Chapter 366: Another Base!
Fujin noticed Hiruzen's Clone's gaze and a wry smile appeared on his face. He realized, 'So that's why he keeps saying that again and again. He isn't wrong though. This method, though complicated, is still very easy to implement. If I didn't know that it would get complicated at a later stage, I would be tempted to do just that.'
Fujin replied, "Alright. I'll limit the number of Seal Imprints to just the essential seals. I have a question though. Since I created the imprint on my right hand, doesn't that mean that I can use this seal quickly with just my right hand? So do I need to create the same imprint on my left arm as well?"
Hiruzen's clone answered, "If you want to, then yes. But it's pointless to do that for a seal like the Chakra Suppression Seal. This seal merely suppresses your enemy's chakra. There are many other seals that offer similar or even better effects. Like the Self-Cursing Seal which paralyzes your opponent.
This is another reason why I suggested you start with these two seals. You can use the Chakra Suppression Seal with your right hand and the Self-Cursing Seal with your left. If you feel like a seal is very important and irreplaceable, then feel free to create imprints on both your hands."
Fujin nodded and said, "Alright. I'll keep that in mind. Another question. Does the seal have to be in between the chakra points that release the chakra? I was thinking about imprinting a few stealth seals on my body, perhaps barrier seals as well. That way, I could activate them instantly and gain an advantage, be it in stealth or defense."
Hiruzen's clone answered, "Well, seals don't need to be imprinted between the chakra points. But, the closer they are to the right chakra points, the faster you'll be able to activate them and the lesser the chance of any of them failing. Since your main concern was speed, placing them in between the chakra points is the most reliable method.
As for seals like stealth, hardness, barrier and other similar utility seals, having them on your clothes like you have now is more than sufficient. There is no need to create imprints for them."
Fujin thought for a bit and decided, "Yeah, you are right. Doubling them up won't help a lot. If someone is strong enough to deal with those seals on my clothes, having those seals on my body might not help me much."
Fujin recalled the time he was escaping from Roshi's Tailed Beast Bomb. Just the mere blastwave destroyed his clothes despite the high number of seals he carved on them. Only the Iron Skin jutsu managed to hold on for a few seconds.
Hiruzen's clone replied, "Good analysis. Let's start creating the imprint for the Self-Cursing Seal. Though it is Juinjutsu, its process is almost completely similar to that of Fuinjutsu."
He began guiding Fujin once again, who absorbed all his teachings in no time. An hour later, Fujin completed imprinting the Self-Cursing Seal on his left palm. Fujin observed it and thought, 'No wonder so few use Fuinjutsu in battle despite there being so many SealMasters. Without completing this step, it is very difficult to use seals in combat.'
Hiruzen's clone said, "You have learnt the way to create imprints for both Fuinjutsu and Juinjutsu. I will leave the work of imprinting the remaining seals to you. Just remember my warnings. If you face any confusion or have any doubts, you can come and see me."
Fujin nodded and said, "Thank you, Grandpa. I will."
The clone smiled and dispelled himself. In his office, Hiruzen, who had already completed his work, received the memories. He sighed and thought, 'Fortunately, everything went well. I just hope that I don't end up regretting that last sentence.'
Hiruzen left his office and returned to his home to sleep. As for Fujin, he still had 3 more days for the soldier pill to run out. He sat in the training ground while analyzing, 'What do I do now? Should I begin working on creating the imprint for the Four Symbols Seal? Should I make imprints for a few more important seals? Or should I just focus on learning the remaining seals?'
After analyzing for a while, Fujin concluded, 'Creating an imprint for the Four Symbol Seals might take a longer time. It's probably why Hiruzen didn't want to teach me that. While the imprints of some simpler seals will take a lesser time, they will be a waste.
Imprinting seals need a high amount of concentration and not a lot of chakra. Though I could create Shadow Clones to train, if one pops and sends me the memories, I will fail in creating an imprint.
For now, I'll continue with learning the remaining seals while I train Vacuum jutsus. Once I run low on chakra, instead of meditating in the training rooms, I'll begin imprinting seals. However, I need to decide which seals I should imprint. Sigh, that will take a long time as well considering the insane number of seals I have learnt over the last year.'
Fujin got up, went back to his house and entered the basement. He created 80 Shadow Clones with 1% chakra each so that they could continue working on the remaining seals.
Though he had learnt the most complicated seal in Section A of the library, he still had a few more top-level seals to learn like the Five Elements Seal, Five Elements Unseal, Evil Sealing Method and Iron Armor Seal.
His clones immediately began working on the Five Element Seal. Thanks to having already worked on the Four Symbols Seal, their progress was much smoother.
As for Fujin, he sat down in the basement and began analyzing which seals to imprint while waiting for his chakra to recover.
For the next hour, Fujin recalled and analyzed all the seals he had learnt over the past few years. A complicated expression appeared on his face as he let out a sigh. He thought, 'Though I have learnt thousands of seals, the seals I can use directly in battle are almost non-existent.
Hiruzen knew what he was doing when he asked me to create imprints for these 2 seals. Apart from the Four Symbols Seal, none will be as effective as these 2.
The issue is that though many seals are very good, they are designed to fulfill just one purpose. Though they are useful in one way or another, they aren't so useful in battle. While I can use them by becoming creative, like say storing a lot of one element in element-specific storage seals, their effect in battle would be equivalent to just rank D jutsus. And I can't supercharge them.
And, in almost all cases, I can just inscribe those seals on my clothes and activate them when needed. There isn't much reason to create imprints. So, what do I do…'
Fujin fell into deep thought. After a few minutes, he decided, 'Though my main reason for learning Fuinjutsu was for the Tailed Beasts and the Flying Thunder God technique, it will be a shame if that's all it is good for after spending such a long time learning it.
Though I can still use it to set up traps or create defensive bases like this house, it still isn't good enough. There is only one way to make my knowledge implementable in battle. A very simple way…
I need to create seals that I can use during battle. Of course, creating entirely new seals would be a very difficult and time-consuming task. It won't be worth it as the chances of success will be low. What I need to do is use the knowledge of my current seals to create complex seals that contain several of those seals and replicate their effects at the same time. Only such combinations of seals could be of some help in battle.
Though this can be complicated as well, fortunately, I already have two good ideas. Hopefully, I'll get more in the future. For now, I'll create imprints for the two seals that might be of some help to me.'
While Fujin became busy with learning more Fuinjutsu seals, creating seal imprints and perfecting Vacuum Gatling, the Konoha's army, which had stayed on the borders with the Land of Waterfall for over a month, began withdrawing.
During the past month, the Konoha ninjas had created a large and permanent base on the border with the Land of Waterfall. Though the majority of the ninjas withdrew, one hundred ninjas under the leadership of a Veteran Jounin from the Nara Clan stayed behind.
This base served two purposes. The first one was that it acted as a forward base. If Iwagakure took any action in the Land of Waterfall or even in the Land of Grass, the ninjas from this base could act as a vanguard and slow them down while cooperating with Kusa and Taki.
Secondly, it also acted as a mission center for missions coming from the Land of Waterfall. Thanks to the Konoha ninjas being stationed directly on their borders, their location was closer than Takigakure for some of the citizens in the Land of Waterfall. So it would bring in more mission revenue from the Land of Waterfall.
Now, in addition to the Land of Tea and the Land of Noodles, Konoha had a forward base alongside the border with the Land of Waterfalls as well. Not only were those countries not offended by it, but they requested for these bases to be created and even paid Konoha to keep them running!