Journey

It had been more than a week since Team 9 started their C-rank escort mission to the Land of Whirlpools. They traveled at genin speeds. They took two mandatory breaks per day for lunch and dinner and sometimes an emergency break if someone got too tired. Takeru learned many things about their client in these days.

Their client Shibuya Uzumaki was an elder of the Hidden Whirlpool Village. He visited the Hidden Leaf to meet his sister, Mito Uzumaki, the wife of Lord Hokage Hashirama Senju. Shibuya was powerful, as much as powerful as a jounin rank shinobi. But his true power lied in his fuinjutsu skills. Shibuya was a seal grandmaster. He was one of the few seal grandmasters in the Uzumaki clan. Shibuya could have easily made the journey himself. But just out of courtesy and to make Lord Hokage and his sister less worried about him, he issued a normal C-rank escort mission. Team 9 escorting him was just a show of appreciation.

The group just entered Land of Noodles yesterday and hoped to reach Mitarashi Port today to board a ship towards Nagi Island. The three genin chatted among themselves along the way with Shunsui giving them pointers about some jutsus and shinobi arts. Shibuya also sometimes gave them some advice.

Biwako and Shikatsu had grown much stronger in the two months of training. They both reached chuunin rank respectively. Shikatsu fully learned three wind release jutsus, Wind Release: Breakthrough, Wind Release: Wind Blade Jutsu and Wind Release: Vacuum Bullet. He also improved his taijutsu, shurikenjutsu, genjutsu and clan jutsus. Shikatsu also learned some kenjutsu from Shunsui. His strength had firmly reached mid-chuunin level.

Biwako on the other hand fully learned two water release jutsus Water Release: Water Bullet Jutsu and Water Release: Water Wall Jutsu. She lacked talent in kenjutsu so she focused on making her taijutsu, genjutsu and shurikenjutsu better. She increased her chakra control to jounin levels but medical ninjutsu was in what she improved the most. Biwako was probably one of the best medical-nin in the village.

Takeru, also learned a new fire release jutsu from Shunsui. Fire Release: Hiding in Ash Jutsu. It was a supplementary jutsu with which the user could spit ash and smoke to create smokescreen around themselves, hiding from enemies. The jutsu was simple but very useful as it did not require any hand-seals. It just needed the user to convert chakra into ash and smoke. Takeru learned it and mastered it in a few days. Takeru knew that he would be traveling to Land of Whirlpools, the paradise of fuinjutsu. So, he focused more on fuinjutsu these days.

Shibuya learned about Takeru's knowledge in fuinjutsu when Takeru applied silencing seal to his and his teammates' shinobi sandals. Shibuya was shocked to see a shinobi of Hidden Leaf perform fuinjutsu using Uzumaki seals. He immediately inquired Takeru about where he learned it. Takeru told him about the fuinjutsu book he had and about its writer. Shibuya immediately recognised the name 'Fumiko Uzumaki'. He told Takeru that Fumiko Uzumaki was an elder of the Uzumaki clan and an ancestor of his. She died about 50 years ago and her journal was never found. Shibuya told him that since he was given the book by a friend then it is in his fate to have it.

Shibuya was astonished to know that Takeru was completely self-taught in the matters of fuinjutsu. He did not have any teacher. Takeru slowly experimented and learned things the hard way by doing constant trial and error. Takeru and Shibuya chatted along the way discussing fuinjutsu, different seals and their mechanisms. Takeru learned many things from Shibuya. The holes in his knowledge was slowly getting filled. The confusions and doubts he had about some seals slowly went away during the conversations. Shibuya noticed Takeru's eagerness to learn about fuinjutsu and he was happy to see such a young boy take an interest in the subject. So, he clarified different fuinjutsu mechanisms and matrices to Takeru.

Shibuya thought of teaching the boy some fuinjutsu. So, he taught him many small seals. But the most important seals he taught Takeru was the Advanced Storage Seal, Five Elements Seal and finally the illusive Yin Seal. Although Takeru had the knowledge and process to create and use those seals in the book. He truly did not understand them. He desperately needed a teacher. Shibuya's teachings came to him like a gift from god. Takeru was even tempted to ask Shibuya to teach him some more but he knew it would be breaching personal and clan secrets. Shibuya taught him out of kindness. Takeru already had those seals written inside the book. Shibuya just taught Takeru so he would waste less time learning those seals. Overall, Takeru had huge gains in the past week.

Shunsui, Takeru, Biwako, Shikatsu and their client Shibuya were standing in front of Mitarashi Port in the Land of Noodles today.

"The ship leaves in 4 hours. You guys should restock your supplies while roaming around the town for a bit. But remember, do not venture alone and make sure that you are not being followed" - Shunsui warned the three genins.

"Understood, sensei." - the three genins replied in unison.

Takeru, Biwako and Shikatsu went away and roamed the port town. The Land of Noodles was a neighbour and ally of Land of Fire. So, the relation between them were good. Takeru saw the bustling port town and saw people from various lands, businessmen, sailors and some shinobi too. The shinobi were mainly from Hidden Mist, Hidden Whirlpool and some non-affiliated ones. The three genins stayed together and visited the market. Land of Noodles was famous for its noodles. Practically every food item available here was either different types of noodles or food made out of noodles. Takeru tried different noodles with his teammates and surprisingly he enjoyed them. Although his favourite food was riceballs, he liked the texture and smoothness of these noodles. Biwako probably ate the most. She could not stop herself from tasting every single dish available here. Shikatsu was also enjoying despite the lack of sleep in his case. After eating food pills for more than a week. They really appreciated the taste and feel of real food.

After completely filling themselves up, the trio went to visit some other shops in the market. Takeru wanted to find some jutsus to buy. He had enough money from doing all those D-rank missions. Now, Takeru could cash in the contributions he made from Lord Hokage or Tobirama but he was waiting for the right moment to cash some really invaluable jutsus from them. Mainly three jutsus, the Flying Thunder God Jutsu, Tandem Paper Bombs Jutsu and finally Sage Mode from Hashirama Senju. The Flying Thunder God Jutsu needed no description as it was one of the most overpowered jutsu in this world.

Tandem Paper Bombs was another cheat like jutsu that was an auxiliary jutsu of the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu. The user of this jutsu could summon special explosive tags and attach them to the intended target but just as they explode, additional tags were created as the previous ones explode. This process was continuously repeated, leading to a near infinite chain reaction of consecutive explosions. The drawbacks to this jutsu were that it could be effortlessly used only by a person who had been reincarnated and for a living person, he had to sacrifice his life to employ this jutsu. Takeru wanted to find a middle ground between those two. He wanted to make it usable by the living, not requiring the sacrifice. It was a pretty hard challenge but he wanted this jutsu badly as it could be a game-changer in certain situations.

The last one was Lord Hokage Hashirama Senju's Sage Mode. Takeru did not know how Hashirama learned it or where he learned it. Takeru was sure that Hashirama had no animal summonings, so that cancels the theory of him learning the Sage Mode from Mount Myoboku, Ryuchi Cave or Shikkotsu Forest. The only theory Takeru had that Hashirama learned senjutsu by himself, which to be honest was pretty badass of him.

Takeru, Biwako and Shikatsu were roaming around the streets restocking their supplies. They were looking at the various shops and asking their owners if they sold any ninjutsu scrolls. They were asking every other shopowner the same but all they got in return was negative. They knew that ninjutsus were secret properties of shinobis and it would be highly unlikely for them to be sold at shops. They were just trying their luck. Finally it was nearly the time for them to board the ship. The three genin went back to the port. Shibuya and Shunsui were waiting for them. Shunsui already bought tickets for all of them so, they all boarded the ship sailing to Nagi Island.

It had been 5 days since the ship sailed away from Mitarashi Port. Takeru stood at the bow of the ship looking at the horizon. He was wearing a regular grey yukata with a black sash. The wind was blowing fluttering his clothes and hair. Takeru was enjoying this mission very much. He got to see different lands. He got to travel to various places. He experienced different cultures and lifestyles of people from various places. He enjoyed the change of taste.

After they boarded the ship and ship started sailing, they found that Shikatsu had a serious case of sea-sickness. He practically vomited every piece of food he ate. He had been in bedrest since the first day. But he was a lot better now. Takeru was enjoying the moment when Shunsui called him to have lunch. Takeru went back to their cabin. They had a simple meal with rice and vegetables. After lunch they started conversing about various things.

Shunsui began teaching Biwako and Shikatsu some principles of chakra manipulation. Takeru started listening to Shibuya, who was giving him a lecture about fuinjutsu. Takeru after practicing for some days under Shibuya's guidance and teaching was finally able to master the Advanced Storage Seal. He mixed its seal matrix with the alter-limit seal and applied it to himself. Takeru stored all of his things including his sword into his storage. The seal worked like a charm. Takeru managed to change the security mechanism of seal by including his blood, chakra, physical and spiritual energies in a certain ratio into the matrix. So, even someone who could copy his chakra signature would never be able to access his storage seal.

The seal could store any non-living objects which could be covered by his chakra. And the size of the storage depends on his chakra capacity. Takeru applied it onto his body in such a way that it would not get blocked by the training seal. So, there would be not be a moment when he would have been unable to access the storage seal due to the interference of training seal. Takeru named this new seal, the Inventory Seal.

He offered it to his teammates but Shibuya warned that unless they had ridiculous levels of chakra control like him or had sufficient fuinjutsu knowledge, they should not use it. Takeru thought for a bit and nodded. The Five Elements Seal was a seal that disrupted other seals, generally any even numbered seals. It either nullifies the seal or stops it from working. Takeru incorporated the five elements seal's unsealing version five elements unseal into his training seal and inventory seal, just in case.

The final seal Takeru learned was the Yin Seal. The yin seal was an ancient seal from the era of Sage of Six Paths. It was the pinnacle of chakra control. It helped the user store any excess chakra into it. The user could store chakra for future use or for some other things. The yin seal generally manifested on the user's forehead like a diamond shaped mark. Takeru deliberately mixed the alter-limit seal and five elements unseal into the yin seal. He made 3 compartments into his yin seal. One part to store his normal chakra, one part to store medical chakra and the last part he made was to store senjutsu chakra. Shibuya forbid him from storing chakra in it now as he would suffer from chakra depletion continuously until he filled it completely. Takeru surmised that it would take him atleast 1 year to completely fill up the yin seal to its full capacity.

It took another two days until they reached Nagi Island. The group of 5 left the ship. Shunsui and Shibuya went to talk with a boatman who would offer them a passage to the Land of Whirlpools. Takeru, Biwako and Shikatsu waited at the port. Takeru offered to teach Biwako the yin seal but she refused for now. As she wanted to improve her abilities some more before learning the yin seal. Shikatsu knew that to be able to use the inventory seal like Takeru, he and Biwako would need to have extreme levels of chakra control and fuinjutsu knowledge. To bypass that he gave Takeru an idea.

Shikatsu said that Takeru could use specialised wristbands made of chakra metal and apply the inventory seal on them. That way anyone could use them freely. Takeru liked the idea very much. Although there were some security concerns and concerns about production cost of such wristbands. The idea was good nonetheless. They chatted for a few moments. Sometimes later Shunsui and Shibuya came and told them the boat will leaving in a few minutes. The boat was manned by another redhead Uzumaki who recognised Shibuya and refused to take money from them no matter what. The group of 5 thus began their travel to the Land of Whirlpools in a small boat.

During the travel Takeru asked Shibuya a question that had been bugging him for a long time, - "Shibuya-san, why did not the Uzumaki clan join the Hidden Leaf Village?".

"Well, it is not that we did not want to join. You see, the Land of Whirlpools has been the ancestral home of ours for generations. So, there is hesitation among the clan members about leaving the island. And the other reason is that we were being hunted down by the enemies of the Senju clan because of our close relations with them. No offense, Shunsui-san but many members of our clan were killed on sight by the Uchiha clan if they were to be seen in the Land of Fire" - Shibuya replied.

"None taken, I have heard from my father and grandfather that we were tasked with killing any Uzumaki clan members on sight. In fact before the village was created and the treaty was made, I too had been ordered to do the same" - Shunsui told.

"But now that there is no enmity among the clans, why do not you guys join the Hidden Leaf Village?" - asked Biwako.

"To tell the truth, we have been procrastinating. We sometimes think that we should join the village but sometimes we think that having already a village of our own. We should not join another." - Shibuya stated.

"But it is dangerous to live here so far away from your allies, do not you think?" - Takeru asked.

"How is that dangerous?" - Shibuya asked not understanding what Takeru was saying.

"I think I understand what Takeru is saying. The Uzumaki clan and the Hidden Whirlpool Village is way too far away from their allies, the Hidden Leaf Village. So, if an enemy or enemies attack the Uzumaki clan. Any help from the Leaf Village will take too much time to come here to help. In other words during any attack on the Hidden Whirlpool Village, you guys will be alone and without any help for atleast a week." - clarified Shikatsu.

"But that makes no sense. We, the Uzumaki clan are although allies of the Leaf Village. We stay completely neutral from everything. There is no enmity between us and any other people." - Shibuya stated a bit confused.

"But the enemies will not count on your neutrality, will they? Fuinjutsu, the Uzumaki clan's speciality is way too versatile and outright dangerous in the wrong hands. And as far as I have seen, it can do pretty amazing things. The enemies will not see the Uzumaki clan for their neutrality. They will try even harder to remove and destroy the Uzumaki clan for the threat they possess." - Shikatsu explained.

"Threats? What threats? We have not been in a war since god knows what. What threats could we possibly possess." - Shibuya asked incredulously.

Shunsui thought a bit and finally said, - "I get the point they are trying to say. Shibuya-san you do remember that we, the members of the Uchiha clan were ordered to kill members of your Uzumaki clan. I ask you what reason did we need to attack the Uzumaki clan so relentlessly? Just one reason. The reason being that the Uzumaki clan was an ally with the Senju clan. It is that simple. The friend of my enemy is my enemy too. As far as I know, there were no enmity between our clans. But just to hurt and lessen the power of the Senju clan, we attacked. Think of it like this, what if a war occurs between the shinobi villages? And what can an enemy shinobi village do to lessen the power of Hidden Leaf? The most obvious answer will be to attack and destroy its allies, that is the Uzumaki clan. Plain and simple".

Realisation struck Shibuya and his face paled. He did not think about it like this. Nobody from his clan or village thought of it like this. If a war occurs the first ones to suffer would be them. No matter how he thought he could not deny this fact.

Takeru spoke again, - "What makes me more worried that the Land of Whirlpools is situated directly under the Land of Water. It is also closer to the Land of Lightning than Land of Fire. If a war occurs, the Uzumaki clan will get attacked by atleast two shinobi villages, the Hidden Mist and the Hidden Cloud. Shibuya-san, please think about it."

Shibuya was now seriously frightened. He thought about the implications and came to a conclusion that they were sitting ducks out here. Beads of sweat were rolling down his temple as he could see his village's destruction.

He replied with a shaking voice, - "I, I will speak of this matter to Lord Uzukage. Please do not speak of this matter to anyone else. Baku, the same goes for you too. Never speak of this matter to anyone. Understand?".

The boatman Baku replied in a fearful voice, - "Y-yes Lord Shibuya. I promise I will not say anything".

The boat floated towards the Land of Whirlpools whilst the passengers on the boat kept silent. Each of them thinking their own things.