Three years later,
"Teacher, isn't my monkey mask cute?"
Masahiko looked at the monkey mask. The clan has been too stable in recent years, and more children are being born every day. Somehow, every child in the Uzumaki Clan loves these masks. Thus today has held its first Mask Festival.
"Sensei…" Seeing Masahiko distracted face, Yuriko whined.
"Oh, it looks good on you… where is the other two?" Masahiko returned to reality and asked Yuriko.
"Kenichiro is still practicing, he doesn't want to come." Yuriko frowned, "Nanako-Chan is still choosing her mask…"
Masahiko nodded.
In the past three years, Kenichiro was the most satisfying student. It seems the self-restriction training method benefited him greatly, or maybe because his physical talent is very high. At the age of eleven, in terms of physical strength, he's already on par with a Jonin, which is seriously amazing!
It was astonishing to the point where he made Masahiko also gave it a go and try the self-restriction training, but eventually, he gave up. Certainly, Kenichiro is on the right path to becoming on the same level as Maito Gay and Rock Lee.
As for Yuriko, who is now a 9-years-old girl, Masahiko feels that her character didn't change a bit; she's the same shy girl from before. Sometimes she could be a little crybaby, which made Masahiko feel like he was raising a daughter. However, she's very talented at Fuinjutsu, and her ninjutsu learning is exceptional. She already mastered almost all of the Futon and Katon techniques that Masahiko taught her. Masahiko plans to teach her Rasengan later. It's a matter of time before she grows up, and she can become a real ninja powerhouse.
The last student…
"Sensei, here I come, look at my mask, it's pretty, isn't it?" Just when he thought about her, Nanako suddenly appeared in the distance, shouting.
Masahiko looked at her helplessly. The past three years helped Nanako to reveal her true self. After being thoroughly together with Masahiko, she's usually polite, but sometimes she exposes her hot temper side, Masahiko thinks that her personality is more or less like Sakura.
Masahiko couldn't think of any normal girl that would call the Shinigami mask cute…
Wait, what? A Shinigami mask?
Masahiko's face changed upon seeing her mask. He carefully observed the mask and said, "Nanako, What a good looking mask! Would you let me take a better look at it?"
"Sensei, you didn't even look at my mask…" Yuriko seemed a little bit jealous.
Masahiko ignored her, then he took the mask that Nanako handed him. And after a careful inspection, he let out a sigh of relief.
"It's just similar in shape, huh?" Masahiko muttered to himself and didn't sense the existence of the Shinigami itself in the mast. "But why? is it a hint?"
Masahiko is still somewhat concerned because Nanako's Fuinjutsu has really leveled up rapidly in the past three years. He wouldn't be surprised if she ended up developing the Edo Tensei in the future.
"I think there's more into this…" Masahiko said while handing over the mask back to Nanako. Then turned to Yuriko, who was still pursing her lips.
"Yuriko, can your monkey mask."
After taking the monkey mask from Yuriko, Masahiko inspected it, then put it on his face for a second.
"Teacher, you look like a monkey!" Yuriko said happily.
Masahiko's face turned black, he quickly took it off his face, then handed it back to her.
"Maybe because I was sent by the monkey…"
(T/N: Okay, this is a tough one, this sentence is a reference from the movie Journey of The West, it became really popular on the internet later on. Masahiko referred to himself as a funny man because maybe he was sent by a monkey, this sentence has been said initially to a bodhisattva who got invited by The Monkey in the movie, OMG, this is taking so long, anyway the red kid in the film found him really funny, so he asked him if he's funny because he was invited by the monkey. You might not find it funny, but I decided not to change it and explain it in this note…)
Regardless of whether his two pupils understood his sarcasm or not, Masahiko then said, "Let's go to the festival mask together."
Nanako and Yuriko nodded happily.
Animal masks, character masks, Shinigami masks…
Masahiko has no interest in the animal masks, which are for kids. Character mask…
"Hell, how come there's a character mask with my face on it? This is not funny." However, the moment he saw the owner of the shop, his face darkened.
"Aren't you the original second elder of the Uzumaki? Didn't you retire? Why are you selling masks?" The stall owner is none other than Uzumaki Masao, the second elder of the Uzumaki before Masahiko.
"Masahiko!" Masao smiled then looked at Masahiko. "In the past few years, I had nothing to do, so I started making these masks, but my grandson didn't really like it, so I just thought I should sell it."
"How old is your grandson? Why doesn't he like them, every kid in the village do…?"
"My grandson is 11 years old… but he spends most of his time practicing all day." Masao said with a proud smile.
Upon hearing this, Masahiko got suddenly stunned.
"Is your grandson name is Kenichiro?" Masahiko asked.
Masao nodded.
"You let me teach your grandson while we used to have grudges against each other's…?"
"It has been 50 years. I don't care about these past conflicts, what done is done, and I think you've already forgotten about it too. Moreover, after I've witnessed the battle of the ore with my own eyes, I believe there's no one more suitable than you to teach Kenichiro," Said Masao.
"True, I've forgotten about those old conflicts…" Masahiko squinted his eyes looking at him, then continued, "But we have a new one now, and it's called copyright infringement."
"What coffee-right?"
"Copyright!" Masahiko pointed at the mask with his face. Then without saying anything, he turned around and wanted to leave with his two pupils.
"Sensei, wait a minute!" Nanako stopped him.
Ten minutes later, Masahiko was looking helplessly at Nanako, who was putting on the Masahiko Mask.
"Oh, the law awareness of these peoples is too weak. After the establishment of Konoha by Hashirama, I will ask him to isolate them from others!" Masahiko mumbled to himself while shaking his head.
"Sensei! That is the place where I bought the mask!" Nanako's words interrupt Masahiko's train of thought. He looked up and saw various types of death masks.
The moment Masahiko walked near the booth, the owner immediately greeted him, "Welcome Masahiko-Sama! Did anything catch your eyes?"
The owner of the stall then noticed Nanako, who was standing behind Masahiko and said: "Oh, hey little girl! Do you want another mask? This kid has a good taste, the previous one of its kind…"
Upon hearing the praise, Nanako smiled. She wanted to get closer to the stall, but Masahiko stopped her.
"The only one? Really? Why did you only make one?" Masahiko asked the stall owner in confusion.
"Oh, actually, I didn't make that mask." The stall owner answered.
"All of these masks have been made by me. I inherited that one from my father. It's still in great condition, so I thought I should sell it. I'm not sure if one of my ancestors has made it, but I'm the owner of this shop now, and I…"
"Okay, I understand." Masahiko interrupted him he felt like he was gonna start telling a long story. Then he said, "Nanako, Yuriko, let's go."
The two nodded.
"I'm not really sure, if this mask was left by some great Shinobi, or if it's just a plain old junk…"