Unlike in his previous life, body and soul were now inseparable. In the shinobi world, where chakra serves as a medium for the will, the soul could to a large extent transcend the confines of a single body. In a reality where even basic laws seemed malleable, the existence of entities like the tailed beasts—born from the collective negative will of humanity—was hardly surprising.
Mizuki, no longer paying attention to the signboard on the door, led Sakura into the shop.
"You planning to work here for a while?" he asked casually.
"Work?"
"No, no—just learning~" Mizuki winced. He nearly let something slip again.
Sakura nodded without comment.
"Do you notice anything strange?" Mizuki asked.
"Well…" Sakura glanced at the street outside, where people came and went. "It's oddly quiet in here. The noise outside barely reaches the store."
Mizuki nodded. "Sharp senses and excellent chakra control. That kind of perception will be a huge advantage for you later on."
Without further explanation, Mizuki led her behind the counter and revealed a well-hidden shelf embedded in the wall. Pointing to a collection of scrolls and books, he said, "Don't touch anything with red seals. Yellow-labeled scrolls are okay when I'm present. The rest, you can read freely. You've got three days."
He handed her a thin notebook. "This is a cross-reference I put together—comparisons, field notes, some verified results. It's not perfect, so don't take everything as absolute. If you hit something confusing, this should help. We'll do a Q&A in three days."
"Is this really okay?" Tsubaki (Xiao Chun) asked uneasily. "Kakashi left the student in your care, and you're just letting her self-study?"
"I am watching," Mizuki replied calmly. "Gifted students don't need hand-holding."
"I'll head to work, then. I'll bring lunch later," she said, grabbing her bag.
"Don't forget a set for Sakura."
As the morning rush passed, the shop grew quieter. Mizuki glanced at Sakura, who was already immersed in the materials, her expression focused and steady.
Typical of a textbook genius, he thought, approving.
With time to spare, Mizuki took out his compensation from Kakashi—a summoning contract scroll passed down through the Hatake clan.
In exchange for training Sakura, Mizuki had taken this chance to study what a proper summoning contract looked like—something generations old, not some back-alley deal.
He gently placed his hand on the cover and let a bit of chakra seep in.
"This isn't regular paper. Feels like... some kind of hide."
Unrolling the scroll, he saw rows of names and blood seals. The most recent was Hatake Kakashi. Above him were others, presumably from the same family. At the top, an aged summoning seal shimmered faintly.
Mizuki studied it for a while.
"As expected from a summoning beast bound to a clan. The matrix of sealing formulas and the layered structure is far more refined than standard issue. Chakra channels are defined with precision, and there's even elemental compatibility filtering. Naturally, it requires better chakra control. Even small differences in chakra output might summon entirely different individuals."
Still, despite its craftsmanship, Mizuki didn't detect any traps.
"It's fair. Chakra consumption is a little steep, but reasonable for the benefit. All in all, a classic mutual-benefit contract."
His fingers traced the decorative script absentmindedly.
...Wait.
Something felt off.
Mizuki's hand froze. Beneath the ink, his fingers brushed against faint ridges.
"…What is this?"
He rubbed gently. Under certain lighting, hidden grooves—almost indistinguishable—began to appear.
"These aren't part of the calligraphy. These are... natural seals?" Mizuki narrowed his eyes. "They're embedded into the material itself. That's why I couldn't detect them before."
He paused, stood up, and stepped outside, glancing up at the Four Seasons Flower Shop signboard. As he recalled the process of crafting the shop's wards and seal arrays, his thoughts clicked into place.
"No wonder… so that's what it is."
Returning inside, he reopened the scroll and carefully copied the hidden pattern, checking and rechecking to make sure he got every detail.
"I thought I was being paranoid, but it paid off."
This hidden layer bore a remarkable resemblance to the resonance structure Mizuki had theorized for collective consciousness networks—patterns that could absorb and synchronize with thought emissions.
In essence, this contract passively absorbed the contractor's mental fluctuations—thoughts, subconscious signals, chakra intentions.
Ordinarily harmless. Just like how living beings naturally radiate heat, chakra, and thought energy.
But this scroll didn't let it dissipate.
It collected it.
"From a civilian's perspective, that's useless data. But from a ninja clan's view…? If they found a way to turn that into intelligence, training optimization, or predictive models—"
He stopped himself.
"Either the psychic beasts are storing this information, or the Hatake clan is."
He frowned, pressing a palm to his temple.
"The implications… this goes far beyond just summoning. They wrote the actual terms openly, and hid this… Why? Too valuable to explain? Or too dangerous?"
His thoughts were interrupted.
"Sensei, water?" a voice called out.
Mizuki looked up to see Sakura holding out a glass.
"Thanks, Sakura." He took a sip and immediately felt more clear-headed.
"You're welcome." She smiled. "I didn't expect Sensei to be like this."
"Oh? And what did you expect? Someone like Iruka, always yelling?"
"No, just… more by-the-book. But you're clearly researching things way beyond standard ninja work. I don't understand most of it, honestly. I can only memorize for now."
Mizuki chuckled. "If you understand some of it, you're doing better than most. Every shinobi has their own secret paths. As long as you're willing to walk one, you'll find something worth chasing."