"Bijuu Chakra Batteries, yes! I figured it out. We can power a village-wide barrier with Bijuu Chakra!"
It was like music. It was music. Good news at last!
"How? I thought you said…and where did you even get the—" I snapped to Utakata, my question answered, "You? Where have you had time to do this between missions?"
Utakata looked sheepish, his smile a shadow compared to his mentor's encompassing grin, "Team 3 never really went on that many missions, Ao-taicho was usually busy off with something and Rina…now that we're dissolved I got to help out some more."
"Yes, Utakata has been very helpful. We've been working together since you thought up this idea, Yagura-sama. However…" Harusame maintained his smile as he and his mentee shared a look. He caught my expectant gaze and spat it out, "Utakata has faced progressive difficulty controlling his Bijuu Chakra, well, not so much control as it is manifesting it. It's almost as if the Bijuu refuses to let its chakra go. I won't lie, I am a bit worried."
That sounds familiar. I pressed a hand on Utakata's shoulder, "I understand, we should train together soon. Come to me after this." The young Jinchuriki nodded fiercely but my mood had deflated a bit at that news. If it meant what I thought it did then its likely my efforts to bring Saiken into the timeline unraveling team as I did Isobu were counterproductive.
I didn't let that potential overshadow the uplifting discovery Harusame had brought to me. "How did you fix the sealing issues? Bijuu Chakra can't easily be contained in inanimate objects for long periods and yet, if what you're saying is true."
Harusame's mood lifted as the conversation shifted back to his accomplishment, "Oh the Uzumaki annexes held even more of a trove than I thought and in the most niche scrolls. It was a simple fix in the end, the seals, you see how none of the inscriptions are facing outward? Yes, well those inscriptions rely almost entirely on Yin chakra. It's a complex series of logic and spirituality we can discuss at length but the essential thing to note is that the canister behaves like a living thing thanks to those seals."
He retrieved a seal from his pocket and handed it to me, "There, have a look, see how—"
"Yes, yes…" I muttered, examining the complex kanji. Like he said, much of it was written as a pipeline for Ying chakra, life nature chakra to flow through, but at the end, there was a series of inscriptions dotting through that I couldn't fully decipher save from the context of their use, "You're infusing the canister with…life and then, containing that life from actually living by forcing it to contend with the Bijuu chakra. I don't truly understand yet but Harusame…this is, this is genius!"
Harusame chortled before bellowing with well earned pride, "I can't take all the credit, the Uzumaki had an intimate knowledge of chakra that…" His bellows tumbled to an amused chuckle, his brows beginning to knit. "even reading their texts I'm not sure even they themselves perceived their true limits or the connection that granted it."
He shook his head as if scolding himself for the exuberance and his countenance quickly shifted to the lecture I was often subjected to during my first month here. He pinched his glasses and managed a scowl, "That said, it would be chide to believe this were true Life Energy. Yin is not an easy power to catch and so, a mere facsimile this makes."
Of course it's an imitation. I nodded along, equally excited for the man's discovery. It was certainly no easy feat to capture either peripheral chakra natures and the fact that I'd only done it thanks to having a summon animal trust me with access to their Nature Path was a privilege a scant few survived…much less enjoyed.
And yet power without knowledge remained an excess of energy, unfocused and unbidden. I glowed at Harusame, "Thank you, Harusame. I understand, for something like this…there will be flaws and hiccups. What are they?"
Harusame had forged a Yin manipulating system through resurrected Uzumaki knowledge—I was bound to extract from him later— and he had done so without a special connection; The Sage Paths, Kekkei Genkai, Tailed Beasts, the ones he could reasonably attain and yet hadn't. But it couldn't be all safe, all easy, not nearly.
He deflated a bit, as if being seen through. His eyes shifted at Utakata before snapping back, "The system is still a bit fragile. It burns through a lot of Chakra, leaks out quite a bit of it too and it at its current size…I may have over exaggerated about going village-wide. At most, essential areas and buildings."
I smiled graciously at the brilliant man and tapped his shoulder, "You've done the hardest part yet, Harusame, everything else is extra."
At my words he brightened up considerably and snapped at Utakata, "Let's go! This is best done outside."
Utakata picked up two canisters, hauling them behind us as Harusame led the way out and through the upper levels. Many of those in the Sensor Division trailed along, silent but all just as curious at what Harusame had accomplished. They were incompetent but even they could deduce the potentials, the resonating effect such an innovation would have on their jobs.
The Sensor Division was parallel to I&C, the halls as sterile and cold plated as a hospital. Unlike I&C it wasn't a large building, it barely had more than four floors to it and the most important ones were either at the very top or underground— like most government buildings frankly.
It wasn't long before we reached a door at the top, guarded by a pair of previously idle shinobi who couldn't sharpen up quickly enough to understand what was happening or why so many people were trooping their otherwise undisturbed corner of the Division.
"Open the door you twats!" Harusame barked, moving to do so himself. Said twats saved face and opened the door for our little excursion.
The sky remained clear, untouched by the return of our Hidden Mist—something I'd yet to approve, and for good reason. From my vantage point, the village unfolded in full: curved rooftops, towering spires, and pockets of thriving vegetation nestled between districts, all hallmarks of the place we'd rebuilt.
Two towers bore wide banners in my name, preaching peace and prosperity. Pink balloons stamped with the Karatachi clan symbol floated across the skyline, tethered to balconies and awnings beside bouquets of blue-red flowers. Invitations to gather at Bar Beach for feasting, fun, and community renewal adorned walls and windows—language that wasn't mine, not exactly, but still carried the spirit of what I believed we could become.
Uncle was fiercely pushing for everything with my year anniversary to go right, for it to be memorable but also, the only thing on peoples minds if at all possible. Recent events, most especially the looming scandal around the Poison Mist clan among others were circulating new versions of rumours at an ever escalating pace, one he was having trouble controlling the narrative of.
There's no point. I sighed, taking in the village as it went through all the stages of festive preparations. The Daimyo, Princess Hanako and other esteemed delegates and clients from all over the shinobi world were meant to be in attendance but with the volatile state of the village in the previous weeks, their invites were only sent out a few days ago. I wouldn't hold my breath though, as much as I understood the value of a distraction, this one wouldn't pull my attention from the facts the past month had taught me so dearly.
Utakata grunted as he placed the canisters on the ground, near the centre of the rooftop. He'd carried along with him a cable or tube rather that he quickly got to connecting the two canisters to. At the end of the tube was a knob that fed into a box Harusame released from a storage seal with a poof of smoke.
The box was more of a crate by how large it was, but besides that it was black, plastered with seals and otherwise unassuming. The two worked together connecting them together before Harusame finally extended an antenna out from the middle of the box, signalling Utakata to wait by the knob connecting the canisters as he turned around to his gathered audience.
About two dozen people had followed after us, and not all of them were from the main operations we'd just left. Word travelled fast. He clapped the murmurs away with the sharpened experience of a longtime educator and pronounced loudly over what remaining chatter, "We begin with a simple test of stability, to ensure what we've devised does not blow up." He said, quickly getting to the point of the demonstration.
At a gesture, Utakata twisted the knob and Harusame forged his fingers in unfamiliar handseals before touching the tip of the box's antenna. It let out a whining hum that quickly faded as Bijuu Chakra began to flow through it.
Harusame was right, the system was rather fragile. It leaked out more Bijuu Chakra than I was comfortable with and the oppressive energy was unmistakable to everyone that had come to spectate, their faces went pale and some already began hyperventilating. The Three and Six Tailed Beasts had complex relationships with each generation of shinobi and while acceptance, or more accurately, understanding of the worth was on the rise, it didn't wash away the trauma from those who bore it.
A handful of people broke away from the demonstration, the energy growing stronger, weighing the very air as it climbed up the antenna and generated that whining hum at a higher frequency.
I squinted, Utakata already had his ears covered and Harusame stood a fair distance away from the device. It continued to whine as more and more chakra piled at the tip of the antennae, the hairs on my neck stood as the energy continued to leak and just when I thought it was going surely going to blow up, Harusame made another round of hand seals and yelled, "Kai!"
Instantly the chakra shot out into the sky, a beam of unrestrained power but it wasn't just that, it was woven into a purposeful tool. The beam reached a peak and scattered, spreading across the sky like an unveiled umbrella. Its spread continued around us until a dome of semi-transparent, fierce red energy hummed around the Sensor Division building, encompassing it completely.
Excited murmurs and chatter erupted around me from those still willing to observe, I caught their excitement easily, a grin smeared across my face as I thought of the possibilities, the peace of mind this would grant me.
Harusame cleared his throat after a minute or two of excited observations, "If I'm allowed the privilege, I have coined this technique the Hiden: Great Mist Barrier!" he proclaimed fiercely, his eyes shut against the multitudes of cringe squeezed faces and disapproving murmurs.
Even I struggled to keep my face plain, it was a lazy, if quirky name but it worked and he certainly deserved the honour of coining it, even if it was bad.
"As you can see, Yagura-sama, it is all very safe…save for the chakra leakage and other…well, there will be solutions to those sooner than later."
"Of course, but first, what is it capable of protecting us from?"
Harusame adjusted his glasses and made a dramatic motion of beckoning to me, "That's why it's my hope you will do us the honour of proving its strength, Yagura-sama."