Sakura watched the shadow in the corner warily. Only now did a wave of delayed fear wash over her. A trained shinobi's senses were usually sharp; at the very least, she should have detected any disturbance the moment it happened. Sakura was no exception, yet she hadn't heard this person enter at all.
Instantly, Sakura recalled the last time she'd snuck into Chief Soga's rooms – how he had managed to approach her without a sound then, too.
A jolt went through her at the thought. "Chief Soga?" she asked, her voice laced with uncertainty.
"..." The shadow remained silent, unmoving in its spot.
"Is that you? Chief Soga?" Sakura asked again, her voice turning colder, her grip tightening on the kunai.
"—Haaaah," the figure let out a long sigh. "It is."
Chief Soga stepped out from the darkened corner. By the moonlight filtering into the room, Sakura could see his face. It was indeed the village chief. However, Sakura didn't lower her kunai; instead, she held it even tighter.
"Stay right there! Don't move!" Sakura commanded sharply. "Why are you here? What are you trying to do?"
"I mean you no harm," Chief Soga said, raising his hands defensively. "Besides, I don't know any ninjutsu. I possess no abilities that could possibly threaten you. I'm just an ordinary old man."
"Still not telling the truth?" Sakura stared hard at him. "Even now?"
"Don't be hasty," Chief Soga said, lowering his hands and speaking with conviction. "I swear, everything I've told you before was the truth."
"..." Sakura watched him silently, waiting for him to continue.
"I just wanted to borrow the stone you showed me earlier!" Chief Soga stated. "The energy within that stone… it felt somewhat familiar."
"So, you do know about the Power of Gelel, then!" Hearing this, Sakura finally lowered her kunai slightly. It seemed Chief Soga was finally ready to lay his cards on the table.
"No, I don't know what the Power of Gelel is. But I might recognize the energy within the stone," Chief Soga said, shaking his head with a hint of reluctance. "Originally, I planned to borrow the stone quietly. I didn't expect you to discover me. Last time, you didn't notice me at all."
"It's stealing, not borrowing," Sakura corrected his choice of words pointedly.
"It's borrowing! I would have returned it, how can you call it stealing?" Chief Soga argued, sounding a bit flustered.
"Taking something without asking is stealing. Who exactly did you ask before taking it?" Sakura was almost amused by his rationalization. "But let's put that aside for now. Back in the reception room, I showed it to you, and you claimed you didn't recognize it. Why are you trying to steal—borrow—the stone now?"
"It's borrowing, not stealing!" Chief Soga muttered under his breath, but seeing Sakura's expression darken, he quickly changed tack. "Weren't you curious about how I could approach you so silently? If you let me take a look at that stone, I'll tell you."
"Fine, deal!" Sakura agreed immediately, retrieving the square metal box from her ninja tool pouch.
"Wait, let's go somewhere else," Chief Soga said. "Follow me!"
Sakura, holding the metal box, followed Chief Soga back to the same reception room they had met in earlier. He walked towards the large landscape painting on the wall, lifted it, and fumbled along the wall behind it for a moment. Sakura heard a soft click, and a section of the tatami mat floor beneath the painting slid downwards, revealing a long, dark descending staircase.
"Wh-Where does this lead?" Sakura asked, surprised.
"Remember that room you snuck into last time?" Chief Soga shot Sakura an exasperated glance. "I moved it underground."
"Er... You didn't move it underground just because I broke in, did you?" Sakura asked awkwardly.
"What do you think?" Chief Soga retorted irritably. "Come on."
Following Chief Soga down into the tunnel, Sakura felt her heart begin to beat faster. Staring into the pitch-black passage, she felt as though the truth was finally closing in.
At the end was a door. Chief Soga pushed it open and stepped inside, Sakura following close behind. The room's layout was just as she remembered: bare, except for a single table in the center holding fifteen wooden carvings.
Chief Soga sat down cross-legged on the floor. Sakura mirrored him, sitting opposite and handing the metal box over.
He took the box and opened it. The stone, pulsing with a soft green light, appeared before them.
Just as Chief Soga reached out to pick up the stone, Sakura warned him, "Prolonged contact with this stone has strong side effects. You definitely shouldn't touch it directly with your hand. I strongly advise against it."
Chief Soga paused, startled, but heeded her warning. He simply held the box, observing the stone within, before placing the open box on the table among the wooden carvings.
Something miraculous happened. The stone's verdant light radiated outwards, directly enveloping the wooden figures. No, it was more accurate to say the carvings were absorbing the light from the Gelel Stone.
"Wh-What's happening?" Sakura exclaimed in astonishment.
"It seems my suspicions were correct," Chief Soga nodded, sighing softly.
"What is going on? These carvings... Are they absorbing the Power of Gelel?" Sakura asked, bewildered.
"No, it's more like they're resonating," Chief Soga corrected.
"Resonating?" Sakura looked at the carvings, puzzled. "What are these made of?"
"Wood from the Great Tree of God," Chief Soga replied. "The same tree used for the torii gate at the village entrance."
Sakura's mind reeled. If these carvings were made from the Great Tree and were now resonating with the Power of Gelel, then the Seijutsu the sea wolf spoke of must actually be the Power of Gelel. That meant the strange energy she couldn't sense – the Seijutsu – was Gelel Power all along!
She subconsciously reached up, touching the pendant hanging around her neck. It was made from the piece of the Great Tree she had brought back last time. After her battle with Hanzo, it had strangely turned into rotted wood. Once she returned to the village, she had crafted a new one from the same material.
Could this pendant be why I haven't suffered the severe side effects of the Gelel Power?
"So, you're saying the Power of Gelel is Seijutsu?" Sakura asked.
Chief Soga remained silent for a moment before answering, "My answer is still that I don't know. This is the first time I've seen such a stone. I'm still not entirely sure if it's formed from Natural Power."
"Wait, what did you just say?!" Sakura exclaimed, startled.
Chief Soga looked at Sakura calmly. "The Great Tree contains an energy you cannot perceive. That sea wolf should have told you about it, though perhaps its explanation wasn't very clear. We call that energy 'Natural Power'."
"Hold on, how do you know about the sea wolf?" Sakura calmed herself, then frowned, recalling that no one else had been present during that conversation.
"Naturally, I was there at the time. You simply didn't detect me," Chief Soga chuckled, seeming somewhat pleased with himself.
"Just… continue," Sakura said, her thoughts a jumbled mess. She wasn't sure where to even begin with her questions, so she decided to let him finish first.
"You wanted to know what Seijutsu is, didn't you?" Chief Soga said. "Seijutsu is the key to perceiving Natural Power. Only by cultivating Seijutsu can one become aware of the omnipresent Power of Nature that pervades everything."
"Is it... Sage Art...?" Sakura felt like her brain might explode, her voice trembling slightly.
"I don't know." Chief Soga shook his head. "I am not a ninja. Naturally, I have no idea what this 'Sage Art' you speak of is. But Seijutsu is the method I used to remain undetected by you." He paused, glancing at Sakura. "The fact that you could sense me today proves that you now possess Natural Power as well."
"So, Natural Power is the Power of Gelel!" Sakura felt a surge of excitement. If Natural Power was natural energy, that meant Gelel Power was also natural energy! Did that mean Sage Art wasn't exclusive to the Three Great Sage Regions?
Chief Soga shook his head again. "I don't know. Because according to your description, the Power of Gelel seems to have significant side effects. Natural Power does not. Yet, the two share some similar positive effects."
Hearing this, Sakura's excitement subsided. He was right. Chief Soga had Natural Power within him, yet he was alive and well, and remarkably healthy for his one hundred and nine years.
She herself had experienced the Power of Gelel. While she hadn't disintegrated as Ranke warned, she had experienced the side effects of memory loss and emotional suppression. Perhaps they truly weren't the same thing after all.
"Chief Soga," Sakura asked respectfully, bowing her head slightly, "could you teach me Seijutsu?"