Chapter 441: Curse Seals
Several symbols appeared on the head that Fujin was holding. Fujin immediately withdrew his hand and retreated. Unfortunately, the symbols travelled through Fujin's Yin chakra and appeared on Fujin's right hand.
Fujin ignored the head and focused on his right hand. The Yin chakra dissipated and a layer of Yang chakra appeared on Fujin's right arm and hand to stop the symbols. It stopped the symbols from proceeding any further. However, the symbols came together forming an 'X' shape. It was a seal.
Fujin frowned and wondered, 'A trap? Hmm, a Juinjutsu… Did Danzo prepare it specially for me or is this something that all Root Ninjas have?'
Fujin's eyes glowed as he properly observed the seal on his right hand. It was a seal that he had never seen before. However, the symbols the seal used were familiar. Fujin analyzed the seal for a couple of minutes.
Immediately, several symbols appeared on Fujin's right arm and moved towards the 'X' mark. Within a minute, the seal on his right palm was destroyed. It was as if no seal had ever appeared on his palm.
Fujin muttered, "To give me a feeling of danger... What a weird seal…"
Fujin turned his attention towards the head and observed it carefully. He realized that his brain was destroyed. He won't be able to read any memories from it. Fujin analyzed, 'I see. It looks like Danzo planted a seal that protects the brains of the Root ninjas. So the Root ninjas can neither say what they do nor let anyone else read their memories to let them know.
In addition, this seal attacks anyone who tries to read memories. And, the path it takes is very interesting as well. The seal is probably stimulated by foreign Yin chakra and travels through it. If I hadn't stopped using Yin chakra and used pure Yang chakra instead, the seal would have spread all over my body. Even for me, the consequences of that could be heavy.
Not to mention, the seal is quite complicated. If the one who is reading the memories isn't a Fuinjutsu Grandmaster, he would suffer the effects of the seal. The chances of someone who is able to read memories also being a Grandmaster in Fuinjutsu is very low. What a devious trap!
I wonder if it is another seal or if it is a part of the curse seal he plants on their tongue or if Danzo has also put a second seal on the Root Ninjas. Hmm, now that I think of it, I should also learn the curse seal on their tongue. It should be a good inspiration for creating my own curse seal.'
Fujin tried observing the seals on the head. Unfortunately, there wasn't much he could observe. After destroying the brain and attacking Fujin, the seal completely disappeared. Even the seal on the tongue no longer existed. Fortunately, Fujin had the head of another Root ninja.
Fujin stored the head back into the scroll and began studying the second head. This time, he didn't insert chakra into his brain and instead just focused on figuring out the seals.
As he observed, Fujin's eyes widened in surprise. He had noticed not one but two seals on the head! He analyzed, 'I see. Devious indeed. On the surface, every Root ninja has just one seal, which is the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal.
If any Root ninja tries to say something that would leak the secrets of either Root or Danzo, then his or her body will be paralyzed, taking away their ability to speak or move. However, Danzo has applied a second seal in secret.
A seal that is inscribed at the back of their heads and not visible to the naked eye. A seal that is so well hidden that even a Grandmaster won't notice it until someone tries to read his memories. If it wasn't for the fact that I am studying a head that I beheaded and tried to read his memories, I wouldn't have noticed this seal either. I guess that the Root ninjas are unaware as well.
The two seals don't have anything in common and are entirely independent of each other, making the second seal hard to detect. The Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal is for stopping the Root Ninja from leaking out secrets, be it voluntarily or under torture. The second seal is to stop anyone from reading or influencing the mind to gain information.
Still, both the seals are quite complicated. I'll need some time to study them… Unfortunately, taking them back to Konoha would be stupid. I'll have to study it now. Though I shouldn't stay in this location. Ninjas and traders travel through the path near this camp rather frequently. And, I'm not sure if the seal had a backdoor for informing Danzo about anyone tempering with it.
Such a seal... It would be impossible for Hiruzen to not know about it. Meaning that he agrees with Danzo about this decision. Or perhaps, Hiruzen was involved in creating this seal as well… I'll travel to the Land of Rivers and study there. If I can create a new seal, I'll meet up with Shigeki and have him expand the organization.'
Fujin stored the head back carefully and began moving towards the West at a fast speed. En route, he destroyed any bandit camp he came across and used the bandits as test subjects to perfect his mind-reading technique.
A day later, he reached the borders with the Land of Rivers and infiltrated it. He found an empty cave and inscribed some seals for safety and stealth. He created several dozen Shadow Clones and everyone began studying the seals properly.
Four days later, Fujin completed studying both the seals. A look of appreciation could be seen on Fujin's face. He analyzed, 'Danzo… If these two seals were invented by him, then he is indeed a genius. And a terrifying one at that. I guess he only succeeded in creating such a seal due to his obsession with the Root.
The Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal is made of 3 parts, all serving different purposes and acting one after another to make the seal effective. The first two parts of the seal are for merely detecting emotions.
The first one detects the ninja's intentions about divulging secrets. The second part detects the ninja's decision to put those thoughts into action. It activates the third part of the seal, which is a very potent paralysis seal, stopping the ninja from doing so.
Once the seal is activated, it remains activated until Danzo decides to turn it off. So if Danzo is unaware of such a thing happening, the Root ninja could stay paralyzed for life!
That isn't the ingenious part though. After all, any Grandmaster and even a few SealMasters know how to deactivate the paralysis jutsu. At least, I won't have any issues deactivating it. Unfortunately, any such attempt would just reform the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal and the Root ninja wouldn't be able to say anything.
The only way to counter this seal would be by getting rid of it entirely. Unfortunately, even that isn't possible! The seal has an imprint, sort of like a thumb imprint or password. Only the person who knows what this imprint is will be able to lift this seal. It means that Danzo is the only one who can lift this seal. Unless my Fuinjutsu reaches an entire level beyond Danzo, I won't have any way of lifting this curse seal. And since Danzo is already a Grandmaster, it means that no one other than him can lift this seal.
It is the same for the other seal as well. It has 3 parts as well and no one can remove it. The first part is to detect any external Yin chakra headed towards the brain. The Yin chakra can be as I tried to read the memories or a Genjutsu which attempts to force the truth out.
If it detects it, the remaining two parts get activated. The first part simply destroys the brain, making it impossible for anyone to read memories. The second part infiltrates through the external Yin chakra and attacks the one trying to read the memories with a rather strong Juinjutsu. It is a paralyzing seal as well, however, it directly attacks the brain and the nervous system of the one trying to read the memories or cast a Genjutsu.
If that ninja gets hit by this Juinjutsu and isn't an expert in Fuinjutsu or has one such expert around, he will suffer heavily. Though it isn't life-threatening, it can reduce a ninja to a vegetative state if no help is provided in time.
Such a brutal seal... No wonder Danzo is so hated by the higher-ups in other villages. The Root ninjas have no morals and lack sympathy. That alone makes them a difficult opponent. To make matters worse, even if they are captured, the enemy village won't get anything from them. It is too much effort for neutralizing ninjas at Elite Chunin or Special Jounin levels.'