Chapter 18 - The Sealing God

The inside was modeled in a classic Japanese style, with a hint of Chinese temples. Beyond the walls, the first thing one entered were the gardens surrounding a smaller house, which supposedly was the main residence. On the path towards the house, they even had lookalike torii gates, which really mixed up the style from many of the religions present my old world, though it was a pretty nice atmosphere, given all the plants and trees between and around the walkways.

One of the guards guided us though the large garden and into the residence, which had most of its walls decorated with pictures of what one could only ȧssume to be the ancestors of the main family. I even saw a picture depicting a younger Mito, together with a slightly older boy, standing in front of a male and female pair, which were obviously their parents.

'I never knew Mito had a sibling, but I guess even the Uzumaki clan wouldn't marry their heir outside the village, meaning that boy is her brother… can't hurt to ask'

"Sir guard, I noticed one of the pictures on the wall depicted lady Mito Uzumaki, whom married our first hokage, but unfortunately I fail to recognize who the boy in the picture is, would you help enlighten me?"

"Hmm, such a polite young man. That my boy, is the current head of the Uzumaki clan, the only known God level seal user in the world; Sukiru Uzumaki-sama"

'Wow, why didn't Mito tell us about her brother, which is THE Sealing God… Well to be fair neither Kana nor Kushina told us he was their grandfather, so I guess they are just as guilty'

The guard had a visible smirk, when he saw my astonished reaction to the news, after which I promptly asked more about the main family, or rather just about Kushina's parents and her siblings, which were almost confirmed she had, since it was already established that the Uzumaki clan wouldn't send their heir to Konoha…

"The current heir is Sukiru-sama's first second born son; Daiki Uzumaki-sama, since his oldest died in a skirmish during the First Ninja War, not even leaving behind children to take on the position. Together with his wife, Daiki-sama has three children; his oldest son Kazu-sama, and his daughter Kushina-sama and the youngest, Kamin-sama"

"I know of Kushina-sama and also her cousin Kana-sama, as I shared classroom with the two, they even give me pointers with my sealing techniques once in a while"

I had seen we were approaching a set of exquisite double doors, which I ȧssumed signified that the clan head was inside… 'I made sure to say that sentence loudly, hopefully they heard it behind the doors and got a good impression, because, as they say, first impressions matter'

I had already confirmed my previous suspicion, as I could sense four chakra signatures behind the door, and judging by chakra levels, two roughly mid jonin level signatures, presumably guards, a kage level signature and a massive signature beyond kage level, though I could tell it had been larger, signifying it to belong to an aged person.

'An aged person indeed…'

As the doors were open, we were greeted with the sight of a man at about Sakumo's age arguing with an aged man.

The guard conveniently revealing their identities to us…

'So that is the Sealing God, who earned his title like Hiruzen, by being unmatched in his field, and the man in front, Daiki, is Kushina's father… This is a rather unexpected meeting and… earlier than I had hoped…'

Thankfully Sakumo quickly spoke up, since he was higher rank, and I was currently viewing Daiki like a hungry lion watching a giant beef… minus the mouthwatering…

"Indeed, it is so, Sukiru-sama, though we aren't exactly here on hokage-sama's request but rather by lady Mito's. But before we get down to business, allow us to introduce ourselves. I am Sakumo Hatake, also known as the white fang of the leaf, while this kid is Yoshio Namikaze, my apprentice and current head of the Namikaze clan"

'Urg, Sakumo. You really didn't have to remind me of that, besides I'm sure Minato was cheating somehow…'

Although my thoughts were betraying my polite and mȧturė image, at least I was able to hide it…

"Hallo, Sukiru-sama, Daiki-sama, Mito-sensei has told me a lot about you"

I did a quick bow.

"hoho, when did little sister Mito take on students? I can only ȧssume it is in the art of sealing, since I can't imagine her teaching anything else, maybe trap making?"

I nodded at him.

"Mito-sensei did indeed teach me and my brother sealing, and we have both reached level two seal master under her tutelage. She is currently having us research the sealing styles which came before the Uzushiogakure standard style, since she isn't allowed to teach use the Uzushiogakure advanced style…"

"Hmm, that is an interesting idea, I myself drew inspiration from lots of different styles while creating the Uzushiogakure standard style, if I remember correctly, we still have the books about them in the main family library, why don't Daiki here show you the way, to see if our collection can be of help?"

"Hai, Otou-sama, come young Yoshio-san, let's get going and leave your sensei to do business with my father, ok?"

"I would love to, Daiki-sama"

'Even though I lied about the reason for researching old sealing styles, I guess this works out. Even though I'm pretty sure I already found the right book, it can't hurt to know some more right?'

Leaving the room, we walked down the hallways in awkward silence, so I decided to stir up a conversation.

"Uhm, Daiki-sam…"

'Urgg this is Kushina's father, possibly my future father-in-law, I'm so nervous'

"Uhm ok, Daiki-san, I wanted to ask, you are Kushina-san's father right, I went to the academy with her, she's been really nice, Kana-san too"

'I just had to butcher that. What kind of conversation starts like that?'

"Indeed, I am Kushina-chan's father, are you her friend?"

He raised an eyebrow while asking the question.

"Hai, we are friends… I think, though I'm not quite sure where we currently stand"

I blushed slightly, which Daiki instantly noticed

'Fuck you, traitorous cheeks!'

"Hmm, what are your intentions with my daughter?"

"Uhm, Kushina is really beautiful and nice, so…"

I took a deep breath

"… I would like permission to start courting her?"

Although we aren't even eight years old yet, marrying age was lower in this world, so it wasn't uncommon for courting attempts to come early

…

…

…

"permission denied. Until you show you are worthy, you will go nowhere near my daughter, is that understood?"

He sent me a menacing stare…

"Hai, I understand Daiki-sama, but how may I prove my worth?"

"I won't allow my daughter to marry a someone unskilled at sealing, nor someone who is too weak to protect her, so how about I give you a little test in sealing while we are at the library? After which you could spar with Kazu-kun? I'm sure he would like to see who would dare to try and court his younger sister, and I ȧssure you he is veeery protective of Kushina-chan…"

'Kazu huh, I don't know anything about him, neither his age nor skill level, but for Kushina I will fight through it all. Hopefully I can also hint at the coming invasion. Now that I know Kushina has siblings, I'm sure she would be happy if we at least managed to save them…'

"I accept your request, Daiki-san"

"Very well, the spar will happen tomorrow, but first the sealing test"

Having reached agreement, we walked further down the hallways, after which we came to a stop in a large square room with at least a hundred bookcases filled with books

"This is the library, I will give you thirty minutes to prepare, your time starts now"

At his words, I jumped into the library, quickly locating the section on old sealing styles, taking a lot of unfamiliar books, also creating ten shadow clones to help me read faster…

'Let's get this show on the road…'