Read advance chapters of all my works or want to support me.
https/www.p.a.t.r.e.on/Adamo_Amet
Join us on discord:
https://di..scord.gg/h3kDw7ma
••••••••••••••••••
Chapter 151 Of Tags, Axes, and Cannons
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Morning in Tazuna's house was chaos incarnate.
The scent of breakfast filled the air, but no one was eating peacefully.
Kiba sat at the breakfast table, head nodding every few seconds as he fought a losing battle against sleep. His hair was wild, even by his standards, and there were visible claw marks on his cheek likely from Akamaru trying to wake him earlier. Meanwhile, Naruto was buzzing with energy, bouncing from one person to the next like a wind-up toy. He was glued to Hinata's side as she knelt beside Oscar, her Byakugan active, her expression patient yet slightly exasperated.
"Naruto-kun, I promise he seems fine physically," Hinata said softly, repeating herself for what had to be the fifth time. "No injuries. No stress fractures in his crystal plating. All his joints are properly aligned."
"And chakra?" Naruto asked quickly, brows furrowed.
Hinata blinked and focused again, her eyes subtly shifting as she examined Oscar more deeply. "I... I don't see anything abnormal. His chakra flow is smooth. Slower than a human's, but... stable."
Naruto's face lost all color. He stood still, eyes locked on the lizard.
That didn't make sense.
Oscar wasn't supposed to have a chakra network. The creatures of Lordran, as far as Naruto had learned, didn't run on chakra at all. Chakra was something native to the Elemental Nations. If Oscar had a chakra network... that meant one thing.
The binding ritual had created one.
"Hey, Kiba," Naruto said slowly, turning toward the Inuzuka. "Last time, you mentioned that regular dogs aren't born with chakra. How exactly does that work with a binding contract?"
Kiba's head drooped. His eyes were closed. A faint snore escaped his lips.
Naruto sighed.
"Never mind." He turned to the adults. "Kakashi-sensei?"
Kakashi lowered his copy of Icha Icha Tactics just enough to show his single, ever-watchful eye. "Kiba's half right. Regular animals aren't born with accessible chakra. But that doesn't mean they don't have chakra at all. Every living organism has chakra, it's just a matter of scale and potential."
Naruto squinted. "So then what creates a chakra network?"
"That's a good question," Kakashi said, sitting up a bit straighter. "A chakra network forms as an organism grows. The more chakra it contains, the more refined the pathways become. Think of it like water paths developing in response to water flow. A baby in the womb doesn't have an active network at first. It borrows chakra from the mother. But over time, the fetus generates its own."
"That means the chakra I pushed into Oscar created a network," Naruto muttered, horrified.
"Likely. Especially since your chakra's stronger than most," Kakashi confirmed. "That kind of force could easily push a dormant or foreign organism into growing something it was never meant to."
Naruto's mind spun. A chakra network meant Oscar would start generating chakra on his own. And with a body made entirely of crystallized soul, that was dangerous. Incredibly dangerous. Chakra and soul magic didn't mix cleanly. If too much built up inside him, Oscar could shatter from within.
I can't let that happen, Naruto thought, panic tightening his chest. Come on. Think. There has to be a way to protect him.
The boy slammed his palm down on the table, shaking the plates and utensils. Everyone turned to stare.
"I've got it," he said sharply, more to himself than anyone else.
Hinata leaned in, concerned. "Got what?"
Naruto's eyes darted to Sakura, who was drying her hands after helping Tsunami with the dishes. "Sakura! That seal you made before the Core Seal. Can you teach it to me?"
"Uh, sure. Why?"
"I need to place one on Oscar. To act like a buffer. Something that absorbs overflow so he doesn't overload."
Sakura tilted her head thoughtfully. "Okay, but... there are two problems. First, the Core Seal has a set limit. It won't absorb chakra forever. And second, it's passive. It doesn't pull chakra in, you have to manually fill it."
Naruto frowned. "So I'd need to connect something to it to draw the excess chakra in?"
"Exactly."
Naruto turned to Kakashi again. "Sensei, you've studied fuinjutsu, right? You know any seal that can draw chakra from a host and feed it into another?"
Kakashi raised an eyebrow, mildly impressed. "Not bad, Naruto. You're thinking of a Siphon Seal. It's a more advanced one. Forms a one-way connection between two seals. Chakra naturally flows from the higher-pressure point to the lower one. If you pair a Siphon Seal with the Core Seal, you could create a slow-draining buffer."
"Perfect." Naruto beamed. "Can you teach us both?"
Sakura's head whipped toward Kakashi. "When did you know fuinjutsu?"
Kurenai, seated across from him sipping tea, smirked into her cup. "You didn't know? His teacher was the Fourth Hokage."
"The Yellow Flash?" Kiba mumbled, still half-asleep.
Kakashi sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "Alright then. After breakfast, we'll get started."
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
After breakfast, Team 7 sat cross-legged in a circle around Kakashi on the wooden floor of Tazuna's home, the early sun streaming through the windows. It felt almost like being back at the Academy except the stakes were higher, and one of them was technically a hero in the making.
"Well then," Kakashi said, flipping his orange book closed with a snap. "We're diving into the basics of fuinjutsu. Sakura already knows the fundamentals. Naruto wants to learn. And… why are you here, Sasuke?"
"Hn."
"Don't mind him, sensei," Naruto said with a grin. "He'd get lonely without us."
Sakura stifled a laugh behind her hand.
Kakashi sighed. "Right. Moving on."
For the next hour, Kakashi gave a surprisingly structured lecture on the basics of sealing arts. Sakura chimed in constantly, eager to show off her progress and correct any simplifications Kakashi made for Naruto's sake. Naruto, however, wasn't struggling at all.
In fact... it was kind of terrifying.
By the time they reached the practical portion, crafting explosive tags, Sasuke complained.
"This is hard," he muttered, staring at the smudged ink and crooked characters on his tag. His Sharingan activated instinctively, trying to decipher the structure.
"This is easy," Naruto said, casually sealing an active tag into a slip of cloth with elegant brushstrokes.
Even Kakashi had paused mid-step. Sakura leaned over Naruto's shoulder to inspect his work, her brow furrowing then rising. "This is amazing," she whispered. "Better than mine."
Naruto grinned and shot a smug look at Sasuke, who only narrowed his eyes and began drawing another tag with grim determination.
Sakura placed her brush down. "You really have a talent for fuinjutsu, Naruto."
Naruto knew the real reason: his stats. His high Dexterity allowed him to be perfectly ambidextrous, while his high Intelligence stat helped him grasp theory and fuinjutsu logic like he was born to it. But still, he liked to believe it was something else.
"That's because the Uzumaki clan were masters of fuinjutsu," he said. "Guess I've got some talent in my blood."
"Then why don't you use more of it in your fighting style?"
Naruto glanced at her, then at Oscar, who was curled up beside him. "Because Uzumaki fuinjutsu is... different from what's commonly taught. More advanced. More dangerous. It's not something I've really learned yet." He left out the part where Uzumaki fuinjutsu didn't even consider most modern sealing arts to be real techniques.
"So why learn this version at all?" Sakura asked.
Naruto didn't hesitate. "To protect Oscar."
Kakashi looked up from the small array of sealing materials he'd been prepping beside Oscar. Naruto had asked him to perform the Core and Siphon Seal combo on Oscar's chest just as a temporary measure, until Naruto mastered it himself. Kakashi had silently agreed, though something about Naruto's knowledge unsettled him.
"So," he asked casually, brushing the inkstone, "where did you learn about the Uzumaki clan?"
"The Old Man told me," Naruto said quickly, his tone too flat to be convincing.
Kakashi's single visible eye lingered on Naruto for a moment longer than necessary. The lie hadn't been blatant—but it was there. And that wasn't what bothered Kakashi most.
It was the why.
Why did Naruto so freely share some secrets and yet lie so easily about others? Why the selective honesty?
Before he could press further, Naruto broke the silence with a cheerful grin. "Come on," he said. "Let's keep going. We still need to finish the Siphon Seal and the Core Seal."
Sasuke stood, brushing off his hands. "Yeah, I'm done. Explosive tags are enough for one day."
"Cool," Naruto said. "You can take a shadow clone with you to get started on your swordsmanship drills."
A clone popped into existence beside Sasuke, saluting with exaggerated flair. "And what about the Fireball Technique?"
"Later," Naruto replied with a casual wave.
Sasuke vanished in a flicker, the clone keeping pace behind him.
Naruto turned back to Sakura. "We can handle your weapon selection once we finish the sealwork."
"Don't worry about it. I already know what I want."
Naruto blinked. "Really? What are you thinking? Sword? Spear? Maybe a shield?"
She smirked. "Axe. I want an axe."
Naruto paused, clearly surprised. "An axe?"
"Yep," she said with a shrug. "Strength-based, brutal, and surprisingly precise when used correctly. I've been thinking about it since the first time I cracked stone with my fist."
Naruto let out a low whistle. "Did not see that coming. Alright... I think a battle axe should work for you."
From the side, Kakashi finally spoke, half-lost in the conversation. "What... are you all talking about?"
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
By evening, the sky was dyed a soft orange as Naruto sat cross-legged on the front lawn, scribbling furiously into a notebook. Oscar lay stretched beside him, tail twitching lazily as Naruto measured segments of the little lizard's body and jotted down numbers.
"What are you doing?" came Sasuke's voice, breathless but curious.
The Uchiha boy had just wrapped up an intense sword training session. Sweat glistened on his forehead as he trudged over, his claymore resting against his shoulder. Naruto casually tossed him a water bottle.
"Trying to figure out what to do once the core seal on Oscar gets full," Naruto said.
"Hn," Sasuke replied, wiping his brow. He took a swig, then glanced down at Naruto's notebook and nearly choked. "Is that... a gun?"
"Yup. A cannon, technically."
Sasuke blinked. "Why?"
"I'm designing it to channel Oscar's excess chakra and fire it off as a focused projectile."
"I don't know if that's even possible. Would it be better to just work on something more simple?"
"It's absolutely possible," Naruto said with that maddening confidence. He wasn't just guessing. He'd sensed it—the chakra inside Oscar's core seal was different now, touched by soul energy. That meant it could be used the same way a sorcerer's catalyst channeled spells. If he could forge the cannon's inner frame from a similar material, Oscar now had a way to attack while also dealing with the issue of excess chakra. But he didn't say any of that out loud. He still needed Rickert's insight to make sure it wouldn't kill Oscar by accident.
That's when the duo noticed Sakura across the field, laughing like a lunatic. A clone of Naruto charged at her with a dramatic overhead swing, and just before it landed, a pale blue barrier shimmered into place in front of her face.
"How the hell did she do that?"
"She's been working on some kind of new fuinjutsu," Sasuke explained, watching her reset the formation with careful precision.
"Something her teacher gave her to study during the mission. She creates a barrier seal in advance, stores it, and can activate it instantly in emergencies. After what happened with the warship, she's not taking any chances anymore."
Naruto watched, impressed, as Sakura ducked low and slashed upward, popping another clone with ease.
"She's gotten stronger," he said quietly.
"No," Sasuke replied. "We all have."
Naruto nodded, his thoughts drifting to the flaws he'd uncovered during his own fifteen days of training, to the weaknesses he hadn't noticed.
"I need to learn a long-range wind jutsu."
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
[ Personal Note: First off, thanks a ton to all of you for sticking with this story. Seriously, you guys are awesome. Now, if you're interested in supporting me on P@treon, let me just say that over there, I post these massive 5k-word chapters. But heads up, if you're jumping to P@treon, you'll need to start from Chapter 74, since that's where this chapter lines up with the content there.
To everyone here just reading along, please don't forget to leave a comment! Honestly, your comments make my day, and they let me know you're as invested in this story as I am. So yeah, thanks again, and I hope you have an amazing rest of your day!