When Suguru completed his task of copying his mental notes into the real world, Shukaku got ready to leave.
"Will you be going ahead?" Suguru asked with a tilt of his head, seemingly eager to ask more questions.
"...Yes," Shukaku stiffened, slightly terrified of the idea of having to answer. "I didn't give you much chakra in the first place, so this should be the limit of my time here."
"Ah, I see," Suguru sighed, "What a shame. I was having a lot of fun talking to you, Shukaku-sama~"
Suguru was once again playing the name card, currying favor with a fawning tone and honorifics.
"Mm," Shukaku nodded as he began to dissipate.
"See you around!" Suguru waked Shukaku goodbye.
"...See you, human child."
Once Shukaku fully disappeared from the depths of Suguru's consciousness, the region turned dark. It became difficult to access.
'Hm... I've been expelled from my own subconscious space.' Suguru's eyes quivered when he felt the endless void. It was a little scary to peer into the abyss of one's own psyche.
With nothing to anchor oneself on, getting lost would be a big problem.
Thinking up to here, Suguru shook his head and returned to work. Amai still had to work tomorrow, and his clones had yet to sleep.
'It's time I pass them some useful information,'
***
A group of Suguru's clones huddled around a scroll, each interpreting its contents with their own short-term individualism.
Some were taking out a pen and paper to make a few updates to their designs, while others were trapped in their own thoughts. Looking at his clones, Suguru chuckled. He could relate.
'Well... they're me so that only makes sense...'
Suguru then went on to assist his clones. Miniaturizing the Real Mirage Formation into something he could carry around was more plausible than he initially thought. He could feel himself approaching a breakthrough in his research.
There was simply one concept he was missing.
'But Shukaku had answered it for me,'
The answer was surprisingly simple:
'I need to learn Juinjutsu.'
***
Having reached a critical realization, Suguru's progress once again skyrocketed. Through the subtle guidance he had extracted from Shukaku, he was able to build upon his own theories and create several more that were specific to Juinjutsu.
Furthermore...
Suguru was holding another scroll. This one was from Orochimaru's legacy. A piece that he had yet to unlock.
Now, however, he had the means and the knowledge to do so.
'I just need to suppress this unique Juinjutsu.'
Looking at the elusive tomoe mark on the scroll, Suguru sighed. Even though he had the knowledge and the bigger image... Applying his theories still had its difficulties.
"I'll go through each seal one by one..." Taking out a pen and paper, Suguru activated his Sharingan and began analyzing the mark.
The mark itself didn't seem complicated. It was Orochimaru's vision that made things difficult.
Suguru instantly grasped how the seals worked, however, he could not identify how those seals worked in conjunction with each other. It was like looking at a complicated equation and knowing only what the variables were while being in the dark about how one could even get from one point to another.
Thus, Suguru had a harder time than before.
'Juinjutsu...'
It was going to take a while.
***
Since Suguru's Amai identity had been given a shop, it was easier for him to leave a Shadow Clone there. That Shadow Clone transformed into Amai and continued his everyday merchant life.
Amai had already sold his stocks from the Land of Rivers and transitioned into more valuable products using the capital he earned. Thus, Suguru had to make more clones to create a variety of Fuinjutsu tools.
Storage Scrolls, Explosive Tags, Energy Pills, and Soldier Pills were among the main items that Suguru manufactured. He still had to expand his artisan repertoire if he wanted to sell more stuff.
Nonetheless, these four items sold exceptionally well. After all, it was hard to go wrong with a good Explosive Tag.
Furthermore, Suguru went wild with several Storage Marks. From the wrist guards that Sasuke in the future would often use, to random items imbued with the Enclosing Jutsu. These ones sold in a very different manner, but still earned Amai a lot of profit.
Thus, the merchant side of things was going well. Kaori and Nao had gone through most of Amai's seals and were left with only a few things.
'They've done a lot...'
From recommending their friends to buy from Amai, to what was essentially a celebrity advertisement. Nao had given it her all, and it was clear that the Kazekage supported her from behind the scenes.
Kaori, on the other hand, opted for subtler things such as small gifts that Suguru could add an Enclosing Jutsu to. She also toured Amai around the village, recommending spots to eat and drink whenever they had free time.
Amai used their kindness to further his business acumen, make connections, and truly immerse himself in the world of merchants.
A few of Suguru's creations had even been shipped out of Sunagakure through merchant caravans. Some of which were headed straight for Iwagakure!
In comparison...
'Damn it...'
Suguru massaged his weary head. He had been slaving away, day and night, trying to figure out the Juinjutsu mark that Orochimaru had left behind.
'Isn't this close to impossible?'
At this point, Suguru was sure of one thing:
Sealing a curse mark was easier and more efficient than what he was trying to achieve. Unfortunately for Suguru, he could not seal the curse mark without sealing the scroll itself.
He had no choice but to wrack his brains.
"If I don't come up with a totally different solution, then I'm afraid I'll have to settle for what I've already learned."
After all, a curse mark was made to be impossible to remove.
'Excuses.'
Suguru believed that curse marks were nearly impossible to remove because no one had tried hard enough to develop a technique.
If he could do so, then...
'I'm going to have a lot of fun.'
[]=[]=[]=[]
I appreciate your support on P@treon! Hehe~
Link: pa treon.com/ubemantou
(No space.)
You can read up to 35 chapters ahead!
[]=[]=[]=[]