Three months later, within the Land of Hot Water.
In a narrow cave, Kakashi, Shisui, Tatsuya, and Guy were each leaning against the stone walls, resting silently. No one spoke. They were all striving to recover as much as possible.
Since accepting the Third Hokage's mission, Konoha's Anbu Team Eleven had been constantly active in the Land of Hot Water, the Land of Frost, and other areas behind the Kumogakure ninja army, occasionally attacking Kumogakure's logistical supply lines.
After more than half a year of effort, Team Eleven had achieved impressive results. They had directly and indirectly destroyed eight Kumogakure supply points and supply teams. Because of this, Kumogakure's Two-Tails Jinchuriki, Yugito Nii, had even personally led a guard team to pursue Team Eleven, but they had all managed to escape.
Now, throughout the ninja world, the four members of Konoha's Anbu Team Eleven had gained considerable notoriety. Three months prior, after Team Eleven intercepted a supply team for the fifth time, Kumogakure began to actively hunt down Tatsuya and his team. At the same time, the identities of the four members of Anbu Team Eleven were also publicly disclosed by Kumogakure.
In the underground black market, all four members of Anbu Team Eleven were on the bounty list, and the prices were not low. Among the four, Kakashi and Shisui were the most famous, both being genius ninjas of Konoha. However, because Shisui was from the Uchiha clan, and considering the immense power of the Uchiha clan, Konoha's premier noble family, which ordinary bounty hunters wouldn't dare provoke, his bounty was slightly lower than Kakashi's.
Might Guy, with his incredible explosive power from opening the Sixth Gate of the Eight Inner Gates, the Gate of Wonder, had also made a name for himself in several battles, earning the title of Konoha's Blue Beast.
Among the four, only Tatsuya's displayed strength was the most "mediocre." The Akimichi clan's unique secret techniques were not weak, but they were clearly inferior to those of the other three.
However, within Anbu Team Eleven, Kakashi, Shisui, and Guy didn't dare to underestimate Tatsuya in the slightest. After nearly half a year of working together, the three were well aware that Tatsuya's taijutsu and ninjutsu were both formidable. Coupled with his monstrous memory and intelligence analysis abilities, he was an indispensable part of the team. Moreover, all three knew that Tatsuya also possessed a very powerful summon.
In Anbu Team Eleven, with powerhouses like Kakashi, Shisui, and Guy, Tatsuya rarely had the opportunity to go all out. If he were in a weaker squad, with more chances to show his strength, Tatsuya would likely have become famous much sooner.
"New ninjutsu created. Please name it," Leaning against the cave wall, Tatsuya closed his eyes, seemingly dozing, but the pleasant sound of the bio-chip echoed in his mind.
Hearing the bio-chip's voice, Tatsuya's face, hidden behind closed eyelids, showed a hint of joy. The knock-off version of the Strength of a Hundred Seal he'd been envisioning was finally developed!
"Yin-Yang Seal," Without a second thought, Tatsuya named it the Yin-Yang Seal.
"Ninjutsu named successfully. Commencing information transfer," As soon as the prompt in his mind finished, a large amount of information began to flood into Tatsuya's brain.
This was a knock-off sealing technique that Tatsuya had reverse-engineered based on the effects of the Strength of a Hundred Seal. Its purpose was to increase his body's chakra reserves. Ever since Tatsuya returned to Konoha from the Land of Rice Fields, he had devoted all of the chip's processing power to researching the knock-off Strength of a Hundred Seal. After more than half a year of analysis and development, this concept had finally become a reality.
"I'm going out for a bit," Suppressing the excitement in his heart, Tatsuya stood up, said a quick word to Kakashi and the others, and quickly left the cave.
Inside the cave, seeing Tatsuya leave so abruptly, the three had different reactions. Guy looked bewildered, Kakashi looked thoughtful, and Shisui's eyes flickered with a peculiar light. Just a moment ago, Shisui had sensed a significant fluctuation in Tatsuya's chakra and emotions.
Whoosh!
In the darkness of night, Tatsuya's figure leaped between the branches of the trees, quickly arriving at a dense forest far from the cave. Standing in this secluded forest, Tatsuya took a deep breath and began to form hand seals rapidly.
As his hand seals changed, a black formula, about half a meter in size, slowly formed. Finishing the seals, Tatsuya pressed his right hand against his body. The black formula that had formed in the air instantly sank into his body and quickly disappeared.
At the same time, Tatsuya vaguely felt a swirling, black-and-white space, resembling a Taijitu (yin-yang symbol), appear within his body. His chakra, upon entering this space, was immediately pulled apart by two forces. Life energy entered the white space, while spiritual energy entered the black space. The two types of energy were separated and unable to merge.
After carefully examining the state of his body, Tatsuya couldn't suppress a smile. With the successful development of the Yin-Yang Seal, his chakra reserves, which had almost stagnated due to the limitations of his body, could now be greatly increased. This also cleared the way for Tatsuya to learn Sage Mode in the future!
Over the next hour, Tatsuya took out the dry rations stored in his sealing scrolls and ate a large amount. Then, using the Fujinhoin, he converted all the energy from the food into chakra and stored it in the Yin-Yang Seal.
After an hour of effort, most of Tatsuya's stored food was consumed, and the Yin-Yang Seal's storage space was about one-third full. To be prepared for any unforeseen circumstances, Tatsuya couldn't eat all of his stored food. He would have to slowly fill the remaining space of the Yin-Yang Seal later.
According to the bio-chip's estimates, the newly developed Yin-Yang Seal could store five times the amount of chakra Tatsuya originally had. Such a massive amount of chakra was something few in the ninja world could match.
The only drawback was that once the Yin-Yang Seal was released, all the stored chakra would be released at once. Although this could provide a powerful burst of strength in a short period, it lacked control and sustainability. This would be the direction Tatsuya would focus on optimizing the Yin-Yang Seal in the future.
After exploring and researching, Tatsuya returned to the cave in high spirits. Just as he approached the cave, Tatsuya was slightly startled. In his senses, there were two unfamiliar people inside the cave.
Tatsuya entered the cave, and upon seeing the two strangers, his brow furrowed tightly. The two extra people in the cave were also dressed as Konoha Anbu. One of them wore a mask, a black cloak, and black sunglasses. This person was one of the few Root ninja he could instantly recognize from his memories: Torune Aburame!
Clearly, both of these individuals were Root ninjas. Tatsuya had always harbored strong hostility and vigilance towards this organization deeply buried in the shadows of Konoha. No matter when or where, Tatsuya could not appreciate Danzo's style of doing things.
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