Unfortunately these pointers were not as helpful as I would have liked as no one had apparently tried to figure out exactly how the Susanoo worked. According to the old man everyone just accepted it as a power belonging to the Mangekyou and moved on. Even the Uchiha themselves that had those eyes did this which irritated me to no end. Like I understood that it was something that could easily be taken for granted but it was so wasteful not to at least try and understand how your own power worked.-
I had been a sage since the literal moment I was born and even now I was constantly experimenting with my power to understand it further. It showed too as I discovered so much about natural energy and sage chakra that I was willing to bet I was second to no other living person in my understanding of it in shinobi. For example the "boost" that all the historical documents state that sages got for training in it I knew was actually natural energy refining your body into it's most perfect state.-
Anyways the old mans pointers on Susanoo were little more than merely confirming what I had confirmed via trial and error. It had only been two months since Naruto had graduated from the academy at this point and he was another two months from his birthday on October tenth to turn thirteen My birthday was next month on September fifth so I was going to be turning thirteen myself at that time. I didn't really plan to celebrate my birthday though as it was just another day to me but Naruto and my parents insisted. -
So while I spent this time working hard to improve my chakra projection and master the rest of the B rank jutsu I had they planned and prepared for my birthday until it finally arrived.
"Ugh, I don't know why I let you people convince me to do this." I complained as I sat in dunking booth that was tailor made with ninjas in mind.
"Shut up and let me dunk you!" Tsunade yelled as she threw yet another ball that missed the erratic moving target.
This was just one of the "fun" games set up for my birthday party in a training ground that my parents rented out for the day. The guest list for the party was also the sort of thing that would make most peoples jaws drop. Kakashi, Tsunade, Shizune, Hiruzen, Iruka, all my classmates including those from major clans AND their parents, Teuchi and his daughter Ayame and finally Toge. While some people weren't able to make it for whatever reason those that were here were important enough that my party may as well be a political function.-
My sensei, the third Hokage, the head of the Hyuga clan, Kakashi, the nine tails jinchuriki, the head of the Nara clan, the head of the Yamanaka clan, the head of the Akimichi clan, important members of the Inuzuka clan and some of my other classmates and their parents. Sasuke refused to come and so did a few other inconsequential classmates of mine and their parents but the party was still as strange event due to the important people that attended it. Admittedly some of those that came were only here to try and network with me or my sensei but they were mostly in the minority. One such person was the head of the Hyuga clan Hiashi, or Hinata's father and Neji's uncle. The man was flattering me and my sensei for our achievements since he got here.-
The party had otherwise been mostly split into two parts really, one where the adults interacted freely and one where it was us children. I as the birthday boy was forced to play all sorts of self punishing games like the dunking booth, face painting, pie throwing, ninja tag which was a lot more violent than the normal sort and pin the tail on the donkey, I was the donkey. Okay so I may have enjoyed myself just a smidge but I still firmly believed I could have been using my time better.-
The gift giving was my personal favorite part of the party though as per tradition I got a gift from my parents first followed by the Hokage and then my sensei before everyone else after that.
"Your mother and I had to go all the way to the land of iron to get it but we hope it will serve to protect you in the years to come." my dad said with a smile as he and my mom handed me a large rectangular box wooden box with the emblem of a dragon claw burned into the lid that was taller than I was and weighed quite a bit.
Carefully lifting the lid and setting it aside I pulled the silk cover away revealing an intricately engraved dull grey metal staff with many stylized beasts all along it's length.
"Chakra metal!? This must have cost a fortune, I can't accept this!" I said while hurriedly trying to give it back in a panic.
They refused to take it however "It is a small price to see you kept safe and besides we thought that a staff suited you the most with how hermit like you act." My mother said with a smile but had a stern voice that brokered no argument.
"I will make the world remember this staff, I swear it!" I said firmly and they just smiled in satisfaction before respectfully making way for the Hokage.
"You getting invited was a formality you know? Nobody actually expected you to show up." I said calmly.
"I almost didn't in truth but my schedule just so happened to be open today so I figured why not? As far as gifts go I'm afraid my own is much more humble compared to your parents and I suspect my students as well." the old man said with a friendly smile as he pulled out a scroll from his robe and handed it to me.
Opening the scroll I started reading the contents and my eyes bulged out of my sockets in shock. There on the scroll was a personal set of notes on chakra beasts and their abilities written by none other than the second Hokage, Tobirama Senju!
'Humble my foot!' I thought "Surely you know how valuable this is not just to me but in general?" I asked in disbelief.
He chuckled "I'm afraid that beyond the author of those notes the notes themselves hold very little value to anyone else besides you. You should understand that the study of the subject is not very popular and for good reason as it rarely has any use to most shinobi. Were he still alive I have no doubt that my sensei himself would have given these to you personally." he said with a smile before walking away to let my sensei step up.
"My gift can't really be considered one but I finally cracked the seal on that egg you gave me and put it in stasis in this scroll since it's ready to hatch, you just have to release the stasis seal like normal to start the process." she said bluntly but I just smiled and thanked her sincerely since she wasn't really the sappy sort.