Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

"This is called Chakra Garment. It is a ninjutsu I developed by combining the characteristics of Gentle Fist in opening up the chakra points throughout the body with the technique of Sand Village puppeteers in condensing chakra threads. As long as the chakra control is strong enough, the technique of condensing chakra threads is mature enough, and the foundation of Gentle Fist is solid enough, it is not a problem to form a chakra garment all over the body."

Kirito revealed the name of the ninjutsu and the conditions for mastering it.

As he spoke, chakra threads shot out from all the chakra points on his body, then quickly intertwined, eventually forming a thin chakra cloak that enveloped his entire body.

"Oh!"

The next moment, Kirito punched the ground, instantly creating a crater full of cracks.

Despite his powerful slamming of the ground, his hand, enveloped in a chakra cloak, showed absolutely no damage from the recoil.

"That's amazing."

Karen exclaimed in amazement upon seeing the dent created by Kirito's punch and the condition of his fist.

At this moment, she could clearly see that in addition to providing Kirito with amazing defensive capabilities, the Chakra Garment could also greatly enhance his strength, allowing him to easily unleash powerful steel punches, and perhaps even increase his movement speed.

"Want to learn?"

Kirito saw the surprised expression on Hana's face and said with a hint of pride.

This Chakra Cloak is a ninjutsu technique that he developed entirely by himself. It is the kind of technique that can be taught to others, and it is not too difficult.

Of course, to unleash the full Chakra Cloak, one must have an excellent foundation in Gentle Fist.

To open up all the chakra points in the body, mastering Gentle Fist is of paramount importance.

Of all the peers Kirito knows so far, Karen is the most likely to learn his ninjutsu completely. With the help of the Byakugan, she might be even more suitable to use this ninjutsu than he, the creator.

"Hmm."

Hua Lian nodded quickly upon hearing this.

With her intelligence, she certainly understood the value of the ninjutsu that Kirito had taught her.

To put it bluntly, once she masters the Chakra Garment, her ability to protect herself on the battlefield will be greatly enhanced. At the very least, she can basically ignore all kinds of ninja tool attacks thrown by the enemy and won't have to worry about being ambushed by ninja tools before she can react.

Moreover, with the Chakra Cloak, she can confidently engage in close combat with her enemies.

At that time, she might be able to withstand the enemy's attacks and gain a significant advantage in hand-to-hand combat.

“You know your stuff. This scroll contains detailed training methods. Go back and study it carefully. If you have any questions, you can come to the orphanage or hospital to find me anytime.”

Upon seeing this, Kirito quickly took out a summoning card, then used the Summoning Jutsu: Release Jutsu to retrieve a scroll from it and handed it to Hana, smiling slightly.

"Really? Kirito-kun, this ninjutsu must be very precious. I can't give you anything right now."

Karen looked at the ninjutsu scroll that Kirito handed her, but she didn't immediately reach for it. She hesitated and said something.

Although Kirito never said how valuable this ninjutsu was, she knew that it was at least an A-rank ninjutsu.

She felt really bad that she accepted something so precious after giving so much.

“I’ll take it. Teacher Shan was very dedicated when he taught me Soft Fist. He’s a bit sharp-tongued, but he’s actually very kind to me. Thanks to his guidance, I was able to improve my Soft Fist so quickly. And now he’s the head of the security team at the hospital, which has been a great help to me.”

Also, Hua Lian, don't underestimate yourself. In my opinion, you are an excellent investment. You can't give me anything now, but that might change in the future. As long as you can survive on the battlefield and grow stronger, you will definitely be a great help to me in the future.

Kirito was very happy to hear what Karen said and explained.

He likes people who don't want to take advantage of others. Hua Lian's awareness shows that she is indeed an excellent investment target. As long as she can grow smoothly, he will definitely gain a good helper in the future.

This is a very high-quality investment.

Although Kirito's words were straightforward, Karen was very happy to hear them. She was actually afraid that Kirito was giving her such a precious ninjutsu out of pity, but now that she knew that Kirito valued her potential and thought she was someone worth investing in, she felt at ease.

She wasn't afraid of being used by Kirito; she was afraid that she would have no value to him whatsoever.

"Kirito-kun, please rest assured, I will make good use of this ninjutsu to survive on the battlefield, and I will definitely repay your kindness in the future."

Hua Lian accepted the ninjutsu scroll with peace of mind and solemnly made a promise.

Kirito nodded in satisfaction after receiving Hana's promise.

Then, he traced his face with his fingers and said hesitantly, "Hua Lian, I actually have something here that can enhance your strength and help you greatly increase your strength in a short time at crucial moments. I wonder if you would be willing to accept it."

"What is it?"

Hua Lian asked curiously.

She was naturally interested in anything that could enhance her strength, especially since what Kirito had just mentioned was clearly something that could both improve her strength and save her life, which made her even more interested.

Since she had already accepted a precious ninjutsu from Kirito and owed him a huge favor, she wasn't afraid of owing him another one now.

"It is a curse seal."

Kirito thought for a moment and then spoke frankly.

Because of the caged bird incident, he had never mentioned the cursed seal to Hua Lian, fearing it would upset her.

But now that Hua Lian is about to go to the battlefield with Orochimaru, in order to improve her survival ability, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and say it.

"A cursed seal?"

Upon hearing those two words, Hua Lian's face turned deathly pale, revealing a look of fear.

"Don't misunderstand, the cursed seal I invented won't add anything to restrict your freedom. It's just a ninjutsu that can simply enhance your strength."

Kirito noticed Karen's expression and immediately explained.

However, Hua Lian was still very scared, and her resistance was very obvious.

"Fine, if you don't want me to place the curse mark on you, I won't force you. Let's just pretend I never said that."

Seeing this, Kirito knew that the matter was hopeless and decisively gave up trying to persuade Hana to accept his curse seal.

The Caged Bird Seal ultimately left Hua Lian with a huge psychological shadow. Now that the Caged Bird Seal has not been broken, it is obviously very difficult to get her to accept a new seal in a short period of time.

She had tasted the bitterness of the curse mark, which is why she resisted such things from the bottom of her heart.

Kirito understood, and since Karen was unwilling, then so be it.

"Does Uchiha Chizuru have this kind of cursed mark on her body?"

When Karen heard that Kirito didn't intend to force her to accept the cursed seal, she breathed a huge sigh of relief. Then, she pursed her lips and remained silent for a moment before suddenly asking a question.

Kirito was surprised that Karen would ask this question, and looked at her with some astonishment before nodding.

"Then plant this curse mark on me as well. If it's Kirito-kun's curse mark, I'm willing to accept it."

Hua Lian was startled to receive an affirmative answer, then gritted her teeth and resolutely made a decision.

"Are you sure? Once it's planted, it's very difficult to remove. It will take root and grow inside you, and the level of removal might be no less than that of the Caged Bird. Even for me, the caster, I'm not confident that I can remove it from you after a while, because it will already be a part of your body."

Seeing that Hana had changed her mind, Kirito reminded her.

A curse seal even harder to break than that of a caged bird?

Karen's face paled again upon hearing Kirito's reminder, and her heart wavered once more.

It wasn't that she didn't believe Kirito's words, but she was just afraid—afraid of things like cursed seals.

But at that moment, the image of Chizuru's Sharingan eyes, filled with disdain, flashed through her mind, and she suddenly felt incredibly unwilling.

Only that Uchiha woman, she didn't want to be outdone by the other.

Since that woman accepted Kirito's cursed seal, she can accept it too.

In an instant, Hana Rei suppressed her fear with her strong will and said to Kirito with a resolute expression, "Please, Kirito-kun, plant the same cursed seal on me as on Uchiha Chizuru."

"..."

Kirito remained silent.

He suddenly realized that it wasn't a good idea for him and Hua Lian to pre-seal the curse.

He's starting to have second thoughts about planting the curse mark on Hua Lian.

"Kirito-kun, please hurry up, it's getting late, and Father might be worried about me."

Seeing that Kirito seemed reluctant to place the curse mark on her, Karen urged him immediately, her originally pitiful expression suddenly turning somewhat frightening.

Seeing this, he had no choice but to agree to her request.

He quickly bit his index finger, then quietly combined his chakra with natural energy to form a stable amount of Sage Chakra, and concentrated this amount of Sage Chakra on his bitten index finger.

Then he asked, "Hua Lian, where do you want to inscribe the curse mark?"

Upon hearing this, Hua Lian hesitated for a moment before blushing and saying, "Carve it on my back."

After saying that, she turned around, pulled up her clothes, and revealed her smooth, fair back to Kirito.

Kirito stared at Hana's smooth, white back without a flicker of emotion. He then extended his index finger and quickly drew a beautiful blood flower on Hana's back with his own blood, before injecting a spell formed from Sage Chakra into the blood flower.

In an instant, a large number of fiery incantations fell on Hua Lian.

Hua Lian immediately felt as if her back was being burned by flames, experiencing intense pain that made her let out a scream.

"Hold on, or you'll have to start all over again if you fail."

Kirito reminded him.

The curse mark she gave Hua Lian wasn't the third-rate stuff she gave to the Night Organization members; it was a top-of-the-line version combined with high-quality Sage Chakra. If Hua Lian was successfully imprinted with it, he would have a chance to become a Sage in the future.

Karen was a resilient person. Upon hearing Kirito's words, she immediately gritted her teeth, endured the excruciating pain, and silently began to accept Kirito's cursed seal.

Soon, fiery incantations covered most of Hua Lian's body.

At this moment, Hua Lian was drenched in sweat and his face was deathly pale, but his eyes remained incredibly determined.

"It's done."

A dozen seconds later, Kirito, whose forehead was covered in a fine layer of sweat, smiled and quickly withdrew his finger, saying with delight.

The next moment, the numerous spells on Hua Lian's body receded rapidly like a tide, all disappearing into the spell mark on Hua Lian's back that resembled a blooming flower.

As soon as all the incantations were absorbed into the curse seal, Hua Lian immediately felt a connection between herself and the curse seal on her back. Her chakra began to be forcibly absorbed by it, as if it were alive, constantly growing stronger by feeding on her chakra.

However, she found that her body seemed to be stronger than before.

While she was suffering from the pain of the cursed seal, she could feel a powerful force nourishing her body, giving her a sense of comfort even as she felt pain.

"After the cursed seal is successfully implanted, you should not practice ninjutsu for the time being. It will consume your chakra for a period of time. During this period, you may not have enough chakra. Don't push yourself. Take a few days off to rest."

Kirito wiped the sweat from his forehead, then helped Karen, who had collapsed to the ground, to her feet and explained.

"I understand, Kirito-kun, thank you."

Hua Lian said weakly.