27 What do we do with you?

"What's the deal with those statues outside the barrier? How did they end up like that?" Nawaki asked. It didn't make sense to him. Crossing the barrier without permission shouldn't be the only way to turn to stone; otherwise, the statues would only be around the edge of the camp. Instead, they are scattered around the surroundings.

Shinji shuffled awkwardly in place. "Um, well, I'm not really supposed to spill the beans. Just hang tight; I'll bring the camp head to let you in."

 Nawaki and Shuji looked at each other and shrugged. There wasn't anything they could do, so they just decided to attend to Kenzo.

After long enough to turn the ninken into a leg-shaking, tail-wagging puddle, Shinji returned with another Uzumaki.

She was fairly tall, around 5'8", with a medium build. Her gait was confident with steady steps, alluding to her skill in combat. And, of course, she had the natural bright red hair that all pureblooded Uzumaki have.

The two of them stopped just inside the barrier.

"Shinji mentioned that you're the Konohagakure ninja who is supposed to bring us to the village. What took you guys so long? We'd all be dead a week ago without our little genious' invention."

"What?" Nawaki asked in confusion.

"Exactly. We got word of the attack, and the Hokage sent us pronto. If we're late, blame it on not getting the memo in time." 

Inuzuka may not be the strongest clan, but they were some of the most loyal ninjas. Just the small insinuation that the village was at fault made Shuji defensive.

It was rather touching as a shinobi of the same home, but given the circumstances, it was rather stupid. 

"Shuji! I'm sorry about his behavior. But he is right, we came as soon as we could. As for why it took so long, it didn't have anything to do with us."

Shuji still looked unhappy, but Nawaki's scolding made him reanalyze their situation. 

Pissing off people standing behind some kind of murder barrier is not the smartest thing to do.

The girl Shuji brought smiled suddenly as if her earlier anger was a facade. 

"Looks like we've got one hothead, one skilled ninja with fur-covered hands, and a fluffy dog. A pleasure to meet you both. I'm Naito Uzumaki, the seal master of Camp 1."

Nawaki's face flushed red, and he wiped Kenzo's fur off his hands.

Meanwhile, Shinji, standing respectfully beside Naito, introduced them.

"Grandmaster Naito, this is Nawaki Senju and his squad mate Shuji. The ninken is Shuji's partner Kenzo."

Naito's eyes lit up when she heard there was a Senju. 

She flashed up to Nawaki and stopped close enough he could feel her breath.

"You should know Kane then, you know. How is the little monster?"

Nawaki was distracted by their proximity for a second, but Kane's name brought him back to the present.

"You know Kane?" he asked, surprised.

Back at the 

Back in the Senju compound, Ashita and Mito had just put Kane into his bed. There was a bruise on the back of his head where he was hit with Mito's chain, but otherwise, he was perfectly healthy.

Ashita still radiated an air of anger but was now rational enough not to pounce on one of Konohagakure's founders. 

Mito led her out of the child's room and into the kitchen. She set a pot of water on the stove, and the two waited in a tense silence.

No one said anything as the kettle began to wail. Mito calmly poured the boiling water into the teapot she had prepared beforehand.

Ashita couldn't take the silence when she pulled out two tea cups and carried them to the table.

"Okay, enough! Tell me what the hell is going on. I'm done playing this game." 

With a heavy sigh, Mito eased herself onto a small kitchen chair, the worn wood creaking slightly under her weight.

"What do you want to know?"

She slammed both hands on the table at Mito's nonchalant attitude.

"What do I want to know?! EVERYTHING, you know! Why does Kane think he can affect the war against Uzushiogakure? What the hell were those lines on his face? How could you hit him so ruthlessly? How can he move at such speeds without any training? He didn't even use chakra! What natural gifts were you talking about? Why do I seem to know nothing about my son while you know everything?!"

At the end of her screaming tirade, Ashita was breathing heavily.

"Feeling better now?" Mito asked calmly while pouring a cup of tea.

Ashita nodded without saying anything and accepted the tea Mito passed her.

"Now that you got all that out of the way, where should we start?"

Ashita didn't say anything. She just looked into her teacup, both hands savouring the warmth it provided.

"Alright, from the top then. Put simply, Kane has a unique ability that, if used effectively, could make Madara and Hashirama look like kittens by comparison. As such, this information cannot be shared with anyone under any circumstances. Especially from the Hokage and other clan heads. "

Ashita's head shot up at this; her eyes were full of concern and confusion.

"What do you mean? How can he have something so godlike?"

Mito poured herself a cup of tea while answering. "I have no idea. I've lived a long time, and nothing like this has ever happened as far as I know. But it has happened. An advanced technique called Sage Mode involves absorbing omnipresent energy and combining it with chakra to dramatically increase one's strength. This process is normally extremely dangerous and can only be performed by powerful ninjas with large chakra pools. My late husband, Hashirama, is a perfect example of this. Kane, with his ability, can freely manipulate this energy at will."

"Wait, does this mean that Kane-" 

"Yes. What you saw was Kane's Sage Mode. As you saw, it provides a dramatic increase in all attributes of the ninja. However, before this power is developed fully and he grows strong enough to take care of himself, he is in danger. As you know, this world is not full of sunshine and rainbows. You can imagine the powers that would love to get their claws into someone of his talents."

Ashita now looked extremely serious. She knew her adopted son was a genius, but being too talented was a problem in and of itself. Finding out just how powerful her son would be when he grows up made her understand why they kept secrets.

"Alright, so what do we do now?"

"That depends; there are two options. The first one is we limit all access outside the compound until he is strong enough to take care of himself. This has a high safety factor; however, it is suspicious. The second option is letting him go about his everyday life without any additional protection. This is far riskier but, at the same time, far less suspicious. Regardless, he will be trained hard. He will get the option to start when he wakes up or when he turns four, but we both know what he will decide. Don't we?"

Ashita smiled and took a sip of her drink.

"Indeed. Kane is a hardworking boy, isn't he."