pdf-ebookys Chapter 232 Teaching the Sealing Talisman, Returning Home in Glory
Chapter 232 Teaching the Sealing Talisman, Returning Home in Glory
Chapter 232 Teaching the Sealing Talisman, Returning Home in Glory
When Taiichi returned to his rest tent, it was already around 4 p.m. Yangping and Saori, who had gone out to train, had also returned and were chatting in the tent.
Judging from their conversation, it was Taiichi's insights on genjutsu that afternoon. Yangping seemed to be planning to try learning genjutsu again; he still couldn't let go of the Mangekyou Sharingan's enhancement to genjutsu and wanted to challenge his weakness once more.
Upon seeing Taiyi enter through the tent, Yangping was immediately delighted. He walked up to Taiyi, explained the situation, and wanted to hear Taiyi's opinion.
"This—" What could Taiyi say? His spirit of challenging himself was commendable, but doing something he knew was impossible was not a smart move.
"You can give it a try, but don't spend too much time on it. If it doesn't work out, know when to stop. Time is precious right now. Every bit of strength you gain increases your chances of survival on the battlefield."
Taiichi could only say that, and at the same time took out a scroll from his ninja tool bag and handed it to Yangping, "These are some notes I took when I was learning genjutsu. I hope they will be useful to you."
Yangping's smile vanished instantly upon seeing the scroll Taiyi handed him. He solemnly accepted Taiyi's notes, nodding emphatically, and said, "I will definitely handle this carefully, don't worry!"
Taiichi patted Yangping on the shoulder, then walked past him, ignoring him as he ran off to study the scroll. He went straight to Saori, took out the exchanged talismans and ink from his ninja tool pouch, and waved them around. "Saori, I'm going to make sealing talismans. Can you help me?"
Upon hearing this, Saori's eyes lit up, and she quickly nodded in agreement.
She naturally understood that Taiyi didn't really want her to help, but rather intended for her to learn from him; to be able to create sealing talismans of that level, every step of the process was worth learning.
"Yangping, do you want to come along?" Taiyi turned around and called out to Yangping.
"You two go ahead. I recognize those sealing runes, but they don't recognize me. You might as well stay here and study your illusion notes." Yangping waved his hand without looking up, signaling Taiyi and Saori to leave quickly and not disturb him.
Taiichi smiled and didn't mind. He led Saori out of the tent, and the two walked slowly, talking about their understanding of sealing techniques. Of course, Saori did most of the talking, and Taiichi occasionally chimed in to point out the shortcomings in Saori's understanding.
Back when Taiichi was learning sealing techniques, the two of them discussed it together. However, at that time, it was Saori who was teaching Taiichi some basic sealing techniques. Not long after, their roles have been reversed.
Saori sighed inwardly as the two of them arrived at a clearing in the grove, which was also where Taiichi usually trained. All the trees within a 30-meter radius had been cleared away, and apart from some potholes on the ground, everything else was in good condition.
Saori was puzzled. There was no suitable place here to make sealing talismans. She wondered why Taiichi had brought her here. Surely it wasn't for training! She looked at Taiichi with a puzzled expression.
Taiyi smiled and offered no explanation. He took a few steps forward to the edge of the arena, formed hand seals, and channeled his chakra into earth-attribute power before slamming his palm into the ground.
Instantly, the ground in front of Taiyi softened rapidly under the influence of chakra, forming a muddy state similar to the Yellow Springs Swamp, with one or two bubbles occasionally emerging from it.
With the continuous input of chakra, the surface of the muddy ground quickly became flat and hardened, changing from yellowish-brown to dark brown. In just a few seconds, the entire muddy ground transformed back into a flat rock surface.
This is the application of earth-attribute property transformation. By using chakra to change the properties of the soil, you can make it take the form you need. If your control is high enough, you can even turn it directly into a house.
Of course, this level of difficulty is undoubtedly much higher, and not everyone has this ability. Normal ninjas would prefer to use ninjutsu directly, which is more convenient and faster, and do not need to go to this level.
Saori stared at the smooth ground sculpted by ninjutsu, her mouth slightly agape. She understood that achieving this level of smoothness with chakra was far more difficult than directly unleashing ninjutsu.
This kind of subtle showing off is what truly surprises experts. If it were Obito, he'd probably just widen his eyes and exclaim, "Ninjutsu is so convenient!"
"Taiyi, are you going to draw runes on this rock? Does it need to cover such a large area?"
The rocky ground in front of them was already 15 meters in diameter. Saori never expected that the sealing talisman was made of such a large talisman array. It was truly an eye-opener.
"Yes, there's no flat place, so I had to make one myself." Taiyi said, taking out a sealed scroll, forming a hand seal to retrieve the contents—three palm-sized talismans and a large amount of ink.
These are all top-quality items specially made by the Logistics Department. The cost of just these two items alone would be close to 10 taels of silver. This is only because of Taiyi's achievements; otherwise, you wouldn't be able to buy them even if you wanted to.
Saori stepped forward and stood behind Taiichi, watching him place a talisman paper in the center of the rock. Then, she picked up a pen, dipped it in special ink, and began writing the central rune of the talisman array on the paper, expanding outwards one rune at a time.
His writing was steady and fast, clearly showing that he had a thorough understanding of the runes and did not need to think at all when he wrote.
Saori watched carefully from behind him. It was a complete demonstration of the rune array. Taiyi had written down all its structure and secrets in order, so that even someone like Saori, who was skilled in sealing techniques, could understand most of it.
Such opportunities are rare, and not all sealing masters are as generous as Taiyi in teaching others everything he has learned without reservation.
About an hour later, Taiyi wrote the last rune, then put down his pen and stood up. He braced himself against his back, and a series of crisp "crack" sounds rang out.
"That felt great! I was really lucky this time, I finished it on the first try. I thought I'd have to fail several times!" Taiichi exclaimed, then turned to Saori: "Is there anything you didn't understand?"
Saori blushed and didn't know where to begin. At first, she could understand about 70-80% of it, but after half an hour, she could only understand about 50%.
Seeing her like this, Taiyi comforted her, saying, "There's nothing to be embarrassed about. Just ask if you don't understand. I called you here to teach you this."
Upon hearing this, Saori overcame her shyness and began to ask about the parts she didn't understand. Taiichi was a good teacher and answered all her questions one by one. If she still didn't understand, he told her to put it aside for now and come back to it later when her sealing technique was more advanced.
They continued asking and answering questions until Saori had no more problems for the time being. Another hour had passed. Taiyi looked at the sky and knew that he could not delay any longer. He then walked to the center of the talisman array to prepare for the final step of the production.
Saori also retreated outside the formation, carefully watching Taiyi's every move inside. She saw him rapidly forming hand seals, his massive chakra surging. As the last seal was completed, the chakra flowed into the talisman paper through his hand, which was pressed against the central rune.
At this moment, the entire rune array seemed to come alive, twisting and turning, constantly shrinking towards the central rune. In just two or three seconds, the entire rune array finished shrinking. When Taiyi stood up, he held a jade-like sealing talisman in his hand.
Taiichi walked towards Saori with a faint smile and handed her the newly made sealing talisman. "So, what do you think?"
Saori smiled, but also looked troubled. "It's so difficult. I've discovered that even if I master the drawing of the entire talisman array, I can only try to make it when I reach the Jonin level. This sealing talisman consumes far too much chakra."
Tai nodded, affirming Saori's statement, "You can improve this later. Besides, it's something used to save your life, so it should be portable. It's understandable that it consumes more energy."
Saori thought about it and realized that this was indeed the case. Nothing is perfect unless your skills are superb, but such a rune array is not something that ordinary people can draw.
Next, Taiyi finished making the remaining two rune papers. Unfortunately, he succeeded once and failed once. The success rate of two-thirds was much better than before, and Taiyi nodded to express his satisfaction.
When Taichi and Saori returned, it was already 10 p.m. After saying goodnight to each other, they quickly fell asleep, as tomorrow was the day Taichi would return to the village.
The next day, Taiichi got up early and finished his daily morning prayers at 7 a.m.
When Taiyi returned to the camp, the entire camp was bustling with activity, especially the medical camp. A large number of wounded soldiers were placed on large carts, and they would be escorted back to the village for treatment by Taiyi and 100 other ninjas who were returning to the village.
"Taiichi, what are you still doing here? Come with me quickly, Jiraiya-sama is looking for you everywhere."
Taiyi had only taken a few steps back to camp when he heard Yangping's voice from not far away. Judging from his anxious appearance, he had obviously been looking for him for a long time.
Yangping walked up to Taiyi in a few steps, grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the central military tent, while muttering to himself, "Lord Jiraiya sent someone to look for you early this morning, but you had already gone out, so he sent me out to look for you too."
Taiyi now understood the situation, but wondered why they wanted to see him. He quickly caught up.
Before Yangping even reached the central army camp, he spotted Jiraiya, Shikaku, and the others halfway there.
"Lord Jiraiya, I've brought Taiichi with me." Yohei released Taiichi and bowed to Jiraiya.
"Jiraiya-sensei," Taichi greeted him.
"Very good, Uchiha Yohei, I was just worried about not being able to find this guy." Jiraiya smiled and thanked Yohei, then turned to look at Taiichi seriously.
"Knowing they were going back to the village today, they disappeared early this morning without even telling their companions where they were going. They're completely disorganized and undisciplined!"
Taiichi was stunned by Jiraiya's words. "You're taking this rare opportunity to lecture me, aren't you?" He didn't argue and just stood there, lost in thought.
Seeing Taichi's nonchalant attitude, Jiraiya couldn't help but laugh in exasperation. He suddenly recalled the scene of his own teacher scolding him, and how similar it was to the current situation. He wondered if Sarutobi-sensei had felt the same way back then.
He paused for a moment, then quickly recovered and stopped lecturing Taiyi, instead getting down to business, "I'm planning to make you the leader of the team returning to the village this time. What do you think?"
"Let me?" Taiyi was a little surprised. This was his first time leading such a large group, so it was inevitable that he would feel uneasy. It wasn't that he was afraid of any danger, but rather that he was worried that he was too young and that others might not listen to him.
"Yes, it's you. I believe you can do this well!" Jiraiya was full of confidence, and Shikaku and the others beside him smiled in response.
Seeing that they were all like this, what did Taiyi have to worry about? It was just an escort mission, and there were just a few more people. With his abilities, it was a piece of cake.
"Okay, no problem, watch me, I'll definitely bring everyone back to the village safely!"
"That's right, that's how a disciple of mine, Jiraiya, should be!" Jiraiya laughed heartily, patting Taichi's arm forcefully. "Come on, let's go to the camp gate. Time's almost up. I'll go and arrange your appointment."
The group followed Jiraiya toward the camp gate.
"Taiyi, have you brought everything? Judging from the situation, you'll be leaving after the appointments are made," Yangping whispered to Taiyi as he walked beside him.
"I put them all in the sealed scroll yesterday, so I can carry them with me." Taiichi patted the ninja tool pouch strapped to his outside thigh, indicating that everything was inside.
Yangping quietly gave a thumbs up, praising Taiyi for being so well-prepared.
Before long, the group arrived at the camp gate. Sure enough, it was already packed with people. When Taiyi entered earlier, there was no one there; these guys were quick!
The noisy crowd quieted down as Jiraiya and his group arrived, and everyone turned their attention to Jiraiya, who was at the head of the group, with eyes full of respect and gratitude.
Jiraiya waved to Taichi, signaling him to step forward, and then addressed the ninjas who were preparing to return to the village: "This gentleman, I'm sure you all know him, so I don't need to introduce him."
A cacophony of noise immediately erupted from the crowd.
"Of course, it's Taiyi, he's the one who killed the Tailed Beast."
"Lord Tai, he saved my life."
"Alright, alright!" Seeing everyone's high spirits, Jiraiya had to speak up to calm them down. "It's good that you all know each other. This time when we return to the village, I've appointed Matsushita Taichi as your leader. Just follow his orders on the way."
"Yes!" the crowd responded loudly, clearly showing their strong belief in Taiyi as captain.
Jiraiya waved for Taichi to rejoin the group. After seeing Taichi standing at the front of the group, he took two steps forward and addressed all the ninjas who were about to return to the village.
"We have achieved an unprecedented victory in this war. The Hokage has given special instructions to allow the hundred ninjas who have been on the front lines the longest and the ninjas who are seriously injured to return to the village. Firstly, this is to allow you to return on behalf of all the ninjas on the front lines to receive the cheers of the villagers. Secondly, the Hokage has also expressed his appreciation for the hardships you have endured in the long war and wants you to go back and take a break."
Looking at the excited eyes of the crowd before him, Jiraiya took two more steps forward and shouted, "Now, raise your heads high and straighten your backs! Go back to your villages happily and let your families back home know that a hero from the front lines has returned home!"
"go home!"
"go home!"