After a jovial dinner, we all returned to our new home. We left the unpacking of our things for later and fell asleep.
The next day, we were largely left to our own devices. While I returned to my seal practice, Kushina and Ashita explored the village with Tsunade and her little brother.
I just selected one of the unused living rooms and began getting it in working order. I dragged several tables together and cleared the dust away from the space I'd be working in. Once there was enough clean space for my scrolls, I unfurled both the master scroll I had been copying and a blank scroll to copy it onto.
Just because I no longer had Naito on my back about my sealing skills didn't mean I could afford to slack off. Getting myself situated, I had just dipped my brush in the inkwell when someone knocked at the door.
I knew who it was by elimination; only Mito was still home. I left my brush in the inkwell and opened the door for her.
"Good morning, ooobasan. I was just starting. Naito Sensei would kill me if I got lazy."
"Good morning, Kane-kun. It looks like you have a good sensei. Do you mind if I watch?"
"Not at all. Sorry, it's still dusty; I wasn't expecting company."
"That is no issue for me to take care of."
Nine chains burst out of her back and began working together to create a sealing matrix. Within seconds, it was complete, and suddenly, all the dust in the room flew toward the center of the seals.
In less than 30 seconds, a ball of compact dust the size of an apple was suspended in the air. The matrix then collapsed in on itself, and the lines appeared on the dust ball, which fell to the ground soundlessly.
My eyes nearly popped out of my head at this display of mastery. It attracted all of the dust without disturbing anything else. Compacted the dust without making the ball hard and then sealed the dust in the compacted shape.
Such a complicated seal was created effortlessly on a whim. There was a good chance that she was far better than Naito.
She had to have been really good in order to help Tobirama develop the Hiraishin no jutsu and Edo Tensei, but that casual display proved that it was no fluke.
"Are you going to start or just stand there all day?"
"Sorry. You just made it look so easy. It took me almost a year to design a far less complicated matrix. Yet you made something crazy look so simple."
Mito sat down on one of the couches while looking at my scroll but looked up when I mentioned designing a matrix.
"Did you really create a matrix at your age? What did it do?"
I hesitated to answer her since it would eventually expose my secret, but I decided it was a necessary risk. Mito was the wife of the most powerful sage in recent memory, and she was family. If there was any knowledge about sage mode that wouldn't be in the hands of Hiruzen, then it should be with her.
"I modified the chakra battery matrix. Instead of needing ninja to supply chakra, it attracted and stored a similar energy."
A strange light flashed through her eyes as I mentioned the energy. 'I knew it; she had to know about Nature Energy.'
"That sounds incredibly useful. Did it work?"
"Yeah, it functioned similarly to the original. The main difference was that it does not need manpower to function and takes time to gather more energy. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a way to make it gather energy quickly."
"That is still very impressive for your age. How did you discover the energy? Have you named it?."
"I didn't really discover it. I've always been able to see it. It's like a fog of green that I can see when I want to. It's much denser here than in Uzushiogakure. At first, I thought I was crazy, but then I learned I could do things with it. There was no way I was crazy. I named it a long time ago. It seems to come from nature, so I call it Nature Energy."
Mito had a strange gleam in her eyes when she heard the name.
"Intriguing, what can you do with it?"
I wanted to keep some things to myself, so I decided to keep my sensing ability to myself.
"I can make small needles with it. I can use those needles to carve seals in things that don't normally conduct chakra. I can strengthen myself with it. I can help people recover faster with the energy. It also seems to make people younger over time."
The longer I spoke about what I could do with it, the wider Mito's eyes became. By the point I mentioned that it makes people younger, she got up and knelt in front of me.
The playful look in her eyes was gone, replaced by concern.
"Kane, this power is very dangerous. You need to be very careful when using it. You also need to keep it a secret. If people know about this, then it is not you who will be in danger but your family. Let me tell you a story about someone less gifted than you who made the world tremble. His name was Hashirama Senju, the first Hokage."
For the next hour, she regaled me with the life story of Konohagakure's founder, how his friendship with Madara became enmity and then a tentative friendship once more.
He discovered a different energy and learned more about it deep in the Shikkotsu Forest, eventually becoming a sage. As well as how sage mode changed how people viewed the Senju clan and himself.
She ended her tale with a warning and a question.
"People have always been wary of the Uzumaki clan due to the potential of our seals. If you grow too strong, it could provoke many more enemies. The strong provoke loyalty, fear and respect. But the unfathomably strong provoke fear and schemes to remove them. Do you still want to learn to use this energy?"
I thought about this seriously.
'The butterfly effect is definitely real; my actions could change everything. Nawaki isn't supposed to be alive, yet I spent half of dinner last night arguing with him. But conflict is coming. The only way I can think of to stay alive is to be strong. Besides, why wouldn't I use the powers I wished for?'
I looked back up at Mito and maintained eye contact with her.
"I can sense this energy for a reason. I need to make it my own. Can you teach me?"
She let out a defeated sigh and stood up, shaking her head with a small smile. "You're as stubborn as he is. I cannot teach you, but I can give you all of my husband's notes, theories and jutsus. Come with me."