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Chapter 57 - Chapter 57: Ninjutsu Nullification

It took Logan seven days to kill Orochimaru.

It took five more to return to Konoha.

But even twelve days later, when Logan finally saw Jiraiya again, he almost didn't recognize the man standing in front of him.

Jiraiya looked absolutely terrible.

His hair was tangled and wild, his eyes bloodshot and hollow. He had been awake for twelve straight days, focusing every ounce of chakra and willpower into keeping the clean water orb running smoothly, preserving Sasuke's fragile life.

This was one of the Legendary Sannin—reduced to a pale, trembling wreck.

And yet, when he saw Logan enter the room, Jiraiya smiled.

"I feel relieved seeing you back," he said hoarsely, voice cracked with fatigue.

Logan stepped forward and gently patted him on the shoulder. "Thanks for your hard work."

With that small gesture, the last trace of resentment between them melted away. Logan silently controlled the white snake's chakra and removed the mental "command" he had planted in Jiraiya's heart.

The compulsion had only made Jiraiya remain by Sasuke's side; it hadn't forced him to care.

Yet he had—fiercely.

As if on cue, Kakashi nodded subtly to Jiraiya, and the four shinobi who had escorted Logan returned outside, giving them privacy.

Now, only Logan, Jiraiya, Konan, and the unconscious Sasuke remained in the room.

Jiraiya let out a long, weary sigh. Though his body was nearly spent, it was the guilt that weighed more heavily on his shoulders. He'd failed his student. Again. But if things went well now, perhaps it would all be worth it.

He began forming hand seals, slowly and deliberately.

The clean water orb shimmered and began to unravel, gradually dissipating into soft mist. Within, Sasuke was finally revealed—gaunt, pale, almost skeletal. His cheeks were hollow, his ribs clearly visible through his skin.

His life force was faint—so faint that even Jiraiya couldn't guarantee he'd survive another day.

Logan wasted no time.

He placed the disc containing Orochimaru's chakra on Sasuke's chest, then summoned the combined energy of natural chakra and Ripple energy at his fingertips. Pressing gently against Sasuke's forehead, he activated the technique—reversing the process of the curse seal, pulling the corrupted chakra back through Sasuke's meridians.

A stream of black magatama flowed outward from his body, seeping through his pores and coalescing into liquid form. Bit by bit, Logan siphoned it out and captured it in a small, sealed vial he had prepared in advance.

Jiraiya and Konan stood frozen, watching in near reverence.

Both unconsciously held their breath.

Ten minutes passed.

By the time Logan removed the final traces of Orochimaru's chakra, the Heaven's Curse Seal had vanished completely. But a curious mark remained—on Sasuke's forehead, where the energy had exited, was now a strange, inverted three-magatama seal.

The rounded ends of the magatama overlapped at the center, while the sharp tails pointed outward. The design resembled a curved version of the Mercedes-Benz logo—but Logan recognized something older in it.

"Three fishes sharing one head...?" he murmured.

The "Three Fish with One Head" was a symbol dating back to the Eastern Han Dynasty. In Daoist tradition, it symbolized eternal rebirth, an unbroken cycle of life and death.

Was this just a coincidence?

Or—

Logan glanced at the faint crown of thorns still resting on Sasuke's head.

Was it a miracle?

Just as the last drop of corrupted chakra was removed, the water surrounding Sasuke faded completely.

He landed silently on his feet, head lowered, eyes hidden beneath his lashes. To Logan, it looked less like someone waking from unconsciousness—and more like someone descending from heaven, a divine figure silently judging the world.

Logan looked toward Jiraiya, silently asking if this was his doing.

Jiraiya shook his head, confused. "I lost control of the water technique… No— not just that…"

He quickly formed a seal. It was a basic clone technique, the simplest ninjutsu taught to students fresh out of the Academy.

But—

Poof!

The smoke appeared for half a second, the clone formed—and then, under Sasuke's gaze, the illusion flickered like a glitching television. Then, in an instant, it dissolved.

Jiraiya's blood ran cold.

He turned to Logan and Konan, voice trembling.

"Did you see that?!"

Konan nodded, her voice tense. "I saw it."

"I didn't," Logan said calmly. He reached out and ruffled Sasuke's messy hair. "All I saw was a kid waking up… and a middle-aged man hallucinating from too many sleepless nights."

He turned to Konan. His eyes sharpened.

Konan flinched slightly and quickly followed his lead.

"Right. I didn't see it either."

She pressed a hand to her chest, as if afraid Logan might issue some other strange command to her.

All three knew the truth, of course. If Sasuke truly had the ability to nullify ninjutsu—not absorb it, not deflect it, but outright make it fail within his line of sight—it would be an earth-shattering revelation.

Konan had seen Pain's Hungry Ghost Path, capable of absorbing any ninjutsu fired at him. That had been terrifying enough.

But what Sasuke had just done?

Even the Body Replacement Technique didn't work.

It reduced a ninja to nothing more than a swordsman—a samurai.

While Konan's mind reeled with implications, Sasuke suddenly blinked, awareness returning to his eyes.

"Brother Logan? Where… where am I?"

"Konoha," Logan replied casually.

"Huh?"

Sasuke looked around in confusion. How had he returned?

Logan smiled faintly. "While you were unconscious, I had a few thoughts. I figured preserving the Uchiha bloodline was still important, so I signed a little agreement with the Third Hokage."

Sasuke looked startled.

"What… kind of agreement?"

"When you turn eighteen," Logan said solemnly, "you'll mate with a different strong woman every day. The survival of the Uchiha clan now rests on your back, Sasuke. You'll need to give it your all."

"HUH?!"

Sasuke's face went completely pale. Whatever divine majesty had graced him a moment ago was instantly wiped clean by sheer horror.

Logan burst out laughing and tossed him a fresh set of clothes.

Realizing it was a joke, Sasuke relaxed and chuckled awkwardly, dressing quickly.

Jiraiya tried the clone jutsu again. This time, it worked—just like normal.

As if nothing had happened.

But everyone in the room knew it had happened.

Logan raised a finger to his lips.

Shhh.

Jiraiya nodded. He would say nothing.

The Sharingan was already enough of a temptation to draw the eyes of every major village. If the world knew Sasuke now carried a power that nullified all ninjutsu…

It would be open season.

The group exited the first aid room. Outside, Kakashi and the others were still waiting. As host, Jiraiya insisted on treating everyone to a celebratory dinner—Sasuke's awakening, and Logan's return.

Logan accepted with a nod, and they headed to one of Jiraiya's favorite izakayas. A long table was quickly filled with steaming food and warm sake.

Kakashi and his squad, still on duty, sat at a separate table. No alcohol for them—just tea and light dishes.

That is, until the proprietress approached and served wine and meat to their table.

Kakashi blinked. "We didn't order this."

The woman smiled and pointed to Logan.

"That customer ordered it. He also asked me to pass along a message: 'I'm not killing anyone today. I'm leaving tomorrow. So eat and drink without worry.'"

The four looked toward Logan.

He raised his glass with a broad grin and toasted them silently.

Asuma rolled up his sleeves and chuckled. "Kakashi, now I get it. When you said Logan was 'interesting'—you were underselling it."

He grabbed his drink and walked over to Logan's table, laughing heartily.

Soon, Might Guy and Kurenai followed.

Only Kakashi stayed behind, quietly sipping tea.

But his eyes weren't on Logan.

They were scanning the shadows, watching for other threats.

After a few more drinks, Logan leaned over to Kakashi.

"Thanks," he said quietly.

He was referring, of course, to the night of the Uchiha massacre—when Kakashi had stood alone in Logan's path to buy just enough time for Sasuke to escape.

They didn't need to say more.

Kakashi raised his glass. "How does it feel to be back?"

Logan took a moment to answer.

"Konoha is rotten," he said slowly. "But the outside world… is even worse."

Kakashi gave a tired smile. "That's a good summary. Konoha has its problems. But it also has things—people—I care about. For that alone, it's already pretty good."

Logan swirled his glass under the warm light of the pub. The liquid shimmered like golden fire.

"But can't it be… better?"

Kakashi thought about that. "Better…"

He shook his head.

"I don't dare to dream that far."

By the end of the evening, Jiraiya had passed out drunk. Two Anbu carefully helped him to his room.

Kakashi stood and offered Logan a place to rest.

"It's getting late. We've prepared a guest room if you'd like to—"

"Before that," Logan said, interrupting, "I want to take a little detour."

"Oh? Where to?"

Logan turned toward the darkest corner of Konoha.

"The Uchiha compound."

He looked into the night, where silence and rain had begun to fall.

"I want to go back... and take a look."

pàtreøn (Gk31)

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