Baniya was the resident seal master for Suna. It was his duty to regularly check up on the integrity of Shukaku’s seal.

Or it had been until the odd man, nobody even knew his name yet, dropped from the clouds and subdued the beast and soon after, Sunagakure itself.

He sighed as he recalled the ignominy of having to kneel to a mere youth at his age.

What was worse, the youth disdained to govern the village personally and left it up to Rasa, using the Fourth Kazekage as a mere puppet. It was like he was saying: “You aren’t even worth being ruled by me personally.”

A huge blow to the already fragile pride of the newly subjugated people of Suna.

It was no wonder that the youngsters were getting ready to rebel…

Well, that didn’t last long. All thoughts of rebellion melting under the consummate display of his power. He built a city in three days for God’s sake.

It was probably a demonstration of authority. By grinding up the old Suna and replacing it with the new, he was informing them: “Follow me and prosper, revolt and die.”

Although there were rumours of the youth accompanied by Pakura, the main supporter of the rebellion, going from door to door, apologizing for the inconvenience caused and asking about the names on the now destroyed Monument of Martyrs.

If it was a rumour, it meant that some faction or the other was trying to either get in his good books by improving his reputation or implicate Pakura by enraging him at the very thought that he would deign to apologize to a people who he had subjugated by his might.

If it wasn’t, it meant that either Pakura had managed a bloodless rebellion by charming him to her side, she was quite the looker after all, or he was actually feeling guilty and the apology was sincere… which, to be honest, would be the best case scenario.

Baniya sighed again. He was getting too old for this.

He glanced at the piles of rice paper in front of him. On them were tracings he had ordered his attendants to make of the runes covering the glass pillars in the city.

He sighed again… on top of everything, the youth was a much better seal master than he at his young age. Power, technique and charisma, if the sprouting female fan clubs were any indication, maybe he would be the one to lead Suna to a more brilliant future.

“Yo! Studying my runes, I see. How are they?”

Baniya’s heart nearly leapt out of his chest as a voice suddenly resounded behind him.

He turned around only to find himself face to face with the grinning subject of his musings.

“Please don’t do that again. You will scare this old man to death.”

Lin Feng grinned and slapped his back, “What old man? You’re the same age as me. Spunk up man… you’ve got lots of living to do.”

Baniya stared at him dumbfounded for a moment before saying, “Huh?”

“What do you mean you’re the same age as me? I’m eighty and you don’t look too far past your teens.”

Lin Feng sighed, “Look dude. I’m tired of explaining this to everyone I’ve met. I’m eighty-five. Just think of me having a rejuvenation technique. I positively detest this age-based mindset. Just because you’re older doesn’t mean you are automatically more competent.

“Can you believe that the elders in the village felt uncomfortable accepting my rule just because they thought I was some immature brat with too much power. It just took me flaunting my age a bit to get them to change their tune. For a moment I thought I was having a déjà vu, with how similar they acted to the council of elders back home.”

Baniya gawked at him for a moment as he processed this new information. The ‘youth’ was actually an old man and he was an experienced leader from some far-off place… he had to be for the Suna intelligence division to have never heard of him before.

And it seemed that he was finally ready to take over the reins of Suna personally and had deigned to negotiate with the leaders. This probably meant that the rumours were true too… although it could mean either the man was a cradle robber or he genuinely wanted to win over his subjects.

Whatever the case, it was good news for Suna. Having a powerful, experienced and considerate ruler (or a ruler with a considerate consort) at the helm would drastically improve their chances of coming out on top in the war.

Thinking it through, Baniya smiled and invited him to take a seat opposite to him.

“To what do I owe the pleasure of your esteemed self’s visit?”

Lin said, “I wanted to know more about the sealing arts and you seemed the one to ask.”

Baniya reorganised his words in his mind before stating, “What is a seal? It is a trace, a line.

“A snake crosses the sand, in its passing, it leaves a seal. The vein on a leaf is a seal. The wheel rut left on a muddy road by a carriage is a seal. The blood vessel in the body of a wild animal is a seal. The path of flowing water is a seal. The lines scored by the wind on the dunes are seals. The fissures in the dry earth after a drought are seals. The clouds in the sky are also seals.”

Lin Feng asked, “Grandmaster, is the seal a simulation of all traces in nature?”

Baniya shook his head, “That is an artist not a seal master.

“The blood vessel within the body of a wild animal is a seal, this seal can only maintain their survival. The trace of flowing water is a seal, this seal can only make the water flow from high ground to low according to the rule of nature. The vein of a leaf is a seal, this seal can only let it deliver the moisture absorbed by the roots to the leaf blade.

“These seals are born in nature, survive in nature and walk arm in arm with the vitality of this stretch of the world.

“However, mankind, regardless of Cultivation or the study of Fuinjutsu, has exceeded the need of survival. Therefore, although Fuinjutsu originates from nature, it is actually higher than nature.”

Lin Feng asked again, “What is a seal.”

“An instruction.”

“To whom?”

“To biological energy… world vitality or chakra, each has its own consciousness. A seal or a hand sign, all methods of human cultivation cannot leave the manipulation of energy. Taijutsu manipulates yang chakra to strengthen the body. Ninjutsu manipulates chakra to achieve all kinds of effects. Genjutsu directly attacks the opponent’s mind by manipulating yin chakra. Only Fuinjutsu is at a higher boundary than the others… it allows you to instruct the world vitality to do anything you can comprehend and infuse into the symbols you draw.”

Lin Feng questioned, “World Vitality does not have eyes, it does not have an ear, it has no way to know what strange idea you might have in your mind, it is more unlikely that it will know that you want to guide the sandstorms around Suna and transform it into a protective barrier, how then can you make it know your meaning?”

He replied, “A seal is the bridge between man’s mind and world vitality. A seal master congeals a seal by infusing it with his yin chakra and his intent. When it is stimulated, it can have an induction with the wold vitality around it and create water or fire. It can gather clouds to call rain, it can scatter clouds to turn the weather dry.

“Actually, it is very similar to your cultivation method. You take your body as the bridge between your mind and the world vitality. Your body is like a musical instrument and the world vitality like the air. Once it insufflates this musical instrument it can create a wonderful music. The world vitality can listen to this music and create a resonance. You open and close your tenketsu to alter the melody. Thus, your body is like a mutable seal which you can change at will.”

He sighed, “Your talent in sealing is unprecedented. You probably call them runes but I can feel that the operating principles between both are roughly the same. What is most shocking is your cultivation method. You directly use world vitality without using chakra and the way you use it is more advanced than the highest levels of seal masters in this world.

“But such a method requires absurd levels of sensitivity towards world vitality. I am one of the rare few people who can sense world vitality, hence, I am able to understand its trend during various phenomenon. Thus, I can record this trend in a seal, causing resonance with the world vitality, thereby recreating the phenomenon.”

Lin Feng asked, “For thousands of years Seal Masters have been studying and recording the symbols of nature, aren't there ready-made seals? If there are, then doesn’t that mean that even without the need for the sensation of world vitality fluctuation one can cultivate Fuinjutsu?”

“Can there be two exactly same leaves in the world?”

“No.”

“Can there be two completely same people?”

“Obviously not.”

“That being the case, you are not I, your yin chakra and intent is impossible to be the same as my yin chakra and intent. Why then do you feel that if we write the completely same symbol, world vitality will interpret it similarly?

“Each Seal Master’s yin chakra and intent is a completely different language. If I write a seal, the world vitality can comprehend my meaning. If you write a seal similarly, the world vitality will look at it frustratedly, wondering: why does this person write so incoherently, actually what does he want to say?”

Lin Feng carefully analysed his words. “Your meaning is that Fuinjutsu can only be sensed by the practitioner and cannot be passed on from generation to generation.”

“Um. It can’t be inherited. For the same effect, the seal for each seal master is different. The teacher’s seal can only serve as a reference for the student.

“Actually, if you talk about the Uzumaki clan, they became famous as the best sealers as every member of their clan had extremely similar yin chakra and a great affinity towards world vitality. Thus, in their case, a teacher could teach his student a seal directly. After learning how to perfectly copy the seal, the student could sense what it represented via multiple trials.

“Thus, the difference between an Uzumaki sealer and a non-Uzumaki sealer is that while a non-Uzumaki has to research every seal that he grasps from scratch with the boost of having his master’s seals as reference, an Uzumaki just has to study his master’s seals and slightly alter them to make them more suited for him.

“It is no wonder that the Uzumaki rose as one of the most powerful clans in the world. Their alliance with Konoha threatened the balance of power and thus, they were attacked by a coalition of Kiri, Iwa and Kumo. The members of their clan are now scattered all over the nations, their seal repository put to flames.”

They chatted some more after that about ideas for seals, segueing to some inconsequential topics when their ideas dried up.

It was night by the time an attendant politely interrupted them and informed them of the time. Despite his repeated detaining, Lin Feng refused Baniya’s invitation to dinner and took his leave.

He strolled down the lively streets of Suna, using a solidified coat of world vitality to disguise his distinctive facial features and hair, a trick he had learnt by emulating the transformation jutsu.

He took in the condition of the people. They were rapidly adapting to the changed living circumstances and were filled with an enthusiasm which they channelled towards rebuilding their lives.

He saw many cases where groups of people were gathering about some particularly artistic structure and discussing its magnificence.

Even back home, whenever he built something, he had the habit of coming back after some time in disguise to gather the opinions of the residents. He used their opinions to better himself in the future.

Expanding his sensation, he covered the entirety of the city and listened in to the reviews of his work.

Architecture was all about optimizing form and function and as an artist, he too couldn’t bypass the examination known as user satisfaction.

So, while he was pretty stoked upon hearing all the positive discussion about the beauty of the new city, the discussions that really attracted him were those which commended the convenience provided by the layout of the new city and the vastly upgraded public amenities like the improved sewage system and improved access between the fortifications and the barracks.

He grinned widely, it always felt nice to be appreciated.