Chapter XXX

This place is unfamiliar... Where am I?

This doesn't look like the corridor leading to Kurama's seals. Did I somehow end up somewhere else?

Or could this be a dream? But my thoughts are clear, and I'm aware that I'm sleeping.

The surroundings resemble a network of caves, with eroded stone pillars supporting the structure, adorned with fading and chipped relief sculptures.

Dimly lit torches cast a cold glow on the path, which seems to ascend by a hidden stone staircase buried under accumulated dirt.

What could this all mean? I feel like I'm being guided here intentionally; the intricate design suggests so. Yet, it's also possible that it's just a coincidence, and I'm overthinking things.

As I looked ahead into the darkness, uncertainty gripped me. Should I continue moving forward? Is it even a wise decision?

Fear crept in, but I summoned my courage and pressed on. The path remained dimly lit, and I soon spotted a massive gate in the distance.

Torches flanking it acted as warning sentinels, their ominous relief sculptures impossible to decipher due to their faded state.

On either side of the gate, I noticed round objects, but I couldn't make out their true nature.

Suddenly, faint oriental music reached my ears from afar, causing beads of sweat to form on my back.

Startled, I called out, "Who's there?" but received no response. The music persisted, distant yet resonating in my ears.

I scanned my surroundings, feeling enveloped by darkness. Determined to find answers, I pushed the gate slowly, and as it creaked open, clouds of dust billowed into the air.

As the gate creaked open, revealing the unknown realm beyond, a gust of stale air rushed towards me. The dim light from the torches flickered and danced, casting eerie shadows on the walls. I hesitated for a moment, contemplating whether I should proceed. But something deep within urged me forward, a persistent curiosity that refused to be ignored.

Stepping through the threshold, I entered a vast chamber that echoed with an otherworldly silence. The space was adorned with intricate carvings and symbols, their meanings lost to the ages.

The music grew louder, its haunting melody echoing off the ancient walls with every step I took.

My eyes caught sight of something white in the dimly lit chamber. At first, I thought it was some sort of egg, adorned with intricate patterns. But as I cautiously approached, fear gripped me, causing the hair on my neck to stand on end and my eyes to widen in terror. My voice faltered as I tried to call out, my heart pounding in my chest.

To my horror, it was no egg or innocent artifact as I had imagined. Instead, it was a figure of a person, hunched over and facing away from me. Faint wails emanated from the figure, obscured by the ever-growing melodies of the music.

Overwhelmed with fear, I took a step back, and in that moment, the figure seemed to sense my presence.

Its face remained obscured by the drape of long, grey hair, and all I could discern were tears trickling endlessly – the sound echoing through the vast chamber, creating an aura of somberness around the figure. The telltale sign of unending sorrow and solitude was reflected in its eyes that look like had gone blind in the dark for untold years.

In a muted voice, it echoed, staring me at me as it tried to stand up, "Who are you?"

I jolted awake, my breath haggard and sweat matting my chest. My heart pounded as I realized I was back in my room. At some point, Ranmaru had taken care of Naruto, their voices now echoing from the bathroom. The rays of sunlight seeped in from the window, and the sounds of the bustling village outside brought me a sense of comfort.

What was that? A foreboding vision? Perhaps the consequences of teasing the damn fox almost every night?

I tried to shake off the eerie feeling. Maybe I did possess some talent for spirit projection after all, but dwelling on it wasn't important. I needed to get on with my day.

With that thought, I got out of bed and prepared myself for the day ahead.

.

Since there was nothing pressing to attend to today, I left three Ranmaru dolls to handle their respective duties.

One took care of Naruto, another focused on perfecting the seals I had developed so far, and stocked up on surplus seals. The last one tended to the herb and poison plants on the roof.

Dealing with poisons concerned me greatly, as countering them wasn't easy. Therefore, I planned on studying them and possibly building a resistance. I knew it would be the most painful training yet, especially when it came to ingesting those substances.

My thoughts were interrupted when someone called out to me.

"Good morning, Nobu-kun!" Haguro's voice caught my attention, and I turned to face her. Her eyes seemed perpetually tired, and an air of laziness emanated from her.

"G-good morning," I stammered, flustered that someone would greet me on the way to the academy.

"Nobu-kun," she said.

"Yes! W-what is it?"

"You look like someone who just came back home drunk, only to find their partner cheated on them. Instead of confronting them, you run away and drown your sorrows in more alcohol."

I couldn't help but offer a wry smile. "That's oddly specific, Haguro."

"Well, they're my neighbors after all," she replied nonchalantly.

"I-I see," I nodded, going along with her flow. "What does that even mean?" I admitted my confusion about the analogy.

"It means you have a lot of things on your mind, right?"

I paused, thinking about my ongoing problems. "I guess?"

She sighed as if she understood my thought process. "That's not it... Look, think about something more recent."

"Ah..." I realized. "I had a bad dream."

"Bad dream, huh?" she mused. "Well, there are times when you can't help but dwell on a dream."

"Especially a bad one."

"Especially that one," she nodded. "But I'm sure it'll fade away as the day goes on."

"Right..." I agreed with her, and then something else came to mind. "Speaking of which, how about that?"

"That?" She seemed confused for a moment before a lightbulb lit up in her head. "If you're referring to the trading card, I plan to promote it once summer break starts."

"That's good..." I said. I had sent all the necessary materials to Haguro, so it was now her turn to honor the deal.

"If it becomes popular, we can try to secure a contract with a printing company. I'm sure crafting each one would be tiring for you, right?" she suggested.

"I suppose."

Either way, I couldn't spend too much time on it.

After bidding each other goodbye, we went our separate ways down the corridor, heading to our respective classes.

Just as I was about to slide open the door to my classroom, I heard someone calling my name.

"Nobuyuki-kun!" It was Katou-sensei. "Good morning."

I nodded, respectfully bowing to him. "Etto... Good morning, sensei." I couldn't help but ask, "Is something the matter?"

"I was about to tell you that after school, you are to go to Training Ground No. 7. Your new instructor will be waiting there," he informed me.

"Is that all?"

"Oh, right. One more thing," he added. "I'm entrusting Izuna to you. I'll be leaving tomorrow morning."

"Is that okay, sensei?"

"It's fine. I trust you to take care of her until I return, at least."

"Will it really take that long?"

"Well, I can't divulge the details, but roughly, yes. I'm not sure when I'll be coming home."

What kind of mission did he receive that would keep him away for so long? I didn't press for more information and simply nodded.

My mind was already preoccupied with the thought of the new instructor I was supposed to meet today.

.

As I walked along the dirt road, I kept my eyes peeled for the training ground. It should be around here somewhere, I thought. But to my disappointment, there was no one there.

Perhaps I had arrived too early, and I didn't want to make a bad impression on my new teacher by making him wait.

"Well, no better time than now to work on some seals," I mused to myself.

I found a shady spot under a tree and retrieved my sealing supplies from a storage scroll. My current project was a remotely triggered seal.

You see, most seals or tags are triggered by proximity or a time fuse. However, I wanted something different.

My goal was to have the ability to remotely store and retrieve items from a storage scroll at will, without the need for direct unsealing.

This led me to experiment with space-time concepts, devising a seal that could make me sense distant spaces as if I were physically there. For example, if I threw the seal into the air, I could feel the subtle shifts of pressure from the wind billowing freely up there.

This was an ongoing experiment not only for spatial perception but also to potentially master Hiraishin or create a similar seal, provided I had enough aptitude for it.

My idea was simply to teleport items directly into my hand, like an immediate spare kunai when needed, or when to take things from my immediate surroundings. I needed a good grasp of the item's position for that, which is where the space-time concept came into play.

But that concept alone wasn't enough. I needed something more, a way to remotely trigger the seal to unseal and access the storage scroll. Only then could this concept be integrated into what I dubbed the "master seal," which would function like a computer program.

By sending a pulse of my chakra as a signature key, the master seal embedded on the storage scroll would understand, following its programmed instructions, for example, to fetch the specific item I had stored inside.

All of this were derived or partly inspired by the Hiraishin. I could simply make two connecting seals on the back of my hand to remotely transport my stored item to my hand but I think it's too constricting.

Because naturally, the idea of remotely storing and retrieving items in frequent manner with little assistance would increase my understanding of spatial concepts, which could significantly enhance my aptitude. Furthermore, mastering this skill could allow me to execute fūinjutsu in real-time simply by drawing in the air.

However, delving into this technique required substantial time, the need to calculate, and focus. That's where the 'thought partition' technique came into play. I think this is also the reason why the Fourth Hokage needed a tagged kunai which act as a beacon to perform Hiraishin.

During battles, partitioned thoughts would monitor my body and surroundings, strategizing the most efficient combat approach, keeping track of multiple targets, aiding in observations, and even accelerating my jutsu molding process. If we were to draw a military analogy, they would function as my general staff.

I could also combine these 'thought partitions' to achieve a singular goal instead, such as for the purpose of studying and academic research.

In many ways, this technique, thought partition, proved to be more versatile than even the Sharingan. Though, I shouldn't entertain thoughts beyond the Mangekyou stage, as those eyes can bend the world's rules in their own right.

Ultimately, everything led me to unlocking more advanced jutsus and seals, thereby enhancing my combat prowess. My focus was solely on this until it was interrupted.

"That's quite an interesting piece you're working on," a voice suddenly breathed behind me. Startled, I turned around and let out a pathetic yelp. "Eek!" I leaped and ended up rolling on my face, only to stumble backward and find support against a tree trunk.

"H-Hokage-sama? What brings you here?" I stammered, my face burning with embarrassment at having my work seen by someone as esteemed as him.

I was certain that he would consider it childish. Regardless, why was he even here?

"Is it wrong for me to take a look at my potential disciple's work?" he replied.

Relief washed over my face, and I was about to stand up when I hesitated. "I see, so you're just taking a walk af—eh?" Horror washed over me as I realized, and the man puffed on his smoke, enjoying my reaction. "EEEEEEEEEHHHH?"

After a brief moment of shock, I stood beside him, surveying the training ground. "Um... you're my new instructor, Hokage-sama?" I gulped, my thoughts spinning in my mind.

"Since the other one refused to return to the village, I had to..." he responded.

"B-but you don't have to do it after all..." I muttered, my voice growing quieter under his gaze. "No, I don't mean anything like that... In fact, I'm grateful that you would take the time..." My brain went into overload as I kept rambling, overwhelming even my partitioned thoughts.

He interrupted me with a cough, trying to get my attention. "Well, taking on one more student before I retire is probably a good thing."

"Huh..." I didn't say anything more as a cold breeze passed us.

He probably wanted me to take the initiative. After all, he was the Hokage, someone who had likely survived the equivalent of three world wars in this world.

For me, there was no greater honor than training under him, even if he has many flaws. I took a deep breath, my partitioned thoughts working in unison to form coherent words.

I faced him and bowed. "Thank you so much, Sensei." As I stood up and looked at him, I asked, "When will we start?"

He smiled, tucking away his pipe. "That's the spirit."

"I heard you're lacking in the physical department," he said, slowly revealing his battle attire. "There's no better time than a live exercise."

As I thought, maybe this was a bad idea after all. He looked at me and shouted, "RUN!"

"Hieeeee... Yes!"

-

Ending theme!