CH_72

The moment Kenji left, Tōji unrolled the scroll Kenji had tossed him. It was a jutsu scroll for the 【One-Thread Lamp Formation】.

"This technique—I think it's taught in the final year of the Academy. We graduated early, so we never learned it." Tōji explained to Natchi and Neru.

Unlike the Three Basic Techniques, this kind of sealing-barrier jutsu wasn't tested in exams, and students could choose whether or not to learn it.

The reason was simple—even E-rank sealing or barrier techniques weren't something everyone could master. So it was elective material.

Naturally, early graduates like them had never had the chance to learn it.

"Captain Kenji went out of his way to get us this 【One-Thread Lamp Formation】. Too bad I don't have any talent for sealing or barrier techniques." Natchi felt that Kenji genuinely cared about them—even if he'd never taught them a single jutsu, he'd always gone the extra mile for them.

And the "battlefield survival skills" Kenji had taught them during the war were more valuable than any ordinary technique—some of those combat tricks were genuinely practical.

There was no denying it—Kokubō Kenji, as a supervising jōnin who'd only joined their squad midway, had been remarkably dedicated.

"Tōji, are you going to learn it? I'm thinking of giving it a try." Neru asked. There was only one scroll.

"You go first. This kind of basic sealing-barrier technique isn't all that useful on its own, but it's perfect as an entry point into sealing and barrier arts. I'm not even sure I have the talent for it." Tōji handed the scroll over to Neru.

He was in no hurry.

Most barrier techniques required multiple people working together—that was really the Barrier Corps' job. Unless Tōji suddenly had a genetic mutation and gained massive chakra reserves, he'd never be able to cast a barrier alone.

So without connections or a way into the Barrier Corps, learning barrier techniques would only add a "broad knowledge" tag to his profile—completely useless in practice.

As for sealing techniques, most of them were beyond his reach anyway. The gap in sealing technique ranks was even more extreme—aside from a couple of E- or D-rank trash-level sealing techniques that even a chūnin might not be able to control… everything else was high-level sealing art that Tōji had no way of accessing.

The only paths were either being personally taught by one of the few most powerful figures in Konoha, or earning a massive achievement that would make the Hokage offer a jutsu instead of money as a reward.

And even in the whole shinobi world, very few people could actually learn and apply high-level sealing techniques.

Anyone who could single-handedly cast a high-level barrier or sealing technique was bound to be a named character in the world of Naruto.

By the same logic, if a sealing technique required multiple people to cast together, then Tōji would at least need a chance to get into the Sealing Corps.

Both the Barrier Corps and the Sealing Corps were elite-level civil-service positions.

But Tōji wasn't going to give up on learning even this introductory technique. If he ever got the chance to learn the 【Flying Thunder God Technique】, he'd need at least some understanding of sealing arts.

The 【One-Thread Lamp Formation】 was the absolute basics of sealing.

But for Tōji, that was a concern for later. 『Ladies first, after all.』

"I'll pass it to you once I've learned it. Thanks." Neru said it as if she was certain she'd master it…

Though Tōji also thought Neru would manage it. People who could learn medical ninjutsu were usually able to learn sealing and barrier techniques of moderate difficulty—the original story had already proven that.

That was also why Tōji thought he had a good chance of learning the 【One-Thread Lamp Formation】.

The technique itself wasn't important—but if you couldn't even learn the 【One-Thread Lamp Formation】, that was proof you had no real talent in this area.

He'd considered following a path similar to Yakushi Kabuto's earlier development—low chakra reserves, but well-rounded in multiple areas.