Chapter Forty One- A Companion For Life

After my tasks of checking on Sakumo's wife and judging Minato's progress, I was pretty free for the remainder of the day.

So aside from stopping by the memorial stone, all I had left for the day was to go home and hope the package from the Hokage had arrived.

A burning from my left arm was a signal I didn't expect, I flickered into a secluded part of the cemetery and bit my thumb.

'Summoning jutsu,' I voiced internally as a fourth of my chakra disappeared.

"As quick as ever," Mufuso said in greeting as he appeared at my feet.

"So how did my request go?" I asked, as before he returned after my battle with Russo I broached a request for Panthera.

"The kings approved it, though the hardest part was finding a cub willing to spend their early years here," Mufuso said, handing me a small scroll.

"Thank you, Elder," I said in gratitude as I took the minor summoning contract.

"It's no problem, your duties as our summoner warrant a few rewards before you actually do any work," He said as he prepared to depart.

"Hold on, I hate to ask but will you hand this to Symbasei when you see him?" I asked as a jagged rock appeared in my hand. My payment to the lion king for my upgraded equipment, it had taken me a mere few minutes to stop by a blacksmith and acquire an unprocessed chakra steel ingot. Fifty thousand ryo but it merely made a small dent in my account.

The payment for an S-rank mission plus my boosted weekly pay as a chunin on the war front made me nearly certain my account would never drop below seven digits. Now with the promotion on top of that, I was certain of that fact. A shinobi was a lucrative profession but only if you could live long enough to spend it all.

The elder nodded before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

'Well I guess it's about time to head home,' I said as I appeared in front of the memorial stone and said goodbye to my parents and squadmates.

I was home within minutes but was shocked to find somebody stationed in the tree above our house.

I appeared next to him in moments, my hand resting on the top of my katana's hilt.

"Jonin Tometsu?" The Anbu asked as he turned to me the moment I appeared next to him.

"Yes,"

"I've been instructed to give this to you," the man said as he fully turned my way. Other than a package in his hands I noticed another oddity. A symbol carved in his Anbu mask. 'How odd?'

I took the package without question. 

The man seemed content to stay in this tree so I could only sigh and let him. My sensing would be completely focused if the man made a move.

I was at the door in my next step before walking in.

The house was as quiet as usual as I found my sister on the kitchen table going through a few pages of homework.

"Sign this," I said as I threw the scroll I got from Mufuso in front of her.

"Minor contract with my summoning clan," I answered before she could ask, to say I was impatient to open the package from the Hokage would be an understatement.

"Well okay I guess," she said as she opened the scroll and pricked her finger. Minor contracts were special in that only a specific summon of a clan would become the bearer of the contract.

Meaning that my request was for a cub of Panthera to grow up with Mikoto and protect her in the latter years.

She soon drew a bit of blood and signed the contract.

"And these are the seals, they're different from the normal ones as this is a minor contract" I paused after my demonstration as my Sharigan spun to life. "Your chakra levels should be more than enough to complete the summoning.

And she did just that, a puff of smoke covered the kitchen as a small white tiger cub appeared on the kitchen floor. 'So Tugaris decided to let her daughter grow up in the shinobi world? How surprising.'

"Oh my…..!!!!!" Mikoto nearly screamed in excitement as she hoisted the surprised cub up and spun her around.

"Ahhh let go of me small hooman!" The cub cried in dismay. Yet its voice had spooked Mikoto enough that she stopped and placed her on the table.

"Yes, this cub is from Panthera. A daughter of the queen of Tigers. To you she will be like an Inuzuka's ninken, she is not a pet but your partner," I said sternly but kindly to the shocked little girl.

"Yes the bigger hooman speaks the truth, all I require for my services is tuna and fish….. daily," Tigress made her demands plain as day. It was probably her main reason for volunteering. It seemed human creations had swayed the little tiger.

"Thank you so much, will she really be with me all the time like an Inuzuka's ninken?" Mikoto asked with excitement as hugged me. I nodded and told her a few other things about Panthera. About the white tiger's proficiency in fire ninjutsu and that she was now completely responsible for Tigress' well-being.

I gave her some Ryo to go on a shopping trip tomorrow for the cub. Bed, snacks, and plenty of treats were the main demands of the cute cub.

"I'll leave you two to get acquainted, I have some things to go over so don't bother me unless it's an emergency," I said as I patted my sister's head and scratched under the cub's chin.

I entered my father's study which now was mine. There wasn't much other than a nice desk and a chair. 

Placing the package on the desk I took a seat and opened it.

An odd cube with hundreds of kanji and a thin book were the contents.

"Kanji and their meaning?" I read aloud as I quickly skimmed over the book. Elements covered the first page and I recognized most of them, Fire, water, earth wind, and lightning. On the next page, there were what was defined as 'sub-elements'. Those being Iron, lava, ice, etc. 

After I memorized the elements and sub-elements with the help of my Sharingan I moved on to the next subject. Next came laws, such as gravity, space, time, mass, etc.

In less than five minutes I'd memorized the three hundred kanji that I came to find out were common in 'modern sealing language'.

With the book finished I turned to the cube. It could be turned in every way, from rows and columns. It was a puzzle?

On every 'square' one of the three hundred kanji I learned was on it. Thus there were fifty squares on each side of the cube.

"There is a trick to it, the elements will either have to correlate with the sub-elements into a law if possible," I commented to myself as I tried just that. In one row I placed earth, water, mud, wood, crystal, life, vigor, gravity, and mass. 

One row I felt was complete yet when I turned over the other five sides I knew it wouldn't be close to this easy. None of them correlated and I'd have to rearrange everything I learned over and over again. Creating a massive step-by-step process to figure out the sequence of turns and twists.

'This is going to take forever, what even is this? Shouldn't I get like a brush and ink slab and a few diagrams of storage scrolls and explosive tags?' Despite questioning what the Hokage gave me, I looked at the scroll. 

(Perk points: 3)

'Dammit, I wanted to buy the next level of dexterous shinobi…..' I commented with a sigh as I debated it with myself. I still had a few days of clone-focused training for my chakra shaping and even after that I only knew two jutsu I'd be able to use.

Those being the bladed whip and Bladed Tornadus. An A and B rank technique. Luckily the whip was sealess but I knew the A-rank jutsu required a whopping twenty-six hand seals. Would the next level of dexterous shinobi even allow me to use A-rank jutsu with one-handed seals or would it cap at B-rank?

{Perk Shop}

[Fuinjutsu User Lvl 1- Begin to understand the eccentric art of sealing, increases your learning speed of fuinjutsu by 30%] Cost: 1PP

[Dual Affinity- Embrace a second elemental affinity onto yourself, it will unlock the element you are closest to] Cost: 3PP

[Kitsunes Child Lvl 1]- As a member of the Uchiha clan you have always leaned more toward the spiritual side of Chakra. This perk will push that affinity a step further, bolstering your learning speed as well as the power of your illusions. 15% boost to the learning speed and power of Genjutsu] 1PP

[Kill Streak Lvl 1]- Throughout your short career as a shinobi you have shown an apt ability to kill, whether that is with a sleight of hand or a powerful jutsu, the why doesn't matter. With this perk, you will receive a boost in your abilities for every consecutive enemy you kill. You will receive a 1% boost per enemy killed. Limit 30.] Cost 1PP

*[Ninjutsu Creator Lvl 1]- You've managed to create your first signature jutsu. With this perk your chance of success when creating new jutsu is increased by 10% and any jutsu you create will be 10% more effective when used by it's creator] Cost 1PP

There was truly no reason to upgrade dexterous shinobi at this point in time. Since I decided to begin dabbling in sealing jutsu I might as well sacrifice one perk point towards that goal.

{Perk-Fuinjutsu User Lvl 1 Acquired}

[Fuinjutsu User Lvl 1- Begin to understand the eccentric art of sealing, increases your learning speed of fuinjutsu by 30%] Upgrade: 2PP

Near immediately I could tell the difference, I looked down at the cube in my palm and went to town. Beginning from the water Kanji I'd already found a place for in my first row. Following it were kanjis for wind and Ice. I was forced to pause and judge the other rows and sides. I didn't instantly understand the complex pattern but I did get a better idea. Enough of an idea that I knew that even with my increased learning speed it'd take me most of the night to complete the 'Kanji Cube'.

Which was completely fine, aside from the Anbu that still hadn't left the tree above my house. Through my sensing, I could tell he was just lounging about seemingly unconcerned to be waiting for something. It was obvious after I put it all together that this cube was a test, and the anbu was either waiting for my completion or I had a set time to complete as much as I could before he'd knock on my window.

The question remained as to who was testing me and why. Was it worth dumbing another two perk points into 'fuinjutsu user' to show off, in an attempt to sell myself as a prodigy in the eccentric art?

Was it at all risky dumping three perk point points in an art I knew nothing about aside from barriers, explosive tags, storage scrolls, and tailed beast containment? Of course, it was. Yet the results of mastering sealing jutsu had shaken the five great nations. The whirlpool village, similar in size and manpower to Amegakure had repelled the Hidden Mist. Sure they had Jiraiya for most of the war but could that man compare to Hanzo?

I drew parallels from both minor villages to compare and show the value of sealing jutsu on a country-wide level. If they were to battle I would be confident that the Whirlpool village would come out victorious.

Hanzo had proven himself to be a great and lethal shinobi. But he had never felt the full might of a hidden village at his border like the Uzumaki had. If Konoha truly wished it, the Third Hokage would have joined his students on that battlefield. 

Where economics were concerned the Uzumaki blew Amegakure out of the water. They were the premier merchants for storage scrolls and explosive tags. A figurative juggernaut in the industry that made their annual revenue on par with most of the great five. Most likely surpassing Suna.

That was just what I knew, surely there was more. Long story short, even if I never became a master learning about it and its inner workings was the best way to counter it. 

{Perk Upgraded}

[Fuinjutsu User Lvl 2- Begin to understand the eccentric art of sealing, increases your learning speed of fuinjutsu by 60%] Upgrade: 2PP

Three rows were completed in a single minute, and an hour later half of the cube was finished. A total of two hours and forty-five minutes until I had completed the puzzle. Doing so I understand what it had intended to teach. Knowing what Kanji came together was the first and most important step in deciphering the sealing script.

An explosive tag appeared on my desk, and in moments I understood the broad strokes that allowed it to function.

"The kanjis for earth and lightning appear the most in the outer script. The Kanji for reaction combined the two elements, continuing until you entered the center and discovered the sub-element. Explosion is the end reaction of this seal script. The explosive tag was a reaction from the kanjis of earth and lightning. Chakra was fed into the activation seal, empowering the Kanji for 'reaction' that sat between earth and lightning. As the chakra spread through the paper the script around the seal would burn until the chakra reached explosive kanji. Resulting in, well an explosion." I froze. 'Holy shit, did I just learn and understand an explosive tag?' It was to the point that with a brush and scroll, I'd be confident in making my own.

Before I could continue further a soft knock resounded on the window behind me. In the moment I was so focused on the task that I'd disregarded my sensing. Finding myself turning the lock eyes with the anbu in moderate shock, which quickly fell away into annoyance.

I sighed as I walked over and cracked the window.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"You were given three hours with the Kanji Cube. That was the maximum time allowed. Please return it so I may give it to your examiner to access your talent."

"Here, I finished that fifteen minutes ago," I said without care as I tossed the man the completed cube. I vaguely noticed the man freeze and nearly miss the catch. I was more interested in figuring out the inner workings of a storage scroll and acquiring whatever tools I needed to experiment.

"Truly?" The man asked in surprise. As he looked down and judged the cube the moonlight had perfectly highlighted him, especially his dark green demon mask. 'The Senju have personal anbu?' I thought in shock as I finally caught it full glimpse of the symbol carved into his mask. The clan insignia of the Senju. 'Isn't it against the law for any clan to have a separate military force? The only exception is the Uchiha who ran the Police Force'

I may have been getting ahead of myself but I surely never heard nor saw an anbu seemingly working for a single clan. Even if it was technically against the law there was surely an explanation at play that would skirt the law. Plus the acting Hokage was closely aligned to the Senju so in reality they could do whatever they pleased.

He didn't respond further and simply flickered away. Confusing me as I would've liked some backstory, but it did give me a massive hint. Whoever was judging my talent was a member of the Senju clan, the blood allies of the Uzumaki.

It seems Kagami was right. Lord Third wanted me to grow stronger and he'd help me do so. It nearly left a bad taste in my mouth. As it was incredibly ironic that the strength he was helping me achieve would be what would kill him one day.