9 Opportunity

It had been a month since the Yamamoto family had moved into the Hidden Leaf Village. The inspection period ended a week after they started living in the house. The Yamamoto family lived a peaceful life in their new home. The village had homely atmosphere and they enjoyed it very much. Akane had joined the Leaf Hospital as a healer shortly after that. She would go work at the hospital every day from morning to evening. Sometimes in the emergency she would have to stay at the hospital overnight but her safety was guaranteed and the pay was good. Toru on the other hand was asked to teach kenjutsu at the Shinobi Training Institution. Toru, as he said, did go to the authorities to ask them about if they would take Takeru in the for training. He found that the Hokage was the sole authority governing the Institution. Lord Hokage said to him that as the current session was ending, he could not take Takeru in for now but after the Rinne Festival at the end of the year the Institution would start taking in new students. Takeru could register as a new student in the upcoming session. He gave Toru the application form for the registration of new students which would be starting after the Rinne Festival and asked Toru personally if he could fill the position of the kenjutsu instructor at the Institution. Toru readily accepted the position and the duties that was with the position. Toru went to work at the Institution, monday to saturday, 6 days a week from morning to evening. Sometimes he had to take a few classes on sunday for those who specialised in kenjutsu. Overall, Toru and Akane were very busy with their new jobs and only had free time after the evening. Toru taught Takeru fuinjutsu basics regularly and sometimes sparred with him. Takeru had already read and completely memorised the fuinjutsu book. He found that this book contained much detailed knowledge about fuinjutsu. It contained from the absolute basics of fuinjutsu to simple space-time seals. Akane also sometimes taught him medical ninjutsu and about human body. As his parents were busy, Takeru devoted his whole time into training. Every morning Takeru would get up early and run laps around the village. He bought a few training weights from a nearby weapons store and attached them to his body. Takeru was now carrying a total of 100 Kilograms of weight on his body. 20 kgs on each of his hands and legs and 20 kg on his torso. After that he would return home and practice kenjutsu and taijutsu rigorously. Takeru found that his sword did not make any sound. It was like it faced zero air resistance. The sword absorbed any and all vibrations and was ridiculously swift. Takeru perfected the summoning ability of his sword but could not test its chakra absorption ability. Takeru used this time to perfect the fire nature chakra flow on his sword and could now use it effectively. It made anything his sword touched combust with flames instantly. This made his firepower increase. Takeru could not use his shadow clones in the village. It was after all Tobirama Senju's own invented jutsu and he did not have any valid alibi to use on the account of him knowing the jutsu. He could not just say that he invented it as he did not really know about the actual mechanics and theory about the jutsu. Though he sensed that after the inspection period the shinobis observing them from the shadows had left, he did not really want to take any chances. A Hyuga could be watching them from afar or Tobirama could be observing them with his crystal ball. So, his learning speed was lower than before. Takeru also visited the Leaf Village Public Library to read the books and learned anything he could find. Be it history, geography, basic knowledge about chakra theory, human anatomy, human physiology, botany, zoology. Any knowledge he found, he devoured them all. Takeru finally made some time to check out the spoils he got from the bandits. From the regular bandit he got about 300 ryos and a combat knife. From the genin he got an instruction manual about practicing earth release chakra nature and a pouch containing a set of kunais and shurikens. But he hit the jackpot when he looked at the loot he got from the chuunin bandit leader. He found a scroll containing five earth release jutsus. Takeru was overjoyed after seeing the jutsus on the scroll. The scroll contained Earth Release: Mud Wall Jutsu, Earth Release: Hidden Mole Jutsu, Earth Release: Headhunter Jutsu, Earth Release: Earth Clone Jutsu and finally Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet Jutsu. Takeru thought that maybe the bandit leader did not learn the last jutsu at that point, otherwise the battle would have gone differently. Takeru surmised that the bandit leader was from the Land of Earth and escaped into the Land of Fire. Takeru immediately started learning earth release chakra nature from the manual. He found it far more difficult than practicing fire nature chakra due to him not having the affinity for earth nature chakra. Takeru struggled a little but kept training. He bought a few training logs from a shinobi tools shop and put them in the backyard. He practiced shurikenjutsu and kunai handling daily with them. He included these new projects into his daily training regimen. He also after a month finally perfected chanelling fire nature chakra into his chakra strings. Although he could not make them invisible, he managed to maximize the speed of the technique. He could now turn his chakra strings blazing red hot in an instant. His chakra strings still glowed but he minimised the light emitting from them. He named this new jutsu of his Fire Release: Searing Strings Jutsu. Whenever he used the jutsu it looked like numerous dull red coloured strings were floating around him, completely surrounding him. Takeru was thinking for a time and he finally decided to show his parents all the gifts he received from old man Tenshi and the spoils he got from the bandits. His parents were astonished at the value of things Tenshi had gifted their son. Toru thought the sword Tenshi had gifted his son was an ordinary one. He did not know about its abilities. Toru realised the true value of the sword that it was invaluable. He ordered Takeru to never show this sword to anyone. He kept the sword sealed in a scroll and hid it somewhere safe. Toru and Akane had a discussion among themselves and decided that they should contribute the jutsus to the village. Takeru also showed them his 3 fire nature jutsus, the Rasengan and his own creation the Searing Strings Jutsu. Toru and Akane seeing their son's achievements were nearly bursting with pride. Toru made a copy of all the jutsus and their instructions. Takeru copied the whole Uzumaki fuinjutsu book that old man Tenshi gave him and gave the original to his father. They decided that they would give them to the Hokage after the new year.

It was mid-winter, nearly the end of the current year and today the whole Hidden Leaf Village was celebrating the Rinne Festival. The festival was celebrated as a winter holiday in all of Land of Fire. The festival was mainly for praying for the deceased. But since ancient times, this day is celebrated as the day when Sage of Six Paths bestowed humans chakra and maintained peace throughout the world. Takeru and his family were walking down the streets of the village. The whole village was in a celebratory mood. Various people gathered around and chatted happily. Children ran around playing, laughing, holding balloons and toys. Music was being played by artists in the streets. Ribbons, colourful lights and various things decorated the whole village. Confetti were flying in the air. Various food stalls and game stalls were put everywhere in the village. Entertainment venues were open throughout the night. The Yamamoto family walked around the village, buying some goodies, eating at a few stalls, enjoying the day at a leisurely pace. The returned home when night came. They had a sumptuous dinner and watched the fireworks in the sky. Takeru was slowly coming to love this place more and more. He wished that he could live like this forever.

Soon, the new year day came and went. Today Toru and Takeru went to visit the Hokage to give the jutsus. Takeru already filled up the application form for the Shinobi Training Institution and was going to submit it after their visit to the Hokage Tower. Toru and Takeru went up the road and walked to the tower. Takeru noticed the tower from afar. It was easily the most noticeable building in the whole village containing multiple floors. It was a red and white coloured building that towered over all the other buildings in the village. There was the word 'Fire' written in kanji on its roof. Toru came in front of the building and asked the front door guard if they can enter the building. The guard let them enter. Toru went in and Takeru followed. Toru asked the female receptionist on the ground floor for an appointment with the Hokage. The receptionist told them that Lord Hokage was in a meeting and will be available after half-an-hour. She told the to wait in the lounge. Takeru was meanwhile sensing around the tower and he was shocked. The tower had innumerable traps, false walls, hidden rooms, multiple contraptions. There were atleast 30 shinobis hiding in the shadows and various other hidden places all over the tower. Every shinobi had at least jounin level chakra and all of them were vigilant. Takeru sensed the Hokage was talking with another person. The unknown shinobi had huge chakra levels, definitely a kage tier shinobi. And Takeru could not even describe what he was feeling when he tried to sense the Hokage. Hashirama Senju was like a living human tailed beast. The man was practically glowing with golden chakra. He literally radiated power in waves. Takeru was sure that if he wanted, Hashirama could kill him with just a finger. Takeru was lost in his thoughts when his father jerked him awake. The receptionist told them that Lord Hokage was available now and they could visit him. Toru and Takeru went up the stairs and came in front of the door. Takeru could spot a middle-aged man with a slightly familiar face caming out of the room. They could hear a person talking to the man that came out of the room.

"Do not worry Lord Sarutobi, even if I can not, my brother will take your son under his tutelage. You can rest assured that he will train young Hiruzen to the best of his abilities."

"I am satisfied with the decision. I will increase my son's training so he can be worthy of Lord Tobirama's tutelage." - the man said.

"Bwahahaha. Do not worry about it." - the peeson in the room laughed. The man in front smiled and suddenly noticed Toru and his son.

"It seems you have other appointments, Lord Hokage. I will take my leave for now." - the man bowed and left.

"Please come in" - the person in the room asked the Toru and Takeru. Toru entered th room and Takeru followed.

"Ah, so it was you Yamamoto-san. I take it that you brought the application form all filled up?" - the Hokage asked. Hashirama was a tall man with tanned skin and dark eyes. He had waist-length black hair styled in a centre-parted fringe that framed his face. He wore the traditional Kage attire consisting of the customary maroon and white hat and haori over a full-length maroon and white gown, along with a simple red headband.

"Please, Lord Hokage, just call me Toru." - Toru bowed as he replied.

"Alright, alright. I will stop the honorifics. But you have to tell me your story someday. I have rarely seen a samurai in my life. I would love to know about your traditions and culture." - the Hokage said jovially.

"Absolutely Lord Hokage. I surely will. Uh..this is Takeru, my son. He already filled the application form. Here it is." - Toru introduced his son and gave the application form to the Hokage.

"Everything seems to be in order. I will inform the Institution about young Takeru's application and will have him registered in the coming session. But you could have just given it directly to the institution. It is not that I do not like meeting you. I like having your company very much. But you did not have to come here all the way to give me this." - Hashirama taking a quick glance at the application asked Toru.

"Well, I came here because of something else. Takeru knows how to use chakra. So, a family friend of ours from our past village gave him some ninjutsus. We would like to contribute these to the village." - Toru took out a scroll containing all the fire and earth nature jutsus and gave it to the Hokage. Hashirama opened the scroll and saw the jutsus and smiled happily.

"This is good. 3 fire nature jutsus and 5 earth nature jutsus, and they are all either C-rank or even B-rank jutsus. Hahaha, Toru, your contribution is huge." - Hashirama was happy getting these jutsus. Toru took out a scroll and the fuinjutsu book and said - "Lord Hokage, I have something else. This scroll contains two original jutsus Takeru invented personally and this book contains Uzumaki fuinjutsu, Takeru was given the book by the same man."

"Bwahahahaha, this is marvelous. Please, wait a second. I will just go call someone." - Hashirama produced a wood clone and the clone flickered away. Toru and Takeru waited a few seconds when suddenly the door opened and a fair-skinned man with silver, shaggy hair and red coloured eyes with three red markings on his face, one under each of his eyes and one on his chin came in.

"What is it, brother?" - the man asked.

"Tobirama, look at this." - Hashirama gave the scrolls and the book to his brother. Tobirama took them and looked at the scrolls and the book.

"This?! Where did you find these?" - Tobirama asked.

"Oh, I did not find them. These good citizens of our village just contributed these jutsus and that fuinjutsu book to the village." - Hashirama replied. Tobirama looked at Toru and asked.

"Can you demonstrate these techniques?"

"I can." - Takeru spoke for the first since the start of the conversation. Tobirama was gobsmacked. He asked Toru, " Is he your son?".

"Yes, Senju-sama. This is my son, Takeru. He got those fire and earth nature jutsus and the fuinjutsu book from a family friend of ours. And the scroll containing the two jutsus are the original creations of my son." - Toru answered proudly.

"I gues I know why you called me suddenly." - Tobirama stated to his brother as he and Hashirama looked at each other for a bit and told Toru and Takeru to hold onto them. Toru and Takeru did as they asked. Soon, the two Senju brothers took them to the Hokage's personal training ground via body flickering. Takeru was alright as he could move faster using Body Flicker Jutsu but Toru was disoriented and gasped for air. Both the brothers saw Takeru's lack of reaction and nodded to each other. After Toru was feeling somewhat alright, Tobirama asked Takeru to demonstrate the jutsus he knew. Takeru stood a little farther than them. He faced a small body of water and started making the necessary hand-seals. Soon, Takeru displayed some of his jutsus. He started with the 3 fire release jutsus and after doing them he finally demonstrated the Rasengan and the Searing Strings Jutsu.

"I do not have enough expertise of earth nature transformation to use any earth release jutsus. This is all I know." - Takeru said after demonstration.

"This is enough. This is far more than enough. I have never seen such expertise of fire nature chakra in someone apart from the geniuses from the Uchiha or the Sarutobi clan." - the Hokage laughed gleefully as he watched Takeru with stars in his eyes.

"Stop overreacting brother. You are the Hokage, please try to behave yourself. Yes, your expertise in fire nature chakra is impressive as are the two jutsus you created. What are their names? - Tobirama asked Takeru.

"I call the first one Rasengan and the other Searing Strings Jutsu." - Takeru replied.

"Very good names. As far as I can tell, the two jutsus you invented are both A-rank jutsus. The Rasengan is for its power and difficulty and the Searing Strings Jutsu for its attacking potential, versatility and maneuverablility. These two jutsus are not finished, I can tell. The Rasengan can be infused with an elemental nature chakra and the Searing Strings Jutsu can be more refined and its firepower can be increased. On the other hand of the 8 elemental jutsus you contributed, the village already possesses of 4 of them. The rest of them are 3 C-rank and 1 B-rank jutsus. Still they count as a contribution. The Uzumaki fuinjutsu book on the other hand is a priceless addition to the village. You should know that the Hidden Leaf Village and the Hidden Whirlpool Village are very good allies. Though many seal masters of the Uzumaki clan come and teach us fuinjutsu. The truly secret knowledge is very hard to come by. I count your contribution of this book an equivalent of giving an S-rank jutsu. I will add the contributions to you file in the institution. You will be properly rewarded for them. You can get any jutsu from A-rank and below after your graduation." - Tobirama stated.

"I do not attend the Institution Senju-sama. I will join it in a few days though." - Takeru informed Tobirama. Tobirama looked incredulously at him and asked, "Wait, how old are you kid?"

"I just turned 10 year old this winter."

"You are 10 years old?!" - Both the Senju brothers exclaimed at the same time.

"Well, you see Takeru has always been a very healthy boy." - Toru interjected.

"This is amazing. Tobirama, you can take young Takeru in yo.." - Hashirama was gushing out loud but Tobirama stopped him from saying anything more.

"Stop talking brother. Let me think for a moment... Alright, listen Takeru, I have a proposal for you. I will give you a jutsu I created myself. You have more than enough chakra to use it safely. This jutsu will help you speed up your learning process to be much faster. But in return I want you to complete your training at the Institution in a year and graduate successfully in this year's year-end graduation examination. Can you do it?" - Tobirama eyed Takeru with a piercing gaze.

"I will try my best Senju-sama." - Takeru replied after thinking for a moment.

"Great, I will have your word for it then. Now look closely, I am going to show some hand-seals for this particular jutsu. This is a B-rank jutsu called the Shadow Clone Jutsu. Now, look and memorize the hand-seals…".

Toru and Takeru were walking down the streets of the Leaf Village towards their home. They did not talk. They were contemplating on the things that happened today. Toru did not imagine that his son had mastered such high level ninjutsus and even invented two of them. He was proud of his son before but now he was ecstatic as he could see the opportunities his son was given by Lord Hokage and his brother. He looked at his son walking with him drowned in his own musings and smiled in satisfaction. Toru was happy that his son could achieve so much in such a short time without any proper guidance. But he was also worried deep down. He knew that it was his and his wife's open disdain toward shinobis that made his son hide his achievements from them for so long. He feared that if they continued their behaviour, there would be a high chance of distance appearing in the relationship between them and Takeru. He had to do something about it and he had to do it quickly. Toru vowed that he and Akane would have a talk about this and would definitely rectify their behaviour as quickly as possible. Takeru was meanwhile screaming inside with ecstasy. He thought that he would have to bargain with the Hokage and his brother for him to get the Shadow Clone Jutsu. He thought that they would not easily give him the technique so easily. That is why he brought the fuinjutsu book along with him as a last resort. He never thought that Tobirama fucking Senju would teach him the jutsu himself. Although Tobirama gave him a very difficult task. Completing the whole curriculum of the Institution in a year would not be impossible. With his superhuman mental prowess and liberal use of shadow clones he could graduate in a year with flying colours. Takeru was overjoyed at having such a grand opportunity. Now, he would just have to make sure that he gave his all in this year and he might surprise them. Takeru vowed that he would definitely exceed all of their expectations.