Before I knew it, I’d spent the day on Turtle Island training with Harusame and Ao on standing orders to repel any inconsequential summons back to the office. Yes, there was war looming and I’d set the entire village on lockdown, ideally I should be behind the desk watching over Kirigakure but right now, my time was best served within the ocean filled Three Pillar Seal.

Isobu had a lot to offer when it came to chakra, not just en masse or even his high-end Tailed Beast quality, but in the understanding of chakra. Soft spoken as the giant turtle is, he held centuries of knowledge beneath that shell.

“You already have a strong affinity for water, this will come easily to you.”

“True, I am already considered a master with Water Release Ninjutsu, but what you’re talking about is a little more than that isn’t it?”

His giant head shifted slightly as he nodded waves over my ethereal body, “Yin Chakra is what you will need to apply to your Water Nature to will its many forms to your thoughts, Yagura-kun. Do not fret, Yin and Yang are parts of everything and do not discriminate as other affinities do. Once you tap into the nature of one, the other will quickly reveal itself.”

So he said but I had a feeling I’d struggle at creating life out of nothing but my chakra. That felt a little way into the territory of gods didn’t it? I shook away the doubts as soon as they came. Jason’s memories had already foretold a version of me applying these very lessons to great practical success.

“Alright then, how do I tap into Yin chakra to create corals?”

Isobu gave me an eye smile as he said, “Meditate. You are already doing what is necessary, Harusame is a wise teacher. But to help you get along faster, wield my chakra as you meditate and try to perceive what it is made up of.”

“Besides you? Hmm.” That wasn’t the sort of answer I was expecting, it was basically telling me to sit and wait, which admittedly, worked for some of the most powerful techniques like Senjutsu. “Wait, does this have anything to do with Sage Chakra?”

Isobu tilted his head, “The Sages are powerful conduits of the natural order, Tailed Beasts such as myself are not privy to such power but perhaps, we may be made out of it.”

I gave it some thought and the image of my parallel version’s accomplishments couldn’t leave my mind, “Couldn’t I summon the corals through you? While using your chakra?”

Isobu seemed to roll his eye, “If you want to be idle about it.”

At that I hid a blush, “Sorry, sorry, I just…I might be getting ahead of myself because I’m anxious about the future, about changing it or…how I’ve changed it already.”

Isobu was silent for a moment before he spoke again, “I feel the same at times but there is no need for fear, you have died once before and will die again. You will have no power over what life you led before or the life you will lead after, at least until you arrive. And now, you have, all you can do is prepare and live.”

“Your words are wise and comforting, Isobu.” I blinked, still clinging onto one vestige memory of my parallel version I wanted to ask some stupid, meaningless question but Isobu was right, all I had to do now was prepare and live. “I’ll take them to heart.”

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The gentle beast gave another eye smile as my form faded away from within the seal. I awoke in a meditative position, cloaked in his chakra with Harusame standing watch as the sky behind him lit up with a full moon.

“You’re awake, when you went under I thought you were…no, I should have more faith in you, Yagura-sama, pardon me.” He said with a curt bow of his head.

I waved it away, “Never apologize for keeping your guard up. Your sharp mind is what saved me last time is it not? I will continue to rely on you, Harusame.” I said as Isobu’s chakra once again receded back into the seal.

Harusame gave me a pleased smile and nodded again, grateful to be acknowledged. I stood and stretched by limbs. I could scarcely believe how much of my life had turned into sitting in one place and thinking, now more than ever I wished I for a sparring partner.

Huh, I don’t have to spar with the cloak alone. I needed training just as much without it. With that little epiphany I quickly slotted it in my head to ask Mei for a friendly spar sometime, at the moment, she was the only person in the village that could possibly keep up with me.

“What do you know about Yin chakra release, Harusame?” I asked, twisting my neck till it let out a satisfying crack.

The man hummed in thought before coming to sit opposite me on the grass, “It is a very useful tool in crafting both Genjutsu and Fuuinjutsu, at least, it is credited as being a major contributor to the feasibility of these branches of jutsu.

“Unlike elemental nature transformations, Yin and Yang aren’t…tangible in the same sense, they are almost ehh, theoretical despite being proven. It is a complex subject few have deciphered but where it comes to Fuuinjutsu, Yin release is less of a manipulated source of energy and more of a…baseline constant? Yes.”

I pieced together what he was saying and sure enough, I was still confused as Isobu just asked me to reach out into the ether and feel for Yin chakra within or without me. But the confusion was a given, this was new and fascinating territory, a turn away from my expertise as a Ninjutsu-Bukijutsu specialist, but that was alright. Like Isobu said, all I had to do was prepare and live, there was no need to rush, I had many more years to fashion myself however I saw fit to disable the enemies that haunt my inherited memories.

“If you can, bring me some starter books on Fuuinjutsu and Yin Release, I want to learn as much as possible.” Harusame looked ecstatic to hear that but before he could delve into an inevitable rant I quickly asked another question, “The village needs some improved security, Harusame and I’ve been thinking a lot about Fuuinjutsu recently, what with being a Jinchuriki and the Kaguya clan bearing Bloodline seals. Is there a way Fuuinjutsu can help secure us from more attacks?”

I had broached the council about selling information to Konoha in exchange for their barrier secrets but after a bit of back and forth with Lady Megumi and Uncle Aoto, I quickly realized it would be a waste.

Not just because there were better trades for that information but because Konoha was no better off that Kiri was in terms of security, Obito had managed to slip in and cause the Nine-Tails attack after all and he was after me as well. There had to be some other way to hinder his long reach.

Harusame grinned, “Why of course! Barrier Seals are more often than not a chakra intensive thing and wielded against the utmost threats, like a tailed beast perhaps. That’s how I’ve managed to contain much of the savage chakra that lashes out as a consequence of an out of control Jinchuriki.”

I winced, recalling my own out of control moments, “I must’ve given you a tough time.”

He shook his head, “Oh not at all, in fact, it was Aoto that gave me a greater headache than anything. But back to the Barrier Seals, applying them on a scale as large as Kirigakure and permanently as I’m sure you wish, would be next to impossible considering the chakra requirements.

“Of course, if you wished to experiment I’d advise creating a corps of Kiri-nin as dedicated as those manipulating the mist hiding our village but these nin would be trained in Fuuinjutsu and would require a bounty of chakra each and every day to keep the barrier going.” Harusame seemed to shudder at the thought, “I am no Kage but I can’t imagine such a thing being worth the cost to time and resource.”

I sucked my teeth at that, “So it is possible but just not a wise investment…” I stared up at the glowing full moon casting our shadows long against the still pond and temple entrance, “What if we used Tailed Beast chakra to power it?”