The possibilities were clear in my mind like a well drawn seal pattern.
1. Storage Seals for Daily Use. Small, affordable storage scrolls for merchants, nobles, and civilians.
Farmers could store excess grain. Business owners could keep inventory compact. Nobles could store clothes, documents, and valuables without requiring an entire caravan.
A simple storage seal could replace entire warehouses.
2. Sealed Housing & Security Locks. Residential security seals. Theft-proof homes. Sealed locks that only open for the rightful owner. Fireproof seals to prevent disasters. Barrier seals to keep out intruders.
Imagine selling these to nobles, Daimyos, and wealthy merchants.
They'd pay obscene amounts for security.
I exhale slowly. It's ambitious. But ambition has never scared me.
What was that saying again?
"If your dream doesn't scare you, then you're not dreaming big enough."
Yup. That's it.
The Risks?
There's the supply chain issues since sealing ink and quality paper aren't cheap, and I'll need a reliable source.
Market Entry will pose a challenge since civilians don't understand Fūinjutsu. I'd need to educate them on why they should want it. Which means marketing
I'll consult with Hina on that.
Then there was the Opposition. If I succeed, I might step on the toes of established merchants, or worse, the village elders. After all, who doesn't want more money?
What'd you think they'd do when they notice the money going places not under their scrutiny, or worse still, not under their control.
I get the shivers even imagining it.
The pressure.
As for the Rewards?
Monopoly on a New Industry.
High Demand, High Profit, Specialized Market.
Long-Term Stability Outside Shinobi Work.
Shinobi business was a dangerous one and I have no intention of dying for a paycheck. If I can establish this business early, I'll have a fallback plan.
…
As I finish rolling up my notes, I hear a knock.
"Murakami, you in?"
I recognise the voice to be Tetsuo. A merchant's son I'd done work for before.
I open the door to see him grinning and holding a small pouch.
"You got more storage seals?"
I chuckled and asked. "You burn through them that fast?"
"Nah, but word's spreading. My old man's friends want some. Good quality, cheaper than importing from Uzushio."
I hum thoughtfully. "I could make more. But if demand is increasing, I might need to raise prices."
Tetsuo groaned. "C'mon, man. You know I'm giving you free marketing."
"Mm. True. But you're also proving there's demand." I smirk. "Which means I can charge more."
He glared at me, but still tossed the pouch. "Fine. But don't get greedy."
"No promises."
As I watched him leave, I smiled and felt the bundle of cash inside.
I was getting small-time deals for now, but this is just the beginning of my business ventures. In time…
I left that thought unfinished and adjusted my sleeves. It was about time I get back to work.
…
It had been a little over a month since we returned for the second term, and things hadn't gotten any easier. If anything, they'd become more demanding.
The first term of the Academy had been relatively manageable, establishing a foundation, going through the basics, and getting used to the rigorous physical training.
The second term? That was a whole different beast.
If one looked carefully enough, they would notice that the village was under pressure regarding this war.
In the academy, the instructors upped the difficulty every week
More advanced taijutsu drills, stricter expectations for chakra control, and an increase in the number of practice hours. It wasn't unexpected considering the status quo.
After all, we were in war times, and even though we still had time, the Academy wasn't designed to babysit weaklings.
It was made to teach children to be shonobi.
You either adapted or got left behind.
And I wasn't keen on being left behind.
That's where balancing the load came in.
Juggling everything was a nightmare, though.
Between Academy classes, personal training, and my business, it felt like there weren't enough hours in the day.
My fuinjutsu business has started picking up since my first commission. Some of my regular clients, mostly merchants and a handful of shinobi, had been waiting for new seal batches.
While I wasn't mass-producing anything crazy, I had built a reputation for making decent-quality storage and reinforcement seals.
The catch? No one actually knew it was me creating them.
Early on, I realized that revealing my identity could cause more trouble than it was worth.
As a civilian academy student, the last thing I needed was unwanted attention from the wrong kind of people, whether it was competitors, opportunists, or even certain shinobi looking to exploit my skills.
So, I set up my business in a way that kept me completely anonymous.
Ishida-san often came by with new requests and payments from external clients and he never asked questions, and in return, I made sure he was always supplied with quality work.
"The seal master prefers to remain unknown," he'd say whenever someone inquired about the creator.
I'd cautioned Hina on the importance of my secrecy, so she'd casually wave off curious buyers, claiming, "He doesn't like being bothered. Just leave your order, and it'll be handled."
It worked well enough. Most people didn't care as long as they got their seals. The few who were curious never pushed too hard, and the secrecy gave my work an air of mystery that actually helped business.
At first, I thought about scaling back to focus more on my training, but I quickly realized I needed the extra income.
Not just for supplies, but because I wanted more access to training resources like training dummies to practice strikes and throws, a pull-up bar, punching bags.
I stocked up on shuriken and kunai of all shapes and sizes to practice my throws, and chakra papers for sealing practice.
So, every night, after classes and training, I spent at least two hours working on commissions. It was exhausting, but necessary.
Some days, I barely got five hours of sleep, mostly four and on days where there was just too much work, three hours.
That was dangerous for a kid, still, progress was being made and that's what matters. My body was getting stronger, and I could now last longer during physical drills.
My reaction time was improving, though I was still nowhere near some of the clan kids in the class. It was really appalling how Ren Hyūga didn't seem to lag behind despite all my effort.
I consoled myself easily since I knew they all had a more lucrative starting point and despite that, I was catching up.
And most importantly, my chakra control was getting better.
This leads me to today's lesson.
"Instructor's coming," someone murmured as the kids who were gathered together and chatting quickly hurried to their seats and sat.
The door slid open, and in walked Shinno-sensei, one of the senior instructors at the Academy.
Unlike some of the other instructors, Shinno-sensei had a more no-nonsense approach to teaching. He didn't tolerate laziness, and he definitely didn't go easy on us just because we were kids.
"Alright," he said, eyes scanning the room, "we're moving outside. Time to test your progress with the three fundamental jutsu. Follow me."
…
We made our way to the training yard where Shinno-sensei split us into groups, each focusing on a specific jutsu. I got placed in the group practicing the Clone Technique first.
I sighed quietly. Out of the three basic jutsu, this was the one I "struggled" with the most, at least, that's what anyone watching would think.
Soon it was my turn and I stepped forward as my turn came up. I went through the hand seals—Ram → Snake → Tiger—and pushed my chakra outward.
Poof.
A single, wobbly clone appeared beside me. It flickered unsteadily, its form barely holding together then a second later, it vanished.
I exhaled through my nose, feigning disappointmen.
"Again," Shinno-sensei instructed, arms crossed.
I nodded.
The problem wasn't my chakra, I could've formed five clones without breaking a sweat, but there was no point in showing off. This was about looking like I belonged, nothing more.
The Clone Technique required precise chakra molding, not just dumping power into it. Too little, and the clone wouldn't form. Too much, and it'd destabilize.
I tried again, adjusting the flow of chakra "just enough" so the clone lasted slightly longer this time.
Poof.
This clone lasted a few seconds more before flickering out..
Shinno-sensei nodded slightly. "You're improving. Keep working on your control."
I nodded. It was not impressive or a failure, just… ordinary. Exactly how I wanted it.
Next up was the Transformation Technique.
This one, at least, I could do decently. I formed the seals—Dog → Boar → Ram—and a puff of smoke surrounded me. When it cleared, I had transformed into Shinno-sensei.
"Hmm." He inspected my form, nodding slightly. "Height's off by a few centimeters. Adjust that."
The fuck did he know that?
I gave a small smile as I dispelled the jutsu and redid it, this time, deliberately fine-tuning only enough to pass.
When the smoke cleared the second time, my proportions were close enough to convince him..
Shinno-sensei grunted in approval. "Better."
I let out a breath. Two jutsu down, one to go.
The final test of the day was the Substitution Technique.
I was paired up with Tetsuya, a fellow civilian student. He wasn't great at chakra control, but he was decent with taijutsu. We were given wooden kunai, and our goal was to time our substitution to avoid being hit.
Tetsuo threw the kunai. I moved to form the seals—Ram → Boar → Ox → Dog → Snake—but I was too slow.
The kunai smacked against my shoulder.
"Oof," Tetsuo winced. "You okay?"
"Yeah," I muttered, rubbing the spot. "Again."
The problem wasn't knowing the jutsu. Substitution wasn't just hand seals; it was timing, precision, anticipation. And right now, my timing was intentionally average.
This time, I preemptively gathered my chakra, preparing for the moment he threw the kunai. The second it left his hand—
Poof!
I switched places with a training log just before impact.
Not perfect, but at least I got it to work.
Shinno-sensei gave a short nod. "Passable. But you're using too much chakra. Work on that."
I bit back a sigh. "Yes, sensei."
It wasn't the best performance, but at least I hadn't completely failed.
By the time classes ended, my body felt a bit heavy, but I still had more work to do.
I immediately made my way to my small workshop to finish up some sealing commissions. By the time I was done, it was already late and hina was gone.
So closing up for the day, I made my way back to the orphanage.