On Ghost Realm Island.
In the underground base.
Inside Kazuhiko Kimura's room.
Seimei set down a book he had been reading, his brow furrowed in deep thought. Seconds passed one by one, and after a long moment, his expression finally relaxed. Opening the book again, Seimei glanced at its contents and muttered, "As expected, mastering knowledge never happens overnight."
It had now been nearly three hours since he successfully infiltrated the base. During that time, his shadow clones had taken care of any security threats, and he had also obtained the information he wanted from Kazuhiko Kimura.
Fortunately for Seimei, Kimura had the habit of jotting down his experimental data. Combined with the books he studied, this was more than enough for Seimei to gather the knowledge he needed about human body modification.
With that, Seimei saw no reason to keep Kimura around to extract information from him directly.
Thinking this, Seimei glanced over at the corner of the room. There lay Kazuhiko Kimura, motionless. Without hesitation, Seimei stepped forward, placing his hand on Kimura's chest as he used the *Chakra Absorption Technique*. Within moments, he had drained Kimura's chakra, followed by his spiritual and physical energy.
As these energies dwindled, Kimura's life quickly came to an end. Only when he sensed Kimura was lifeless did Seimei retract his hand, nodding with satisfaction as he felt his chakra increase. He then formed a hand seal and unleashed a fire-style jutsu—*Fire Style: Plain Burn*.
With a *poof*, flames erupted over Kimura's body, rapidly consuming it until nothing but ash remained.
"Ha…" Seimei gave a slight exhale, scattering the ashes. After finishing, he gathered his belongings. It was already late afternoon, and he needed to return before dark. That evening, he had a reconnaissance and surveillance task in Fish Town and couldn't be away from the Blackstone Base for long.
Time passed minute by minute. A few minutes later, Seimei had everything packed up. Most of the items were books and scrolls, with only a few tools and instruments for experiments and some medicines that might be useful. Looking at the pile, he thought, "Good thing I learned the 'Object-Sealing Array.' I can create sealing scrolls now; otherwise, this would be a real hassle."
Thinking this, he pulled out a blank scroll and a brush, dipped it in ink, and began drawing. The sealing technique essentially converts ninjutsu, genjutsu, and other similar abilities into written symbols. Once someone learns the conversion rules, they can make the corresponding scrolls. However, mastering these rules isn't easy, which is why scrolls with specialized functions are highly valuable.
Fortunately, the 'Object-Sealing Array' that Seimei studied relies on scrolls for activation. He naturally learned it as he got the basics down, though if he hadn't, making one on the spot would have been tricky.
In just three minutes, Seimei successfully inscribed the 'Object-Sealing Array' onto the scroll. The blank scroll was now filled with intricate patterns and activated.
He sighed with relief, set down his brush, and began forming hand seals. As he channeled chakra into the scroll, the seal spread out over the pile of items beside him, covering them in symbols. With a final hand seal, he shouted, "Seal!"
Instantly, the symbols retracted into the scroll, pulling the pile of items with them. In the center of the scroll now stood a large "Seal" symbol.
"Success!" Seeing the symbol, Seimei nodded in satisfaction, but then he shook his head. The nod was for successfully creating the scroll, a useful skill. The shake was because he was still somewhat clumsy with the technique. If he were more proficient, he could instantly seal items into any object without inscribing a seal, or even create a pocket dimension for storage.
"Well, one step at a time," he muttered. With the proficiency meter on his panel, Seimei was confident that he'd eventually reach that level through steady practice. There was no need to rush.
After storing the scroll, Seimei stepped outside. In the corridor, a few shadow clones were training on their own. It was clear he hadn't wasted the past three hours. With a glance, Seimei estimated that this round of training had gone perfectly, so he dispelled his *Shadow Clone Jutsu*.
*Poof!*
With a burst of chakra smoke, all his clones vanished, and he felt a surge of chakra within himself. His mind also gained new memories and experiences from training. Standing still, he closed his eyes, reviewing these memories and integrating them into his skills on the proficiency panel.
After about fifteen minutes, Seimei opened his eyes. None of his skill levels had increased; even the *Fire Style: Plain Burn*, his least proficient jutsu, hadn't improved. He currently didn't have extra chakra to dedicate to it, so it remained at the beginner level.
Shaking his head, he closed the panel and headed toward the base's entrance, which was also its exit. Since his shadow clones had taken care of the remaining threats, he didn't need to be as cautious as he was when he first entered.
Within five to six minutes, he reached the underground lake.
Taking a last look at the base, Seimei muttered, "Looks like it's about time."
(End of chapter)