Curse Mark

In the tailed beast's Mental World, the nine could be seen standing in a circle. None of them brought their jinchuriki for this meeting but they all came, even Kurama and Shukaku who were normally absent.

"I'm sure everyone here knows why this meeting was called" Stared the Four-Tails Son Goku.

"I don't!" Interjected Kurama.

"Our chakra is being continuously drained by someone! Don't tell me you can't feel it, stupid fox!" Threw out Shukaku.

"What was that, you foolish racoon!? Countered Kurama.

"Now, now. It's our first reunion since so long ago and we are here to discuss important matters, so let us not squabble." The Five-tails Kokuo attempted to diffuse the tension.

"Our chakra is being drained through our connection. The other side of that connection gives of a feeling that is similar to yours Kurama." Added the Eight-Tails Gyuki.

"I haven't felt my chakra being drained at all but now that you mention it . . . Couple of years back the fourth hokage sealed away half of my chakra using some weird jutsu I've never seen before."

Informed Kurama no longer so irritated.

The tailed beasts managed to figure out someone was somehow using the lost half of Kurama's chakra to steal theirs. None of them understood how anyone could make use of their private connection after all only with their willing cooperation can jinchuriki enter this place. But now someone that is not even a jinchuriki is exploiting it. the most they could do was slow the draining effect but they were incapable of completely stopping it.

Meanwhile the one responsible for the woes of the tailed beasts was already considering what he was going to do with his rightfully stolen chakra.

'Alright, the pace is quite slow so this is going to take a while. It doesn't really matter though since without a fully cooperating consciousness I can't really control all this chakra like it initially happened to Juubito but much worse since he is far more capable than the current me.'

'This will pay off in the long run though. Phase 3 is smoothly underway! Now phase four can only start once 3 is over and I still need some more practise to pull it off. The creation of my own tailed beast! I'll use my original sealing formation that I'm still working on, the Nine Worlds Refining Seal.'

'However there is something I can do now! Unlike the previous plan that is based on the inner strengthening method. This one is way of external strengthening namely, a weapon, sort of. I'll call it The Tailed Beast Scroll. Original I know but no amount of shadow clone training is going to improve my naming sense . . .'

Shedding a single manly tear for the things he would never possess, Shiki then continued.

'Using chakra ink made with the chakra of each tailed beast, he would make a drawing of them on a sealing scroll. This way he would be able to use their abilities or summon copies of them. The drawings absorb any kind of chakra and turn it into tailed beast chakra so all he had to do was charge it up before it ran out.'

(Author: Sort of like Wasabi's jutsu from Boruto, the general idea that is. The mechanics are somewhat different though.)

But then, Shiki remembered one critical thing that stopped from creating such a scroll.

'F*ck! I can't draw! Well, one more thing for my shadow clones to practise.

The next day in the afternoon, Shiki could be found wandering the streets of Konoha, thinking if there was anything else he could try out at his current level.

'I could try to reverse summon myself in order to learn senjutsu . . . But sage mode requires a powerful body and high chakra reserves, although I'm blessed with talent on both fronts, I'm still limited by my age . . .'

As he continued his thoughts he sat down on a bench eating some dangos from the nearby shop. But then a certain kunoichi sat on the same bench eating dangos as well.

'Bingo! I totally forgot about her Curse Mark! I thought about studying Sasuke's after Orochimaru tags him but now, there's absolutely no need to wait!'

The young woman was of slender frame. She had light brown, pupil-less eyes and violet hair styled in a short, spiky, fanned-out ponytail. She was wearing a fitted mesh bodysuit under a tan overcoat with a purple in-seam and a pocket on each side, a dark orange mini-skirt, a dark blue belt, and pale grey shin guards. In addition to the typical forehead protector, she was also wearing a small pendant that looked like a snake fang and a wristwatch.

"Excuse me, oh blindingly beautiful onesan!" Started Shiki. Causing the kunoichi to look at him questioningly with a slight blush while pointing at herself.

"Yes you!" Continued Shiki while thinking. 'Hail this enhanced charm that I can use, even as a kid. I can't wait to grow up.'

'Narcissism aside, it's probably better to be at least partially honest with her. My status as Tsuna-nee's adopted brother should help me out too.'

"I couldn't help to notice a curse seal on you, onessan. May I have a look? Don't worry I'm not a suspicious person!" He continued with a bright smile as if he was just having a perfectly normal conversation.

"Who are you!?" Questioned the kunoichi, alarmed at the boy's knowledge and attitude. 'He's way too suspicious! If he knows about the Curse Mark he might be related to "Him"!' She thought.

"The name's Uzumaki Shiki, I live in the Senju compound with my adopted sister Tsunade. How about you tell me yours too?" Shiki answered a bit more seriously but with a smile still adorning his face.

The woman showed a surprised face at this information. 'He looks different from what I've heard but if he really is who he says he is he probably has nothing to do with "Him".'

"Mitarashi Anko." She answered, now a bit calmer.

"Okay, Anko-nee, how about you follow me to the Senju compound where we can talk a bit more! Tsuna-nee should be there as well." Suggested Shiki

'Well following him won't be a problem I know the way so if he tries to lead me somewhere else I'll know he's lying if not, well it's not like I've got anything to lose but time at this point . . .' Thought Anko.

"Alright, let's go."

"Excellent!"

After they arrived, Shiki called Tsunade and informed her that he wished to study Anko's cursed seal. Tsunade immediately realised he was talking about Orochimaru's Curse Mark but merely stated she would supervise and that she wanted him to tell her about anything he found out about the cursed seal. After all since Shiki possessed the Uzumaki's legacy, seals should be his thing.

'Tsuna-nee is not telling me about it so she must be testing me or something? Well, whatever.'

"Okay Anko-nee just take off your overcoat, sit down and relax."

"F-Fine!" Answered Anko slightly nervous.

Shiki then utilised his Soul Reading Jutsu, his Mind's Eye of the Kagura and his Sharingan to analyse the curse marks. After about Half an hour of poking and prodding at the seal he shared his findings.

"I must commend whoever applied this seal for his innovation and creative thinking . . . But his skills are pretty trash!"

It was true, even with his current skills he could perfect a lot of things in the Curse Mark. Although Orochimaru was a great pioneer to create the concept of the Cursed Marks, Shiki's legacy gave him an edge when it came to implementation.

While Orochimaru had to perform countless experiments to "perfect" the cursed mark, it still couldn't compare to the Uzumaki's history of practise. Still the ability to store part of his soul into the mark, effectively making him immortal was a commendable feat, one that Shiki would be able to improve based on his own knowledge of the soul.

"What do you mean!?"

"What do you mean!?"

Asked both kunoichi, quite surprised at the statement.

"The concept is revolutionary but even a kid like me would be be able to implement it better. Although I admit I would probably never be able to invent a cursed seal like this, now that I know how it works I can actually improve it!" Continued Shiki not even giving both women a chance to speak he started elaborating.

"This cursed seal has two fundamental purposes! One is to empower the one it is place on by way of the user's sage power. This means the one who placed this seal on you has some degree of mastery with senjutsu."

"Normally infusing someone without proper training with senjutsu chakra is a death sentence but through some special means, this has been achieved. Granted it should still have serious side effect and can quite possibly kill the bearer."

"This was probably done by using some special ability like a kekkei genkai! The second purpose is to place a piece of the user's soul into the bearer, this would allow the user some degree of control as well as a way to return to life should they be killed!"

"No doubt this is the product of some mad genius!"