Underground, inside the Whirlpool Treasure Vault.
"What's going on? Did I trigger something by touching these things? Is the place about to collapse?" Haruto Saito looked up, observing the tremors and watching the dust fall from above, his brows tightly furrowed.
"That can't be it. If there were such a mechanism, wouldn't the Whirlpool Clan be dooming their own people? The ones coming here should be members of the Whirlpool Clan."
Because of the thick layers of earth above him, even with his exceptional sensory abilities, Haruto couldn't perceive what was happening on the surface. He didn't immediately think of a battle because the idea itself was too terrifying.
What kind of intense battle would be needed to cause tremors that reached more than twenty meters underground?
Haruto knew that the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist were in the Poison Torture Forest. But who could they possibly be fighting?
*Thump thump! Thump thump! Thump thump!*
Haruto's heartbeat accelerated. He had a very bad feeling, as if something major was about to happen.
"No way... an earthquake?"
Just as he muttered those words, the tremors began to subside. After a few more seconds, they disappeared completely.
Silence.
Haruto listened carefully for a long time. Nothing.
---
On the surface.
Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru were engaged in a fierce battle against the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, constantly retreating as they fought. They were not trying to defeat their opponents; they were looking for a way to escape.
But no matter what, they couldn't shake them off.
The Seven Ninja Swordsmen relentlessly pursued them.
The fight continued to move, shifting away from the area directly above the vault.
---
Inside the Whirlpool Treasure Vault.
Haruto collected the Whirlpool Clan's inheritance decree, the Clan Leader's token, and the Lord of Whirlpool Country's emblem before continuing to open chests.
Opening another small box, he found it full of explosive tags. Despite its small size, the box contained a thousand of them.
"Hmm?" Haruto was about to store them away when he noticed something unusual. These explosive tags were different from normal ones. Their patterns were unique, incorporating sealing techniques.
"Are these really just explosive tags?" He wasn't entirely sure.
He decided to test them.
As the saying goes, the more skilled one is, the bolder they become—or perhaps he just had a habit of courting danger.
Haruto planned to detonate one inside the treasure vault to gauge its power.
He connected his chakra to the explosive tag.
Then, he tossed it away.
Forming hand seals.
*BOOM!*
A massive explosion erupted, forming a fireball over ten meters in diameter!
"Holy—what kind of explosive tag is this?!" Haruto was shocked. His eyes gleamed with realization. "It's a sealing technique! A ninjutsu is sealed within the tag!"
Haruto recalled seeing records about this in the Anbu archives. The Whirlpool Clan was capable of crafting a unique type of explosive tag, one that stored and released ninjutsu upon activation. These were far more powerful than standard explosive tags.
Since the crafting process was extremely complex and required multiple skilled individuals, the technique had been lost after the downfall of the Whirlpool Clan.
The explosive tag he had just tested was equivalent to a B-rank explosion ninjutsu!
Digging through the box, Haruto found three different types of explosive tags, each marked with distinct patterns and colors. Moving to an open area within the vault, he conducted further tests.
His findings confirmed that the three different colors corresponded to C-rank, B-rank, and even A-rank explosion ninjutsu!
Thankfully, the treasure vault was spacious. Otherwise, the blasts would have left him with nowhere to run.
Most of the explosive tags were C-rank, while the B-rank ones numbered around eighty. There were only a dozen A-rank tags.
"This is great! These will be perfect for surprise attacks!" Haruto grinned as he stored them away.
He continued opening boxes.
One contained several identical scrolls.
There was also a small booklet explaining their purpose.
They were disposable sealing scrolls! Once opened or damaged, the stored sealing technique would be released, attacking everything in the vicinity indiscriminately.
Another lost craft of the Whirlpool Clan, these scrolls were extremely rare.
Haruto wiped a bit of cold sweat from his forehead.
Good thing he read the booklet first. If he had opened one blindly, who knew what kind of sealing jutsu would have been unleashed? If it were an immensely powerful one, he might have died here without anyone ever knowing!
A close call.
"No worries, I have the luck of a main character!" Haruto carefully stored the scrolls away.
More chests.
More discoveries.
One large chest was filled entirely with scrolls!
Haruto hesitated for a moment, then used a Shadow Clone to inspect them.
Nothing happened—they were merely instructional scrolls. The entire chest contained training materials for learning Whirlpool Clan's sealing techniques, mostly low to mid-level ones.
More boxes.
More openings.
The remaining chests contained valuable information, but not ordinary records. These were high-level secrets, including the history of the Whirlpool Clan, hidden truths, ancient legends, the crafting methods of their unique techniques, and even brief mentions of the Sage of Six Paths.
Haruto had opened every box.
That was all there was.
He began gathering everything of value, storing it away in his inventory space.
This treasure hunt had been an overwhelming success! Haruto had acquired invaluable records of the Whirlpool Clan, powerful tools like the sealed explosive tags and disposable sealing scrolls, and of course—money!
A total of five billion ryo!
However, to Haruto, the most important find was still that one small sealed box he couldn't open.
Because he hadn't found any scrolls containing forbidden sealing techniques in the vault, he was now certain—
That small box contained them!
He would have to find a way to open it later.
With everything looted, his job was done.
Haruto waved his hand, summoning an ornate wooden bed with pillows and blankets from his inventory space.
He jumped onto the bed, slipped under the covers, and prepared to sleep.
Time for some rest!
This place was completely secure anyway.
In the vast, empty hall, the luxurious bed stood out starkly. Haruto curled up under the blankets and gradually drifted into sleep.
Over an hour later—
*BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!*
The vault trembled again! Dust rained down from the ceiling, covering Haruto's face.
"Pfft! Pfft! Can't a guy get some sleep around here?!" Haruto sat up abruptly, yelling upwards as if someone actually lived above him.
*Thump thump! Thump thump! Thump thump!*
His heartbeat accelerated once more. That unsettling feeling returned—and it was growing stronger!
"No... Something's wrong!" Haruto's eyes widened as he looked up. "This uneasy feeling… it's a mental link!"
Tsunade was in danger!!!
*********************************************************************************************************
"Hello everyone! If you'd like to support the novel and gain early access to chapters up to 100, you can join my Patreon at
patreon.com/Rawink00
The first 10 members will have the exclusive opportunity to personally connect with me and share their valuable suggestions. Your insights are highly appreciated and will play a key role in shaping our vision. Hurry up !!