21 True Fuinjutsu

Mito and Kane were both sitting sideways on the small couch facing eachother. The old dusty room that was used when Kane first arrived had long since transformed into a proper work area in the few weeks his family came to Konohagakure. 

Off to the side was a set of perfectly identical large scrolls covered in 7777 Kanji, one of which was still drying. Beside the scrolls was a calligraphy set which bore the marks of its maker from Uzushiogakure.

"Performing Fuinjutsu without ink is the final step in becoming an official sealing master by our standards. Working without ink increases the difficulty by many times because of two main reasons. The first is the additional dimension added to the matrix, and the second is the chakra control needed to form the seals. Being an Uzumaki brings an advantage due to our bloodline's inherent spatial awareness, but there is no easy way to learn the spacing required. As for the chakra control, nothing helps but hard work. Due to our inherent naturally large chakra reserves, our control tends to be harder to learn than it is for the average shinobi."

Mito started explaining the basics of this complicated technique before continuing with a demonstration.

"The idea behind your chakra is to find the correct density of the energy and slowly and consistently push it out from your finger. The trick is to maintain this density throughout the entire process, and once you have enough control over it, you can do this."

The finger she had been using to create seals stopped, leaving the glowing white symbol in the air. Then, all 10 of her fingertips lit up with the chakra, and they all began to work independently, creating 100 different kanji within seconds.

As Kane looked at her with amazement written on her face, she smiled at the enthusiasm he had for this under-appreciated art.

"Do you have any questions, Kane-kun?"

The young red-headed boy shook his head. 

"It all makes sense; the chakra is replacing the ink and the air the paper. The density of the chakra has to be like properly made ink; too much water and it runs; too little and it clumps. Then, without the paper, you lose the guide for placing the kanji."

"That is correct. The chakra needs to be thickened before it is expelled. Due to your young age, this will probably be a difficult process. As you grow older, your chakra thickens. This decreases the amount of moulding you need to do. This makes it easy for larger seals. Unfortunately, you will need to learn to create and manage your reserve of moulded chakra before 'refilling it.' That would be the best way to learn. Eventually, as you get more confident in the process, you can mould the chakra as it flows to your finger. This is much harder the younger you are but allows you to make seals endlessly since you don't have to 'refill your ink well.' Your chakra control is good enough to start; you need lots of practice."

Kane nodded and closed his eyes when she finished speaking. He tapped into his small chakra reserve and directed a portion of it to flow up his torso and down his arm to his hand.

Then, he raised his right hand up while compressing the chakra. He didn't know to what extent he should do this, so he just doubled its natural thickness.

Opening his eyes, he began to expel the chakra through his index finger and traced the kanji for FIRE in the air. His finger had a dim glow, and the energy that should make the character dissipated nearly as fast as it was released.

Kane couldn't help frowning at this. His control over the energy was practically perfect, but the density wasn't right. He was rather annoyed by that; he had been told his chakra was thin, but he was just realizing how irritating this process would be.

He closed his eyes and doubled the thickness of his chakra again to bring it to 4 times its base state. This time, as he expelled the energy, it lasted long enough to complete a stroke but still dissipated far too quickly.

Once again, he furrowed his brow and increased the density of the chakra he was working with.

While Kane was getting frustrated at how thin his chakra was at this point in his life, Mito watched his progress with a small, worried smile.

The few weeks she had shown her that he was remarkably talented in controlling his chakra. This made teaching him incredibly enjoyable due to how fast he could pick things up, but sometimes, being talented brings problems.

This wasn't even factoring in his ability to control the energy required for sage mode. Just the fact he would be an Uzumaki-recognized sealing master before age 5 was enough to place him on the political board of the village. 

His young age made him a pawn. An extremely useful pawn with great potential, but a pawn nonetheless. And then there was his ability to kill with the energy no one can see which made him a perfect assassin. He has even made his first kill already, so there is no doubt he would do it again.

All this without any proper ninja training at age 4. This kid was starting to give Mito a headache as, before her eyes, he slowly put together the proper density to create seals within minutes of being shown the technique.

A small part of her couldn't help but be curious about what drove the boy to be so studious at his age, but the largest parts were concerned for his future.

Konohagakure was a peaceful village, but that just means that the struggles were kept hidden from civilians. 

The Uzumaki were never known for their scheming minds, and aside from the remnants of the Senju, he had no allies. Nawaki was a smart kid but had no brain for politics; he was far closer to an Akiamichi for that.

Tsunade was smart but had no interest in politics, but her backing as the princess of the Senju and the student of Hiruzen isn't too bad. 

Kushina was to be the next Jinchuriki, so she would be used as a tool if she wasn't smart.

Ashita was a wildcard. She was capable and loved her family as much as Uzumaki did, but she was almost completely disconnected from the village.

That left Mito alone as both the representative of the Uzumaki in Konoha and the head of the Senju clan.

But as she watched the brilliant smile on Kane's face as he experimented with a small matrix in the air, she couldn't help but wonder what he would do in the future. 

She just hoped she would stick around long enough to see it.

'Sorry Hashirama, looks like there is more I have left to take care of here. I'll make it up to you when I see you on the other side.'

With a small prayer to her late husband, she stopped the boy, who was beginning to sweat without noticing.

"That is enough for now, Kane. Too much chakra use when you are young is bad for your health. Kushina should be home soon, lets go make something for her when she gets back."