Chapter 170: Brushing Sense Of Presence, Cursed Seal’s Effect
At the Hokage Residence, Uchiha Tonan walked into the office and bowed to Sarutobi Hiruzen, “Sensei.”
Hiruzen was frowning at this moment, “Tonan, I was about to send someone to call you. Someone told me about a rumor in the village today. Don’t worry, they don’t know the truth. I’m planning to send people to clarify it for you.”
Hiruzen was afraid that Tonan would follow in White Fang’s footsteps after hearing the rumors. White Fang’s incident was the result of him making the village suffer a loss and someone needed to take responsibility.
In addition, since White Fang’s strength and prestige were too high, Hiruzen wanted to take this chance to take him down a peg. But he had never thought that White Fang’s heart was so fragile. However, Tonan was different. He was like a son to him. Hiruzen couldn’t tolerate such rumors about Tonan.
Tonan, however, said with a calm expression, “Sensei, I came here to discuss this. I want you to ignore the rumors. Leave the clarification to me.”
“Why?” Hiruzen was puzzled. He didn’t understand how Tonan would handle this. Tonan said with a look of reminiscence, “Master Chigo once taught me a secret technique that can only be practiced with a flawless and kind heart. It’s just that the practice of this technique is very different. You need to be able to open your heart to accept and enlighten others. This rumor is related to me, so I’ve to explain it to the villagers myself. I believe they will understand and agree with me.”
Tonan’s eyes glowed as if they were full of love and hope. Hiruzen looked at his innocent demeanor and blew out a mouthful of smoke, “I’ve also heard about the Fire Temple’s secret technique. No wonder only the First Hokage could learn it for so many years. I was thinking they were keeping it a secret but it turned out there was such a restriction.”
Tonan warmly smiled, “Sensei, do you want to learn it? I think an honest person like you is very suitable to learn this technique.”
Hiruzen almost choked on the smoke. “I know what kind of a person I am. I’m still a bit far away from having a flawless and kind heart.”
“Cough, cough… I, after all, am too old to learn. I’ll leave this to you then. If you can’t resolve it, come to me.”
Tonan placed his hands on his knees and bowed to Hiruzen, “Thank you for letting me do this, sensei. I’ll leave now.”
……
After Tonan left the Hokage Residence, he went to the welfare institution. He dispelled the shadow clone that was taking care of little Kotoura and created another one.
Apart from looking after Kotoura, the shadow clone was also responsible for the welfare institution’s meals. He had no time to rest. If he dispelled midway, Kotoura would be in danger. Before going out, Tonan also asked Maito Dai and his son to help purchase ingredients.
On Konoha streets, Tonan turned on the effect of Wind Communication to the maximum. He heard countless doubts, scorns, and insults.
“Very good, let the anger ferment… the fiercer the insults, the better. Make me angry. I wonder what’ll be my Mangekyo’s abilities. It seems its abilities are named after the deities of a certain island country’s myths. However, there don’t seem to be many gods in their myths, and there are only a few powerful deities.”
“Amaterasu? Tsukuyomi? Kotoamatsukami? Or Kagutsuchi? It is said that Sharingan is the eye that portrays the soul, and most of the awakened abilities are related to it. If that’s the case, I think no ability matches me. Could it be that it’ll be the ability with the name of some minor deities? Or related to acknowledgment? Or killing people? I’m looking forward to it…”
Tonan wandered around the streets for a long time. However, the villagers’ discussions seemed too low. He felt they were not going all out. Most of them were just doubts and dissatisfaction. There were just a few insults. The villagers’ characters seemed to be a bit high. Tonan frowned slightly.
“This is no good. I don’t feel anything at all. If things develop like this, one day everyone will forget about it and it will be replaced by new things. That’s human nature.”
After mulling over it some more, he thought the rumors had just begun and everyone’s emotions were not heightened. “Let’s wait for the rumors to ferment for a few more days. I just need to keep brushing my presence, so that they don’t forget about me.”
Making this decision, Tonan wandered through every street in Konoha. At noon, he took advantage of a small gap to eat something at a roadside stall and then continued to wander around with great cause. He didn’t return home until after sunset.
Then, he summoned Enkuu to practice Soft Physique Modification. Once Enkuu appeared, Tonan could feel his changes. He immediately grabbed Enkuu’s wrist and pulled him into the bathroom. “Let’s go, and practice quickly.”
While walking, Tonan lightly poked Enkuu’s wrist. He could feel the skin dent a little but the more it dented, the stronger the resistance. It seemed the simultaneous practice of the Soft Physique Modification and the Adamantine Body affected both internal and external cultivation.
The Adamantine Body trained skin and bones but with the addition of the Soft Physique Modification, it had become an all-around enhancement. This was good news for Tonan. Tonan didn’t know whether it was his misconception but he felt that Enkuu’s fur seemed to have gotten brighter.
Because he didn’t take care of it often, his fur was very messy and rough earlier. But now, it was soft and shiny making people feel comfortable seeing it.
“Enkuu, after a day of training, do you feel any discomfort in your body?”
Enkuu looked at Tonan with a moved expression and replied with a smile, “I feel better than ever. Today, my Adamantine Body crossed the threshold. Enma-sama said if I maintain this progress, after half a month, I’ll be able to practice it without relying on external stimuli.”
Enkuu was very excited. His strength finally took a step forward. Half a month… With a gratified smile on his face, Tonan rubbed Enkuu’s head and gently said, “Pay close attention to this secret technique then and be sure not to ignore it. If Enma-sama asks why you are progressing so fast, just tell him I taught you a secret art but you mustn’t tell the details. You’re my partner so you can learn it, but others can’t.”
Enkuu nodded solemnly, “Don’t worry, Tonan. This is your secret art, I won’t teach it to others.”
In Enkuu’s heart, Tonan’s favor was equivalent to giving him a second life. Tonan helped him improve, made him ignore what other people said, and was willing to spend money for him. Tonan was so good to him, Enkuu had already acknowledged him from the bottom of his heart. Regardless of the situation, he would never betray Tonan.
Tonan smiled and pointed at the pool, “Quickly get in and soak.”
Perhaps, the effect of the cursed seal was too powerful. Enkuu looked more and more like a human. His body became straight, his legs became longer and his tail seemed to have shortened a little.
Another noticeable point was that his fur seemed to have gotten lighter than the original dark brown fur of the monkey clan. Tonan guessed this might be because he used the human race’s senjutsu energy when he planted the Cultivation Path Cursed Seal. This was just like people who had the Cursed Seal of Heaven planted on them had abnormal characteristics when they used them.
Enkuu was a monkey, belonging to a primate animal, and was relatively close to humans. Therefore, the changes didn’t seem too abnormal.
