Chapter 28

"Ryu, take a break for a second," Grandpa's voice interrupted me from drawing another seal.

"What do you want?" I turned my head, noticing the adult Uzumaki sitting next to me, and immediately spotted the long object wrapped in a roll of expensive colored fabric in his hands.

"Soon you will leave our island and return to your village, but before that happens, on behalf of the entire clan and at the request of the Uzukage, I would like to present you with a couple of small gifts for timely warning us of the impending danger," Ryuji began somewhat solemnly.

"But since pomposity and excessive eloquence are not in favor with the Uzumaki in such cases, I'll just say — thank you! Always follow your heart's desire and don't forget your roots. And accept this gift from the entire Uzumaki clan!"

After these words, he unwrapped the bundle, revealing a katana, longer than my height and adorned with black bone.

"Beautiful!" I exclaimed, admiring the intricate carvings on the scabbard and handle, depicting battling dragons.

Even sheathed, it was impressive. Like any representative of the strong side of humanity, I loved to hold cold steel in my hands and simply get acquainted with weapons of the past, luckily, the World Wide Web contained enough information about the creations that came out of the hands of famous blacksmiths. So, my gift, just by its appearance alone, was able to outshine anything ever seen!

"Her name is Kurouchi," Grandpa announced, handing me the katana, "and before you try to unsheathe her, drop some of your blood on the hilt."

"Why?" I asked, nevertheless complying.

Taking a small knife from my pocket, I pricked the tip of my index finger and smeared a droplet on the snarling dragon's face, whose body served as the handle. I was surprised when the crimson liquid instantly absorbed without a trace, and the tiny ruby ​​eyes barely flickered.

"Now channel your chakra into the hilt," Grandpa demanded, explaining, "this is part of the process of bonding the katana to the owner — the seals applied during its creation will remember you and won't allow anyone else to unsheathe Kurouchi or hold it."

Doing as instructed, I directed a small amount of chakra into the bone and immediately withdrew my fingers — it felt like a weak electric shock ran through them.

"Now you can hold it and by pressing here," Ryuji pointed to the scroll near the guard, "you can draw it from the sheath."

Taking the katana in my hands, I pressed where necessary and with a quiet click, I drew the blade from the scabbard. Since my hands were not long due to my young age, only half of the blade was visible, but even so, the dark matte metal, seemingly absorbing the light around it, made a great impression.

"Put the katana aside for now, you'll have plenty of time to admire it later," Grandpa smirked, "I have another gift, now personal."

Nodding, I returned Kurouchi to its sheath and placed it on the floor next to me, once again focusing all my attention on Ryuji.

"As you undoubtedly know, the biggest problem for all those with a large chakra reserve is genjutsu of any kind, affecting the victim's mind by deceiving all five senses," he began to explain.

"The Uzumaki clan is no exception to this rule. For many years, our ancestors searched for a way to neutralize this weakness and with the skills in fuinjutsu, managed to create a set of seals, which are applied to every Uzumaki upon reaching the rank of chunin. Since I'll hardly be able to see you in the near future, you will receive these seals now."

"How do they work?" I asked, watching as Grandpa took his personal ink set from his pocket and spread it out nearby.

"The seals prevent someone else's chakra from penetrating your chakra channels in the head area, thereby rendering the use of genjutsu useless," he replied, "as well as various techniques designed to delve into the brain, such as the Yamanaka clan's techniques, and also have the ability to set mental bookmarks."

"Considering the presence of Uchiha in our village — very useful seals," I agreed, "does Ka-san have them too?"

"They were installed back when Ryuta-kun brought her to meet the relatives," Grandpa grinned. "But let's not waste time and get down to applying them, I'll only need a few drops of blood from you for the ink. When everything is ready, all that remains is to imbue the seals with chakra, and the best protection against illusions will be provided!"