Naruto: Kage of Kages

While Shiki settled on a training regimen and got to work, Tsunade who had finally escaped Senju Gou’s lecture, took her little brother Nawaki and went to Mito’s mansion.

Her grandmother’s jab at their lack of filial piety as her grandchildren told her there would be hell to pay later if a correction in attitude was not shown immediately.

When they reached the mansion, there were no servants around but the door was already open for them, beckoning the two to enter as if Mito already expected their presence as a matter of course.

Gulping down with nervousness, Tsunade and Nawaki briefly looked at each other before stepping forward with resolve as if walking towards certain death.

Mito was a creature of habit and regularly spent her time in the same room of the mansion, drinking tea with only her thoughts to keep her company unless she was doing some activity along with Shiki.

And so, Tsunade and Nawaki knew exactly where to go despite having no guide and, as they expected, they found their grandmother in her usual spot with a traditional cup of tea in her hand.

“Stop being so dramatic and treating yourselves like human sacrifices to a great beast . . .” Mito started.

“Unless you feel as if you deserve such treatment?” She added.

Tsunade and Nawaki twitched and awkwardly laughed, making the redhead shake her head in exasperation.

Seeing this sign of forgiveness, Nawaki sighed in relief before dashing towards Mito with a shining bright smile.

“Long time no see obaa-sama!” He exclaimed.

“And why has it been a long time exactly?” Mito questioned but her tone had no real bite to it so Nawaki just embarrassedly laughed.

“Hehehehe.”

“Hello again obaa-sama.” Tsunade greeted more casually as it was the second time she saw Mito in the day even if the first was far from ideal circumstances.

The Uzuaki matriarch gave her granddaughter a pointed look but did not dignify her with an actual response.

Getting a taste of the awkwardness, Tsunade immediately moved the conversation along by switching topics.

“So where is the kid you took in? What was his name again?” She inquired.

“Shiki. His name is Ryumon Shiki. As for location, he is in my library.” Mito responded.

“Eh? I thought I sensed someone practicing in the old training yard.” Tsunade commented.

“That’s just a shadow clone, a jutsu which he learned just a couple of minutes ago.”

‘Honestly. Using shadow clones for non physical training just so he can increase the volume of practice within the same timeframe. He just can not be normal.’ The redhead internally shook her head with exasperation.

It seemed everyone she dealt with was beginning to provoke that sort of reaction from the Uzumaki matriarch these days.

As for how she knew, Mito simply sensed Shiki sitting in the library, probably reading something and then suddenly, more Shikis popped out and moved to complete different tasks, after which the original seemingly went to find something else to read.

It was overall, a pretty obvious conclusion to come to.

“Shadow Clone jutsu? In minutes?” Tsunade questioned with disbelief.

“It’s just the Shadow Clone jutsu. WIth his level of chakra control it would be a wonder if he did not get a handle on this fast.” Mito replied.

Tsunade turned to leave the room to go and meet this mystery child but Mito immediately stopped her.

“And where do you think you’re going? If you want to meet Shiki, wait for dinner and he will show up. No need to disturb his training, especially since I have matters to discuss with you.” The Uzumaki matriarch declared.

“As obaa-sama says. But is that kid really going to be training non stop until dinnertime?” The blonde questioned once again.

“That child’s work ethic is inhuman. If you don’t stop him, he will spend the entirety of his day studying or training. Maybe both since he has shadow clones now.” Mito responded.

“In fact, if not for the chores around the house that I assign to him, that is exactly what Shiki would be doing.” The redhead added.

After that, Mito refused to discuss Shiki any further.

Though she loved her granddaughter, revealing more of Shiki’s information would not only upset the rather mature kid, the info would most likely reach the ears of the Third Hokage as Tsunade still held her sensei in high regard and with a lot of trust.

Although Mito knew she could simply tell Tsunade to keep it a secret, it would change her attitude in a more obvious and upfront way which might set off Hiruzen in a way the Uzumaki matriarch did not want, at least not yet.

The rest of the afternoon was mostly spent hearing Nawaki’s retellings of his D rank missions as a recently graduated genin.

His sensei, Tsunade’s former teammate Orochimaru had told him that they would move up to C rank missions soon but it was still not fast enough for the nine year old boy who craved adventure and recognition so he could follow in the footsteps of his grandfather and become Hokage.

Mito of course, with the gravity brought by the experience of the warring states period, did not hesitate to curb his recklessness, not mincing words in the slightest.

“I did not stop you from graduating early even though I was against it Nawaki but if your attitude towards your duties as a shinobi remains this immature, I will ensure you will never take a step out of this village, understand?” She pressured.

“What!?” The brown haired boy was shocked and speechless.

The Uzumaki matriarch just sighed.

“Your grandfather and granduncle sought to build this village precisely so children would not be sent to war or even combat focused missions in general.”

She began explaining and though the topic was not to Nawaki’s liking, because it was still related to the two people he admired the most, he attentively listened.

“Originally, the idea was to adequately train new shinobi in the academy, ensuring they were not unprepared for their duty nor ignorant of its true nature.” Mito continued.

“The concept of early graduation was not allowed and assigned missions would be D rank until the shinobi either reached a level of maturity deemed appropriate or they were promoted to chunin via the Chunin Exams as a non deadly simulation of war.”

“Only then would C rank missions be considered. But the old monkey made alterations to this system a bit over a year after his inauguration as the Hokage and though he did not face much backlash from the youth so eager for a glorious death . . .”

The redhead paused, scoffing at the mentality.

“Those who remember the horror of the warring states where the battlefields were littered with the corpses of younglings and shared Hashirama and Tobirama’s vision have always opposed the changes to the system implemented by Tobirama to protect our young.”

“Why did sensei make these changes?” Tsunade curiously asked.

The changes had been made shortly before her enrollment and graduation. She herself had graduated at six years old, a full three younger than Nawaki who had graduated earlier in the year.

A fact that enraged Mito to no end and led her to refuse to talk with her son who had supported it for quite a while.

“That’s a topic for another time.” Mito dodged the subject, not wanting to get into that with Nawaki around.

“It’s already dinner time anyway. Shiki ought to be coming around soon.” The redhead spoke and the matter was shelved for the moment.

As she said this however, Mito made sure to give her granddaughter a look that informed her they would be having an important discussion later and that this topic would likely be included in it.

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