Konoha: The Absolute Justice of the Uchiha.

Chapter 359 Waiting for the Sealing Team to Arrive

Chapter 359 Waiting for the Sealing Team to Arrive

"Shikamaru".

"Lady Tsunade has granted me permission to sew your shadow onto the bed."

Chi Quan opened her eyes and looked at him.

Shikamaru replied expressionlessly, "Really."

Chi Quan remained silent for a long time.

"Is she crazy?"

Shizune finally snapped, "You're the crazy one!"

Shikamaru added, "We all agree that this is a reasonable medical approach."

Chi Quan seemed to be trying to sit up, but a sharp pain shot through his abdomen, and his face immediately turned pale.

Jingyin immediately held him down: "Don't move!"

Shikamaru also leaned down, his voice lowering.

"Chi Quan, stop fooling around."

Chi Quan broke out in a cold sweat and his breathing became very slow.

Shikamaru looked at him, his tone unusually gentle.

"You almost died last night."

"6

The ward was quiet for a while.

Chi Quan didn't look at him.

"I know."

"You don't know," Shikamaru said. "If you really knew, you wouldn't be planning how to get out as soon as you woke up."

Chi Quan's voice was low and hoarse: "Brand it onto me."

"So we absolutely cannot go out."

"Helian can use me to find Konoha's trail."

"We can also use the fact that he thought he could find you."

Chi Quan finally looked at him.

Shikamaru said, "Lady Tsunade has already instructed the sealing team to prepare a fake reaction. You should lie still and not let Helian see you."

Chi Quan's eyes flickered.

"Is it possible?"

"I can't guarantee it," Shikamaru said, "but it's better than you going out half-dead."

Chi Quan did not refute this further.

Jingyin breathed a sigh of relief and then checked his shoulder.

After holding back for a moment, Ikezumi suddenly asked, "Kiba and Akamaru?"

Shikamaru said, "They're lively and energetic. Kiba has a cut on his shoulder, and Akamaru choked on the medicine powder in his nose and is sleeping next door now."

"That Hinata kid?"

"Shoulder injury, not serious. Overuse of the whites, rest for two days."

Chi Quan whispered, "Okay."

Shizune was very gentle when changing the dressing, but Ikezumi still clenched his fingers in pain. Shikamaru saw that his fingertips were white, but he didn't say anything. He just stuffed the crumpled sheet next to the bed into Ikezumi's hand.

Chi Quan glanced at him.

Shikamaru said, "Don't reopen the wound."

Chi Quan gripped the bed sheet, no longer trying to hold on.

At night, he leaned against the door frame and peeked out.

"Can we get in?"

Silently: "Don't make noise for too long."

Kiba nodded immediately and quietly led Akamaru in.

As soon as Akamaru saw Izumi, he tried to scoot to the bedside, but Kiba grabbed him.

"Don't pounce, he's barely harder than paper now."

Chi Quan looked at him: "Your shoulder?"

He patted the bandage.

"Minor injury."

Shikamaru looked up: "He needed twelve stitches."

She glared at him and said, "Would you die if you didn't talk?"

Chi Quan said calmly, "Less than mine."

He choked.

"What are you comparing this to? Something to show off?"

Chi Quan remained silent.

Akamaru lay down by the bed and gently rubbed against the foot of the bed.

The pond looked down at it.

"Hard."

Akamaru let out a soft cry.

He scratched his hair, his expression unusually awkward.

"Um—if it weren't for you blocking those wind blades last night, I might not be the only one with twelve needles."

Chi Quan said, "You pushed Shikamaru too."

Ya waved his hand: "Why do you all give me this kind of treatment?"

Shikamaru said, "Because you're rarely useful."

Kiba: "Shikamaru!"

Chi Quan's lips twitched slightly.

Ya saw it and immediately pointed at him: "You're smiling, aren't you?"

Chi Quan closed her eyes: "No."

You definitely laughed.

Silently whispered from the side, "Teeth."

Teeth immediately closed their mouth.

The room became quiet again.

After a while, Ya asked in a low voice, "Will that burn really keep hurting?"

Chi Quan opened his eyes.

"It doesn't hurt now."

Shikamaru glanced at him: "Tell the truth."

Chi Quan paused for a moment.

"cold."

He frowned, "What's cold?"

"It feels like there's an ice thread embedded in the back of my neck," Chi Quan said softly. "Sometimes it moves."

Shizune's expression changed slightly: "It moved just now?"

"She moved once before waking up. She hasn't moved now."

Shikamaru immediately wrote it down.

"When?"

"Before you insulted me."

Shikamaru paused, then said, "I've cursed you many times."

Chi Quan thought for a moment: "The first sentence."

Ya almost burst out laughing, but she forced it back down.

Silently checked the sealing runes and whispered, "The seal is still stable. It's probably just a residual reaction."

Shikamaru wrote down the time.

"From now on, say it every time you move."

Chi Quan said, "Hmm."

Shikamaru squinted: "Don't hold back."

Chi Quan: "Mm."

Ya: "That 'hmm' doesn't sound believable."

Chi Quan turned her head to look at him.

Ya immediately replied, "I'm serious."

Chi Quan was too tired to argue, so she closed her eyes.

Mute the lights and dim them.

"Let him sleep."

Shikamaru stood up: "I'll go hand in the record."

Suddenly, Ikezumi called out to him, "Shikamaru."

Shikamaru turned around.

Chi Quan's eyes were half-open, and his voice was so low that it sounded like he would fall asleep at any moment.

"Hamura Jaku's words are not entirely true."

Shikamaru paused.

"I know."

"Investigate old cases."

"We're ready to investigate."

Chi Quan breathed slowly.

"Don't just check the Konoha records."

Shikamaru understood.

"Investigate the former noble lineage of the Land of Fire, the border mercenary lineage, and the remnants of Hamura."

Chi Quan glanced at him.

"Um.

""

Shikamaru sighed.

"Even in your current state, you still need to fill in the gaps."

Chi Quan closed his eyes, his voice almost dissipating into the smell of medicine.

"I'm used to it."

Shikamaru stood at the door and watched him for a moment.

"That's a terrible habit."

Chi Quan never returned.

He fell asleep.

Kiba carried Akamaru outside, and as he passed Shikamaru, he whispered, "You should go get some sleep too."

Shikamaru looked at the person on the hospital bed and shook his head.

"Wait a little longer."

"What are you waiting for?"

"Wait for the sealing team to arrive."

He frowned. "Are you crazy too?"

Shikamaru gently closed the ward door.

"Maybe."

A night breeze blew in through the half-open window in the corridor, carrying the dampness characteristic of late October. Shikamaru leaned against the wall outside Ikezumi's ward, clutching the stack of new intelligence reports, not turning a single page for a long time. One of the corridor lights was broken, and the other flickered, stretching and shortening his shadow on the ground, making him look like some lazy, lifeless creature.

The people from the sealing team arrived faster than he expected.

The foreman was a female ninja in her early forties, surnamed Kagura. Most of her hair was gray, and the wrinkles around her eyes looked like they'd been etched by a knife. Shikamaru recognized her—she'd been in charge of decrypting the frontline communication seals during the Fourth Shinobi World War, and after the war, she'd been in the sealing squad. She was responsible for most of the basic infrastructure of Konoha's barrier. The fact that Tsunade had brought her here meant this matter was indeed tricky.

Kagura was followed by two people: a young female ninja carrying a scroll, and a middle-aged man carrying a box of sealing tools that Shikamaru didn't recognize. The three of them walked very quietly, and Kagura glanced at Shikamaru when they reached the door.

"Lord Shikamaru."

"Kagura-san." Shikamaru put away the information and stood up. "Did Lady Tsunade tell you?"

"I've given you a general overview," Kagura said in a calm voice. "It's a tracking mark left by the Yanshui bloodline, located near the meridians, so it can't be forcibly removed."

"Can you press it?"

"Let's take a look first."

Shikamaru stepped aside to let the door open. Kagura gestured for her two assistants to wait outside, then pushed the door open and went in alone.

The silent chakra lamp in the ward was still on, the light turned down to its lowest setting, barely enough to make out half of Chi Quan's face. He was asleep, his brows furrowed, his left hand bandaged to his side, his right hand resting on his abdomen, his knuckles slightly curled, as if ready to grip a knife at any moment.

Kagura stood by the bed and looked at him for a moment, without touching him. She simply placed her hands a few inches above the back of his neck and closed her eyes.

Shikamaru leaned against the door frame and watched.

About half a minute later, Kagura opened her eyes.

"It is indeed Yanshui."

Shikamaru lowered his voice: "Can you tell which one it is specifically?"

"Not now." Kagura withdrew her hand. "The water quality varies from stream to stream. I didn't have much contact with the Hamura family; most of the records from back then were burned. But I know someone who can identify them."

"Who?"

"The one who defected from Kirigakure before was named Hisai. She did pathological research on the Enmusubi bloodline." Kagura paused, "But she's not in Konoha now; she's at a research institute on the northeastern border. Getting her here will require going through certain procedures."

Shikamaru frowned: "How long?"

"Three days if it goes fast. If it goes slow—" Kagura didn't finish her sentence.

The light in the ward suddenly flickered.

Ikezumi's breathing changed. It wasn't very obvious, just a little slower. Kagura immediately looked down at the back of his neck, her hand hovering over it again. This time, her brows furrowed even more deeply.

"The edges of the scalding just now have a very slight shrinkage," she whispered, "like it was nudged by something from a distance."

Shikamaru's expression changed slightly.

"Is Helian testing it out?"

"I'm not sure." Kagura withdrew her hand. "It could also be caused by Izumi's own chakra fluctuations. When a person is in deep sleep, the chakra in their meridians will naturally adjust, which makes it easier for the chakra to move."

Shikamaru walked in, stood on the other side of the bed, and looked down at the back of Ikezumi's neck.

There was nothing visible on his skin. No lines, no discoloration, not even a single scar. But he knew something underneath, like a leech, clung to the inside of his meridians, and could become cold at any moment.

"Where is Lady Tsunade's seal?"

Kagura pointed to a spot three inches below Ikezumi's neck with her finger.

"Here. She used a triple-layered seal, the principle of which is to weave a layer of artificial skin around the brand with Izumi's own chakra," making the brand think that the external chakra environment had changed. But this method has a problem."

"What?"

"It's too passive," Kagura said. "It can only dull the brand, not make it lose its way. If Helian is patient enough and senses it once a day for a long enough time each time, he can still roughly determine the direction and distance of the brand."

Shikamaru bit the flesh on the inside of his teeth.

"Therefore, we need to add a fake reaction."

Kagura glanced at him, a hint of surprise in her eyes.

"Lady Tsunade said you had this idea. I haven't seen any specific plan, so tell me about it."

Shikamaru pulled up a chair and sat down, then pulled a piece of paper, folded several times, from his pocket and unfolded it. On it was a simple drawing he had made himself; the lines weren't pretty, but the logic was clear.

"This is the mark of Chi Quan's true form, located at the center of Konoha. This is the boundary of the barrier. If Helian were to read the intro, he would see that Chi Quan remains stationary in the same spot, which in itself is information. He would know that Chi Quan is either too badly injured to move, or that he is being deliberately restrained."

Kagura nodded.

"So you want to add a few fake moving points on the side to make the whole picture messy."

"It's not just chaos." Shikamaru pointed to the arrows on the map. "If I can guide the fake signal outwards along several possible routes, such as towards the hospital pharmacy, towards the sealing team, or towards the Hokage Building, Helian will see Chi Quan moving." He couldn't determine whether Chi Quan was genuinely cooperating with treatment, undergoing sealing tests, or reporting on a mission.

"Then he'll hesitate."

"Hesitation is enough. As long as he's not sure how badly Chi Quan is injured, he won't dare to pounce on her immediately."

Kagura remained silent for a while.

"The plan is feasible. However, there are two difficulties."

Which two?

"First, a false reaction needs a carrier. The chakra of shadow clones is too volatile, that won't work. Medical chakra residue is too scattered and easily breaks. I need a medium that has both chakra activity and long-term stability."

Shikamaru immediately racked his brains but couldn't come up with a suitable one.

Kagura didn't wait for his answer and continued talking.

"Second, fake signals cannot be achieved solely through the sealing team's actions. To make the brand appear as if Izumi herself is moving, the chakra frequencies of the carrier and Izumi's own body must be synchronized. This means that Izumi herself must provide chakra samples every day."

Shikamaru frowned.

"His current condition is that he doesn't have enough chakra."

"So this is inherently contradictory," Kagura said. "The more severe the injury, the weaker the chakra, and the less obvious the reaction of the brand."

The less obvious the brand, the more likely Helian would become suspicious.

Shikamaru leaned back in his chair, his head against the wall, staring at the crack in the ceiling.

Kiba's footsteps echoed in the hallway. He had probably woken up from next door and peeked in as he passed by the door. Shikamaru shook his head slightly at him. Kiba didn't say anything, retreated, and the footsteps faded into the distance.

After a long while, Shikamaru finally spoke.

"What if the vessel doesn't use chakra?"

Kagura was taken aback for a moment.

"How can you sense the brand without chakra?"

"What is the essence of the Ensui bloodline limit?" Shikamaru sat up straight. "It's water. Hamura Jaku said Ensui relies on shared water." It's not chakra resonance, but the water in the blood drawing upon water.

Kagura's expression changed.

"How did you know that?"

"It was Hamura himself who said it. When he was ambushing Ikezumi, he shouted something like 'sharing water' or 'falling tide' to Ikezumi," Shikamaru recalled. "Ikezumi was startled at the time, but he remembered a few words."

Kagura looked at Izumi's nape again, this time for a longer time.

"If it's based on the principle of 'shared water,' then it's not entirely driven by chakra," she said slowly. "Chakra is just the fuel for generating water; the real location signal is the water in the blood that originates from the same source. In other words, if two people's blood sources are close enough, they can sense each other's approximate location even without chakra."

Shikamaru pressed further, "What if I mixed Izumi's blood into something that can move slowly?"

Kagura narrowed her eyes.

"You mean, create a blood vessel so that the water Helian senses" is diverted from Chi Quan's body?"

"Yes. He senses blood, not chakra. As long as the blood is moving, he will assume that the pool is moving."

Kagura paced back and forth by the bedside. Her two assistants exchanged a glance outside the door, neither daring to utter a sound.

"This approach is feasible." Kagura stopped, "but the amount of blood extracted cannot be too large. Ikezumi has lost too much blood already; if you draw more from him, he won't be able to hold on."

"Use the blood from the old bandages," Shikamaru said. "He bled enough last night; we need to collect some before cleaning him up."

Kagura glanced at him, her expression somewhat complicated.

"Lord Shikamaru, you know you're talking about recovering battlefield blood, right?"

"Know.

""

"The medical team might not agree."

""

"I'll go tell them."

Kagura was silent for a moment, then nodded.