Chapter 52: Nōno's Gratitude
On the road back to the village, Neji was lost in thought.
Last night's battle had made him acutely aware of his own shortcomings. Besides the slow progression of his Tenseigan, the biggest limiting factor to his strength was his chakra reserves.
With each level his Tenseigan gained, his chakra capacity increased dramatically. He was already far beyond his peers, but he was still not satisfied. He suspected that even when his Tenseigan was fully awakened, he would still fall short of a natural prodigy like Naruto.
Ultimately, chakra capacity was determined by bloodline. He was a Hyūga, not an Ōtsutsuki. The Hyūga were famous for their Byakugan and Gentle Fist; their chakra reserves were not particularly noteworthy.
But there was a solution to this problem.
The Tailed Beasts.
The best rechargeable batteries in the shinobi world. A worthy prize. Even the weakest of them, the One-Tail, had chakra reserves far beyond that of any ordinary ninja.
The only problem was that all nine Tailed Beasts were in the possession of the Five Great Nations, each with its own Jinchūriki. If he wanted to get his hands on one, he would have to plan carefully.
"What are you thinking about, Neji?"
Yugito, who was on his back, suddenly asked.
"Huh?" Neji scratched his head and grinned. "I was just wondering how your leg is doing, Captain."
Yugito's leg had been injured, and she couldn't walk. Neji was carrying her back to the village.
Torune's insects were a tricky business. Once they latched onto their prey, they were like mercury, seeping into every pore. After breaking free from the Mind Body Switch Technique, Yugito had immediately entered her partial Tailed Beast state. The blue, cat-like phantom had repelled most of the insects swarming around her, but the ones that had already burrowed into her legs could not be forced out by the Tailed Beast's chakra.
Yugito was a tough woman. Without a moment's hesitation, she had unleashed a fire jutsu on her own legs. The flames had burned away all the insects in her flesh, but she had also suffered severe burns.
Yugito rested her chin on his shoulder. "It's probably going to take a long time to heal," she said in an exaggerated tone. "So, I'll be counting on you for the rest of the way, Neji."
The warmth of her breath on his neck sent a ticklish, distracting sensation through him.
She's definitely doing this on purpose.
Neji took a deep breath, adjusted his grip on her pert backside, and then, without another word, he continued on his way.
Ten days later, they were back in the Hidden Cloud. After dropping Yugito off at the hospital, Neji went straight to the Raikage's office to report on his mission.
When he saw the head of Aoyama Hideomi, the Fourth Raikage fell silent.
Aoyama had lived in the village for over twenty years. He was a civilian genius that the Cloud had carefully cultivated. During the Third Great War, he had had a distinguished record of killing several Konoha chunin. It was for this reason that the Raikage had appointed him as the captain of the patrol corps.
Who would have thought that he was a spy raised by Konoha?
When Neji released a half-dead Aburame Torune from the Kohaku no Jōhei, the Raikage flew into a rage and was about to smash his head in on the spot.
"Lord Raikage," Dodai said quickly, "a live bug is more valuable than a dead one."
"Then I'll leave this to you, Dodai," the Raikage said after a moment's thought. His expression suddenly changed. He turned to Neji with a grin. "Neji, come on. Let's go to the training grounds. I want to see how much stronger you've gotten."
"Yes, Lord Raikage."
The two of them left the office, leaving a bewildered Dodai standing in the wind.
A month later, at the Red Maple Izakaya.
"Iron Armor Seal: Release!"
Neji slowly removed his hand from Yakushi Nōno's flat stomach and took a deep breath. "Auntie Nōno, how do you feel?"
Nōno wiped the sweat from her forehead, an unnatural blush on her cheeks. "I feel... fine."
A moment ago, Neji had placed the Iron Armor Seal on her, and then, without using the release formula, he had undone it with a special method.
To break the seal, he had placed his palm directly on her abdomen and slowly infused his chakra, bit by bit, eroding the seal from within. The entire process had been long and draining, taking about half an hour.
The principle of a conventional sealing jutsu was to use the user's chakra to influence the target's. If one had precise enough chakra control, they could use their own chakra to destroy the chakra within the seal. Then, breaking the seal was as simple as peeling tape from one's mouth. The only difference was the strength of the adhesive.
"Alright, Auntie Nōno. I'm going to remove the Tongue-Cursing Seal now."
"I'm in your hands, Neji-kun."
In terms of sheer power, the Tongue-Cursing Seal was far weaker than the Iron Armor Seal, which had been developed specifically to contain a Tailed Beast.