Two Years! (Part One and Two)

As time passed, two years had gone by since Uzumaki Kuming entered the Ninja Academy.

Over these two years, Konoha hadn't changed much. The houses along the roads had grown a little more weathered, but the village's layout remained the same. Konoha was still peaceful and harmonious.

But the Shinobi World had undergone tremendous changes. As early as two years ago, Konoha had sent troops to the northern border. The Konoha Ninja had barely arrived when they clashed with ninja from Kumogakure and Iwagakure. One battle was all it took for the three villages to lose control of the situation.

The original plan had been to wage a small proxy war, but it fell through, and the conflict turned into a full-scale war—with Konoha fighting two villages at once.

And just as Konoha's two-front war was raging, its good ally, the Land of Whirlpools, was invaded by the Kaguya Clan of Kirigakure in the Land of Water. That December, the Land of Whirlpools sent ninja to Konoha to request aid, but they were told that Konoha was already fighting on two fronts and couldn't spare troops to help.

After the rejected envoy returned to the Land of Whirlpools, the following January, the Kaguya Clan of Kirigakure completely overran the country. Large numbers of the Uzumaki Clan fled their homes, and ninja from other villages took them in. The Uzumaki Clan's Fuinjutsu, passed down from generation to generation, was also reduced to ashes when the current clan leader set himself on fire.

When news of the Land of Whirlpools' destruction reached Konoha, Kushina was heartbroken for a long time. It was where she had been born and raised, after all, and she still had deep feelings for her homeland. When Uzumaki Mito heard the news, she said nothing. After remaining silent for several days, her health took a turn for the worse.

These days, Mito spent most of her time asleep. Other than getting up to eat or use the bathroom, she hardly ever left her room. Even when she had more energy, she only went as far as the family dojo to guide Uzumaki Kuming's training.

Not long after the Land of Whirlpools was destroyed, Kirigakure sent a large force of ninja to invade the Land of Fire, turning Konoha's two-front war into a three-front war. The already dire situation grew even worse, but fortunately, Konoha's ninja were powerful, and the village had considerable strategic depth. The fighting never reached Konoha itself.

The war had continued to this day, and battles still flared up along the Land of Fire's borders.

Fortunately, the fighting hadn't reached the Land of Fire proper, so the village was still as prosperous as ever. But beneath that prosperity, undercurrents were stirring.

"Hiss... hiss..."

In the Uzumaki family dojo in Konoha, Uzumaki Kuming sat cross-legged on a cushion. Chakra surrounded his body, slowly gathering at the center of his forehead.

Sitting across from him was an elderly woman. Her face was covered in wrinkles, and her frail figure and gray-white hair spoke to her advanced age. Judging by her appearance and wrinkles alone, she looked to be over eighty.

A diamond-shaped mark sat between the old woman's brows, but it had faded considerably. If you didn't look closely, you could barely make it out.

"Done!"

Kuming suddenly opened his eyes. As he spoke, a deep purple, diamond-shaped mark appeared on his forehead. With its emergence, the Yin Seal he had spent two years practicing was finally complete.

"Ugh... cough, cough..." The old woman broke into a violent coughing fit. Kuming hurried over and gently patted her back.

"Grandma Mito, you're not well. You need to rest."

"I've figured out the Yin Seal over these past two years. You didn't need to watch me finish it today. I would've been fine on my own."

Uzumaki Mito smiled fondly at his words. She raised a hand and gently patted Kuming's head. "Kuming, your talent truly amazes me. Your skill in Fuinjutsu is already remarkably advanced."

"Now that you've completed the Yin Seal, you can begin studying ninjutsu systematically."

"With your foundation in the Yin Seal and Fuinjutsu, your chakra control must already be excellent. At this point, learning ninjutsu will be twice as effective."

Uzumaki Mito looked at the boy before her and couldn't help smiling. She had practically raised Uzumaki Kuming herself. He was seven now, and already stood three meters tall, making him exceptionally tall for his age. His long hair was tied back simply with a black ribbon.

The baby fat had completely disappeared from Kuming's face, and his features had settled into a fairly typical oval shape, though it was a little rounder than most. He looked about seventy percent like Kushina. Compared to Kushina, however, Kuming's features were more masculine.

At seven, Kuming already looked like a little adult.

"Rrrip!" The dojo's door was flung open.

"Kuming, did you really do it?"

Tsunade and Kushina appeared in the doorway. It was Tsunade who had spoken. She had just returned from the front lines after finishing her rotation this month, and had heard as soon as she got back that Kuming was about to complete the Yin Seal.

Tsunade had mastered the Yin Seal herself and knew how difficult it was to learn. Even now, she couldn't believe a seven-year-old could master a jutsu of this caliber.

So the first thing she did after pushing open the door was ask whether Kuming had really completed it.

"Big Sis and Tsunade?" Kuming turned toward the voice. He didn't answer Tsunade's question, but the sharp-eyed woman had already spotted the diamond-shaped mark on his forehead. For a moment, Tsunade was speechless.

"It's real. It's actually real! This kid really mastered the Yin Seal!"

Even after seeing the mark on Kuming's forehead, Tsunade still looked utterly disbelieving. She couldn't find the words to describe a child who had mastered the Yin Seal at seven. In her eyes, Kuming's talent was terrifying. Even Tsunade herself hadn't mastered the Yin Seal until she was eighteen.

Although Tsunade was shocked that Kuming had mastered the Yin Seal, Kuming himself felt that finishing it at his age was already a little late. His reasoning was simple: he had started learning the Yin Seal at five, yet it had taken him two years to complete it.

Taking two years to master the Yin Seal put him on about the same level as Sakura Haruno, who had been from a civilian family and had learned it around that time. That really was a little weak.

What Kuming didn't know was that not all Yin Seals were created equal. People understood the Yin Seal to varying degrees, and there were enormous differences in how they built it. As a result, the amount of chakra it could store varied tremendously.

Sakura had mostly used excess chakra to fill her Yin Seal. While storing chakra in it, she had also been learning Medical Ninjutsu. Even so, it had taken her nearly two years to complete the Yin Seal.

Kuming's situation was different. For most of those two years, he had focused on refining chakra and storing it in the Yin Seal. What's more, he was from the Uzumaki Clan, with a naturally enormous chakra reserve and a chakra-refining speed far beyond the average person's. Yet even so, it had taken him two years to fill the Yin Seal.

That showed just how different Kuming's Yin Seal was from Sakura Haruno's. You could even tell by the color of their marks.

Now that the Yin Seal was complete, Kuming no longer had to limit his chakra use. The first thing he did was circulate chakra throughout his body. As the powerful chakra flooded through him, he could clearly feel his strength increase.

"Tsunade, want to see if my Yin Seal is the real deal?"

Kuming got to his feet and stretched. His body felt full of power, and he couldn't wait to find someone to spar with.

"Oh? You want to take me on, kid?"

Tsunade gave Kuming an odd look. It was true that his mastery of the Yin Seal had taken her by surprise. But that didn't mean he was qualified to be her opponent.

"I want to test the strength of my Yin Seal so I can get a clear picture of what I'm capable of."

"I don't want to run into a powerful opponent, charge in without knowing what I'm up against, and get myself killed."

Kuming formed a hand seal and released the Yin Seal. Massive amounts of chakra poured from the mark on his forehead, and purple patterns spread outward until they covered his entire body.

"So this is the power of a fully released Yin Seal. It's far stronger than the half-finished one I had back then," Kuming said softly, gauging the power in his body.

"All right, then. I'll be your opponent."

Seeing that Kuming had already released the Yin Seal, Tsunade didn't waste any time. She stepped right in front of him. Feeling the intense chakra radiating from the boy, even she could no longer keep her expression calm.

"How can a kid this young have such a terrifying chakra presence? It can't be just the Yin Seal."

In a fight between ninja, the simplest way to gauge an opponent's strength was to look at how much chakra they had. In general, someone with less chakra was much easier to deal with than someone with more. The chakra Kuming was displaying now was enough to shock even the well-traveled Tsunade.

"If we're only talking about chakra reserves, even with my Yin Seal released, I don't have more than he does."

"But I'm going to teach him a lesson. A ninja battle isn't decided by who has more chakra!"

Tsunade settled into a stance and casually beckoned to Kuming, inviting him to attack.

As Tsunade took her stance, Uzumaki Mito waved a hand and raised a barrier around the dojo. She was curious to see how strong Kuming had become, so she didn't stop him from sparring with Tsunade.

"Careful. I'm not who I used to be."

"I've officially left the Gundam era behind and entered the tattoo era!" (Though Kuming had never actually set foot in the Gundam era.)

As soon as Kuming finished speaking, he vanished from where he stood. In Tsunade's eyes, a blue figure rushed toward her, moving so quickly that a clear peal of thunder rang through the air.

"So fast!"

Tsunade's pupils contracted. The next moment, Kuming's fist was right in front of her. She tilted her head slightly, and the fist, trailing thunder, swept past her cheek. Its powerful gust tore away several strands of her golden hair.

"Kid!"

Kuming had nearly hit her, and Tsunade was getting angry. With a low shout, she swung her leg in a sweeping kick. She had already infused it with Strength of a Hundred; if Kuming took that hit, he'd be out of the fight. Still, she knew they were only sparring, so she held back, using just half her strength—enough not to kill him outright.

"Hmph!"

When he saw Tsunade's sweeping kick coming, Kuming didn't bother dodging. He countered with a straight kick of his own, aiming for her lower leg.

"Bang!"

Kuming had used Strength of a Hundred too. Backed by his massive chakra reserves, he somehow matched Tsunade's strength. A storm of chakra immediately swept through the dojo.

Uzumaki Mito reacted in a flash. As Kuming and Tsunade's chakra clashed, she pulled Kushina into her arms and enveloped her in her own chakra, protecting her from the shock wave.

"That kid actually blocked it?" Tsunade was surprised that Kuming hadn't dodged. She started putting more strength into her leg.

"She's so strong. There's no way I can match her."

As Tsunade gradually increased her strength, Kuming began to struggle. Then, under Tsunade's gaze, he formed hand seals and quickly created three Shadow Clones, sending them at her.

With the Shadow Clones bearing down on her, Tsunade had to pull her leg back. Kuming took the opportunity to leap back and put some distance between them.

"Five Elements Seal!"

Chakra flames ignited around the fingers of Kuming's right hand. With a sharp shout, he rushed at Tsunade.

"Poof! Poof! Poof!"

Tsunade quickly took out all three Shadow Clones, but she didn't realize that the spots where they had vanished were arranged in a pattern. Kuming wasn't going to give her a chance to catch her breath. His original body closed in and struck toward her stomach.

"This attack? You're underestimating me."

Tsunade noticed the chakra coating Kuming's hand. If that palm landed cleanly, she might end up in an embarrassing situation. She reacted at once, grabbed his right hand, and hurled him away.

"Got it!" Kuming grinned as he spun through the air. After two flips, he landed steadily on the ground.

"Imprisonment Seal!"

As soon as he landed, Kuming slapped a hand against the floor. At his shout, black runes appeared on his hand and at the spots where his three Shadow Clones had vanished. The runes raced along the floor, quickly surrounding Tsunade.

"What?" As the separate runes joined together into a single pattern, Tsunade, standing in the middle of the seal, found that she couldn't move at all.

"A seal? Those Shadow Clones from before?"

"Kid, is this how you fight?"

Tsunade hadn't expected it. Despite all her battle experience, she had fallen right into Kuming's trap.

"Fuinjutsu really is useful. I can combine it with the Multi Shadow Clone Technique from now on. The enemy won't even realize they're being sealed."

Uzumaki Kuming was fairly pleased with his battle strategy. His study of Fuinjutsu had reached a new level, and he had learned several unusual seals. Now he could incorporate his understanding of Fuinjutsu into a fight.

"Not bad, but you picked the wrong opponent!" Tsunade didn't seem willing to accept defeat. The chakra around her began to grow wild, as though she planned to break Kuming's seal by force.

Seeing Tsunade's veins bulge, Kuming quickly released the seal. He knew exactly how strong his Fuinjutsu was. If Tsunade really put all her strength into it, the technique could only hold her for a little while. But in a fight to the death, that little while would be enough to get someone killed.

"Tsunade, don't be angry."

"I think I've figured out what I'm capable of."

Kuming tried to placate Tsunade as he watched her grim expression. Only after she smiled did he let out a small sigh of relief.

"Kuming, with your current strength, the Ninja Academy probably can't teach you anything anymore. Would you like me to recommend that you graduate early?" Tsunade clearly approved of his strength and made the suggestion.

But Kuming waved his hands and refused. "I think life at the Ninja Academy is great. I don't want to graduate early, so there's no need to go to the trouble, Tsunade."

"I'll just let things take their course."

"And the Shinobi World has been so unstable lately. Missions are dangerous, too. I want to get even stronger first."

As if! Kuming wasn't some fool in a hurry to get himself killed on the battlefield. If he could stay at the Ninja Academy and quietly improve his strength, why graduate and become cannon fodder? After that fight, he had a much clearer idea of how strong he was, but he didn't think his current abilities would keep him safe on the battlefield.

Speed and strength: the fight had made the gap between him and Tsunade clear. With his Yin Seal active, Kuming had about sixty percent of her strength in her normal state and seventy percent of her speed. In terms of strength and speed alone, Kuming was already on par with an elite Chunin.

Compared with Kakashi, who had graduated from the Ninja Academy at five and become a Chunin at six, Kuming was already stronger than Kakashi had been at the same age. He just hadn't graduated from the Ninja Academy yet.

"I still have a long way to go. Even now, I can't make Tsunade use her full strength as a Jonin. The gap between me and the top fighters is just too enormous."

Kuming wasn't getting carried away with his current abilities. He knew that, with his strength as it was, he might not even be capable of surviving on the battlefield ahead.

"Now that I can use chakra, I should figure out how to master one or two powerful offensive jutsu."

Kuming had a new plan, and his eyes grew resolute.

"All right, all right. Take a break, everyone. Let's have lunch first."

Seeing that Kuming and Tsunade had finished their sparring, Mito smiled and stood up with Kushina's help.

"Grandma, I'm back!"

"Where's Sis? I want her to take me to the battlefield!"

Just as Mito was about to lead everyone out of the dojo, a shout came from the courtyard. When she heard the familiar voice, the smile vanished from Tsunade's face.

"That idiot!"