299 Chapter 74: Introspection

Join my Patre@n at patreon.com/JoshRichie2 for Vol 3... 100+ Chapters ahead.}

***

Title: Introspection

....

"Wha-What?" Mikoto stuttered as her face turned red. "What do you mean?"

"Hmm? How else do you expect me to perform this surgery with your clothes on? Don't tell me you're thinking I'll be doing something perverted to you?" Shun raised his eyebrows and asked.

Realising her misunderstanding, she shook her head. "No... It was just too sudden so I thought..." Her voice got quiet as she spoke.

"Hmm, if you say so... Take off your clothes and lie on you back in the table. You can leave your undergarments on though." Shun said seriously.

After taking off her clothes, she lay on the table while Shun was busy drawing some seals on a container he brought out of no where.

After drawing the seals, he open the lid and conjured a semi-viscous liquid and poured it into the container.

This was an amniotic fluid, Mikoto wasn't really paying attention so she didn't notice it, when she looked back, all she saw was a greenish liquid in a glass container.

"Alright then, shall we begin."

...

"I didn't get your name young man." The old man that was leading Tobirama to the library asked after they had walked for some seconds.

"Tobirama. Tobirama Senju." He answered politely.

"Ah! Senju, huh? What brings you to this village?" The old man asked. "Aren't you all always fighting with the Uchiha clan at the other side of the world?"

Tobirama frowned slightly before replying. "We were invited by the chief of the village." He said curtly.

"Ah, Kuchiki-dono, huh? You must be important for him to actually invite you. What's your relationship with him?" The old man asked.

"I'm not sure we're actually that close. I'm just escorting my brother and newly wedded wife on a 'vacation' as he put it." Tobirama replied.

"Hehehe. Kuchiki-dono has always had a perk for coming up with random and weird things... Then is it your brother or his wife that is important enough to be invited over?"

"I believe it should be the wife. Kuchiki-dono isn't that familiar with Hashirama-nii but Mito-san is close enough to Kuchiki-dono's sister, Mikoto-san." Tobirama explained.

"Ah! I see..." The old man said and kept quiet... After some seconds, he asked. "Why do you want to go to the library? Most visitors spend their time enjoying the sights we have to offer while the others look for means to remain here, so why the library?"

Tobirama pondered for a few seconds before answering. "Mikoto-san said that there new things to learn from the Tengoku clan library so I was curious... Also, I am not good with crowds."

"Just crowds or happy crowd?" The old man asked much to Tobirama's confusion.

"You're not good with crowds or you're too used to the violence of war that you can't see yourself having a peaceful retreat?" The old man asked again.

"I've been fighting for peace my entire life, the peace my brother envisioned, why would I not be used to it?" Tobirama asked.

"From what I've just gleamed about you, you're not a man born for peace, but for war. Let me ask you a question, how do you feel about the Uchiha?" He asked.

Tobirama frowned, he didn't know where this old man was going with this and he wasn't feeling comfortable at all with it. Whether it is the first statement or the question that followed, what has it got to do with anything?

"They're a cursed clan. Their power comes from negative emotions. That's can't be anything good." Tobirama answered.

"I see you're a pessimist, and here I thought you'd be a pragmatic individual." The old man nodded in understanding.

"Do you know, there's this saying, opposite attract while like individual repel eachother. Do you know what that means?"

Tobirama thought about it before shaking his head. "Weird, and I thought you were the most intelligent person of this generation."

The old man said with a chuckle. "In Fuinjutsu, there are times where two negatives(-) meet eachother, do you know what becomes of that equation?"

Without waiting for him to answer, the old man continued. "It becomes a positive (+). When a negative (-) and positive (+) meet, it becomes a negative(-). When positive and positive meet, it remains positive."

"Do you understand this theory?" He looked at Tobirama sharply and asked.

Tobirama still seemed to be struggling to answer. No, he wasn't struggling, he knew the answer, he was versed in Fuinjutsu but for some reason, he didn't feel like what he was thinking was the answer to the question the man asked.

"Let me take you back to my first analogy. When I say that opposite attract, I simply mean that a good person and a bad person will always find a common ground to stand on, but when two people with similar ideology, character, mindset.. they, for some reason detest eachother." The old man said.

Tobirama frowned as he suddenly realised the irony between the two analogy the old man gave. "But wouldn't that make your second analogy false?"

The old man smiled, "Of course it would. The first instance is what happens when living individuals are concerned, the second instance is what happens when this thing we call emotions are out into consideration."

"You think ill of the Uchiha, but do you think anyone of the Senjus think ill of them too? Similarly, do you think the Uchiha clan think ill of the Senjus? Your brother, Hashirama should have come in contact with natural energy right?"

"What has that got to do with anything?" Tobirama's constant frown deepened.

"When you meet him again, ask him, is nature friendly? Whatever answer he gives you, then think of the feud between your two clans. Why do you fight eachother? Why do you kill eachother? The Uchihas you killed a month ago, do you know them? Did they harm you in any way? Did they cause you loss? I'll answer that for you, No. They didn't. Whatever grudges you bear for them is unfounded whatsoever. But you still choose to deceive yourselves with the 'thought', Uchihas are evil." The old man rambled.

"In my youth, if I was asked which of the two clans I will protect in a case of extermination, do you know the clan I'll choose?"

"The Uchiha clan." Tobirama answered.

"The Uchiha clan. They're the purest clan currently, the so called curse of the Uchiha you're so fearful about is something brought about by the stupidity of both your clans. Yes, they're inclined towards evil while the Senjus are inclined toward good, but as an old man, I always ask myself, 'is all bad, bad? Or is all good, good?"

Tobirama was even more confused, he felt like his prided intelligence was being reduced the more he spoke with this man.

"Back to my second analogy, when two negative emotions meet, there can only be one outcome, no matter the process it take to get there, it'll always yield a positive result. But when a negative and positive emotion meet, whether the process is good or bad the end result will always be negative. Also, when two positive emotions meet, only positive will remain." The old man said wisely.

Tobirama found this to be mind opening for an instant but his hardened mentality resisted the pull.

The old man seemed to notice this and smiled. "This world is a cursed world, and humans? We're the ones that feed that cursed world. The longer you live the more you'll realise that nothing ever goes as planned. With more wars, hatred is born in order to protect love. That is the curse of the Uchiha. They'll continue to remain 'cursed' till this world learns how to live."

"Oh! We're here." The old man exclaimed while looking at a relatively majestic building built in the form of a pagoda. "I never tire to see this building."

On top of the door leading into the library, a row of words could be seen but Tobirama couldn't see it, or more like he couldn't understand what was written despite it being written boldly.

"One must work hard to walk through the journey of books, one must be a brave little boat in the vast sea of learning." "That's what is written there. You can't see it because you don't have our chakra, here." The old man said and placed his hand on Tobirama's back and poured his chakra into his body.

Tobirama instinctively wanted to resist but felt an invisible tug on his mind, causing him to be unable to resist. "Don't bother resisting, just read it."

Tobirama, against his better judgement didn't resist and in the next instant, he could vividly make out what was written.

"That's something written by our ancestors countless years ago. Come, let's go in." Saying that he directed Tobirama into the library.

"So what do you want to read up on?" He asked.

Tobirama who was currently going through a rollercoaster of emotions didn't answer but just looked at the space defying area he was in. From the outside it looked wide and all, but from the inside, it was as big as their entire Senju compound if not more.

"What's this place?" He asked in shock.

"This is the library, are you becoming stupid?" The old man asked with an innocent expression while looking worried. "Sigh, I guess all my wisdom was too much for your little mind to encompass."

"Not that you old geezer." Tobirama finally couldn't handle it and shouted only to be hit by a sudden pressure that almost made him buckle.

"Don't you know you don't make noise in the library? It's one of the sacred rules here. In here, no form of disturbance is allowed, we can talk but not too loud. Sigh, guess it's my fault for not telling you earlier." The man's worried expression became even more expressive.

"You know, you look just like any Tengen, why don't you become my son? That way, you could have unlimited access into this place and some rules wouldn't apply to you." The old man offered, not showing any advances to help the trembling Tobirama who was resisting the pressure.

Not receiving any answer, he frowned and asked. "Why aren't you talking? Do you think I'm too old to be your father? Humph, let it be then, I'm sure the library will show you lots of love." After saying this he turned around and began leaving.

"Wait!" Tobirama called out. "Hmm? Have you thought it through?" The old man asked.

"How do I get this pressure to stop?" Tobirama said with gritted teeth.

"A~re? Pressure? Just stop resisting, didn't I tell you this earlier? Young people and their rebellious attitude these days. You see, in life, you just have to let things happen. Not everything is worth fighting against. Just let go." The old man said with a smile.

Tobirama didn't know whether to believe this geezer who he has been unlucky to have met or find another way to leave this place.

"You see, humility is something that is rare these days, what will it take for you to give in? The library is only trying to make sure you don't repeat your mistakes, how will it make you realise your mistakes if you don't even realise it yourself." The old man said.

"That doesn't make sense." Tobirama said grimly.

"And I don't give two fucks." Replied the old man.

They both looked at eachother for a good while before Tobirama finally decided to let go and was slammed into the hard floor. Before the pain could register, he felt the pressure disappear as if it wasn't there in the first place.

"You see? Everything about this place is all about discipline. Alright, I'll leave you to your research. Ah. It'll do you well to check out the rules of this place. Hohoho." The old man caressed his beard as he turned and left.

"That geezer." Tobirama cursed in slow breath. "But this place is dangerous." He said as he looked around to see if there was anything he could gleam from this weird place.

"What a weird place." He concluded and then focused on the books neatly arranged all over the place. "I hope it does have books on seals and space-time seals."

"That old man was weird enough, but he did make some sense, but why did I feel like my mind become unreliable for a moment there? I didn't feel any foreign chakra in me, even now, I don't feel any chakra. Was it perhaps a domain? What a dangerous clan"

"Where can I get the rules of this place?" He muttered to himself and in the next instant, a book flew over to him with breakneck speed which he caught due to his instincts.

"Who's attacking me in this place? I thought this place was meant to have rules?" He angrily turned around and asked only to be met with silence.

"I must be tripping." He thought aloud and looked at the book in his hand to see the title which read. "Rules and Regulations."

"Sigh, I really must be tripping." He said and flipped it open.

The rules were simple. All forms of aggression was prohibited inside the library. Everyone must leave behind a passable book after their stay.

The second rule was made so that everyone who enters will not leave without offering something in return.

"But what if someone decides not to write anything? There isn't even a guard here to make sure the rules are followed." He wondered in confusion.

The next instant, he seemed to realise something. "The pressure. If I'm not wrong, then the more time is spent under that pressure the more life threatening it'll become."

"What a dangerous clan." He thought once more. "Guess I better start reading... Wouldn't want to not leave something behind."

...

With Hashirama, he was having a nice time with Kageno and the kids who were all between age 5 to 12.

These children were either in the academy he just heard about or were just here to while away their time. The older kids were finished though, and as for why some older kids were here, it was all due to Hashirama's Mokuton.

This was the first time all of them had seen this release so they all found it fascinating. Even Kageno found it fascinating.

He had heard of it but to actually see it was another thing altogether.

He had affinity to both wind and water elements. This has helped him in both speed, flexibility, swiftness and misdirection. He was an assassin so it was normal.

The Mokuton however, was a technique that made the user rarely have time to move to attack or defend himself. It was weird but he felt he wouldn't lose to Hashirama if they really fought.

Of course, he didn't know of the chakra absorbing property of the Mokuton nor the hardness property but he felt that if this was all it was, he wouldn't lose..

This wasn't arrogance but confidence in his own abilities. To him, being fast and precise was all it took to defeat his opponents. Shun(Kuchiki) was an outlier though. Not matter how fast he was, he just couldn't land a hit on him during their training sessions.

Not long after, the children had to go about their own business as their parents had either called for them, or they had one engagement or another for the older kids.

Hashirama and Kageno sat in silence with happy smiles on their faces.

"That was nice. I wish everyday would just be like this, no fighting, no wars, no conflicts. Just peaceful." Hashirama said.

"Yeah, that's the goal we're all walking towards." Kageno replied.

"You guys already have it though, we on the other hand..."

"And who told you that?" Kageno asked. "Who told you we've achieved peace?"

"Well... Haven't you?" Hashirama asked confused.

"What makes you think that's possible? Peace isn't something that can be achieved, my friend. Wherever there's light, there will always be Shadows to be found. Even in here, in this village, the amount of people working to destroy this little safe haven we've managed to protect are many. So many that we are ready to fight to the death at a moment's notice." Kageno sighed.

"Only naïve people will think peace is something that can be achieved when wars end. It's like a circle, chaos-order, light-shadow, peace-conflict. They always go together. When there's an absence of one, something is wrong."

Hashirama frowned upon hearing this. Kuchiki(Shun) had called him naive back when he mentioned his dreams. His dreams to stop all wars, but hearing it twice, the second time from someone who shared the same liking with him made him wonder.

Was he really naive?

No. He wasn't, it was just the world that was at fault. He just had to change people's mindset.

"I see you have your own convictions. It's good. Sonchō always said that when two people think alike, there can only be one of two things involved."

"What are those?"

"Either one party is pretending or they're so close or have something in common, that their thoughts are in sync."

Hashirama thought for a moment before laughing. "I see, that's true."

"I have this friend who always fight with me on almost everything, the only thing we have in common is our dream to stop the wars between clans and protect our clan members."

"I see."

"Yeah. It started with protecting only our younger siblings, but as we grew, our responsibilities grew too. Now I've to make sure my clan members are safe, or the most of them." He said sadly.

"That's what war is all about, there's always a victor and a vanquished. There are no two ways about it." Kageno sighed.

"Is there no middle ground?" Hashirama asked.

"There are no middle ground, there can only be a ceasefire. Depending on how long the ceasefire last, the hatred of war can either diminish or fester. If it diminishes, good, if it festers, then..." Kageno said and stood up.

"I admire your dream, truly. I dread to imagine what my life would have been like if I was exposed to what you were exposed to in your childhood, so I'm rooting for you. I just hope everything works out well in the end." Kageno said as he walked away.

"Thank you." Hashirama smiled. It was always good to hear people believing in what you do. It increases the motivation to succeed in you and currently, Hashirama was feeling all the more motivated, but for now, he was going to enjoy his time with his wife.

...

Mito had just been dragged by some means unknown to her. One time she was standing beside Mikoto, the next she was moving along with Yuki.

It would be more acute to say that the ground was carrying her along. Knowing that this was part of the deal she got herself into, she let herself be pulled.

They came upon a beautifully decorated building in what looked like the middle of the Red light district.

Row of girls wearing relatively revealing kimonos stood orderly in front of the building and bowed slightly to Yuki as they walked in.

The gave Mito curious glances but that was all.

"Senpai, look who I brought along." Yuki said in a loud voice as soon as she entered the building.

"Yuki-chan, where went you? You know you can't just leave your post carelessly right?" A gentle yet strict female voice replied.

"I know. I know. I just felt some disturbances outside our place and went to check it out, and look who I brought back..." Yuki said directly ignoring the strictness in the voice earlier.

"Oh? Who's she?" The voice asked

"Mito Uzumaki."

"I see..." The voice said unsurely. "And what's special about her?"

"Nothing." Yuki said, causing Mito's eye to twitch, she didn't know whether that was an insult or casual remark.

"She's just the most beautiful Uzumaki currently, and that red hair of hers is to die for. I brought her here for you to train..." Yuki said causing Mito to blush, forgetting the earlier insult.

If Shun was here, he'd probably say something like. "Women."

"I see... But she's married. Isn't she?" The voice asked again.

"Of course she is, and guess who the husband is? The famous Hashirama Senju. Can you imagine?" Yuki asked in excitement.

"Isn't that enough reason for her not to be here? Does Sh-Kuchiki-dono know about this? This could lead to another diplomatic issue like the case of Mikoto." The voice asked in worry.

"Psh... I'm sure Aniki knows already. He didn't make a move when the ruckus was happening earlier and he was also the one to invite them over." Yuki assured.

"Don't worry too much senpai, we're only teaching her our arts as a token of goodwill. It'll be a waste for such a beauty to not know how to handle her man properly and get what she wants." She said while looking at Mito who blushed at their meaning.

She was of noble upbringing so all her lessons were all about being the submissive one in a marriage. Hearing them talk about this so casually left her a blushing mess.

"Also, she's strong. Look at that mark on her forehead. I bet she could go toe to toe with Toshiba-san in a fight." Yuki complimented again.

"Yeah, I can see that." A voice came from behind them much to Mito's surprise while Yuki didn't show any reaction.

"My name is Xin, just Xin. Pleased to meet you." Xin gave a noble like bow to which Mito reciprocated.

"Nice to meet you too, please take care of me."

"What a nice lass. I like you already, come, let me show you what our fine establishment is all about." Xin said and walked deeper into the mansion with Yuki following behind.

"Don't just stand there, you'll get lost if you don't follow, you know."

"Hai. Coming." Mito said and followed right behind them.

"This red light district is a place where people from all walks of life come to indulge in life's pleasures. I know you may think we also give carnal pleasure, and yes, you're right, but that is optional. There are a lot of women in need after all and men to satisfy them are never ending." Xin explained as they walked.

"Other than that, we also sell and buy information, give out bounties, gambling, relaxation and finally we have our own force." As she said that she pushed open a door leading to a wide space she didn't see with her sensing technique.

"This here is an enclosed space created with space-time seal. In here, you'll learn all you need to learn when you need to learn them. Right around now, Kuchiki-dono would have finished his surgery on Mikoto, so you'll be able to see her soon. Other than that, you're expected to be here to learn as much as possible when you have nothing doing. We clear?" She asked with a bright smile.

"What do you mean surgery? Is Mikoto-chan ill? Why didn't I hear of that?" Mito asked a flurry of questions with furrowed brows.

Yuki shrugged. "Dunno, we just got the information now, apparently, Mikoto wants something replaced in her and only Sonchō can do it. She'll be fine. Don't worry."

"Something replaced?"

"I have no idea, love? But since it's aniki were talking about, everything will be fine."

"Now, now, let's get you aquatinted with the others. And here, take this. This should help you enter here whenever you want, just don't lose it." Xin said and handed her a key.

"What'll happen if I lose it?" Mito asked.

"Well, you'll never enter here again. Isn't that obvious? It's a key soo..." Yuki answered and looked at her like she was retarded.

Mito blushed and followed after Xin who was already leaving

***

4k words alone on this chapter.

Support me on my Patre@n at patreon.com/JoshRichie2 for Vol 3... 100+ Chapters ahead. God know I need it.