Chapter 28 Part 2
Time passed, workaday. I simply don't know how else to describe this state: not swiftly—yet not dragging on endlessly. Time simply... passed. The genin—plus me—hardly left our "apartments": the guys had taken my advice with full responsibility and were diligently gathering strength. First came a late breakfast, then I performed my duties as the team's personal medic. The least trouble was with Naruko—this little orange had already managed to heal most of her injuries naturally, which was unsurprising. Sakurai, too, had basically gotten off with bruises and shallow cuts. Well, and our grim Uchiha heiress had gotten the worst of it: it was clearly visible that the White Snake had devoted all her attention to her. Sasuko's wounds weren't dangerous—but they were numerous. The pale sadist had thoroughly taken her enjoyment out on her.
Finishing the medical aid, I switched fully to the evening's event. Everything needed to be prepared, checked, and rechecked. To my regret, I didn't have many options regarding the Cursed Seal. Without research and thorough study, I couldn't act lightly: this thing was extremely complex. What's there to say—when Sarutobi couldn't handle an earlier version of the seal that Akon bore! That old woman clearly understands seals far better, and on top of that, has weighty experience behind her. In truth, the only correct option was to tightly seal this filth for the time being, so a solution could be sought unhurriedly. I had a few quick ideas, but—again—experiments and much time are needed. And time, as such, simply isn't there. So sealing is the only option. The other matter is that something stronger than the "Evil Sealing" seal executed by Kakashi in the canonical world will be needed here. I'd studied that seal from the scrolls: powerful, but not overly reliable—everything there hangs on willpower and spiritual fortitude. Which means, if the person wavers for an instant, it all goes to waste. Knowing Sasuko's temperament—not the best idea.
Therefore, I'd need something more substantial.
Sasuko reluctantly pulled off her shirt. Beneath the facade of displeasure, the girl concealed a whirlwind of emotions: this was already too much! Over the last months, she'd, one way or another, ended up bare more often than during visits to the medics at the Academy! And whose fault was that?
Nagisa Kaoru.
Sasuko blamed him for all of it. And even if each case had specific circumstances, even if it was for help—still!.. It was against her will. Sasuko simply didn't want to reconcile herself to the thought of being naked beside a boy. She was a girl from the main family of her clan—she had upbringing, she had principles!
And even less could she accept that now she was undressing (again!!)—but voluntarily. As unpleasant as it was to admit—this was the only way out. Having taken nearly a day to reflect, she'd been forced to agree with Kaoru's arguments: the seal left on her could be dangerous. She didn't know why that woman had done it, but that didn't matter—the fact that she pursued selfish interests was obvious. The very fact that she was being used in some way drove Sasuko nearly into a rage. She would not allow anyone to use her!!!
With a quiet sigh, calming her thoughts, the girl cast a glance at the bustling young man. She was curious: she'd never before seen how preparations for fuinjutsu were conducted. Though she had nothing to compare it with, it seemed to Sasuko that what was happening looked more like some kind of quasi-religious ritual. Talismans on the walls, a five-pointed star within a circle of unknown symbols. At the end of each ray stood censers with incense, filling the room's air with the indistinct aroma of fragrant herbs. No matter how you looked at it: an evil sorcerer's lair! For the full picture, all that was missing was a bloodied altar to some dark deity and... all manner of other vile nastiness that ought to be in such places.
Still, Sasuko wasn't worried that the young man would suddenly lose his mind and start sacrificing her. Strange, useless, and outrageous—but Nagisa had managed to earn a certain trust toward his person in the Uchiha's eyes. Even if it slightly prickled Sasuko's pride (arrogance), she acknowledged his help. At the very least, she could entrust him with her own treatment with a clear heart... or an unknown ritual/sealing, in this case.
"I'm finished," Kaoru declared, shaking invisible dust from his sleeves. Planting his hands on his hips, the young man swept a critical gaze over the work of his hands, then nodded, satisfied. "Ideal. Worth spending the whole day on this... How are you, Sasuko-chan?"
"I still don't like this!" The girl declared, displeased, covering her chest with her shirt. Why—why did she have to undress?! Though they'd discussed the details more than once, Sasuko still sought reasons not to take such... radical actions.
She's a girl, damn it!! And even if she doesn't show it—she feels shame!!! She has dignity!! At times, the thought crept in that the insufferable boy was merely looking for an excuse to see her naked again! Only by incredible effort of will did Sasuko manage not to blush from embarras—... anger! Yes—precisely from anger, and nothing else!
"Alas. Sorry, Sasuko-chan, but this is a harsh necessity." Kaoru shook his head, repeating the same words for the umpteenth time. He wasn't irritated by this in the slightest—since he understood what it was like for a proud (kh-kh... tsundere, kh-kh..) girl to do something like this. Though he couldn't deny the aesthetically pleasing view, right now, that wasn't important. Doctors know no word of embarrassment when doing their work—the same principle applied here. "The seal is complex, so I'll need maximum skin to inscribe the symbols. Hah..." The young man sighed. "Sasuko-chan. You're a very beautiful and attractive girl—but right now, the situation doesn't lend itself to frivolities. The main thing now is to deal with the White Snake's filth—and for that, we'll have to set our embarrassment aside."
"And besides—I've already bandaged you before, so there's nothing 'new' I'll see. But you'll definitely kill me if I ever breathe a word of that," the young man added, somewhat ribald, to himself. Even if he kept himself in a professional spirit—he was, after all, a guy.
"Fine. Great." The girl grumbled, frowning with all her might: the sudden compliment had echoed somewhere inside, utterly inappropriately, and the girl was exerting every effort to hide any reaction. "But!!! Keep in mind—I'll kill you if you dare do anything strange!"
"Heh... Yes, yes." The young man smiled, finding the girl's threats rather amusing and even cute. "Alright then—let's begin. Sit in the center of the seal and try to relax. I'll handle everything else."
"Hurry it up," Sasuko placed an ephemeral period at the end of the sentence, seating herself in the star's center. Once she'd decided—she'd carry everything to its logical conclusion, without retreat. That was her pride!
"Straighten your back, but try not to tense up," the young man spoke from behind her, also seating himself on the floor. Everything needed already stood nearby: a brush and a bowl of special ink. Taking a deep breath, Kaoru laid his left hand on the girl's neck. "Let's begin."
Sasuko tensed. When the foreign hand touched her skin, she nearly flinched—but made not a sound. All the girl's concentration was expressed only in her gaze and in how tightly she clenched the fabric of her shirt in her fists. Even trusting Kaoru, she tried, as much as possible, to monitor his actions and everything happening to her. For some time, nothing occurred—and then an indistinct sound reached the girl's ears.
"*******" It sounded from behind her back in Kaoru's voice.
To her, it sounded like an indistinct "wu-wu-bu-bu..."—which was rhythmic, and within it, some barely recognizable system could be felt. Reflecting on this, the girl suddenly realized—she knew what it resembled!
"Seriously? No—seriously?! A prayer?!" Sasuko's brows involuntarily climbed upward. She felt a mixture of bewilderment and a sense of absurdity: Nagisa's mumbling actually sounded like part of some mantra or prayer. She couldn't make out the words—the young man muttered under his breath, periodically "swallowing" syllables—but it was definitely not an enumeration of seals, as shinobi sometimes do.
But Sasuko didn't have time to fully feel her own bewilderment before something happened.
She didn't fully grasp what had occurred, but her honed shinobi senses seemed to whisper to her: someone is watching. An alien, unknown gaze—someone else was in the closed room. A presence behind her back! Her first, almost instinctive, impulse was to turn around, to locate the source of the gaze—but she was stopped. The moment she began to move, foreign fingers settled on her cheek, restraining the movement.
"?!—!" The girl nearly cried out. Glancing sideways, she saw that Kaoru's left hand no longer lay on the seal—but was touching her cheek. In this touch, words were clearly legible: "Don't turn around." In confirmation, the fingers slid left-right across her skin, as if imitating the shaking of a head.
"********" The young man continued mumbling, not even stumbling. Pressing her lips together, the girl nodded slowly, showing she understood the gesture's meaning. Then, the hand returned to its former place, and Sasuko waited, focused, studiously ignoring the sensation of a prickly stare at her back.
Later, when all this was over, she'd demand answers from this useless monk for all the strangeness! But for now—she would obey.
Kaoru's concentration had reached its peak. Chanting the summoning mantras, he sank into a controlled semblance of a trance. He needed to concentrate completely! The task he'd undertaken was far too critical—there was no room for failure or chance here. He had to execute everything perfectly and on the first try. The unsuccessful experience with Naruko had been a good teacher, pointing out to the young man his weak spots and deficiencies in skill. Since then, he'd worked diligently, foreseeing the imminent necessity of refining his abilities.
And now, he'd resolved to try again. To say he was nervous would be an extreme understatement. But he didn't allow his anxieties to seize him, burying them beneath a layer of focus and self-confidence. This time, his enemy wasn't an ancient demon-biju—but a human being, just like himself. Experienced, cunning, vile, and intelligent—but human. And this time, he would win!
Sensing the foreign presence, Kaoru allowed himself to relax for a brief instant and smile faintly: everything was going well. He didn't see—but sensed—the summoned entity looming over his figure with its very being. Without seeing, he yet saw and could well describe his helper: the visitor's tall figure was stately, though slightly plump. He wore gold-embroidered silk robes. A wide, square hat concealed black hair gathered into a tight hairstyle, bound with gold hairpins set with precious stones. A dense veil descended from the hat's brim, reliably hiding the entity's face, leaving only a black silhouette of a head with eyes steadily glowing with mystical light. Upon his chest hung a richly adorned inkwell, carved from a single piece of jade.
The Junior Official of the Celestial Chancellery had arrived at the summons.
The entity swept him with its gaze, narrowing the glowing pits of its eyes slightly. Descending lower, it took position behind the young onmyoji's back. Words weren't needed between them: each knew why they were here. Reaching out slowly, Kaoru took the brush in his right hand and dipped it into the ink. The kami did the same: its fingers uncorked the jade inkwell, moistening its own quill.
Then, they moved—simultaneously. Their movements were strangely synchronized, symmetrical. Synergistic. They overlaid one another: the translucent hand of the Official penetrated through Kaoru's hand, becoming something akin to a halo or shroud—since it was twice the size of the youth's hand. The brushes in their fingers likewise overlaid each other—and only their tips were in perfect equilibrium: at one and the same point.
Sasuko felt a chill. Something wasn't right. She couldn't explain her sensations—she simply felt that something strange was happening behind her back. But she still didn't turn around, remembering the wordless warning.
When Kaoru broke off his chant and the room plunged into oppressive silence, Sasuko flinched involuntarily.
"This may be a little painful—but please bear it, Sasuko-chan." From the voice that sounded behind her back, goosebumps ran across the girl's skin. "Cold focus"—that's how she could describe it. A voice so uncharacteristic for Nagisa that it sounded almost alien. "Are you ready?"
"Umg-h." Sasuko swallowed, agitated. However much she kept her face, inside she was uneasy. But even so, her resolve hadn't vanished. Inhaling deeply, the girl exhaled slowly: "Yes."
She exhaled—and immediately clenched her teeth: a burning pain pierced her neck!
The brush fluttered in Kaoru's hands, swiftly tracing elegant symbols. The ink—filled with chakra and spiritual power—seemed to penetrate beneath the girl's skin like fiery needles, biting into the Cursed Seal and searing away all the black chakra it had already managed to inject into her body.
It wasn't "a little painful"—it was very painful! Sasuko restrained herself from crying out at the burning sensations beneath her skin; she froze, patient, not moving, so as not to disturb the seal's application. To keep herself in one position, the girl clutched her knees with her hands, releasing the shirt that had now become entirely unimportant. Now that the fabric no longer covered her skin from the front, she could notice how unknown symbols were manifesting on her chest, parallel to the movement of the brush on her back. But she didn't even try to ponder the meaning of these inscriptions: all her thoughts went into keeping herself in one position.
Kaoru, too, was utterly composed. He moved with machine-like precision, allowing the Official to correct his motions. Before the young man's eyes stood columns of symbols and mystical signs, which he diligently transferred onto the girl's back. It was meticulous work—which concluded only when the symbols reached the middle of her lower back.
The seal was Very massive: a dense ligature of symbols left almost no skin uncovered by ink.
"Just a little more... Bear it just a little longer, Sasuko," the young man whispered inwardly, setting the brush aside. One last step remained. Placing his hand upon the Cursed Seal, Kaoru gathered the remnants of his strength and exhaled:
"Seal."
The moment the words left his lips, the script stirred into motion. Shifting, it began swiftly gathering and compressing. As if "coiling," it surrounded the Cursed Seal, intertwining and twisting, forming a fanciful ligature of design that covered it from above. It looked like a sun that had swallowed the seal's three tomoe.
"Fuh... that's... all," Kaoru whispered, weary. When the summoned spirit departed from him, the young man felt incredible exhaustion throughout his entire body. Sinking down, he inadvertently leaned against Sasuko's sweat-drenched back. Propping herself on her knees with trembling hands, the girl was breathing heavily—soaked through with sweat—and her breathing echoed in the empty room. Kaoru could hear how wildly her heart pounded.
"Get off," Sasuko mumbled, tongue slurring, trying with an awkward motion of her shoulder to shove the extra weight from her back. And also... Also, in her head—as if from nowhere—a thought appeared, utterly inappropriate to the situation:
"Don't you dare sniff my back!" — where Sasuko found the strength for such foolishness was unknown, but it was there, and it was even sufficient for a sliver of embarrassment.
"Sorry—but I'm... hah... completely out of strength..." The young man confessed. Having buried himself in study, he'd far too greatly neglected physical exertion—which had now come back to haunt him. Kaoru sighed inwardly: he'd have to additionally train physical endurance alongside mental endurance.
"Liar. That was... painful. And... stra... nge... I'll... ki... ll... you..." The girl accused, halting, quiet. Her consciousness was slowly drifting away—and the young man's reply, she no longer heard.
---------------
If you like this work and want to support the translator, you can do it on my p a t r e o n and read a 7 full chapters, not just parts. There are chapters covering the next seven weeks.
Here is link (without spaces)
p a t r e o n . com / MisterDarkTranslation