The opening ceremony was still ongoing.
Natsuhiko's mind was still occupied with thoughts of the unfortunate experiences of his former senseis.
Was it really just a coincidence?
Although one of the senseis made a valid point, Sealing Jutsu itself was a dangerous matter.
Especially for unorthodox individuals like them, born as commoners, who had only studied the basics of Sealing Jutsu in the seal class and rarely had access to precious scrolls.
It could be imagined that becoming a Sealing Jutsu sensei and having the opportunity to peruse the library's Sealing Jutsu books would lead to eager experimentation.
However, in the absence of references and guidance, such experiments often resulted in accidents.
Natsuhiko had witnessed similar incidents during his time in the seal class.
The argument was reasonable and fair, but Natsuhiko always felt a sense of discomfort.
Well, it was no use daydreaming there; he would draw conclusions after collecting more information.
After making up his mind, Natsuhiko's thoughts moved, and an interface that only he could see appeared before him.
This was one of Natsuhiko's achievements in creating a system, jokingly referred to as the "Display Jutsu."
This Jutsu was based on Genjutsu, which disturbed chakra to make opponents see specific scenes. However, this Jutsu targeted Natsuhiko himself.
Through spell-assistance programs, Natsuhiko could cast this Jutsu on himself, connecting his vision and chakra to the SmartBrain, generating a visual operating interface in his field of view.
The UI of this interface mimicked the classic XP system, even the background image resembling a familiar scene under a blue sky with white clouds, a lush green hill.
In the top left corner of the interface, several icons represented the small programs Natsuhiko currently possessed.
Natsuhiko opened the memo program and wrote a line of text.
[Investigate the truth behind the curse of Sealing Jutsu (unfinished)]
Then he closed the memo, glanced at the passionate Hokage-san speaking on the stage, knowing that the opening ceremony wouldn't end anytime soon.
So, Natsuhiko opened the recently written Minesweeper program and began testing... or rather, playing with it.
...
After playing dozens of rounds of Minesweeper, reading two books with a reading program, and boredly counting the number of students on the training grounds, the opening ceremony finally concluded.
Didn't expect the Third Kage's speech skills to be that impressive; he went one step further!
The water puddles on the training grounds had dried up under the sun, but Natsuhiko's mouth was still not dry.
In his mind, Natsuhiko gave a thumbs-up to Sarutobi Hiruzen.
After the opening ceremony, senseis and students headed straight to the cafeteria.
Because it was already noon.
In the special cafeteria for senseis, Umino introduced Natsuhiko and others to the senseis.
Natsuhiko met several senseis who taught him before and got caught up in reminiscing about the past with them.
They expressed that they always had high hopes for Natsuhiko, and now, as expected, he had become an outstanding ninja.
Natsuhiko thanked them for their guidance but secretly struggled to recall any performances that might have impressed them.
It seemed like these senseis hid their expectations for him deep inside and used various methods like standing, running laps, and detentions to spur his growth.
There were also a few younger, new senseis who didn't have a chance to appear in the original work.
Natsuhiko exchanged friendly greetings with them, created a tagging program to mark each person's name on top of their heads, so he wouldn't forget their names.
Natsuhiko gained popularity by remembering a technique after seeing it once, which won him the favour of many.
Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, also conversed with Natsuhiko, expressing excitement about his performance in the Sealing Jutsu class.
I don't trust you, you old fogey!
Knowing that being a Sealing Jutsu sensei is a disaster, you didn't even warn me before arranging it.
Natsuhiko complained in his mind but smiled and agreed on the surface.
Not long after, lunchtime ended.
After filling his stomach, Natsuhiko followed Umino to the teaching building and entered the Sealing Jutsu sensei's office located in a corner on the first floor.
On the way, Natsuhiko learned that, in addition to teaching missions, Sealing Jutsu sensei also maintained the daily barrier of the Academy.
So, the Sealing Jutsu sensei's office was located here because the adjacent room was at the centre of the Academy's barrier.
Sealing Jutsu sensei needed to come here periodically to maintain the Academy's barrier.
Upon entering the office, Natsuhiko's first impression was that the space was not small.
In addition to basic furniture, there were several bookshelves in the corner, filled with various scrolls and books.
From the decorations in the office, it seemed to maintain the influence left by the previous sensei.
Thinking about the experiences of the previous senseis, Natsuhiko couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding in this office, with a chilly atmosphere.
"Natsuhiko, you have a class soon; better prepare well today."
Umino said, lightly tapping the stack of books on the desk with his hand.
"The textbooks and reference books you need are here for you."
Feeling a bit overwhelmed by the favour from his superior, Natsuhiko's heart warmed slightly, and the office didn't seem as gloomy as before.
Didn't expect Umino to be so thoughtful.
He expressed his gratitude, "Sensei, you've prepared everything so well! Must have been troublesome for you."
"Not at all," Umino said with a serious expression. "After all, these are readily available as a legacy of the previous senseis."
"..."
Natsuhiko's mouth twitched, managing to squeeze out a response.
"...Indeed, it was not troublesome."
After giving Natsuhiko a few more instructions, Umino hurriedly left.
Today was the first day of school, and as the instructional head, he was quite busy.
After Umino left, Natsuhiko decided to start working.
The first step was to find any Sealing Jutsu arrays left by the previous senseis.
When you have a hammer in your hand, everything looks like a nail.
Based on Natsuhiko's understanding of his peers, he knew many had delusions of persecution, especially setting various Sealing Jutsu arrays as traps.
Surely enough!
Natsuhiko wandered around the room and found several hidden talismans in the corners, as well as some wood carvings disguised as decorations but engraved with rune technique formulas.
Mostly, these were tools used to set up a sense barrier. The purpose was to receive alerts when someone entered the office.
It seemed the previous Sealing Jutsu senseis didn't suffer from severe persecution delusions; they only set up sense arrays.
With a little effort, Natsuhiko quickly decrypted the restrictions on these tools and took a moment to study the technique formulas. However, he didn't find anything worth referencing.
It aligned well with the typical level of a Sealing Jutsu sensei.
Next, after carefully searching the room to ensure nothing was overlooked, he started the second step of his work.
Setting up Sealing Jutsu arrays in the room.
Yes, Natsuhiko was a bit paranoid.
Since graduating and joining the seal class, he had been traveling around the Land of Fire dealing with various demons and ghosts mentioned in the original work but not prominently featured due to a different art style.
These unknown creatures, while not individually powerful, possessed strange characteristics, making it challenging to kill them. So, Sealing Jutsu was the best weapon against them.
Having dealt with these demons and ghosts extensively, Natsuhiko naturally developed a tendency to be cautious, like being unable to sleep well without a few formations guarding him, not to mention the curse on the Sealing Jutsu senseis was an icing on the cake.
While Natsuhiko tended to agree with Umino's viewpoint, thinking it was likely just a coincidence, he believed it was better to be safe than sorry.
Setting up a complete fixed barrier took a lot of time, so Natsuhiko decided to create a temporary version for the time being.
He took out a pen and a carving knife, modifying the talismans and wood carvings he found earlier, changing their ownership to himself.
Then, he noticed many blank spaces on the wood carvings and decided to add shielding arrays and binding arrays.
One for isolating Sensor Ninjutsu probing, and the other for attacking anyone entering this room without permission.
Natsuhiko fixed the wood carving with his left hand on the table, and his right hand swiftly drew rune technique formulas on it with the carving knife, leaving an afterimage.
If someone skilled in Sealing Jutsu had witnessed Natsuhiko's speed in drawing runes, they would be startled.
Drawing runes wasn't just about sketching them; it involved infusing specific chakra properties into the rune with each stroke.
This was similar to ninja hand seals, which required simultaneous control of body chakra flow in meridians.
In short, Chakra Control affected both hand seal speed and rune drawing speed.
Natsuhiko's drawing speed, at this moment, clearly exceeded normal levels, something even a seasoned Sealing Jutsu Master might find difficult.
He achieved this using the printer program inside the chakra SmartBrain.
This program's principle was similar to spell-assist programs, utilising the chakra SmartBrain for automatic chakra control to compensate for Natsuhiko's inadequate Chakra Control.
While drawing runes, Natsuhiko only needed to focus on the outer shape; the chakra infusion work was entirely handled by the chakra SmartBrain.
Therefore, Natsuhiko could draw runes at such a remarkable speed.
Soon, Natsuhiko had almost completed the drawing work.
The wood carvings were covered with densely packed talismans resembling ghostly pictures.
Dozens of runes formed a rune technique formula, and dozens of these formulas finally made up a complete array.
As the last rune was drawn, a faint glow appeared on the wood carving, and the rune technique formulas gradually emerged, forming a cohesive whole, signalling the completion of the array.
Following the same process, Natsuhiko treated the other wood carvings similarly.
Finally, he arranged these talismans and wood carvings throughout the room.
Once everything was done, Natsuhiko wiped the sweat off his forehead and surveyed the surroundings.
The office seemed unchanged, but Natsuhiko felt more at ease, as if he had returned home.
(End of this chapter)
Feel Free to support me on Patreon. Advanced chapters are up there.
https://patreon.com/ReidAstrea?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink
patreon.com/ReidAstrea