Inside Uzumaki Mito's dojo, the violent Chakra began to slowly calm. An anxious Kushina rushed inside and fussed over Uzumaki Kuming, asking him if he was all right. At the dojo entrance, the nanny stared in shock at the place, now reduced to a wreck, and was left speechless.
Suddenly, Uzumaki Mito drew in all the Chakra she had released and vanished from the dojo. The worried Kushina and Kuming, lost in his own thoughts, didn't notice her leave.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The sound of something cutting through the air rang out. Several Konoha Ninja appeared outside the barrier Uzumaki Mito had raised. They stared at it in surprise, unsure what to do.
"This barrier is saturated with Lady Mito's Chakra. She must have put it up."
"I wonder what happened in there just now. Tokuma, use your Byakugan and take a look."
The Konoha Ninja leading the group wore a Forehead Protector and carried a short sword on his back. His white hair fluttered in the wind as he calmly spoke to the Hyuga Ninja beside him.
"Yes!" Just as the Hyuga Ninja gathered Chakra to examine what was inside the barrier, a figure appeared before them. Her red hair and the diamond-shaped mark on her forehead revealed her identity.
"Lady Mito!" The Konoha Ninja recognized Uzumaki Mito and dropped to one knee in unison, bowing their heads respectfully. The white-haired young man leading them glanced up at Mito, looking somewhat surprised.
Why had some Nine-Tails Chakra leaked out? Had Lady Mito failed to control it? Hatake Sakumo kept the question to himself. Anything concerning the Nine-Tails was classified, and with his current rank, he wasn't quite important enough to ask. Still, there were some things he needed to clarify now.
"Lady Mito, what was that explosion just now? Has anything unexpected happened here?" Hatake Sakumo was the Jonin squad leader the Third Hokage had specifically assigned to protect the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. The explosion at Mito's residence had caught his attention.
"Nothing happened. I was working on a new technique and ran into a little trouble. It was nothing serious."
"There's no need to worry."
Mito waved her hand lightly, signaling that they could leave. Sakumo still had some questions, but since Mito had said all that, he knew there was no point in asking more. Given Uzumaki Mito's position, even if she openly told him she didn't want to talk, there was nothing he could do about it.
"Yes!" After the investigating Ninja left, Uzumaki Mito immediately returned to the dojo. Kushina and Uzumaki Kuming were still together, and Kuming, who knew he was perfectly fine, was starting to feel overwhelmed by Kushina's concern.
"I really don't need to see a doctor. I'm fine."
"If you don't believe me, wait until Grandma Mito comes back. She'll know I'm right." Kushina was tugging at Kuming, trying to drag him to the hospital. But Kuming, who had a good idea what had caused the explosion, had no desire to go.
"All right, all right, Kushina."
"This little one is fine. Go on outside and keep practicing. I have something to discuss with Kuming."
Uzumaki Mito had returned at some point. She patted Kushina on the shoulder, signaling that she could leave.
"Mm..." Kushina was reluctant to go. She couldn't believe that Kuming had been right at the center of such a powerful explosion and come away completely unharmed. But since Uzumaki Mito had spoken, she wouldn't disobey her.
After Kushina left, Uzumaki Mito turned her gaze to Kuming. Bending slightly, she examined him from every angle, even taking his little arm and squeezing the muscles.
"You really are an Uzumaki! Why does your Chakra have a Lightning attribute?"
"You can't possibly have mastered Lightning Style's shape transformation at this age. Could you have been born with it?"
"I've never heard of anyone in our clan having this kind of Kekkei Genkai!"
Uzumaki Mito stopped, stroked her chin, and bent down until her face was close to Kuming's. She examined him carefully, as if she could learn something just by looking at his face.
"Uh... Grandma Mito, what's going on with me? Why did I explode?" Uzumaki Kuming asked, pretending not to know. He had already examined his body from within. The Chakra circulating inside him had diminished considerably, while the lightning flashing around it had grown stronger. That was probably a side effect of releasing his Chakra just now.
But as time passed, the lightning gradually faded and was covered by the Chakra. Only a little of it still flickered across the surface. Kuming had always thought the lightning clung to his Chakra. He hadn't realized the truth was that it had been inside the river of Chakra all along, with only the parts not submerged showing on the surface.
"Your Chakra contains a tremendous amount of Lightning energy. And when I asked you to control your Chakra just now, you couldn't manage it, so it went out of control."
"Honestly, you're a credit to our Uzumaki Clan. You're so young, yet you already have such powerful Chakra. You might even have more than an ordinary Chunin."
A smile spread across Mito's face. It was always a joy to see one of her clan members display such remarkable talent.
"Looks like you'll have to start training as a Ninja soon. With your constitution, there won't be any problem with you starting some basic Ninja training now."
"To help you get your Chakra under control, I'll make sure to train you properly."
"Get ready, Kuming."
Mito had already planned out Kuming's training for the coming weeks. For Uzumaki Clan members, whose Chakra was naturally far greater than most people's, teaching them how to gather Chakra was less useful than showing them how to control what they already had. And for Kuming, learning to control his Chakra was now the most important thing.
"Come with me, Kuming." Kuming was still wondering what kind of training Mito had planned when he heard her call. He looked up and saw that she had already reached the doorway, as if she was about to leave the dojo.
"Are we not going to practice here in the dojo?" Puzzled, Uzumaki Kuming followed Mito out. Mito soon showed him where they were headed.
Riiip!
At the center of Mito's residence was her study. Kuming and Mito went inside. Then Mito formed Hand Seals, and the space where the bookshelf stood turned into a void. The entire bookshelf disappeared. As Kuming watched in confusion, a door appeared in its place.
"Hehe, this is a concealment barrier. Bet you didn't know there was a hidden room in the place you've been playing all this time."
Mito smiled at Kuming's astonished expression and opened the door. The dark room lit up the moment she stepped inside. By the light of the candles around them, Kuming finally saw what was inside the hidden chamber.
The room was less than ten square meters, with bookshelves lining every wall. On the table at its center lay a thick scroll bearing the words "Scroll of Sealing." The shelves around it were filled with books on all kinds of Fuinjutsu. Many had no titles at all, and there was no way to know what they contained without opening them.
"From now on, you'll spend your afternoons here. I'll teach you the Fuinjutsu of the Uzumaki Clan, little by little."
The sight of the hidden room left Kuming stunned. He hadn't expected to get the chance to study the Uzumaki Clan's inherited Fuinjutsu at such a young age. After all, Uzumaki Kushina was almost twelve, and Mito still hadn't taught her any Fuinjutsu at all. She had barely taught her any Ninjutsu, either.
"So Grandma Mito's training for me is Fuinjutsu!"
No wonder the Uzumaki Clan was powerful enough to form an alliance with Konoha. With a collection of techniques like this, was there any Ninja clan wealthier than the Uzumaki?
Kuming sighed inwardly, then slowly came back to his senses. A wave of delight washed over him, though he kept it off his face and pretended to look troubled.
"There are so many books! How long will it take me to get through them all?"
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