"Hm, Spirit Transformation Technique... not bad. A useful soul-based secret art, worth studying."
"Wood Release secrets…"
Kaede continued flipping through the Scroll of Seals, scanning the various jutsu contained within.
The sealing techniques, which he had once struggled to use, were now almost trivial. After stepping into the realm of the Six Paths, mastering these techniques had become as simple as glancing at them once.
That included Wood Release.
Before reaching the Six Paths level, learning Wood Release required extensive effort, he had to carefully combine Earth and Water chakra natures and manipulate their fusion into Wood Release rather than Lava Release. On top of that, he had to inject Sage Chakra to guide the transformation correctly.
But now that he had reached the Six Paths level, this was no longer an issue. If he could control Truth-Seeking Balls composed of all seven chakra natures, then combining just two, along with the baseline Sage Body, was child's play. One look was enough for him to grasp the essence of the technique.
Even the hand seals for Wood Release were simple.
Just as Kaede memorized the final Wood Release technique, a door on the side of the office opened. Konan stepped out and poured herself a glass of water.
Kaede looked up at her, thought for a moment, and said:
"Konan, come here for a second."
"...Hm?"
Konan paused slightly but still walked over.
Kaede stood and approached her, raising his right hand. He brought his index and middle fingers together and pointed directly at the seal on her forehead.
Zzzt!
The seal suppressing 90% of her chakra lit up with glowing script from Kaede's fingers, then swiftly dissipated.
Konan froze for a moment as she felt her chakra flow freely again, but before she could react, a new set of seal patterns flared from Kaede's fingertips, enveloping her entire body and locking both her chakra and physical movements in place.
"Ugh…"
Kaede lowered his hand, a thoughtful expression crossing his face. Then he reached out again and lifted the seal, only to replace it with a different one.
This new seal radiated heat as it poured into her body. Konan let out a quiet gasp and instinctively took two steps back, her expression tightening in discomfort.
Snap!
Kaede flicked his finger, sending a black script seal flying into her. The new seal was lifted instantly.
He tested a variety of seals on her in quick succession. Once he confirmed that all he needed to do was memorize a pattern to easily cast a seal, he finally stopped.
"Haa… haa…"
Konan collapsed to the floor, chest rising and falling rapidly.
Sweat drenched her forehead, and her clothes clung to her from the dampness.
Some of the seals Kaede used also targeted her mind and consciousness, which left her dazed and confused, as though she hadn't yet processed what just happened.
Kaede didn't continue. He reached out with an open hand, using Universal Pull to draw her toward him. Then he dispelled the final seal on her and infused a stream of Six Paths Sage Chakra into her body.
The chakra surged through her system, washing away every side effect and aftershock caused by the seals. Even her mental state was gently healed in the process.
"Y-You…"
Konan stumbled back two steps as her awareness returned.
Kaede retracted his hand, sat back down behind his desk, and chuckled lightly. "I was just experimenting with a few sealing techniques. Didn't do anything else, so don't give me that look. Oh, and I've removed your suppression seal."
Konan's face remained blank for a moment, but his last sentence made her pause. "You trust me now?"
"Mm. You've been in Konoha for a while. It's about time you transitioned from a provisional ninja to a full shinobi."
Kaede smiled softly.
The real reason he released her, of course, was because she no longer posed any threat to Konoha.
Even if she retained her full power, enough to match Kage-level opponents, there was no realistic scenario where she could even take down one of Kaede's shadow clones, let alone challenge him directly.
But more importantly,
Lifting Konan's seal wasn't just about trust. He hoped to use her as bait to lure out Nagato.
With Uchiha Obito already dead, all that remained was to locate Nagato. Once he did, there'd be no escape. Freeing Konan might lead Nagato to contact her, and if he did, it would expose his location.
Indeed.
Kaede had already marked Konan with a Flying Thunder God formula.
Although his spatial abilities were still not his strongest suit, ever since obtaining the Rinnegan, he no longer suffered the limitation of only being able to maintain a handful of FTG marks.
That's why he'd left one on Mei Terumi, and now, another on Konan. Tracking them had become far more manageable than before.
"...Thank you."
After a brief silence, Konan nodded slightly.
She'd never held deep hatred for Konoha, or for Kaede himself. In fact, her time living in the village had been far more peaceful than her days in the Land of Rain.
And since Kaede became the Fifth Hokage, Konoha's dark underbelly had been almost completely purged. The entire village now radiated prosperity and peace, even at night, the streets were lively, and crime was almost nonexistent.
Of course,
That was partly because there was a massive fox sleeping just outside the village.
Hardly anyone dared to cause trouble, day or night. Even disputes between clans were no longer handled in secret. Instead, they were formally reported to Kaede.
After all, no one wanted to be randomly smacked across the village by the Nine-Tails.
"You're welcome."
Kaede smiled gently, picked up a teacup beside him, and set it on the desk. "By the way, mind pouring me a cup of tea?"
Konan gave a small smile, took the cup, and poured him some tea before placing it back on the desk.
Kaede took a sip and resumed reading the Scroll of Seals.
Most of the jutsu inside held little value to him now, but techniques like Flying Thunder God were still highly practical.
"Edo Tensei…"
After flipping for a while, he stopped on the Edo Tensei technique.
His eyes sharpened slightly as he examined it. Then he shook his head. "The Second Hokage really created quite the troublesome jutsu…"
Just like Orochimaru had said, Edo Tensei wasn't all that difficult to perform.
Its real flaw wasn't with the user, but with the risk that a powerful enough summoned soul could break free of control, nullify the summoning contract, and act independently.
It was a forbidden technique capable of plunging the ninja world into chaos.
And in the original timeline, it did exactly that.
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Completed version available on Patreon.com/Veltoria