Rise of the Dragon - Chapter 011 (Patreon)

[A/N: This will probably be the last chapter of this FF for a few days, as I want to return to The Phoenix and finish the story, which shouldn't take too long.

I will occasionally upload a chapter for this story though and maybe return to it full time after The Pheonix is finished. I don't know for sure though, as there is still The Wanderer.

Anyway, enjoy!]

Chapter 011 – Ninth Gate

[Year 69 – October – Konohagakure – Senju Compound]

It wasn't the first time that Ryuma had looked at those, having learned Chakra Enhanced Strength from one of them, as Tsunade had basically written down her most-prized techniques in the scrolls, along with tips and remarks that were greatly helpful when learning them.

There were also scrolls that contained a lot of Tsunade's knowledge on Medical Ninjutsu, which Ryuma had stored inside the library, as he did not plan on studying those any time soon, not with other more pressing matters at hand.

Grabbing one specific scroll, Ryuma read what was written on the seal of the scroll: Yin Seal, Strength of a Hundred Seal.

This technique was the foundation of his mother's incredible combat power, as it allowed her to store chakra she didn't use normally in a special seal and access it at later times, which gave her chakra reserves dozens and dozens of times her normal bodily capacity.

Through this massive amount of chakra, Tsunade could then employ Creation Rebirth without restraint to heal even fatal wounds mid-battle, while outlasting many of her opponents easily. Being not afraid of injury during conflicts and wars was naturally an incredible advantage, that his birthmother didn't hesitate to exploit during her glory days.

Ryuma had of course known about the incredible effects of the technique, but learning it recklessly was just asking for death, as it required utterly perfect chakra control, otherwise one would not only risk injura, but also would not make any progress at all.

In the original timeline Sakura Haruno would learn this technique from Tsunade, after the former Senju Princess returned to Konoha and became the Fifth Hokage. And while Sakura may not have been naturally gifted when it came to her chakra reserves, this had worked in her favour.

Her low chakra amount made it easy for her to gain perfect control over it, which enabled her to learn the Yin Seal eventually, though it had taken her a few years, while Tsunade had created and completed it during the Second Shinobi War, a truly incredible feat.

Ryuma knew that his chakra control had now reached the required level for him to attempt to learn this technique and it was also the only solution he saw for his current dilemma.

If he could truly learn the Yin Seal in a short amount of time and store up the chakra his body generated during times he didn't use it like when he was asleep, then he could artificially enlargen his already massive reserves, so to speak.

With even greater reserves, he could create more Shadow Clones and may have a chance at truly learning the Flying Thunder God Jutsu, the Five Elements Sealing Array and others in a short period of time. He may also be able to complete his research into Cursed Seals.

The prerequisite was that he managed to master the Yin Seal in an adequate amount of time however.

Not hesitating any longer, Ryuma unfurled the scroll and read through the whole description and explanation, making sure to study everything carefully and remember the tips and tricks that Tsunade had left for him.

The Yin Seal was basically a variation and combination of the orthodox Chakra Sealing Seal, Chakra Storing Seal, Fortification Seal and the Mental Trigger Seal.

The core of the seal had to be drawn on the forehead between one's eyebrows, where a very special tenketsu was located, called Third Eye. It was a tenketsu that was directly connected to the parts of the brain that controlled awareness, perception and most important of all spiritual communication.

The Fuinjutsu theory was fairly complex even though it was based on four very simple seals, but the most important was still the placement of the seal.

Through placing the actual Yin Seal on the Third Eye and filling it with enough chakra to activate it completely, the seal effectively created an artificial Ninth Gate that could be perfectly controlled by one's mind.

The human body had 361 tenketsu of which eight were rather special, as they regulated the body's full potential and limited the amount of chakra on could draw upon without injuring oneself. These eight tenketsu were usually called the Eight Gates.

Through extensive and grueling training it was possible to open these gates and wield the incredible power they held, but this came with severe consequences, where opening all of the Eight Gates led to certain death, as the human body simply could not handle such great power.

Under normal circumstances it was also impossible to close the eighth gate again, so once they had all been opened, practically nothing could be done to close them again.

The Yin Seal Tsunade had created, effectively added another gate to the body, which was empty and could be filled with unlimited amounts of chakra, while being completely under the user's control.

Reading through the technique, Ryuma was once again full of sincere admiration for Tsunade's sheer genius. The woman herself may have failed completely as a mother, but her talents as a Shinboi were unquestionable.

Her genius and intelligence could easily rival Tobirama's, who, in Ryuma's opinion, had widely surpassed his older brother, when it came to intelect and academic genius. Hashirama may have been vastly more powerful, but his mind wasn't nearly as sharp as his younger brother's.

Ryuma also understood how dangerous the Yin Seal really was, as any misstep during the process could easily cripple one's chakra pathway system, practically ending one's carrier as a Shinobi. Once the Yin Seal was fully activated though, there was hardly any danger anymore.

Another plus was, that unlike the Resistance Seal which had to be drawn with one's own blood and chakra as ingredients, the Yin Seal could be drawn by normal neutral chakra conductive ink, as the massive amount of chakra that would have to be gathered into the seal, would inevitably saturate the ink and cause it to easily blend into one's body.

This was also why the Yin Seal only required perfect chakra control as its most basic requirement, as the seal could be drawn by a teacher, like Tsunade had probably done for Sakura in the original timeline somewhere in the future.

The Yin Seal, once activated, could be filled with a near endless amount of chakra, as the seal itself was constructed as such that it would compress and expand by itself if necessary, which, while ingenious, set the initial amount of chakra needed to activate it at the level of several times that of what a Kage-level fighter had.

The requirements on chakra control and quantity were enough to make it almost impossible for most Shinobi to learn this technique.

Ryuma himself had a vast chakra pool for a child his age with low-level Elite Jonin reserves, but to gather that amount of chakra, even he would take at least a few months.

Using his Mind's Eye, he could basically sense every chakra signature in the whole village, so it was easy to compare his reserves to the Third Hokage.

In these months Ryuma would also not be able to create any Shadow Clones, as he would have to focus his entire chakra onto the seal, even during his sleep.

As such controlling his chara and gathering it into the seal had to become an instinct for him, which was not an easy thing to accomplish and also the reason he expected that it would take him several months to complete the technique.

If Ryuma just had to gather such an amount of chakra, he could probably do it in about two months, maybe even faster, but he knew that he would probably fail to control his chakra in such a fashion several times while asleep, or at least not completely focused.

Ryuma knew this would be a tedious and strenous task, but not only was the Yin Seal an incredibly valueable and useful technique, this was also his only chance at quickly accelerating his learning process and giving him a chance at interferring with the events surrounding the Uchiha Massacre.

…

Over the next few days, Ryuma carefully studied the Yin Seal, before he drew the actual seal on his forehead.

As soon as Ryuma started to inject chakra into the seal, it rapidly contracted as a sharp momentary pain appeared and caused him to frown.

The pain though was hardly comparable to what he had to endure for the Resistance Seal and it faded only a few minutes later, leaving behind nothing more than a purple rhombus-shaped mark.

The colour of the seal wasn't something that could be changed, as it was influenced by the seal's connection to the tenketsu, so even though he had drawn it in black ink, the ultimate colour was still purple.

Ryuma knew that the next few months would be a definite challenge, but strength never came easy, even for the gifted.