Chapter 17

"Well, how do you like the sight?" Grandpa proudly smirked, giving me some time to gather myself. "Our clan has been living in this place for over a thousand years and is capable of repelling any attack from those daring to assail us! The village's location was deliberately chosen to block access to the depths of the island."

"Yeah, but the combined strength of two great villages, along with possible treachery, might be enough," I thought to myself. After admiring the majestic spectacle for a little longer, we descended and headed towards the large gates, currently open, guarded by a team of four chunin and a pair of jonin.

While with the former, I could still feel the true volumes of chakra no matter how hard they tried to conceal it, with the senior-ranking comrades, this wasn't the case — their chakra volume was on par with Senju's and all. It made me wonder how much chakra my grandpa had — even considering my proximity to him, I could only sense a small reserve, at the level of an experienced chunin.

But I doubted if it was really the case — the guards let us pass without questions, simply glancing at Grandpa, and each of them bowed, showing respect. And as I learned from my father, Uzumaki receive such respect only from those who have earned it through their deeds and personal strength.

So, this only means one thing — this representative of the Uzumaki clan has perfect chakra control (for a clan of chakra monsters — regular shinobi can reduce their chakra levels to almost that of an ordinary person) and the ability to conceal it.

"You don't have to try," Ryudji chuckled, noticing my half-closed eyes and concentration. "For a true Uzumaki, chakra control is a matter of life and death."

Damn it, Dad said that men in his family have sensory abilities! That means they should be able to sense others.

"Why?" I wondered. "With our volume, control for techniques isn't that important."

"Of course, that's true," Grandpa agreed, leisurely walking down the street and nodding at the smiles and greetings of most passersby. "But even the green genin of our clan usually have several times more chakra than the average chunin from the great villages. You can imagine the situation with those who have a higher rank. Any, even the lousiest sensor, can notice us from afar without much effort if we don't hide. Even simple shinobi who train in chakra sensing can detect us from a distance of several hundred meters. That's why having perfect control, as much as possible, is vital for all Uzumaki — regardless of the available chakra volume, you can always camouflage yourself from most shinobi who haven't developed this aspect of their abilities."

Hmm… looking at the situation from this angle, control is indeed vital, otherwise, ambushes, reconnaissance, and espionage would only be a dream. Nodding in agreement to Grandpa, I started looking around.

Unlike Konoha, where most buildings were constructed in the style of European structures, simple boxes no higher than two or three stories, and only clan estates had Japanese style, here it was the opposite — a classic settlement of ancient Japan with single-story buildings.

And overall, everything here literally breathed antiquity, despite the fact that the houses looked almost new. I suppose it's the work of seals.

What surprised me was the liveliness of the streets — they were far from Konoha, but for a village on a relatively large island, it was impressive. And also the amount of greenery around — wide paths ran next to the houses, bushes, trees, and flowers were planted in front of them, forming a kind of park area, and in the middle, the main road was paved with stone tiles.

It looked very similar to avenues back home and was incredibly beautiful. I envy those who live here — the houses on our streets are practically devoid of greenery. And our passersby aren't as friendly and smiley as I noticed during walks with Mom.

Moreover, the vast majority of the locals here are redheads. No, other colors are present — I noticed blondes, brunettes, chestnuts, redheads, and even a few really exotic shades, but they were a drop in the ocean. And literally each of them had a MUCH larger chakra volume than regular residents.