"I would be honored to accept this, but first I need to know you, Grandma." I said with a smile.
She seemed surprised both by my refusal and the way I spoke. The smile on my grandmother's face grew larger and she started laughing.
"HAHAHAHA CHILD, YOU ARE TRULY BOLD." she said in a booming voice. "Do you know how many people have begged on their knees to receive this offer?" she asked.
"I don't know and I don't care, Grandma. But I do know one thing: if a person has to beg on their knees to learn something, there is no point in teaching them anything." I said.
"Why do you think that, Toji?" asked my grandmother.
"Because kneeling means burying all of one's humanity, and someone who tramples on their humanity does not deserve to learn or gain strength." I said.
My grandmother smiled even more and patted my head. "You behave very maturely for your age, but given your identity, that should be a benefit. You are piquing my interest even more. Wait for your grandfather to come, then we will discuss all of this." said my grandmother.
My grandmother started walking, and as my mother followed her, she grabbed my hand and pulled me along.
After walking for a while, my grandmother reached the garden of the house and sat at one of the tables.
"Come and sit down." she called us.
My mother sat down and pulled me to sit beside her. My grandmother sat directly across from us.
When we sat down, I had a better chance to look at my grandmother, and I was quite surprised by her appearance. No one would believe she was my grandmother if they saw her.
She had crimson red hair, the same color as mine, and ocean blue eyes. The reason I specifically mentioned the hair color is that the hair tones of people in the village varied, but my grandmother's hair color was clearly the same as mine. In fact, one could say I resembled her more than my parents.
She wore a red robe over a blue kimono-like outfit and had a very authoritative presence. If she walked down the street, people might mistake her for my mother.[IMAGE]
"Serve the tea, daughter-in-law." said my grandmother.
"Yes, mother-in-law." my mother replied and stood up, professionally brewing tea quickly with her excellent control over the teapot set in front of her. She carefully poured the tea into three cups and sat back down with the same professionalism.
My grandmother carefully lifted the cup with two fingers and took a sip. "It's not as good as it used to be." said my grandmother.
"I'm sorry, mother-in-law." my mother replied politely.
I was irritated by the way she treated my mother because she was my mother; she gave birth to someone as noble as me.
I took a deep breath and spoke. "Grandma, why do you treat my mother like this?" I asked.
"How do you think I'm treating her?" asked my grandmother with a smile.
"As if she's not your daughter-in-law but a paid servant." I said.
"Didn't your mother tell you about our relationship, Toji?" asked my grandmother.
"No, Grandma, I don't know the issue between you and why, when you could live in such a big place, we ended up living in a normal house." I replied.
My grandmother sighed and spoke. "I guess I need to tell you everything from the beginning," she said.
"Look, Toji, before your mother married your father, she was a Ninja working for me, more precisely a bodyguard," said my grandmother.
"Grandma, why would you need a bodyguard? I can tell that you are stronger than my mother," I said.
"HAHAHAHA you are right, child, I am indeed stronger than your mother, but having a bodyguard beside me is not because of that," said my grandmother.
"Your mother was initially chosen to protect my son, your father. She was being trained to be his guard both in the Ninja academy and throughout her life, but later they fell in love and got married without telling us.
"When we found out they were married, we were angry, but the reason for our anger was not their marriage but the fact that they got married without telling us. That's why we had a fight with your family, and they decided to leave the house."
"Later, when I learned that you were born, I wanted to see you immediately, but I had a lot to do for the past year. That's why I was only able to call you now." said my grandmother.
"Well, Grandma, what is my father's position that requires an elite jonin-level bodyguard?" I asked.
"Your father is the prince of Uzushigakure," said my grandmother.
I was surprised and shouted, "EEEEHHH?!"
"Are you serious, Grandma?" I asked.
"I'm completely serious, Toji." said my grandmother.
"So my grandfather is the Uzushikage, and since you are his wife, you are the first lady of Uzushigakure." I said.
"A good deduction." said my grandmother, grinning.
I turned my head and looked at my mother. "I was going to tell you this later." my mother explained.
I took a deep breath and spoke. "So that's why people always stared at me while walking around the village."
"HAHAHAHA it's not just because you are my grandchild, but because you belong to our branch, which has the purest Uzumaki bloodline in the village. And for some reason, your lineage is even purer than ours, which draws people to you. The purer the Uzumaki bloodline, the more attractive the person becomes, and the slower they age once their body reaches full maturity." said my grandmother.
God, this clan is seriously messed up. You are telling me that the purer the bloodline, the more attractive you become. Are you a Ninja or a bed beast?
"Grandma, how about you tell me more about the advantages of the clan?" I asked.
"I would be happy to do so, child." she said and started explaining.
"You probably already know, but we have massive chakra reserves. This causes us to struggle with chakra control, but the disadvantages are negligible compared to the advantages." said my grandmother.
"Another feature is our incredible vitality. If you have enough chakra, even a severed arm can be reattached. But even without chakra, we have a kekkei genkai called the 'healing bite.' So don't be afraid of dying; as long as your brain is intact, we can keep you alive even with a hole in your heart." said my grandmother.
What are you saying, woman? How can you describe reviving a dead person so casually?
Of course, I didn't voice these thoughts and kept them to myself. Meanwhile, my grandmother continued explaining.
"Another feature is our incredible sealing abilities. We can seal almost anything as long as we want to. If you look at me, you can see that I have a lot of seals on my body. And even if we can't seal something through normal means, we have a kekkei genkai called 'Adamantine Sealing Chains.' Normally, it wasn't as strong as it is now, but over time we found ways to strengthen this kekkei genkai and added extra seals to make it incredibly powerful." said my grandmother.
I did as my grandmother said and checked her body. The next second, my eyes widened because there were very few places on her body that didn't have seals. Even her clothes had over a hundred seals.
"Don't be too surprised, child. The only people who carry this many sealed items and have this many seals on their bodies are your grandfather and me. Most people's bodies have fewer seals than this." said my grandmother.
I wasn't too surprised by this because if everyone could write this many seals on their bodies, they would be truly divine beings.
"Now let's move on to another feature, our superhuman strength. Along with our vitality, we also possess incredible strength, and we use seals and techniques to increase it." said my grandmother.
I didn't question this much because I already knew about it. Meanwhile, my grandmother continued explaining.
"We are also very skilled sensors because we have a technique called 'Kagura Mind's Eye.' This technique allows us to see for several kilometers easily and examine human nature. This way, we can see who is good and who is evil. Additionally, by enhancing this ability with seals, we can have a dojutsu superior to the 'Sharingan' and 'Byakugan.'" said my grandmother.
This was truly surprising because the woman in front of me claimed that she could have a dojutsu better than the Sharingan and Byakugan.
I expect it to surpass the Byakugan, but claiming to surpass the Sharingan, which has abilities like Susanoo, excited me.
As my grandmother was about to continue speaking, a clear and authoritative voice was heard inside the house. "I am home, Ruriko." said the voice.
I guessed this person was my grandfather.
When I looked towards the door, I felt a chakra rapidly approaching us. My instincts were not wrong, and within a very short time, a middle-aged man appeared at the entrance of the garden.
This man was a middle-aged man with a dirty beard, crimson hair tied in a ponytail, and blue eyes.[IMAGE]
To Be Continued...