Chapter 41: Transcription Seal, ANBU Surveillance

"Reiji, are you done yet...?"

"Almost."

"Y-You... be careful, okay? It’s a little sensitive there..."

A series of strange-sounding conversations came from inside the room.

In reality, Reiji was using the Transcription Seal to place defensive genjutsu inside Izumi’s eyes.

After being targeted by Danzo through the Kirigakure assassination attempt, he had been thinking about how to give Izumi’s family an extra layer of protection.

Izumi’s strength had improved considerably under his daily guidance, but at most, she was only at the level of a Chunin.

As for Izumi’s parents, they possessed only a tiny amount of chakra and weren’t even shinobi.

Therefore, Reiji could only rely on something like the Transcription Seal to provide them with an additional means of protection.

"Done."

Reiji let out a long breath.

After finally finishing, he felt the tension he had been carrying finally ease.

"What did you do to me?"

Uchiha Izumi touched her eyes, sensing that something wasn’t quite right.

It felt as though something had entered her body...

Reiji deactivated his Sharingan and patiently explained:

"I used the Transcription Seal to place two defensive genjutsu in your eyes."

"You’ve probably heard of the Transcription Seal. It can store a technique cast through the Sharingan inside the target’s eyes and release it once specific conditions are met."

Izumi blinked, somewhat confused.

Why would he put genjutsu in her eyes?

Was she really going to encounter some kind of danger inside the village?

Suddenly, she remembered what Reiji had previously told her about being attacked by one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.

Izumi opened her mouth slightly.

"Reiji, could it be that when you were attacked by that... Raiga, there really was someone inside Konoha trying to kill you?"

"That’s right."

Reiji didn’t hide it from Izumi and simply told her:

"The person behind it was one of the village’s higher-ups, a man named Shimura Danzo. But you don’t need to worry about that for now."

"Just remember this: if you ever encounter someone wearing a mask, regardless of what kind of mask it is, stay alert and get away immediately."

Because anyone wearing a mask who might pose a threat to Izumi’s family because of him could be an ANBU member, a Root shinobi, or even Uchiha Obito himself.

"Danzo..."

Izumi carefully memorized the unfamiliar name.

However, at her current age, she still couldn’t understand why someone from the village would want to harm Reiji.

After reminding Izumi several more times not to tell anyone about what he had just told her, Reiji began explaining the Transcription Seal in greater detail.

"I placed one genjutsu in each of your eyes."

"There are two activation conditions. It can either activate automatically if you’re knocked unconscious by an external force, or you can activate it yourself by forming the necessary hand seals."

"If the enemy isn’t prepared, there’s even a chance of taking down a Jonin."

"Taking down a Jonin..."

Izumi clicked her tongue softly in surprise.

"Reiji, just how strong are you now?"

Before leaving for the Kirigakure front, Reiji had only just passed the Chunin Exams.

Now he could apparently knock out a Jonin with a single genjutsu?

"I’d say I’m fairly strong even among Elite Jonin."

Reiji answered honestly.

He wasn’t far from reaching the next stage of strength.

He wondered what new talent he would obtain once he reached it.

"All right. The genjutsu is set up now. We should test whether it actually works."

As he spoke, Reiji hardened his heart and raised his hand, aiming a chop directly at Izumi’s neck.

"Huh?"

Izumi blinked.

Before she could react, she was knocked unconscious.

A short while later, at Uchiha Hand-Burn’s senbei shop.

"Hmph!"

Izumi angrily took small bites of her senbei, turning her head away from Reiji.

"I was wrong, I was wrong. I just needed to test whether the activation conditions had been set correctly."

"You could’ve warned me first... You suddenly hit me like that!"

"Think about it this way. If you were warned beforehand and then got knocked unconscious anyway, wouldn’t it feel even worse?"

"...I guess that makes some sense. Fine, I forgive you."

Since it was Reiji’s first time using the Transcription Seal, and the activation conditions he had configured were relatively complicated, he had directly triggered the conditions himself to test them.

And in order to trigger them, he naturally had to knock Izumi unconscious.

The result was quite good.

The defensive genjutsu successfully activated and was cast on him just before Izumi lost consciousness.

Once he finished setting up defensive genjutsu for Izumi’s parents as well, they would at least have some means of protecting themselves.

"Hand-Burn Uncle, one senbei!"

A young voice came running over, slightly breathless.

"It’s Sasuke. Aren’t you going home for dinner?"

The owner, Uchiha Hand-Burn, smiled as he came out.

He was also a member of the Uchiha clan, but he wasn’t a shinobi. Instead, he ran a senbei shop in the Uchiha district.

He knew practically all the children in the clan.

Uchiha Sasuke had just turned five.

At this age, he didn’t yet have the gloomy expression he would have in the future. Instead, he looked incredibly cute.

"My brother finally has time to practice shurikenjutsu with me today."

Little Sasuke took the senbei with an excited expression.

Ever since his brother had joined the ANBU, he had always been extremely busy with work.

Today, he had finally found the time to train with him.

Seeing Reiji nearby, Sasuke quickly and politely greeted him.

He knew about this genius who was famous alongside his brother.

Reiji smiled and nodded at Sasuke.

But suddenly, he sensed someone watching him.

He frowned and looked toward the source of the feeling.

There, hidden near the clan compound, was a camera whose lens reflected a faint glint of light.

It was an ANBU surveillance camera used to monitor the Uchiha district.

"How annoying."

Reiji’s mood immediately soured.

No wonder the Uchiha clan had such a strong opinion of the village.

Being monitored like this every single day, without even the slightest bit of privacy—who could stand it?

When the village had first begun monitoring the Uchiha district, the official explanation had been that they wanted to find the mastermind behind the Nine-Tails’ attack.

But it had been almost five years already!

In Reiji’s opinion, the village’s surveillance of the Uchiha had probably long since changed its purpose.

It was now likely intended to prevent the Uchiha clan from staging a coup.

If you want to read 60 Chapters ahead of the public release, head over to: Patreon.com/RedString