Seal's Purpose

Natsume returned to the beach in two hours, which was a significant improvement from the previous day. When she arrived at by the large boulders, Yori was standing there waiting for her. Natsume stopped and bowed to him, calming her breathing.

"I was going to let you get accustomed to the armor and gauge your level, but it seems that is not necessary. I will show you the second part of the training. In addition to running, I had you strike at the boulder. Now, I will demonstrate what you are trying to achieve."

Yori took a wooden sword and turned to face the boulder behind him. He held it in both hands and exhaled slowly. "Haaah!" He struck down with incredible speed, and a section of the boulder shattered. "This is the first stage." Then, he pivoted his leading foot and stepped back. He put the wooden sword to his waist and slashed out rapidly before returning it to his side. "Huuh!" A fine line spread out from the point of impact. After zigzagging back and forth, it formed all the way around and a section of the boulder broke off.

"This is the second stage." And finally, he drew his back foot forward and kicked off with the wooden sword striking directly at the center of the boulder. "Yosh!" A circle no thicker than the hilt of the sword was perfectly cut out of the boulder all the way through to the other side. All the remaining was stone powder.

"This is the final stage. Each stage represents three key factors in channeling chakra into your weapon. The first represents hardness, the second represents sharpness, and the third represents control. For now, practice the strikes without chakra. Once you are comfortable and confident, attempt to use your chakra."

Natsume had secretly used her sharingan to memorize the chakra flow of each of his attacks. Once he was done demonstrating, she bowed. "Thank you, sensei."

"Alright, no rush. Patience is key. The migration will be here tomorrow or the day after, make sure you're not on the beach once they arrive." Natsume nodded at his reminder, and he went back to the pier. Natsume tightened the grip on her wooden sword and turned her attention to the boulder that was minced. Since he could do that with a blunt wooden sword, Natsume could only imagine what he could do with a proper weapon.

Natsume wanted to get a feel for the chakra flow first, so she closed her eyes and attempted to guide the chakra to the wooden sword as Yori did. However, as the chakra reached the Tenketsu on her hands, instead of entering the sword, her control was cut off and it retreated back into circulation. The sensation was different than before. Natsume pondered the different feeling and tried to use her Lava style.

After visualization and gathering chakra, there were no issues. However, during the manipulation step, the seal would disrupt her control. Initially she accepted the words at face value when she failed to use a jutsu. The situation with the Nature energy previously and now her attempt to use the chakra sword technique caused her to doubt the Punishment Seal. Natsume experimented a few more times with basic jutsu and realized that there was no issue with shaping and controlling!

Every shinobi had a nature they were more inclined towards, while some were proficient in many or all. Natsume was no exception to this. Since her chakra was more inclined to fire, earth, and yin, she would instinctively transform the nature of her chakra while manipulating it. After identifying the issue, Natsume attempted to circulate her chakra without transforming its nature. After a dozen circulations, she finally managed to inject her chakra into the sword without the seal activating.

However, the very next instant, the sword exploded from inside. Hearing the loud explosion, many samurai arrived to investigate, only to see Natsume holding the hilt of a wooden sword, covered in wood fragments. They recognized the scene all too well, and some even gave her a consoling gaze before returning to their post. Yori didn't follow them and only glanced in her direction and chuckled. He seemed to have expected such a result.

After successfully manipulating her chakra, Natsume felt foolish. The embarrassment wasn't because of the exploded sword, she understood that her chakra was moving too quickly, and the sword couldn't withstand the force. Instead, it was because she misunderstood what it meant to seal her ninjutsu. All jutsu required chakra manipulation to some degree. However, what specifically separated ninjutsu from the other styles? The answer was nature transformation!

It would be more accurate to say that the Punishment Seal prevented her from transforming the nature of her chakra. Although other styles could utilize nature transformation as well, ninjutsu was centered around the concept of shape and nature transformation. Natsume looked over at the remaining wooden swords and realized why there were so many. Rather, from the expressions of the samurai, it could be said there were too few. Breaking swords during this training was expected!

'But why seal away my ability to transform the nature of chakra? And why did the seal protect me from Nature energy invasion?' Natsume couldn't figure out the answer right away, so she put it aside for now. She took another wooden sword and began to hit the rock without chakra as Yori suggested. The sun was still high in the sky, and he had not given her any further instructions on when to stop, so she went until she felt like she was at her limit.

It was already afternoon when she returned to the pier to eat and rest. Everyone was busy with their activities, so Natsume just sat and recovered while meditating. Since she had some undisturbed time to herself, she decided to work on sensing the 361 Tenketsu around her body. Despite having the sharingan, she could not locate others or her own Tenketsu. This was one of the unique properties of the Byakugan of the Hyuuga clan.

So, instead, Natsume sat quietly meditating while circulating her chakra, trying to remember where the Nature energy had entered through and then consciously activate it. After a whole evening of meditation, there was no progress.