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Inside Akio's residence.
Akio held the Shinigami mask in his hand, carefully examining it for nearly half an hour.
"Sensei! What's so special about a mask? Even if it was passed down by some great figure, it's still just a mask."
His two students had already grown impatient. Izuko remained calm, but Nanako was about to let her inner self show.
"I fear it belonged to a truly remarkable individual…" Akio murmured.
After a long examination, Akio finally sensed something amiss within the mask.
"Could it be someone's soul?" he muttered to himself, speculating.
In this era, souls were still a mysterious concept to most people. At the very least, Akio had never heard of any jutsu related to souls. Unlike in the main storyline, where techniques like Edo Tensei could easily manipulate the spirits of the dead or even allow people to see them.
Akio weighed the mask in his hand, his expression turning serious.
"What an astonishing mastery of sealing techniques… I never imagined that our Uzumaki Clan once had such a powerful ancestor."
Having studied the mask for so long, Akio had a rough idea of its origins.
It was likely a tool for activating a specific jutsu. Over a hundred years ago, an Uzumaki ancestor, facing an invading enemy, unleashed a mutually destructive sealing jutsu. This successfully sealed both his own soul and that of his enemy within the mask. Their souls battled for a century until the Uzumaki ancestor was ultimately defeated, his soul devoured by the enemy. At the same time, the enemy's soul had also reached its limit, losing its intelligence and most of its power, transforming into a Shinigami that could only absorb souls…
Akio's own sealing jutsu was already at level 6, but he was still far from being able to perform such a technique. He estimated that his ancestor's sealing jutsu must have been at level 8—comparable to the power of the two gods of the Warring States period. Likewise, the enemy must have been at that level to require such a sacrifice to seal away.
Akio had some guesses about the enemy's identity as well. Though the Warring States era was filled with conflict, true extermination battles were rare—most clans would surrender and negotiate rather than fight to the death. The fact that his ancestor chose mutual destruction over surrender suggested the enemy was an external threat.
Based on the appearance of the Shinigami from the storyline, Akio speculated that the enemy might have been an ancestor of Kinkaku and Ginkaku, formidable foes from the Land of Lightning.
"The Kinkaku and Ginkaku clan is quite intriguing as well. They could devour the Nine-Tails' flesh and wield the Six Paths' treasured tools… Damn you, Kishimoto, leaving so many unresolved mysteries. How many brain cells have I burned trying to figure them out?"
"Sensei, what are Kinkaku and Ginkaku? And who is Kishimoto?" Nanako asked, puzzled.
Akio stiffened and turned to Izuko. "Did I say that out loud?"
Izuko nodded, and Akio sighed, covering his forehead with his hand.
"It's nothing. I sometimes say things that don't make sense. Just ignore it," he said, deciding not to explain further.
"Anyway, Nanako, go catch a chicken."
Nanako was confused but obeyed the request.
"Sensei, what do you need a chicken for?" Izuko voiced the question that was on Nanako's mind.
"I'm about to demonstrate a remote soul extraction technique…"
Izuko looked utterly bewildered.
Before long, Nanako returned, holding a struggling chicken.
"Hold it steady. Rat—Boar—Goat—Rabbit—Dog, Sealing Jutsu: Release!" Akio formed hand seals, unlocking a small gap in the mask's seal. A mischievous grin spread across his face as he aimed the mask at the chicken. "Sealing Jutsu: Chicken Soul Extraction!"
The chicken, which had been squirming in Nanako's hands, suddenly stopped moving as its soul was sucked into the mask. Not only that, but Nanako, who had been facing the mask directly, felt slightly dizzy and collapsed onto the ground.
Seeing this, Akio quickly closed the mask and performed another set of hand seals. "Four Symbols Seal!" He sealed the opening he had just created.
"It seems that this Shinigami has only just been born. Right now, it can barely absorb a single chicken's soul. Even against Nanako, all it could do was make her a little dizzy. As for me, the caster, it can't touch me at all."
"Sensei… what the hell are you doing…" Nanako groaned as she recovered from her dizziness, her deep red hair seeming to burn with fury as she clenched her fists at Akio.
"Nothing, nothing at all." Akio quickly shook his head, feeling guilty.
"Give me that mask!" Nanako snatched it and pointed it at Akio, but nothing happened.
"Huh? Chicken Soul Extraction!" she attempted to activate the jutsu.
"Pfft…" Akio nearly burst out laughing.
"Nanako-nee, Sensei already resealed the mask…" Izuko explained, unable to watch any longer.
Nanako's face flushed red, her entire being practically radiating heat.
It took Akio a full half hour to calm her down.
"You need to keep this mask safe, Nanako. Once the Shinigami inside regains enough power, our clan will gain another forbidden sealing jutsu," Akio instructed.
After explaining the mask's origins in detail, both students were left in shock.
"So this mask contains our ancestor's enemy? Why don't we just destroy it completely?" Nanako finally understood and asked curiously.
Akio hesitated. Ever since realizing that this was the very mask from which the Dead Demon Consuming Seal originated, he had never considered destroying it. Perhaps, subconsciously, he didn't want to alter such a pivotal jutsu in the storyline.
After a long internal struggle, he made up his mind. "This kind of mutually destructive jutsu shouldn't exist!"
With a Rasengan, he destroyed the mask, feeling an immense sense of relief. Making the decision to change the story had finally freed him from a deep-seated pressure.
"Ah! Sensei! My mask!" Nanako looked ready to explode again.
"You were the one who told me to destroy it…" Akio protested. Seeing that she was still fuming, he quickly made his escape. "I'll go check on Jitou's training. You two are free to enjoy the mask festival today—no training!"
Akio strolled toward the Third Training Ground, sighing. "Man, I'm losing my authority as a teacher."
Watching Jitou train in the distance, however, brought him some comfort. At least he had one reliable student.
"1493, 1494, 1495… Two thousand push-ups! If you can't do it, then two thousand kicks instead!" Jitou was training hard. When he noticed Akio approaching, he immediately sprang to his feet. "Oh! Sensei! Let's have a passionate sparring match!"
Akio's face darkened. For a moment, he saw the grinning faces of two bowl-cut enthusiasts.
"Forget it… I don't have anywhere else to go. I might as well head home."
As he arrived home, a familiar row of kanji finally comforted his weary heart:
"Achievement: Witnessed and completely altered the Naruto world's side storyline: Dead Demon Consuming Seal. Earned 2 (*10) Witness Points."
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