Naruto: The King Behind the Curtain

However, Seiki was naturally not as fragile as they imagined. Quite the opposite—he was delighted.

One person's wisdom could never rival that of a group. This was something Seiki had understood long ago.

Especially in a world that revered bloodlines, he needed more help to reach the peak—or perhaps, more capable tools?

The stronger others' talents were, the happier Seiki felt.

All he really needed to figure out was how to make use of their brilliance.

"You're all my wings," he mused silently, his face shifting into an expression of admiration. "Sister Kushina, Brother Minato, both of you are amazing! I'm not like you though—I still find even B-ranked genjutsu really difficult!"

This time, it was Minato's turn to be shocked. Was Seiki already practicing advanced genjutsu now?

This was different from the Flying Thunder God Technique. In their opinion, they didn't expect Seiki could master the Flying Thunder God anytime soon. What they anticipated most was merely some creative ideas generated from his genius mind.

But regarding genjutsu, they knew Seiki had a teacher guiding him. Being allowed to practice B-ranked genjutsu meant his teacher believed he already qualified to learn high-level techniques!

"Sure enough, Seiki is no ordinary genius!" Thinking this, they felt even more at ease.

Communicating with a true genius was effortless—you wouldn't need to worry about unintentionally hurting others with your own aura.

Soon, the three started openly exchanging insights about their cultivation experiences.

"The Rasengan? This technique seems possible..." When Seiki mentioned the technique he wanted to create, Minato's eyes lit up instantly, as if vaguely grasping something.

"In theory, once completed, this technique won't require any hand seals at all!" Seiki explained with a smile.

As someone aware of future events, Seiki didn't think going without hand seals was anything surprising.

In fact, later on, using hand seals would become outright embarrassing.

For Minato and Kushina, however, developing a seal-less ninjutsu shattered their established understanding.

After all, even something as basic as the Body Replacement Technique required hand seals.

In the shinobi world, performing ninjutsu with hand seals was considered as normal as eating and drinking.

Indeed, hand seals themselves had evolved into various showy techniques—one-handed seals, foot-based seals, ultra-fast sealing sequences.

Stunned, Minato murmured, "A seal-less ninjutsu... Isn't this the perfect match for the Flying Thunder God Technique?"

Thinking further, Minato couldn't help but sigh, "Seiki, it looks like I owe you another favor!"

Seiki quickly waved his hands. "No way! Actually, I wanted to ask Brother Minato to help me complete this technique. That way, we'll be even!"

Minato shook his head slightly—how could those two efforts possibly be compared at all?

If he only had to act upon someone else's inspiration alone, completing such a complex jutsu might have taken him three years.

But since Seiki already presented detailed conceptualization and plans, he only needed to trace the pathways of chakra flow—a task he could complete in under three months.

Minato gave a wry chuckle. "Thank you just doesn't feel like enough, so the only thing I can do is help you finish this jutsu as soon as possible."

Kushina had been sprawled across the table nearby. She suddenly slammed her hand down angrily. "Ugh, stop talking about stuff I don't understand!"

Seeing Kushina's pitiful expression—like someone forgotten and abandoned—Seiki hesitated before asking, "Sister Kushina, could I ask you to teach me sealing techniques?"

Hearing Seiki's request instantly perked Kushina up—she had been so bored earlier she was practically blowing bubbles. "Seiki, you're interested in sealing techniques too?"

After all, sealing techniques were an ultimate ninjutsu capable of even containing Kaguya, with practically limitless potential. Naturally, Seiki was interested.

Of course, he couldn't say that directly.

Seiki nodded slowly, his voice steady and firm. "Actually, while I was at the hospital, I saw many ninja returning from missions who suffered injuries or disabilities because they couldn't receive immediate treatment… or even died! So I thought, what if I could combine medical ninjutsu with sealing techniques to create medical scrolls [Medical Scrolls]? That way, even on the battlefield, no one would have to suffer without immediate medical aid!"

"Medical scrolls!" Although already familiar with Seiki's ingenuity, hearing about this idea still shocked both Kushina and Minato.

Even without being medical ninja themselves, they could easily grasp the immense value this concept represented—as dictated by the sacred rules of medical ninja.

Leaving aside the rarity of medical ninja entirely, just the third rule among the three fundamental principles of medical ninja—that medical ninja must never be at the frontline of combat—limited how promptly injured front-line ninja could get treatment.

At this point, if medical scrolls could substitute for medical ninja, the battlefield casualty rate would plummet—and the outcome of entire wars could shift overnight!

Realizing this, both grew excited. "Seiki, can this really be done?"

"I'm not sure either," Seiki shook his head but spoke firmly. "But if there's any possibility of helping everyone, I must learn sealing techniques!"

Seiki's conviction seemed to infect Kushina, who nodded enthusiastically and slapped her chest promisingly. "Leave that to me!"

Looking hesitant, Seiki asked carefully, "But wouldn't that be a secret technique of the Country of Whirlpools? Would it really be okay for me to learn it?"

"What country of Whirlpools are you talking about now?" Kushina gave a self-mocking smile before continuing. "How about this—if you ever meet other surviving members of the Uzumaki clan in the future, please do me a favor and look after them a bit."

Seiki's eyes flickered briefly before he nodded firmly. "I will!"

"By the way, Sister Kushina, there's one more thing I'd like to trouble you with."

Kushina immediately put on a serious face and grabbed Seiki's cheeks, squishing them vigorously.

"That's so unfair! You should never need to be this polite with your sister!"

"Mmph! I can't talk like this!"

Pleased with Seiki's struggle, Kushina finally let go. "Okay then, what is it?"

Seiki rubbed his cheek as he spoke, "Because of the [Flying Thunder God Technique] and the [Sealing Technique], I might need to bother you for a while, Sister Kushina..."

Seeing the murderous intent in Kushina's eyes and noticing her hands twitching again, Seiki quickly continued, "But I've started a Psychology Club at school. If I'm gone too long, it'll let the students down. And your place is so big, Kushina..."

"So, can I bring some friends over with me?"

"F-f-friends?" Kushina, usually so direct, stammered, uncharacteristically flustered.

To her, friendship had always been something out of reach.

She didn't have friends—which was why she valued her current bonds all the more.

Seeing Kushina look unsettled, Seiki added, "They're some of my closest friends! I know they'd really like you too, Kushina!"

Now Kushina saw exactly what Seiki was doing.

"He knows I don't have any friends, so he's introducing his friends to me. And he's careful not to make me feel sensitive about it—that's why he put it that way!"

Kushina felt a lump forming in her throat. At that moment, she actually found herself feeling thankful—even for some Cloud Village ninja who was probably too scared to remember his own name by now!

"Thank you... for letting me experience something as precious as this!"

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