We moved towards the boats scheduled to leave. I saw a boat with a sketchy captain. It was big enough to be a ship but was still parked in a corner, hidden from view. I used ligning sense to confirm that they were smuggling stuff aboard.
I walked up to the captain. "I know what you are doing."
The captain was a rough man with an even rougher smell of Tobacco and rum. He looked me up and down. "You don't know what you are talking about, kid."
Right. I was still 19. A kid to him. I took out my forehead protector instead.
He tensed. All around me, weapons were drawn as they eyed me warily.
"Relax. I won't report you today if you assist me in an official mission. In fact, I will pay."
I held up a pouch clinking with coins.
The captain eyed me warily. "What's the mission?"
"A small merry-go-round."
"Huh?"
"I need people to think that my friends and I left the Land of Fire secretly. Your boat and profession match that. All you have to do is take me and my friends out to the sea. Outside the range of sensors. Then wait for an hour. And bring us back."
"That's all?"
"Yep"
"How do I know you aren't lying?"
I drew my sword and used body flicker to appear right behind him with the sword to his neck. He was merely an early genin-level fighter. "You don't." It was a statement to tell him that I was stronger and the trap wasn't for him. I could take him right here.
He spoke as I moved away. "I hope that pouch is heavier than it looks."
I tossed it to him.
"But the price of your freedom is that we have to go now."
The man grinned while weighing the pouch.
"As the employer commands." Then bellowed, "Listen up, you dumb, idiotic sea sloths!. We'll pack the rest tomorrow. Today we go for a ride."
------
I watched the receding port for activity. The others must have realized what happened. They should be preparing another boat. They won't risk walking and fighting on the sea waves using water walking. Not with cluster grenades and fuinjutsu in play.
Sure enough, before we disappeared over the horizon. The captain informed me that another ship was following us.
"You said nothing about a battle, Lord Shinobi."
"Because I didn't expect one. If it keeps following us beyond the range of sensors. Inform me. It could be something else."
He gave me an unconvinced look but didn't argue.
I took out a folding table and began to draw.
------
The sea was quiet for now. Too quiet for a vessel carrying this much danger.
Far away in the distance, there was a silhouette of the chasing ship.
The ocean breeze carried salt, metal, and a whisper of something older — the hum of natural energy drifting through the waves. I could feel it now, sharper than ever. My control over SS energy had changed since the evolution.
Before, I could only hear it. Now, I could command it.
I set the brush down, flexing my fingers. The scars from the last attempt were still faintly visible — thin burns where uncontrolled SS energy had lashed back. That seal had collapsed on itself, bursting like a lung full of fire.
Not this time.
This time, I was going to make it right.
------
The tag lay flat before me — pale parchment fused with a thin layer of Chakra. I'd reinforced the edges to withstand natural energy compression. The lines of Spirit Script shimmered faintly, even uncharged, like veins waiting for blood.
"Containment first. Trigger last," I murmured.
The deck creaked beneath my knees as the ship rolled gently over the dark sea. Around me, the crew was acting in ignorance — or pretending to be.
I dipped the brush into chakra ink — a blend of powdered chakra crystal, silver, and a drop of my blood — and began the container seal.
Each curve of the SS script pulsed beneath my touch. The ink absorbed my chakra greedily, drinking it until the parchment trembled. But unlike last time, I felt it flow with me — not against. The stokes made were solid and not brittle. My new control over SS energy wasn't just stronger; it was balanced. Like two currents finally running parallel.
The seal began to stir. A soft hum rose from the steel underlay, resonating with the sea's rhythm.
I could feel the nature energy around me — the air, the ocean, the moonlight — bending toward the seal. The container began to draw it in, slow and steady, the parchment darkening at the center.
Then the pull quickened.
"Easy… easy…"
The wind shifted. Waves slapped harder against the hull as if the ocean itself was reacting. I grounded my chakra through my palms, regulating the intake. The energy was wild, ancient — a living thing testing my resolve.
It wanted to burst again.
But I didn't flinch. Not this time.
I channeled a thin thread of SS energy through my forearm, weaving it into the tag. The lines stabilized, glowing faintly green-blue. The pull steadied. The pressure eased.
The container seal held.
I let out a shaky laugh, one part relief, one part disbelief. "Finally… you listen."
Now came the trigger — the heart of it all. I took a small SS energy fragment and inscribed the activation mark in microscript. The trigger, too, was SS — a precision channel meant to interface directly with any chakra signature. This ensured that only I or the Yami, or maybe a sage, could actually trigger the blast. I put in the delay mechanism.
One wrong stroke, and the entire structure could implode.
The brush tip met metal. I exhaled slowly and let instinct take over. The trigger bloomed into shape — a fractal sigil, alive and pulsing. The seal and trigger connected with a faint click, like the closing of a lock.
The air stilled.
The ocean calmed.
For a moment, it was as if the world itself was holding its breath with me.
Then the light faded, leaving only the faint glow of the finished tag — quiet, obedient, heavy with power.
I leaned back, staring at it under the moonlight. The last time I'd tried this, the seal had devoured half my chakra network on detonating. Now, it rested still — contained, listening.
Maybe I'd evolved. Maybe I'd just gotten lucky.
Either way, the seal no longer fought me.
It waited.
And as the ship rocked softly beneath the sun, I whispered, half to the tag, half to myself —
"Took you long enough, old friend."