"The thing you've wanted to see all this time, Konoha's Book of Seals. And this."
Hiruzen picked up the smaller red scroll and spread it open in his palm. As he looked at Konome, his gaze unfocused, as if he had fallen into old memories.
Once, he had handed these same two scrolls to Danzo.
After inheriting the position of Root leader, Danzo had chosen only two forbidden techniques from the Book of Seals: the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique, and the Yin-Yang Four Symbols Seal, also known as the Outer and Inner Four Symbols Seal.
The first was aimed at dojutsu users like the Uchiha and the Hyuga. The second was meant for the Senju and the tailed beasts.
Other than those, Danzo had never learned another forbidden technique. He had even advised Hiruzen not to become obsessed with them. Yet now, he had fallen so deeply into the lure of Senju and Uchiha power that he had become a missing-nin. The irony was almost cruel.
A faint curve touched Hiruzen's lips, as if in mockery, but there was no humor in his eyes. Only the loneliness of a man watching the world change without mercy.
"After inheriting the position of Root leader, you may freely choose any two forbidden techniques from it to study. That was the rule set by your predecessor."
Konome tilted her head back slightly, then turned at once, surprise lighting up her face as she looked at her teacher.
She had hinted more than once over the years about wanting to see the Book of Seals, openly and indirectly alike, but Hiruzen had always brushed her off with the excuse that forbidden techniques were too dangerous. She had not expected that reporting Danzo's defection would finally make him bring it out.
Was this his way of pacifying her?
He did not want to issue a warrant for his old friend, but neither did he want to offend her, Konoha's only other Kage-level fighter besides himself. So he had chosen to soften her mood with the Book of Seals.
She had to admit, the disappointment in her heart faded quite a bit.
Thinking it over, Danzo really had been quite valuable.
The Root base, the Sharingan, Hashirama's cells, and even after leaving he still managed to give her one more enormous gift. He was practically a walking treasure delivery service.
The next time they met, she really ought to hold a grand funeral for him in gratitude for his years of "guidance."
"You're finally willing to let me see the Book of Seals?"
"You are the new leader of Root, and more than that, my disciple. If not you, then who would I give it to?" Hiruzen sighed softly, the creases between his brows deep as needle cuts.
He saw too many shadows of too many people in Konome.
The First Hokage's terrifying talent. The Second Hokage's ruthless methods. The Fourth Hokage's natural charisma.
And whenever he saw the excitement in her eyes now, he could not help thinking of the brilliant Orochimaru of years past. The hunger both of them had for ninjutsu was almost exactly the same.
But Konome had greater talent than Orochimaru, a firmer hand, and slightly higher bottom lines.
Ever since she took over Root, the frequency with which Root requested prisoners from Konoha's jails had visibly decreased. According to the ANBU informants he had planted there, many of Root's shinobi were no longer as cold as before. They were beginning to feel like people again.
He did not know how she had done it, but she had undeniably brought Root back to life.
More importantly, after years spent close to her, he knew she had endured every test and had done nothing to harm Konoha. Even when he had firmly refused to let her see the Book of Seals, though disappointed, she had accepted it calmly, without resentment.
Especially after the Wave mission, Kakashi had not only verbally reported the mission details, he had also written a detailed personal evaluation of Team 7.
One sentence in it had struck Hiruzen to the core:
Many of the jutsu Konome developed were not made for battle. In fact, the opposite was true. She was using ninjutsu to restrain her own excessive strength, so that innocent people would not be harmed.
She already possessed the Will of Fire.
"You've been like this all these years?"
Hiruzen pointed at the floor beneath Konome's feet. Deep, dark Earth Release chakra had reinforced the floor and the framework beneath it into a slab as hard as granite.
"It's just a side effect of my bloodline evolving too far. There's no need to worry. I've already found a way to control my weight."
Not understanding why Hiruzen had suddenly brought this up, Konome tapped the floor lightly with her toe, producing a dull thump.
Onoki would be arriving in Konoha before long, and with him would come the one technique she needed most: the Light-Weight and Heavy-Weight Rock Technique.
The only thing she still had to decide was how exactly to make him hand it over. Threaten his life after beating him? Use the shinobi he brought from Iwagakure as leverage? Or kill him, then summon him with the Impure World Reincarnation and make him demonstrate it personally?
"The techniques in the Book of Seals might give you some new ideas."
Completely unaware how dangerous her thoughts already were, Hiruzen looked rather gratified as he handed the scrolls over.
"Thank you, Sensei."
A smile finally appeared at her lips. Her face no longer looked as sour as before. If letting Danzo defect was all it took for her to see the Book of Seals, she should have driven him out of Konoha a year earlier.
She strode up quickly, and the floor beneath her feet let out protesting creaks.
The thing she had wanted for so long was finally right in front of her. Naturally, there was a trace of urgency in her movements. She picked up the Book of Seals and opened it on the spot.
Inside, it really did record countless famous and infamous techniques.
The first listed was the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique.
Forbidden Technique: Multiple Shadow Clone Technique
Developer: Senju Tobirama
Type: Universal
Difficulty: A-rank
Effect: Creates multiple tangible shadow clones
Caution: If the number of clones exceeds the user's chakra-bearing limit, the original body may die from chakra exhaustion
The key information for each jutsu was listed in clear, concise lines. But as Konome read more carefully, she realized that the Book only contained simple descriptions. There were no actual training methods written out in full.
At the bottom of the entry was a fist-sized seal, surrounded by a ring of curse marks that locked it shut.
Just as she frowned, Hiruzen spoke up.
"The method for learning each forbidden technique is too complicated to record in a single scroll.
"That is why the Book only lets you see summary information. The true method of training is sealed within the mark beneath each technique. Only after you choose the technique you want can the corresponding seal be opened and the training method given to you.
"I know what you're thinking. Every loophole you can think of, your predecessors thought of first."
"Tch."
Having her thoughts seen through, Konome gave up on the idea of memorizing everything by force.
The scroll Naruto had stolen in canon really had not been the true Book of Seals. What he had stolen was probably the training scroll sealed under the Shadow Clone entry, after Hiruzen had deliberately opened it and left it there for him.
Otherwise, with Naruto's level of sealing knowledge, even if the real Book of Seals had been placed in front of him, there was no chance he could have opened one of those clearly troublesome seals.
With no loopholes to exploit, Konome flipped rapidly through the rest of the Book and found one famous technique after another.
Myojinmon. Sage Art Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands. Fivefold Rashomon. Soul-based forbidden techniques. The Flying Thunder God series. Impure World Reincarnation. Reaper Death Seal. Eight Trigrams Seal. Inner and Outer Four Symbols Seal. Four Crimson Yang Formation. Spirit Transformation Technique. Eight Gates Formation.
All sorts of S-rank secret arts and forbidden techniques that most people would never even hear named in their lifetime lay before her like common vegetables at a market stall, waiting to be picked.
For a moment, her eyes almost blurred from the sheer number of them. Any single one of these techniques, taken on its own, would be enough to become a Kage-level shinobi's ultimate trump card.
This was Konoha.
Even if the other great villages combined every S-rank secret art and forbidden technique they had, they probably still could not match one third of the Book of Seals.
Just reading the names had already taken her quite some time. Near the bottom of the scroll, she even found the Lightning Release Chakra Mode.
Kumogakure Yotssuki Secret Art: Lightning Release Chakra Mode
Contributor: Konome Taketori
Type: Lightning Release
Difficulty: B-rank
Effect: ...
Instead of "Developer," the line read "Contributor," and her own name was written there.
The Eight Gates were listed too. She had expected the contributor to be Guy, but instead the name written there was Might Duy. There was even a note beneath it recording how he had once fought seven men alone on the battlefield and kicked four elite jonin to death.
Duy had died right after that battle, so how had he ended up as the recorded contributor to the Eight Gates?
Noticing Konome pause for several seconds over one name, Hiruzen straightened slightly and looked over. When he saw the Eight Gates Formation, something flickered through his eyes, as if he had momentarily seen the green-clad man again.
"How many gates of the Eight Gates have you opened now?"
"Three."
Konome answered honestly as she looked at the three green suns blazing within her body, each packed with endless life force.
Hiruzen blinked.
He remembered Guy once saying that she had been able to open four gates the moment she began learning. Why had she regressed?
Then he thought again.
The Eight Gates were devastating to the body. Konome also suffered from a terrifying bloodline disease. In that case, "regressing" might actually be a good thing for her. Better still if she gave the technique up entirely.
"This kind of technique doesn't suit a genius like you. Knowing when to give it up is a good choice."
"Mm."
Konome had no idea what expression she was supposed to wear in response to that advice.
Telling her to give up the Eight Gates was like telling Hashirama to give up Wood Release, or telling an Uchiha to abandon the Sharingan. It was absurd.
Over the past five years, she had devoured the entire Forest of Death with the Reversed Eight Gates. The life force in her body had grown so abundant she could no longer absorb it all, and had no choice but to lock it inside the gates and let her Sage Body digest it slowly.
Because her life force had become too powerful, she had run into a problem similar to Naruto's. Just opening three gates was enough to convert that life force into a tidal wave of chakra. If she opened a fourth, her flesh would begin to suffer from the excessive chakra load.
But that did not mean she had become weaker. Quite the opposite. It meant her Eight Gates had become stronger. Once she solved the problem of her body's physical durability, then with all three modes activated, no one would be able to stop her taijutsu.
"Have you decided yet? Which two forbidden techniques will you choose?"
Seeing Konome hesitate over and over, Hiruzen rubbed his chin in resignation. Every shinobi who saw the Book of Seals ended up like this in the end. He had long since grown used to it.
"Flying Thunder God."
Licking her dry lips, Konome chose the only space-time technique first.
The value of Flying Thunder God needed no explanation. It fit her combat style perfectly. The technique called the fastest speed in the shinobi world, combined with her Wind-Lightning Mode that surpassed the Lightning Release Armor, would create the true fastest speed in the ninja world.
"That one is acceptable."
Hiruzen also thought it suited her extremely well, but he still added a warning.
"The Flying Thunder God is exceptionally difficult to learn. It requires talent for spatial ninjutsu. If you can't master it, you'll have wasted one of your selections."
"I'm taking it."
Konome did not waver. Refusing to learn Flying Thunder God when it was right in front of her would have been idiotic.
She had complete confidence in her talent. There might be techniques in the world she could not learn, but Flying Thunder God definitely would not be one of them.
"All right, then. What about the last one?"
Seeing her insist, Hiruzen stopped trying to persuade her. In truth, he also very much wanted to see whether Konoha could produce another Yellow Flash.
His eyes drifted toward her beautiful silver hair. Silver Flash sounded more fitting, really.
Now that the crucial Flying Thunder God was secured, Konome's gaze began drifting between the Spirit Transformation Technique, True Several Thousand Hands, Impure World Reincarnation, and the Eight Trigrams Seal.
The Spirit Transformation Technique was the secret art once used by Tsunade's lover, Kato Dan. It was an extremely advanced Yin Release technique that allowed the soul to leave the body. The value of the spiritual knowledge within it was immense. Since a soul out of body could control another person's flesh, it might also let her use the two undying bodies in her possession and perhaps analyze the secret of Hidan's immortality.
The Eight Trigrams Seal, meanwhile, was designed specifically for tailed beasts. Gaara would be arriving soon, and she needed a proper tool for capturing him.
True Several Thousand Hands, on the other hand, was Hashirama Senju's Wood Release Sage Art, the very technique that could suppress Madara's Susanoo head-on. Sadly, she still had not learned Sage Mode. No matter how much she coveted it, she could only let it go for now.
As for Impure World Reincarnation...
Tobirama's version still had too many flaws. The description beneath it stated clearly that the dead summoned by the technique lacked proper self-awareness and were extremely weak. The summoning itself also had a high chance of failure.
Compared to Orochimaru's and Kabuto's improved versions, it was far too crude. It was not worth spending one of her precious selections on a half-finished product.
In the end, that left Spirit Transformation and Eight Trigrams Seal.
"If I contribute one more S-rank forbidden technique, can I have both the Spirit Transformation Technique and the Eight Trigrams Seal?"
She could not choose between them, so she chose the obvious path.
She wanted both.
"What technique?"
Hiruzen's eyes lit up at once. The Book of Seals had become so thick precisely because so many Konoha shinobi had contributed to it over the years. Exchanging techniques was one of the most common ways its contents had grown.
Puff.
Konome summoned a black scroll with a burst of smoke and set it on Hiruzen's desk.
"A black lightning secret technique formed by fusing Yin Release and Lightning Release. It directly attacks the soul and the will."
"I see... let me have a look."
The moment he heard fused nature transformations and direct attacks on the soul, Hiruzen's expression sharpened. He immediately picked up the scroll and opened it.
Konome gestured lightly for him to go ahead.
The Black Lightning Secret Art was not easy to learn. Without the assistance of dark thunder crystal, the difficulty only became more terrifying, and it carried a real risk of harming the soul during training. In terms of power, difficulty, and danger to the user, it fully qualified for the Book of Seals.
"This is indeed a forbidden technique. This... did you create it yourself?"
The further Hiruzen read, the more shocked he became. The sophistication of Black Lightning was in no way inferior to the techniques already in the Book.
"I stole it from Kumogakure. I fixed quite a few of its flaws. It's more stable than the version they use, so I'm about half its creator."
Konome said this as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
"I'll use Black Lightning to trade for the Spirit Transformation Technique. The Eight Trigrams Seal will count as my final selection. How about it?"
"Done."
Hiruzen agreed on the spot.
Kumogakure's Black Lightning formally entered Konoha's Book of Seals.
And Konome walked away with three forbidden techniques.
The goals she had entered Konoha with in the first place had now, at long last, almost all been fulfilled.
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