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A few days later inside Neji's private research chamber.
Within the silent, seal-inscribed study, Neji was buried in scrolls, flipping through ancient records of sealing arts.
Beside him, several clones created using the [Shadow Clone Jutsu] worked diligently alongside him, taking notes, cross-referencing, and recording insights.
Unlike standard clones, Neji's system-enhanced versions are fully integrated with his passive abilities.
The rging of system abilities with traditional jutsu had gone smoother than expected.
"These sealing techniques... far more intricate than most ninjutsu," he muttered to himself, jotting notes rapidly.
The deeper he dove into the art, the more he realized—
In the world of shinobi, raw ninjutsu was flashy but limited.
Sealing arts?
They were the trump card.
When you couldn't overpower the enemy.
Seal them.
When they couldn't be killed—
Seal them.
They were the ultimate fallback.
Unfair, unyielding, and often final.
He exhaled slowly, then released the clones with a quiet command.
Poof! Poof! Poof!
As each one vanished, a rush of mories surged into his brain.
Neji winced slightly. "...Ugh. Still not used to that. It's like stuffing mories down a funnel... coarse, dry, blunt."
He had held off on learning [Shadow Clone Jutsu] early on for good reason. His chakra reserves were too precious and then allocated toward nurturing clone Byakugan.
And physical conditioning? That had to be done by the real him. Training his body to the absolute limit ant there was no room for shortcuts.
But now that his chakra was abundant...
It was ti to start cheating a little.
"I've mapped the chakra flow across the tattoos using Byakugan. I understand how the energy moves."
"The next step is testing it out in practice. But that can wait."
He closed his notebook, satisfied. The chakra control issue with the Eight Gates was nearly solved.
Now ca the more delicate part of integrating sealing thods into dical ninjutsu.
Could he recreate Tsunade's legendary healing techniques through a fusion of seals and dical principles?
Possibly.
He already had a hypothesis.
[Creation Rebirth] was a dical ninjutsu. But [Strength of a Hundred Seal] Byakugō no In was built on sealing arts.
Specifically, the Yin Seal.
"It's fascinating... Yin Sealing allows precise chakra regulation. Instant healing. Enhanced reflexes. Even improved strength and speed."
"A skilled user could even tap into the stored chakra gradually to maintain youth, keep their body in peak condition... it's basically a living dical engine."
He grimaced slightly.
"And of course, that particular seal isn't in the files I was given."
Predictable.
Neither the sealing technique archives nor the dical scrolls from Tsunade contained the advanced stuff.
What he had was scrap fragnts. Enough to tease the truth, never enough to reach it.
Still, it was progress.
Stashing the scrolls, Neji left the study and made his way toward the training hall.
Inside the spacious dojo, soone was already training.
A flash of movent.
Sharp, fluid strikes.
Refined technique.
And wrapped in that—
A young woman in her pri.
Izumi moved like a dancer caught in the eye of a storm graceful and lethal in equal asure.
Her form, sharpened by years of combat and discipline, was in full display as she finished her final kata.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
Applause broke her rhythm. Izumi spun around, startled only to see Neji leaning casually against the doorway.
"Neji! How long have you been watching?"
"Just got here," he said, tossing her a towel. "But I caught the ending. You've grown stronger."
Izumi caught the towel, dabbing her flushed cheeks. Her face, already glowing from exertion, turned a deeper shade of red.
"I wouldn't be anywhere without your training," she replied, trying to sound light. "But let's be honest no matter how much I improve, I still can't beat you."
She rembered their past sparring matches. For the first couple of years, she could hold her own. But once Neji started evolving...
He'd turned into a storm.
Unpredictable. Unrelenting.
She had been utterly outmatched, her every move read countered and crushed under his relentless pressure.
"Wanna go a round now?" Neji asked with a smirk.
It had been a while since he harvested combat data from her. Most of his recent ti had been spent in research.
Izumi instinctively crossed her arms and backed away. "No thanks. Every ti we spar, I end up laid out on the floor, sore for days."
"Your body's like reinforced steel when you fight! No offense, but you're impossible to hurt!"
Neji said nothing.
The truth?
Izumi was powerful easily jonin-tier, and with her three-tomoe Sharingan, even more dangerous.
Against most shinobi, she'd dominate. But against him?
He held nothing back.
His body, reinforced with Armant Haki and his system's martial augntations, made him virtually invulnerable.
Even Kunai bounced off him.
Izumi stepped closer, poking his forearm skeptically.
"This doesn't even feel that tough," she said. "But in battle, it's like trying to punch a damn steel beam. What gives?"
Neji smiled faintly.
"Anyway," he said, shifting topics, "it's ti you start training in the Eight Gates. With your physique, you're more than ready."
He paused—
"And once you master it, I'll let you be the first to try out the tattoo seal I've developed. So... any thoughts on the design you want?"
Izumi blinked. "Tattoo?"
Her mind flashed to the sealing diagrams he'd been studying.
Her cheeks, still pink from training, suddenly burned brighter.
"Y-You're serious?"
"Completely," Neji said, pulling out an anatomical diagram. He pointed to various points along the shoulders and abdon.
"You'll need coverage across dozens of chakra points front and back. So pick a design that covers all of that."
Izumi followed his finger, and her eyes widened.
This...
This would cover nearly her entire upper torso.
"I..."
Her voice ca out a little shakier than intended.
"I-Is that really necessary?"
"This is just the beginning," Neji said, completely unfazed. "Eventually, we may need to extend it to your limbs to achieve maximum efficiency."
"But don't worry I'm working on making the tattoos invisible during rest. They'll only appear when you channel chakra like Tsunade's Yin Seal activation."
The idea was elegant:
A fusion of sealing and dical science that activated only in combat.
No bulk. No strain. Only power when needed.
"Got it," Izumi said at last, taking a breath. "But... can I decide the pattern later? Once I've finished training?"
"Of course," Neji nodded. "I've still got a few technical problems to work out. By the ti you're ready, I'll have it perfected."
As he studied the diagram again, marking adjustnts, he didn't even notice the look in her eyes.
Izumi stared at him for a long mont. That shadow from her past, the one that haunted her heart, was finally gone.
She had moved on.
For good.
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