon she'll recover well?"
"Recovering well is a given." Her expression softened slightly. "Give it about two months and she'll be jumping around again."
My shoulders loosened before I even realized they'd tensed.
Good.
She was really gonna be okay.
Two months, huh?
"...That fast?" I couldn't help but ask, "She was... really beat up. And the poison too. Are you sure she doesn't need more rest time?"
"Shirokumo, boy, who are you talking to right now?" Tsunade grinned at me. "I told you she'd be fine in two months, so she'll be fine in two months. That ought to be enough to put you at ease." She smirked at flicked my forehead.
"Ouch!"
"Besides, you've got strict orders to stay off the battlefield until she recovers so you can come back together."
"...Minato, right?" I said whilst holding my forehead.
Tsunade barked out a laugh. "Oh, he was adamant. Kid looked more worried about you than you did about Yukino. Hid it well, though."
"He does hide his emotions well, usually."
Tsunade's eyes drifted toward the seal again. "...So." She motioned toward my forehead. "How much chakra did you dump in there?"
"Well, I started today actually and uh... I guess most of it."
"...Most of it?"
I nodded proudly. "Well, I'm free. For a month, apparently."
Her expression slowly shifted into something dangerously approving. "...You know what?" She pointed at me. "That's actually smart. Good job, Shiro."
I gave a weak thumbs up while being all wobbly. "Thanks."
"Normally I store tiny amounts because I'm active an shinobi on the battlefield," she explained. "I need most my reserves to assist in both battle and in the medical division. But you've got downtime."
"That was my exact thought process earlier! Nailed it to a T, sensei." I said with a grin.
She smirked. "If you're dumb enough to sit around nearly emptying yourself every day until Yukino recovers?"
"...Hey."
"You'll finish almost battlefield-ready accumulation way sooner than it normally takes me."
I grinned. "...Nice."
"Almost though." Tsunade added. "You do need to pour a lot before it's usable as your chakra pool isn't Senju level."
"You don't gotta rub it in..." I glared.
She smacked me on the head. "I'm not."
I held my head. "Ouch! Hey!"
"Well, since you're feeling fine, I'll head on out, kid. Do your best and show results."
Before she left I hesitated. "Wait! Uh...actually."
Tsunade paused. "What?"
I glanced toward Yahiko and Konan. Both immediately looked suspicious. "...Could you maybe pull some strings?"
Her eyes narrowed. "...What kind of strings?"
"...Ninja Academy."
Silence. Yahiko immediately straightened. Konan tried to look calm. Failed.
Tsunade sighed. "...You know people are already pulling strings, right?"
"I can only imagine."
"The Hyūga clan already appealed to the higher ups to allow those two to stay with you because Yukino kept pestering people." Her grin widened. "Minato and Jiraiya too, they went straight to the Hokage with the matter."
"They did? I didn't expect that actually... Please send my thanks when you see them."
"Will do, but still..." Her expression turned thoughtful. "As for your request... Getting refugee war orphans into the Academy officially? That might take time if you're serious about enrolling them."
Yahiko deflated a little.
Konan stayed quiet.
I nodded. "...That's fine." Then shrugged. "I'll just train them myself in the mean time."
Tsunade shook her head. "...You're too young to sound like somebody's exhausted parent."
"...I feel like somebody's exhausted parent."
She sighed as she turned toward the door. "Well, just don't overdo cultivating the seal, Shiro."
"I absolutely will."
"I know. That's why I'm worried."
"Don't be, I'll be good, promise." I smiled. "Plus, if anything happens to me I've got you to fix me up, right?"
"HA! Don't count on it, twerp."
We both chuckled.
"Oh, right," Tsunade said at the exit. "Minato will come back for me tomorrow. He'll probably come visit you too, just so you know."
"Oh, alright. Thanks for telling me. If you see him tell him I'll be expecting him."
Then she left.
If Minato was coming I'd wait before using up my reserves. I ought to show him what I've learned.
...