Hiruzen's clone nodded and said, "Yes. But before we start, I need to warn you. To complete this is even more difficult than becoming a Grandmaster. In Konoha, we have 10 Grandmasters, the most of any village. But, including me, there are only 3 ninjas who have completed this step. And even we can't be said to have truly completed this step as we didn't imprint hundreds of seals that we judged to be unneeded in combat."
Fujin raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why is it so difficult?"
Hiruzen's clone answered, "It is easy to imprint seals at the start. But as you keep increasing the number of seals imprinted on your body, it becomes increasingly difficult. The reason has to do more with your ability to create multiple imprints on your body and your ability to remember everything about them without any error.
Due to this reason, this step becomes very difficult to complete. It takes around a couple of decades to complete this step as the Shadow Clones won't be of any help here. And, the high time required makes every Grandmaster reluctant to complete this. They will just imprint a few important seals and instead use their time for other tasks.
So before we begin, remember this. Only imprint the seals that are important for you on your body. If you create a good seal in the future that you want to imprint, you will face difficulties if you imprint all the useless seals on your body. In the future, if you want to complete this step like me, go ahead. But don't waste your time on this in the short term."
Fujin thought for a bit and nodded. He said, "Alright Grandpa. Now can we begin the process of imprinting the Four Symbols Seal?"
Hiruzen's clone immediately shook his head and said, "No. Four Symbols Seal is a very high-level seal. Creating that imprint will be a task for you so you can learn how to do this by yourself. I will teach you how to create imprints with two other seals."
Though Hiruzen's words sounded sensible, Fujin couldn't help but think, 'Why does it feel like he is not saying something?'
Hiruzen's clone didn't say the following out loud and only muttered in his mind, 'Not to mention, making an imprint of the Four Symbols Seal will need around one and a half to two weeks and will have to be done in multiple phases. I don't want to keep sending a clone daily for the next two weeks!'
Unfortunately, Fujin couldn't read his thoughts. He replied, "Alright. Which two seal imprints will you teach me?"
Hiruzen's clone replied, "The two seals that you'll use the most. Chakra Suppression Seal and Self-Cursing Seal."
Fujin said, "I see. A Fuinjutsu and a Juinjutsu so that I'll get a hang of both."
Hiruzen's clone nodded and said, "Yes. Once you get a hang of how to imprint these seals, you should be able to slowly work the rest out yourself. But I'll advise you to not work on the imprint of the Four Symbols Seal until you try a few other seal imprints to get a hang of this technique."
Fujin nodded. Hiruzen's clone said, "Before we start, extend your hand and show me your palm."
Fujin followed his instructions. The clone asked, "Are you aware of where the chakra points in your palm are located?"
Fujin nodded. Inspecting chakra points on his own body wasn't a difficult task. After all, those were the points from where his chakra would be emitted from. Hiruzen's clone said, "Good. Create the Chakra Suppression Seal and observe from which chakra points your chakra is being released to support the seal."
Fujin nodded and created a Chakra Suppression Seal on his right palm while observing the chakra points that were releasing the chakra. He mentioned the location of the chakra points to Hiruzen's clone who nodded his head in agreement. The clone instructed him to memorize those chakra points.
Once Fujin was done memorizing, Hiruzen's clone said, "Now, place this seal on your palm without activating it. Remember to place the seal such that it covers all the chakra points that release the chakra to power this seal. Try to place the seal as much as the center of those chakra points as you can."
Fujin followed his instructions. Hiruzen's clone continued giving instructions to Fujin on how to imprint the seal on his palm. Around 15 minutes later, Fujin exhaled a lot of air. On his right palm, the Chakra Suppression Seal was imprinted.
Fujin observed the seal and thought, 'Wow! The seal is completely imprinted on my palm. I can activate it with a mere thought. This is different from my earlier uses of this seal. Though I could use this seal rather quickly, it isn't even comparable to my current speed. But… The imprint is a problem. Won't everyone be able to see this? I don't see any such imprints on Hiruzen's hands either.'
Hiruzen's clone immediately noticed his confusion. He asked, "Are you wondering why my palms don't have any such imprints?"
Fujin nodded. The clone answered, "Because you have just completed the first step. Now sit down and focus entirely on this imprint. Flow your chakra through it, control the seal and reduce its size to as much as you can."
The clone extended his palm and showed it to Fujin and said, "Focus chakra in your eyes and observe me properly."
Fujin's eyes began glowing as he concentrated chakra in them. A Chakra Suppression Seal appeared on the clone's palm. Immediately, chakra began flowing through it and its size began decreasing. In mere seconds, the size became so small that no one could see it with a naked eye. A couple of seconds later, Fujin couldn't see it despite concentrating chakra in his eyes.
Hiruzen's clone instructed, "Now that you have seen how it works, copy the method and try it yourself. Don't worry about messing up. You can always destroy the imprint and create a new one. But the process is a bit complicated. So try to get it done on your first try."
Fujin nodded and began copying Hiruzen's method. Soon, chakra began flowing through the seal. Fujin took control of the seal and began decreasing its size without changing the shapes and proportions of the symbols. Over the next 5 minutes, it decreased to the size of a mere black dot.
Fujin's concentration was at its highest level. His mind didn't have any thought apart from maintaining the shape of the symbols while decreasing the size even further.
Hiruzen's clone observed, 'I didn't expect him to do so well on his first try. His chakra control is better than I thought. It looks like he kept working on the Senju Taijutsu style even after leaving Renjiro's squad. And his skill with the seals is very promising too.
Though seeing his performance, it doesn't look like it's due to his talent in Fuinjutsu and is instead due to the amount of practice he has.'
He took a look at Fujin's face again and wondered, 'How long does he use the Shadow Clones to practice seals?'
He sighed internally and thought, 'Though he becomes very greedy when he wants something, his work ethic is admirable. It is comparable to my three students and Minato when they were young. In terms of Fuinjutsu, he is already superior to what my three students were when they were his age.
Only Minato did better. But he had Kushina's help which not only made his path simpler but also gave him a lot of motivation to become a Fuinjutsu Grandmaster. And unlike those four, Fujin has done it while staying hidden in the Anbu and keeping his skills a secret.
To be able to push himself without having a friend to push him or having the common people and other ninjas sing his praises is remarkable. It looks like my previous analysis of him becoming capable of leading Konoha's darkness was on point.'
While Hiruzen's clone was analyzing Fujin, Fujin made rapid progress. The size of the seal was finally reduced by so much that Fujin couldn't see it. However, he was very much aware of where the Seal was.
Hiruzen's clone observed it as well and said, "Good work. You have succeeded on your first try. Can you feel where the seal imprint is?"
Fujin nodded. The clone continued, "Good. I'm sure you can sense it very clearly. But the reason for this is that this is the only seal imprint you have created. Once you create hundreds or even thousands of seal imprints, sensing every seal individually becomes very difficult.
As for remembering their locations, that is difficult as well. While you may remember the seals that you use regularly, you will struggle with the seals that rarely get used. That's why I instructed you to not imprint too many seals right now."
Internally, Hiruzen sighed and thought, 'Seeing the crazy work he has done with his house, I have no doubts that he will create hundreds of imprints on his body if I don't stop him.'
He turned his head to his left and gazed towards Fujin's house, which was just outside the training grounds, and thought, '3 years ago, that house had more than 2500 seals. Its number has been steadily increasing since then. Right now, there are so many seals that even I can't see them all! Despite being better at Fuinjutsu, the quantity of the seals is so much that I couldn't keep track after the number crossed 5000 as even I can't see through all of them!'
[A/N : Bonus chapter on next Sunday if the fic gets 1000 Power Stones. Bonus chapter on next week's Saturday if the fic gets 2000 Power Stones.]
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