The Mad Sage Of Uzushio, A Naruto Fan Fiction:
Chapter #7: School’s In Forever!
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Chapter 7
School’s In For Summer!
School’s In Forever!
As the evening devolves into a pointless and escalating noise fest, the various attendees of the impromptu party, begin to filter out and go home, having lost interest in the part of the family melodrama that had nothing to do them. Eventually the noise dies down and most of the noise makers find other places to be. The light of the following morning hits Shintaro’s sleepy head resting on the couch, with his messenger bag on the on the coffee table next to the demon ink gourd. Boruto sits on the opposite couch, guarding over Shintaro for his self-appointed watch, with jittering tea cup in shaking hands. Young Himawari lies curled up in a ball with a pillow, drooling on her pillow, on the couch next to Boruto. Hinata makes her way down stairs after a busy night of revelations.
Hinata:
Boruto!… Put that tea away!… and help me make breakfast…
Boruto:
But mom!…
Hinata:
Now!… Boruto!…
Hinata activates her Byakugan for an effective glare, one Boruto knows all too well.
Hinata:
And wake up poor Himawari… I can’t just let her sleep there like that… I knew I should have made her go to bed properly… Poor thing… She’ll want to help make breakfast anyway… She won’t forgive me if I let her sleep through making breakfast….
Boruto:
Hai! Hai!… Hima?… Himachan?…
Boruto gently nudges the small shinobi in training, as Himawari slowly perks up out of her slumber.
Boruto:
Time to make breakfast Himachan…
As young Himawari hears that, she perks up to a fully awake and alert status, and quickly proceeds to kitchen, beating Boruto to the apron strings.
Hinata:
I invited Sakura and her family to breakfast this morning… to talk things through… in a more sober morning light… with fewer people… and less of a circus… But we are still going to need a bit more than usual…
Shintaro:
May I help at all?… With the preparations?…
Hinata:
Oh… I don’t think so… I think I would prefer it if we handled this ourselves… With all due respect… uncle Shintaro… I would prefer it if you just simply avoided doing anything too… unusual… at least until our guests arrive…
Shintaro:
Hai!… Hinatasama!… I will endeavor to behave myself… as best as I can…
Naruto, barely conscious, sluggishly drags his feat down the stairs and into the kitchen, to plop himself down at a stool by the breakfast bar.
Naruto:
Is there any… coffee?… tea?… dumplings?… left overs?… any?…
Naruto then perks up, remembering a key revelation from the previous night.
Naruto:
Uh!… Hinatachan?!?… Daijuobu desuka?!?… Are you hungry?… Do you need anything?… Do need a chair?… or a cushion?…
Hinata:
Daijoubu desuyo!… Don’t fuss!… Tea will be ready momentarily…
Shintaro:
Please allow me to shoulder a bit more of the burden for this morning… Eh?… Hinatasama?…
Shintaro reaches over to the coffee table and grabs his messenger bag, and puts it back over his shoulder, then pulls out a small scroll, as he walks over to the breakfast bar and pulls up a stool next to Naruto and sits down, leaving his demon ink gourd on the coffee table. Shintaro places his scroll unrolled upon the breakfast bar then runs his finger along one of the entries of the small scroll, and a tea set appears with tea already steeped and ready on the counter of the breakfast bar in front of Naruto. Shinataro then pours three cups of tea, one for himself, and one each for Hinata and Naruto.
Naruto:
Wow!… You really came prepared!… Ya know!…
Shintaro:
I always come prepared with both tea and sake… That plus a few other key medicines… usually covers everything…
Naruto:
That’s part of the transport jutsu right?… Ten Ten is really good with that one…
Shintaro:
The transport jutsu… as you call it… is but a small sampling of the power of the Uzumaki Clan legacy… the legacy of the clan specialty… of fuinjutsu…
Naruto:
I’m lousy at fuinjutsu… Sasuke’s much better at it than me…. But neither of us are really what you would call… specialists…
Shintaro:
Most shinobi aren’t… Fuinjutsu is difficult… tedious… and potentially very complicated… But the reason why the Uzumaki Clan specialized in fuinjutsu… is because they had a special intuitive knack for it… because of the Uzumaki nature… and the Uzumaki extra special sensitivity to chakra that is a part of it… and constitutes the most powerful weapon in the arsenal of the Uzumaki Clan… especially when combined with higher than normal chakra of the Uzumaki in general…
Naruto:
Hinata was telling me about that last night… the Theory of the Uzumaki?… or something?… Oi!… Thanks to you… Hinata made me promise to retire as hokage… after only twenty more years!… Max!… Ya know!…
Shintaro:
Well… Technically… I never actually got to the point of explaining the actual theory last night… However Naruto… You may wish to retire as hokage… far sooner than that… I didn’t want to mention this among the others… But… Based on my own observation of your chakra… I believe that you are slowly killing yourself as hokage…
Hinata:
Nani?!?… Killing himself?… I knew it!… I could see it myself!…
Hinata activates her Byakugan again, seeming to glare at Naruto as she examines him again herself.
Naruto:
Daijoubu desuyo!… Daijoubu!… Daijoubu!… Ya Know!…
Shinataro:
Now… please calm yourself Hinatasama… Naruto’s condition is far from the point of no return… He probably could continue as is for a number of years… before reaching the point of no return… It’s a question of a slow degenerative chronic condition… caused by the long hours of self abuse… of the workaholic Uzumaki… a typical tendency… As long as Naruto permanently changes his work habits… he doesn’t even necessarily have to permanently quit being hokage… But I do recommend a rehabilitative training sabbatical… at least temporarily…
Naruto:
Training sabbatical?… What kind of training?…
Hinata:
Uh-oh… It looks like you said the magic word… You’ve got him on the hook now…
Shintaro:
First… you must understand the problem… Let me know if this sounds accurate… You are basically a baca… by well earned reputation…
Naruto:
Hey!… I became hokage ya know!…
Shintaro:
Baca Kage… perhaps… Additionally… as a baca… you’re woefully inadequate… intellectually… for a large part of the usual duties of hokage… So you compensate… with excessively long hours pushing your precious papers around your precious office… in a vain attempt to manage an unmanageable bureaucracy… sleep deprived… suffering… and degenerating a little more each day of the same… and knowing all of this deep down… but stubbornly persisting… Because you foolishly think that it is your duty to suffer gratuitously for the greater good… while neglecting to properly train… in order to properly serve it… all the while leaning upon the chakra of the Nine-Tales… in order to survive work habits… that would have gotten you killed long ago without it…
As Shintaro lectures his nephew, the spirit of Kurama, the Nine-Taled Fox, stirs within Naruto, in order to chime in, having been mentioned in the diagnosis.
Kurama:
Oi!… Did you hear that?… I knew I should have tried cutting you off!… leaning on my chakra like that… But not to train… just pushing papers… It’s no wonder that you’ve lost your edge… It’s embarrassing!…
Naruto:
Oi… not you too Kurama…
Shintaro:
I don’t know what he said… But he’s probably right… The key damage to be reversed… is the slow degeneration of your chakra network… and all the connections and conduits though which chakra flows… Damage that is reversible… through senjutsu…
Naruto:
I’ve mastered senjutsu!… Ya know!…
Shintaro:
Ai… You have… Our mutual friends on Mount Myoboku speak highly of your talents… even though you’ve been a bit of a slacker… with respect to senjutsu… ever since you first mastered it… as if that’s all there was to master…
Naruto:
There’s more?… What else is there?…
Shintaro:
There is always infinitely more to master!… The power of senjutsu… is theoretically and ultimately unlimited… potentially infinite power… That is why the Otsutsuki Emperor fears that power more than any other… Because he cannot master it… Because of his own dependence… and every Otsutsuki’s dependence… upon their precious chakra pills… If you do not have infinite power… then there is always further to go… But truly infinite power is impossible… So the process never ends… even until death… unless you quit the process… foolishly thinking you’ve had enough… or that there is nothing more…
Naruto:
How?… How do I do that?… Do I have to go back to Mount Myoboku?…
Shintaro:
Well… There would certainly be great value in that… and that would certainly work… if you had a few years to do so… without distraction… However… You are the hokage… Unless you step down completely… a complete sabbatical is out of the question… more of a working sabbatical would be more appropriate… Besides… part of what needs to happen… if you are to continue at all as hokage… is the learning and adopting new work habits… without which you will have to step down completely… much of those details will probably have to be worked out with your advisor… Shikamaru…
Naruto:
Shikamaru’s always nagging me to delegate more…
Shintaro:
And you would do well to listen to him… Now… you don’t really have a choice… by medical… as well as political necessity…
Naruto:
Ai… Wakata… I get it… ya know…
Shintaro:
Fortunately… I had already planned on training you before my diagnosis… So… I have already put some thought to the matter… even getting advance permission from Mount Myoboku for it… in accordance with the dibs rules of the sages…
Boruto:
Dibs rules?…
Shintaro:
Ai… The dibs rules of the sages were enacted in ancient times… aeons ago… In order to keep the peace among different sage traditions… Wars among the sages are beyond horrific… First enacted by Watatsumi… the Dragon King… it’s real name is in dragon speak… which is not humanly pronounceable… So we just call it the dibs rules… as in… ‘I’ve got dibs’… One of the chief rules is the transitivity of apprenticeship… As in… The apprentice of my apprentice… is by default… also my apprentice… There are exceptions for family… But those exceptions are generally frowned upon… as they tend to increase the probability of some disagreement being taken too personally among the sages… leading potentially to a blood feud among the sages… And as bad as wars are among the sages are… blood feuds among the sages are that much more horrific… by virtue of being that much more personal… Therefore… proper permission was required… as you now belong to the tradition of Mount Myoboku… and always will… as far as the sages are concerned… And… although the tradition of the Uzumaki… is a younger tradition than that of Mount Myoboku… it is nonetheless in complete abidance with the dibs rules…
Naruto:
The… Uzumaki tradition?…
Shintaro:
Ai… The very same tradition that trained Senju Hashirama… under the tutelage of my own grandfather… your great great grandfather… A tradition almost dead now… since the fall of Uzushio… as I and my son Yukai… are the only Uzumaki alive who still practice it… that I know of…
Naruto’s doorbell rings and Boruto rushes over to answer the door. As Boruto returns to the kitchen, Yukai and Sarada can be heard continuing an existing conversation, as they round the corner and enter the kitchen. They are soon followed by Sasuke and Sakura, with Sakura now carrying a small gym bag, with something inside that is roughly the shape of a small gourd, and Sasuke now sporting a pair of black sunglasses with oval frames, similar to Sarada’s red eyeglasses.
Yukai:
No really cuz!… Actual giants!… Taller than any building here in Konoha… even taller than an Akimichi!… at the maximum height of the expansion jutsu!…
Sarada:
Baca!… That’s not physically possible!…
Yukai:
Oh yes it is!… But their nothing compared to the dragons… Their much harder to come by though… far more rare… and elusive… downright antisocial really…
Shintaro:
Now Yukai… You know that for some things… the telling can never be any substitute for the showing… Some things can never be believed until they can be seen… and sometimes not even then…
Sarada:
Your son is filled with all sorts tall tales…
Shintaro:
My son has tall experience!… for his age…
Sakura:
We need to talk… about your treatment… for starters… as well as the explanation for this…
As Sakura says this, she opens up her gym bag and pulls out the gourd that Shintaro had left on their living room table with Uchiha Itachi’s eyes contained within.
Naruto:
What’s in the gourd?…
Shintaro:
Uchiha Itachi’s eyes…
Sasuke:
How did you even know that?…
Shintaro:
I could sense it… within the chakra of the eyes themselves… I could sense that they weren’t native… But that they were nonetheless the eyes of my grandson… just not necessarily this grandson… and there are only so many possibilities… among the Uchiha… I removed them as a precaution… because I knew of the penchant of the Uchiha for eye swapping… and the treatment I used to heal your arms and chest… had the possibility of regenerating your own native eyes… which could cause the catastrophic destruction of both sets of eyes… as the new set pushes the old one out of the way… or tries to…
Sakura:
What treatment?… Some sort of regeneration you say?…
Shintaro:
Medical senjutsu… Or… senjutsu on behalf of another… part of the senjutsu tradition of the Uzumaki… Sage mode chakra is generated… and then very carefully shared with the patient… regenerating tissue as a result…
Naruto:
Wow!… Can I learn that too?…
Shintaro:
I wouldn’t get carried away with that notion just yet… not until you’ve at least dealt with your own condition first…
Sakura:
What condition?…
Naruto:
I’m dying…
Shintaro:
Don’t be melodramatic!… Your not dying!… Not yet at any rate… Naruto’s well known typical Uzumaki workaholic tendencies… are now requiring an intervention… Uzumaki style… That is all… Although he certainly could use a second opinion… But I am confident… that you will confirm my diagnoses…
Sasuke:
What sort of intervention?… Uzumaki style?…
Shintaro:
Well I can show you… Diagnoses or no diagnoses… The training can begin immediately… as the details of the training… are not really all that dependent on the diagnoses… Besides it’ll be fun… I’m sure you’ll get a kick out of it…
Yukai:
This should be good…
Shinataro puts away the small scroll that he had, pulls out a simple white sash, then hands the sash to Naruto.
Shintaro:
Here put this on…
Naruto stands up from his stool, and ties the sash around his waste, to the laughter of Yukai as Shintaro facepalms.
Shintaro:
It’s as if you know nothing of the Uzumaki Clan…
Yukai:
It’s like this cuz…
As Yukai says this, he removes his sunglasses, again revealing his Starlight Rinnegan, before moving the white sash tied around his forehead, down to around his eyes.
Yukai:
See?… Or… not see?… in a manner of speaking… as pops would say…
A somewhat embarrassed Naruto, refastens the sash around his eyes as instructed.
Naruto:
I’ve done this sort of training before… ya know…
Sasuke:
We all have…
Shintaro:
Oh?… Have you now?…
Sakura:
It was standard training at the academy in our day…
Shintaro:
For how long continuously?… This is not simply sensory acuity training… This is a part of the Uzumaki Clan’s traditional training… for the training and attuning of the chakra sense of the Uzumaki… with special modifications just for you… You are to train with the sash in place… continuously… without being allowed to take it off… for the entire training sabbatical… All of your other training during this period… as well as whatever limited duties remain as hokage… are all to be undertaken with this handicap in place… while maintaining sage mode as continuously as possible… relying upon it for absolutely everything… Learn how to rely upon it… and train to expand it… starting immediately…
Naruto:
But I can only maintain sage mode for five minutes…
Shintaro:
Then you’re just going to have to get better then… won’t you?…
Naruto gets off his stool and makes his way over to sit down on the floor by the wall, so as to be out of the way, as he enters and begins to maintain sage mode.
Shintaro:
Now tell me Naruto… What exactly is your range in sage mode?…
Naruto:
From here… I can sense chakra all over Konoha… and to some extent… the entire land of fire… very little beyond that… Beyond that I can only sense a vague impression of chakra and it’s global spread…
Shintaro:
Good… One of your key training tasks is to train to expand that as much as possible… both in terms of total range… as well as total detail and depth… The further out that you expand your range… the more you will also be able to sense greater detail… but not all at once… even I can only sense a vague impression of chakra’s distribution… unless I focus in on the details… the Further out your range… the more information coming in to your senses… the you more have to focus in on some information by blocking out the rest… All the while of course…
Naruto:
Wakata… Ya Know… ‘Maintain sage mode as continuously as possible’…
Shintaro:
Ai… In time… more and more training tasks… will added to your training… both to expand your arsenal of tricks… as well as provide additional training hurdles… to be overcome with your senjutsu… and your Uzumaki chakra sense… In time I’ll even teach you how to read and write… without seeing… as I do… by the same means that my own grandfather taught me to… using traditional ink and paper fuinjutsu… as well as the Super Beast Scroll… Until then… you won’t be allowed to do any paperwork of any kind… No more pointlessly and tediously pushing papers around… Of course… keeping up with the intel of Konoha… will require in-person oral briefings… But you and Shikamaru will have to prioritize this flow of intel… by restricting it to oral briefings given in person… And when this happens…you are to focus on keenly and closely observing the chakra of the people giving these briefings… as well as when you speak to them and ask them questions… Observe how they respond… Observe how they’re chakra responds…
Naruto:
What am I supposed to see?… What am I supposed to be looking for?…
Shintaro:
Everything and nothing… You are to learn for yourself what it all means to you… and what to look for… Learn by doing… Consider it on-the-job sage training… a kind of vocational rehabilitation with senjutsu… In time I will add other training elements… like the Uzumaki Wind Sword… and of course the Uzumaki legacy of fuinjutsu… Ultimately… If you never learn to use your senjutsu to power your fuinjutsu… then it will be a tragic waste for Konoha… compared to what could have been… speaking of which…
Shintaro slides off his stool and steps over to the dining table, then pulls out his small scroll again, and runs his finger along an entry in the scroll, causing a number of scrolls to appear on the dining table, including one very large scroll spanning the width of the dining table, bearing the Uzumaki crest. Additionally, there was a smaller scroll with the symbol for demon on it, plus one more scroll that had a pair of symbols on it reading ‘Space-Time.’ Then Shintaro runs his index finger along the Uzumaki crest on the larger scroll, causing all sorts of bits and flakes of paper to begin to peal off of the big scroll harmlessly and slide over to reconstitute another paper clone copy of the big Uzumaki scroll. Shintaro does the same to the demon scroll and the space-time scroll, then casually returns to his stool before continuing.
Shintaro:
Besides the blood in my veins… and all the descendants of that blood… These scrolls represent all that I have left… of the true legacy of Uzushio… The two larger scrolls are both copies of the compilation I put together… of the sum total of everything I have ever learned about fuinjutsu from the Uzumaki legacy… plus everything that I have added to it in the course of my lifetime of study… There are also two copies of the demon scroll… which constitutes a comprehensive curriculum… of the Demon Order of Uzushio… the primary weapon of which… is of course.... fuinjutsu… The most important weapon against demons is fuinjutsu… If a demon is not sealed… then the demon is not defeated… The Space-Time scrolls represent a particular passion of mine… from a sub-specialty of the clan specialty… of space-time fuinjutsu… Among other things that you will will find in that scroll… are the basic mechanisms and formulas behind the Second Hokage’s Flying Raijin… as well as your father’s version of it… The Second Hokage based his Flying Raijin on the space-time fuinjutsu that he had learned from his Uzumaki cousins… and his Uzumaki sister-in-law… When I came to Konoha… cousin Tobirama taught me his version of it… which I eventually taught to your father… at your mother’s insistence… which he modified and made his own… And then he taught me his version of it… even giving me this keepsake of his…
As Shintaro says this, he raises his hand up in the air, then poof, he conjures up a odd shaped kunai into his hand from out of nowhere, with two smaller blades coming out between the main blade and the handle, as a cross guard, perpendicular to the central blade, then curving slightly towards the tip of the main blade before terminating in their own points.
Shintaro:
Here Naruto… without peaking… see what you can see about this… in a manner of speaking…
Shintaro’s hair comes to life and grabs the kunai from his hand and stretches out and over to Naruto, to give him the kunai.
Shintaro:
Examine and observe this as best as you can… with your chakra sense… What can you see?… What do you feel?… What can you tell me about it?… if anything…
Naruto holds his father’s kunai in his hands as he tries to see what Shintaro wants him to see, in the way that Shintaro wants him to see it, being somewhat startled at the result.
Naruto:
I can see markings!… writing!… and symbols!… I can see the seal formula ya know!… Is this how you read?…
Shintaro:
Ai… You can see that… because the seal formula still has chakra in it… locked within it… Try running your hands along the seal it self… Tell me what you can sense about the chakra within the seal…
Naruto:
I recognize the chakra!… It feels the same as the chakra that dad sealed within me when he made me a jinchuriki…
As Naruto says this, he reaches down with one of his hands to feel at the seal on his abdomen that his father used to turn him into a jinchuriki, the host for the nine-tailed fox.
Shintaro:
Your better at this than I expected… Fortunately for you… you seem to be at least half as talented as they seem to think you are on Mount Myoboku…
Naruto:
Hey!… What do mean half?… Oi!… By the way… Your daughter Karui and her family are here…
Shintaro:
Wakata… I know… And I know that she’s in just as bad a mood as ever it seems…
Naruto’s doorbell rings, then Boruto rushes out to get the door, before returning with Shikamaru and Choji, followed by Karui and her daughter Chocho, both now wearing matching sunglasses, covering up their Starlight Rinnegan.
Shikamaru:
Nani?!?… What’s going on now?… What did I miss since last night… that your now blindfolded?…
Naruto:
It’s an Uzumaki tradition!… Part of my new training!… Ya know!…
Karui:
I can’t believe you people are taking this old lunatic seriously!… Oi!… Baca Sennin!… Bring me my Sister now!… Do whatever you want with Konoha and the rest… But I’m taking my sister home with me now!… Or you and I… are going to cross swords for real!…
Shintaro:
Karui!… Stop your shouting!… You’ll scare your sister!… If you wish to speak with your sister your self… then do so in a civilized manner at least!…
As Karui and their father argue, Ishitara filters into the living room behind them, having come downstairs from an upstairs bedroom where she had stayed the night, in response to her sister’s arrival. Ishitara carries with her a small scroll in one hand, and her small ink jar in the other. Ishitara bows to her sister and her father, then daintily walks over to the breakfast bar, and lays her scroll and ink jar upon the bar. Ishitara weaves a few quick hand seals and waves her hand over her jar of ink. Ink suddenly shoots up out of the jar, then covers her scroll in readable words for Karui, as she walks over to see.
Karui:
‘Stop yelling… at father… I would love… to come home… with you’… Hah!… Well… There you have it!… I guess that’s her answer… That was easier than I thought it would be…
Shintaro:
Of course it is!… Your sister is just as eager to get to know you… as you are of her… This pointless melodrama… is completely unnecessary!…
Karui:
Look Ishitara… I love the horns… I really do… and the third eye too… really… But I would like it… if you wore my old headband… from my days as an active Kumo shinobi… See?… So that as long as you wear it… everyone will know that your my sister!…
Karui pulls out a white headscarf covered in front with a slightly curved steel plate with the symbol of Kumo etched on it, and hands it to Ishitara. Ishitara removes her fancy hat and places it upon the bar, then pulls the headscarf up over her head, and fastens it into place, tied behind her head with the scarf covering her horns, and the steel forehead plate of Kumo covering the third eye in her forehead.
Karui:
See?… That looks great on you!… Now I don’t know how things are wherever my father’s been keeping you… But around here… if you have powerful eyes like we do… it’s better to hide them… rather than advertise… like your secret weapons… like me see?…
Karui lowers her shades, showing her yellow Starlight Rinnegan, before putting them back up again.
Karui:
Here!… Chocho picked these out for us… They’re just like hers…
Karui offers the suggestion, as she hands Ishitara a pair of sunglasses identical to the ones she’s wearing. Ishitara takes them, places them over her eyes, and looks at Karui.
Karui:
Perfect!… We’re practically twins like this!… Alright Baca Sennin… I’m going home to get to know my sister… I’m all done listening to your baca stories… Your crazy ramblings have always brought me nothing but grief… Chocho… Choji… Stay if you want… But my sister and I are leaving… If you choose to stay… good luck to you… With that old baca… you’re gonna need it…
Shikamaru:
You’re staying Choji!… If I’m staying… you’re staying… Remember?… You belong to me now… until I say otherwise…
Choji:
Ai… Shikamaru taisho… Wakata…
Karui leads her baby sister out and leaves with her, as Chocho and Choji stay behind.
Shintaro:
If you’re staying… Chocho… I have a present for you!…
Chocho:
Oh!…
Shintaro pulls out his small scroll again and again runs his finger. Suddenly, a loaded black silk shoulder harness appears, loaded with what appears to be a folded up sansetsukon, a three sectioned staff, three sections joined by two short chain links, folded up inside, with one end of the folded assembly of stainless steel pipe and chain link slightly protruding out of the top of it’s compartment, with the top flap loose and a red and black Uzumaki Clan symbol further encircled with a red outline against the black silk backdrop on the front strap.
Chocho:
It’s beautiful!…
Chocho removes her shades for a better look, revealing her newly unsealed yellow Starlight Rinnegan, while rubbing her hand on the silk.
Shintaro:
Is it?… I can never tell… It was my mother’s… She was a wind user like me… But she didn’t like the sword… So she never learned the Uzumaki Wind Sword… She did master the Uzumaki Wind Arrow… But this was one of her favorite weapons… instead of the sword… She was also a formidable lightening user you see… and she called this… her Dancing Lightening Rod… made of the best Yuino steel… But she could use it with her wind as well… it was one of her preferred tools… for dealing with demons!…
Chocho:
Demons?…
Chocho asks this, as she replaces her shades over her eyes.
Shintaro:
Ai… You see… My mother was also a demon hunter… and an exorcist… In fact… a very powerful one too… I learned much of my craft from her… I also have something for you… Sarada…
Shintaro uses his scroll again, to conjure up another weapon, a blackened steel kusarigama, as Sarada comes over for closer look.
Sarada:
Kusarigama desuka?…
Shintaro:
Ai… This weapon was your great grandmother’s… Uchiha Mikono’s favorite weapon… And she was true artist with it… beyond masterful… and mostly self taught… Do you have any experience with it?…
Sarada:
Ai… But only at the academy…
Boruto:
Ai… And she’s scary good with it too… as I remember…
Sarada:
Are you going to teach me the kusurigama?…
Shintaro:
Oh no… I have absolutely no skill with the weapon… Although I faced off against it many times… in your great grandmother’s hands… I’m afraid I can only supply the constructive criticism… of an experienced opponent… I’m afraid you are more or less on your own… in making this weapon your own… You’re just going to have to put two and two together and come up with four… all on your own… But my Phoenix Flower told me… that she taught herself the weapon… Which… given the relative complexities involved… I normally wouldn’t believe it… if she were not Uchiha… But if your intention is the emulate your great grandmother… and her Phoenix Flower Flaming Medusa… she could also make use of it with her kusurigama!… But there is one key component of that… which you may wish to focus more of your attention on… the Phoenix Flower it self… I have no proper fire style myself… So I cannot help there either… But some things… for an Uchiha… are best learned from another Uchiha…
Sasuke:
Ai… We’ll start as soon as possible… along with the Chidori!…
Shintaro:
Interesting he should mention the Chidori… As lightening is your primary natural affinity… just like your father… it will always be your strongest… and while the Uchiha always have fire… fire is not always their primary natural affinity… But Phoenix Flower’s was… And she was a true artist of the flame… While you may be able to master your great grandmother’s jutsu… For you… a lightening version of the Flaming Medusa… a Lightening Medusa… or Electric Medusa… might be even more powerful… but again… I have no real lightening… shadow lightening perhaps… so I can’t help you there either I’m afraid… However… It may interest you to know… that my granddaughter Chocho… also has lightening as her primary natural affinity… Perhaps the Electric Medusa… is something the two of you could work on together?…
Sarada grabs her great grandmother’s kusurigama and heads outside for a little room.
Sarada:
Chocho!… Come with me outside!… Let’s see what these things can do!…
Chocho grabs her dancing lightening rod and hurries on after her best friend.
Shintaro:
I also have something for you… grandson… if I may be permitted… to call you that…
Sasuke:
Another scroll conjuring?…
Shintaro uses his scroll again to conjure up a matched daisho set upon the surface of the breakfast bar.
Sasuke:
Daisho desuka?…
Shintaro:
Ai… These swords… are made of the finest Yuino steel… Since you now have two working arms again… You might want to have two good swords to go with them… They belonged to my grandfather… on my father’s side… the previous grand master of the Uzumaki Wind Sword… before my father surpassed him… There is a custom… or there was a custom… among the Uzumaki… where grandsons inherit their grandfather’s swords… skipping a generation… but with overlap… so that the father would teach his own son… with the father using swords from his grandfather… while the son learns with the swords of his grandfather… in an unbroken chain… or at least… what used to be an unbroken chain… These swords were by right and custom the legitimate inheritance of my little brother… Uzumaki Toshiro… He had the full fledged kekeigenkai of the ice style however… So he could make an ice blade sword and didn’t need them… But he trained with them a lot… to practice his basic skills… although he never carried them… He didn’t even bring them with him when we all first came to Konoha…
Sasuke:
You keep going on about Yuino steel… What is so great about this Yuino steel?…
Shiintaro:
Yuino steel blades are the strongest blades that can be made… The Yuino Clan had secret earth style techniques… for maximizing the strength and sharpness of their swords…
Sasuke:
I’ll take Them… But… Why is it that you think I need them?… I have a sword…
Shintaro:
Ai… And it’s a cheap piece of glorified scrap metal too… Because that is all cheap shinobi ever buy… with a few rare exceptions… If you had gotten your sword from Orochimaru… then I might have reason to believe otherwise… Orochimaru always tended to have much better taste in swords… Let me examine this precious sword of yours…
Sasuke pulls out his sword from it’s scabbard, and then casually tosses it through the air at his grandfather, seemingly testing him. Shintaro reaches out with his hand, and catches the sword by the sword’s blade with one bare hand.
Shintaro:
With senjutsu… when one wields a sword… the forces brought to bear on the sword by senjutsu… can shatter the metal of ordinary swords…
Shintaro then lowers the handle into his other hand, before shattering the cheaply made sword over his knee.
Sasuke:
If a Yuino steel blade sword is necessary to hold up against senjutsu… then how come you don’t need it?…
Shintaro:
I have many more tools… besides swords… including senjutsu… And the Uzumaki Wind Sword… doesn’t even necessarily need a physical blade at all… especially with my shadow wind style… When I was born blind… my mother decreed that I would not be allowed to possess or train with any conventional weapons of any kind… a perfectly prudent precaution for a newborn heir to the throne… just newly born blind… potentially bearing the weight of the nation of Uzu… and the Uzumaki Clan… I was only allowed the human bodies natural weapons… the implements of a studious scholar… as well as the arts and music… and the tools of hunting and fishing… which were part and parcel of the Uzumaki way of life in the island of Uzu… I wasn’t even allowed to garden with any conventional garden tools because so many farming implements have been adapted to the purposes of war over the centuries… My mother wasn’t just fearful however… She believed that I had a greater potential… that would have been wasted by any conventional militaristic training… I wasn’t even allowed to openly study the Uzumaki Wind Sword… This of course was a great blow to my father… who was the grand master at the time… But he chose to abide her wishes out of love… and for fear of the difficulty in training a young blind boy to safely handle sharp objects… Fate would intervene however… as I had developed something of… a condition… As I could see chakra and only chakra… I could see the chakra of people in other rooms… but not the walls in between us… I would see my mother’s chakra in another room and would run to her… only to run straight into a wall… I became so repeatedly traumatized that… I virtually ceased to function… Eventually… I would just sit on the floor and wouldn’t get up for anything unless I was guided by another… there was growing speculation among the adults of thew clan that… I was simply born retarded… not just blind… My father would have none of this however… He decided that he would give me a bokken… a wooden practice training sword… to use essentially… as a blind man’s cane… He then ordered everyone around me to refrain from helping me any more… forcing me to rely upon the bokken… to guide myself around without bumping into the walls… It may have seemed harsh… but my first reaction… was one of relief… The thing I hated most about when I was a young blind prince being raised in the castle… was the insufferable suffocating coddling and pampering… That was the bane of my early existence… until my father put a stop to all of that… It was hard at first… But eventually it became so natural to me… the bokken became like an extension of my arm… which I suspect was my father’s intention all along… a partial loophole around my mother’s decree… I ultimately had to teach myself the Uzumaki Wind Sword however… I would observe in secret… then practice on my own whenever I could get away… Yuino steel blade swords were never allowed for me however… But once I mastered the ice style and could make an ice blade sword… it simply didn’t matter any more… But keep in mind… the value in Yuino steel blade swords is not simply a question of dealing with senjutsu… Demons have been known to eat cheap swords… snapping them in their teeth… for kicks!… and for the pure shock value of it… A sword itself… isn’t necessarily required to deal with demons… But if your going to carry a sword at all… then carry one that can do the job… or don’t bother with the worthless dead weight…
Boruto:
Oi!… Uncle Shintaro!… Uncle Shintaro!… Can I get a sword too!… Like Sasukesan’s?… Like Sasuke sensei’s?…
Shintaro:
Sure… I have more Yuino steel blade swords… But… Do you know anything of the sword?… Boyo?… Do you even have a use for a sword?… Even for training?…
Sasuke:
He does now… He’ll need a sword like mine… Although perhaps not a daisho…
Shintaro:
What do you have against daishos?… Is there a problem with set I gave you?…
Sasuke:
No… I’m sure they’re great… I’m sure I’ll put them both to good use… But not for Boruto… One sword at a time for him… That’s more in keeping with his style… I’ve shown him a little… But he can’t really get anywhere… without his own blade…
Shintaro:
Very well then… Perhaps he can split one with his sister…
Hinata:
I don’t know about this… She’s a bit too young for a sword… Isn’t she?…Shintaro:
My Karui was already a skilled mistress of the sword at her age… And pretty soon… she’ll be able to form an ice blade sword!… at will… Just try keeping a sword out of her hands then…
Hinata:
Ice blade sword?…
Shintaro:
Ai… With her ice style… You did know that young Himawari there… had the ice style kekeigenkai… did you not?… It was quite obvious to me yesterday… the moment we first met… The ice style kekeigenkai does run within the Uzumaki Clan… But it only rarely pops up here and there… like something of a submissive trait… often skipping whole generations… I don’t actually have the ice style myself… But my little brother did… fortunately for him… I had mastered senjutsu relatively young so I could train myself how to use it… and then train him likewise… With mastery of senjutsu… you will find you access to pathways of power normally only open to someone with a kekeigenkai of some kind… Perhaps you saw the signs of it… but did not recognize it… The most powerful eyes in existence will do you no good… if you can’t recognize what you’re seeing… because it is simply unfamiliar…
Himawari:
Nani?… I don’t have the… what style?…
Shintaro:
The ice style… I am never wrong in these things… It might not always be clear… But when it is clear… I’m never wrong!… I may not have the ice style kekeigenkai… But you definitely do… Himawari… Why don’t you to try… an experiment of sorts… Cup your hands together in front of you… and close your eyes… Imagine the sensations of cold and wet… blowing against your face… like getting caught in a blizzard… but inside you… and growing… can you feel it?…
Himawari:
Ai… I think so… Hai!…
Shintaro:
Good… Now… Without opening your eyes… visualize that sensation… as physically taking shape… within your hands… Pick a shape in your mind… and visualize the blizzard within you… taking that shape… within your hands… until it becomes solid in your hands… and you can feel that sensation you imagined… in your hands…
Himawari concentrates and begins to infuse chakra. A chill breezes through the open sliding panel doors and passes over the group, as Himawari concentrates. A frosty swirl, small at first, begins to whirl it’s way about within Himawari’s hands. The swirl begins to grow and thicken, eventually reaching the size of a volley ball, within her hands. Then suddenly, the swirling mini blizzard rapidly expands, engulfing everyone present in blowing snow, inside the room. As the mini blizzard clears out and the snow settles, Himawari is revealed, sitting there covered in a dusting of snow, along with everyone else, with an ice sculpture of a rose bud sitting in her hands.
Boruto:
Alright!… Himachan!… You did it!… I’ve seen the ice style before… It’s pretty powerful stuff!… You’re pretty awesome!… Huh?… Himachan?… And a lot scarier now too…
Boruto and the rest applaud young Himawari, shaking off some of their dusting of snow in the process. Naruto, after observing this, puts his father’s kunai down on the floor, then he raises up his right hand, palms up, raising his left hand to hover over his right palm as he concentrates. Suddenly a swirling snowball forms within Naruto’s right palm, then Naruto promptly hurls the resulting snowball right at the side of Boruto’s head.
Naruto:
Snowball Rasengan!… Oi!… I can learn the ice style too!… We can study together!… Eh?… Himachan?…
Hinata:
Not in the house!… Snowball Kage!…
Shintaro pulls his lighter out of his cloak, then he lights his lighter in his right hand while waving his left about and conjuring forth his wind to dance with the flame. The flame of Shintaro’s lighter swirls about in a small ball of whirling flame.
Shintaro:
Everyone… Please remain… absolutely… still…
The swirling mini fireball rapidly expands, but carefully avoids contact with any surface, as it fills almost the entire air space within the room, passing over everything and everyone in the room, harmlessly centimeters away from every surface, blowing out most of the snow, and rapidly drying the rest.
Boruto:
Wow!!!… Can we do that again?!?… Can we do my room next?!?…
Hinata:
Iie!… Boruto!… That’s enough tea for you!…
Sasuke:
I thought you didn’t have fire style?…
Shintaro:
That is not fire style… That is once again… a pseudo fire style… That is a part of my wind style fire dance jutsu… I use my wind… to manipulate the flame… To selectively feed or starve it… and thereby control it… I cannot generate the flame… But if that is all you have… then I have nothing to fear from it… As I can turn it against you… And… fueled by my wind style… I can make it even more powerful… scorching your face off with it!…
Himawari:
Look mama!… It’s still here!… But it’s melting!… Can we put it in the freezer?… Huh mama?… Can we keep it?…
Shintaro:
Let it melt young Himawari… You’ll make more… If any thing… you should go practice outside… on the deck… or on the ground… But first I have something for you and Boruto…
Shintaro uses his small scroll for another conjuring, as another similar set of daisho appears. The Shintaro hands the larger of the two swords to an eager an somewhat over excited Boruto, then hands the smaller of the two to young wide-eyed Himawari.
Shintaro:
This Daisho… belonged to my father… Which… by rite and custom is the legitimate inheritance of Naruto… or my son or daughter… But my son and daughter already have Yuino blade swords… And I doubt Naruto has much use for a sword any way… even if he isn’t blindfolded… It is also a set of Yuino steel blade swords… My father always used to say… ‘No matter how many fancy tricks you may have up your sleeve… sometimes… you just have to meet steel… with steel… and best that steel… be Yuino steel’… Himawari… I’m going to have you and Boruto split this daisho pair… Boruto only needs the katana… and I would like you to have this smaller wakizashi… as a back up blade to your ice blade sword… which will take time and practice to learn how to make… In the mean time…you can use this sword to practice cutting… if your mother says it’s okay…
Hinata:
You be careful with those you two… I guess I’ll have to start teaching her the sword now…
Shintaro:
Will you be teaching her the Gentle Blade?…
Naruto:
The Gentle Blade?… Isn’t that the thing you practice every morning before Himawari wakes up?…
Hinata:
Ai… And every morning after now…
Shintaro:
Himawari?… Why don’t you go with my son Yukai… Chocho… Sarada… and Boruto… and have my son Yukai put you kids through your paces somewhat?… preferably somewhere with a lot more space… and less expensive stuff to break…
Boruto:
You’re just getting rid of us… aren’t you?…
Shintaro:
So what if I am?… Does that mean that you actually don’t want to go play with your new toy?… somewhere that you can feel free to break stuff with impunity?…
Sasuke:
Take them to the old Uchiha Quarter… We’ll join you there later…
Boruto:
Hai!… wakata!…
Yukai:
Don’t worry Hinatasama… I’ll keep a good eye on the kids… I’m an expert swordsman in my own right… even if I do say so myself!… The kids are gonna have to learn some time… Plus I’m pretty good with fire and lightening… unlike my dad… Because I got the affinities…
Hinata:
I will teach Himawari the sword!… My way!… In my time!… Himachan… Leave your new sword here with me honey… I’ll teach you the sword later… the Hyuga way!… For now… just go with Boruto and practice your ice style… with Boruto and the others… But don’t make anything too sharp when I’m not with you!…
Himawari:
Hai!…
Shintaro:
Himawari… Try using your Byakugan… to remove microscopic imperfections… within the crystal structure of the ice… while you form it… This should help make your ice sculptures last longer… as well as making them stronger… and more structurally perfect… and probably prettier… Try to make them as pretty as possible… to your Byakugan…
Himawari:
Hai!… Wakata!… Uncle… Shintaro sensei!…
Himawari hands her sword over to her mother, before skipping after Boruto, having already made his way out the door after Yukai, gone to fetch the others before heading off to the Uchiha land.
Hinata:
Shintarosama?…
Shintaro:
Please Hinatasama… Please don’t sama me… Uncle Shintaro or even Shintaro sensei… is always preferable… to sama… Perhaps I should start addressing you… as Hinata sensei?… Since your going to be teaching as well…
Naruto:
He’s got you there!… Eh?… Hinata sensei?…
Hinata:
Shintaro sensei… Why exactly did you want the kids to leave?…
Shintaro:
To finish what I started last night… There is so much you all need to know… And last night… I was trying to convey a great deal of information… too much to attempt all at once I suppose… and then everything got… complicated… So hopefully now… without the complications of youth… drunkenness… or other family melodrama… we should have better luck for breakfast…
Shintaro whistles, and the wind picks up and suddenly blows the sliding wooden panel doors shut. Shintaro uses his small scroll again, but this time a large black and white changing blind appears, with a black ink painting of a large black dragon, spread across it’s panels. Shintaro pulls out his ocarina again and begins to play. Shintaro artificially superimposes his voice onto the sound of his playing again, and begins to explain.
Shintaro:
Pull up a cushion and grab some tea and dumplings… and get comfortable… especially you pregnant ladies… Naruto… I want you to see this too… So go ahead just this once… and take a break from training… Go ahead and take off the blindfold and slip out of sage mode for awhile… senjutsu tends to interfere with genjutsu… A helpful hint… from one sage to another… Naruto… You would have better luck against genjutsu in general… if you tried using sage mode to dispel it… and train to do so… But don’t try that now… you definitely want to just let this genjutsu hit you… and take hold… otherwise you’ll miss the show… This blind is a special device of my own concoction… a special tool of visual genjutsu… it’s one of my best devices of storytelling…
As Shintaro plays, the white parts of the blind in the corner begin to glow. As it grows brighter, the blind is now providing the only source of light for the room, as it seems cancel out the light from any source other than the blind itself. The blind grows brighter, and the black ink dragon begins to move. Naruto takes off his blindfold as instructed, and takes his seat on a cushion next to his wife Hinata. As everyone gets comfortable, the light from the blind grows brighter and becomes all engrossing, and the moving black ink dragon begins to shift shape and morph into a variety of other shifting shapes.
The darkened room of the real world, grows ever more distant, dark, and unreal, by comparison to the realm of light and shadow portrayed on Shintaro’s blind, as everyone is fully absorbed and taken. Shintaro chimes in, like a disembodied voice from an ever distant and unreal world.
Shintaro:
This actually… is my only visual genjutsu… a hybrid really… It is truly… as if the blind man… was leading the blind… to lead the now blinded… to the truth… behind the blind… Between the visual component of the blind… and the audio component of my ocarina… This jutsu is special… as it has the power to tap deep into the eternal memory… of all the chakra… of the meta-verse itself… and present it to you the audience… just exactly as things would have appeared to you at the time if you were there… in a manner that I myself have never seen… and can never see… and which none of you… can see without me… as it stands now… Truly the blind… is leading the blind… back to the beginning of the beginning of the beginning… in terms of any beginning… that means anything to us…
The now distant, dark, and seemingly unreal world, disappears completely.
There Is No Alone!
Forever Never Ending!
There Is No Escape!
There Is No Point In Pretending!
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