Chapter 47: Mind's Eye of the Kagura
"Great-Grandpa!" Kenji-kun's shout snapped Masahiko out of his daze.
Masahiko smiled. "Little Kenji-kun, I haven't seen you in five years and look how big you've grown. You look just like Mito... well, mostly like Mito..."
"Great-Uncle, Hashirama's looks aren't that bad..." Mito interjected from the side.
"Oho," Masahiko teased, "it seems you and Hashirama have had a good relationship all these years."
Masahiko looked around the room, a nostalgic look on his face.
"This room is so familiar. This is the guest room of the Senju clan, isn't it? Fourteen years ago, when I escorted you here for the wedding, I stayed right here."
Mito chuckled softly. "That's right. This is where you mastered the Yin Seal, remember?"
Masahiko looked embarrassed. He finally understood why Mito was the one guarding him.
His three disciples, along with Hashirama and Tobirama, all thought Masahiko had fallen into a coma because he had overdrawn his life force. But Mito knew that Masahiko naturally looked this young. His sudden coma must have worried her greatly.
After the embarrassment passed, Masahiko smiled with relief. "At least you're filial..."
Mito nodded. "I'll take Kenji-kun to the training grounds. He hasn't practiced at all today."
Masahiko nodded. "Go on."
After Mito and Kenji-kun left, Masahiko shook his head, looking slightly confused. Ever since he opened his eyes, he found that the entire world felt subtly different.
"Is it because of the Yin Release chakra?" Masahiko murmured, looking at his status bar.
"Mind's Eye of the Kagura?"
Masahiko noticed that the "Sensory Perception" in his Special Talents section had disappeared, replaced by an ability called "Mind's Eye of the Kagura" (Kagura Shingan).
With a thought, Masahiko formed the Tiger seal with his right hand. Mind's Eye of the Kagura, activate!
Instantly, the chakra fluctuations of the entire Senju compound were brought into Masahiko's senses. He pushed his senses further, and surprisingly, he could sense everything within a radius of dozens of miles.
"Kagura Shingan... so this is Karin's true ability?" Masahiko had always assumed his sensory ability was the same type as Karin's, just with a smaller range because of his poor talent...
"Is it an advanced version of the Sensory Perception? It must be because my soul became stronger." Masahiko muttered, "It seems Karin's talent in the future was truly remarkable. If she hadn't been taken by Orochimaru for experiments, she probably would have been a kunoichi no less impressive than Kushina."
Masahiko used the ability to carefully scan the Senju clan.
"This represents the Clan Head's hall... Tobirama is there, but Hashirama isn't... Senju Ten'yu isn't there either. It seems they went to the Kurama clan to demand an explanation."
Just as Masahiko was about to carefully study his new ability, he sensed three familiar chakra signatures arriving at his door.
"Come in!" Masahiko spoke before they even knocked.
"Sensei!" It was Masahiko's three disciples who entered.
"Sister (Auntie) Mito told us you were awake." The three spoke in unison.
Masahiko scratched his head slightly. "Yiko-chan, why did you call Mito 'Auntie'? Just calling her 'Sister' is fine."
"But... my mom calls Auntie Mito 'Sister'..." Yiko-chan whispered timidly.
"It's fine, everyone calculates it differently. If you go by my generation, you'd have to call her Niece..."
"Okay..."
After this small interlude about titles, the three disciples finally remembered to ask about Masahiko's health.
Masahiko tried repeatedly to explain that he hadn't overdrawn his life force, but rather used a special jutsu. But... no one believed him.
Finally, helpless, Masahiko shooed the three disciples out, claiming he needed to rest.
After they left, Masahiko lay back on the bed. Not to recover, of course, but to think about what to do next.
"It seems if I don't actually 'lose' some life force, I won't be able to explain this." Masahiko punched his palm. "Let's do that!"
"I'll use the Transformation Jutsu to age myself one year every day until I look 50? No, losing two years of lifespan for one use of youthful appearance seems too little."
"Let's make it 53!"
"Five years of life lost per use. That way, I can blatantly use it at least three or four more times in the future..."
Masahiko finally found a reasonable way to explain the changes in his appearance. So, over the next few days, his three disciples watched in horror as Masahiko grew visibly older day by day.
Masahiko didn't rush to explain this time. Instead, he observed the performance of his three students.
To his gratification, Nanako-chan had become much more serious about her training and was gradually revealing an extraordinary talent for Fuinjutsu. Yiko-chan had matured after the recent events, no longer as timid and cowardly, and had even thrashed Kento-kun several times.
As for Kento-kun, his hard work was impeccable, and his progress was accelerating. As a result, conversations like this often occurred on Training Ground 2:
"Kento-kun, come! Let Sensei teach you a lesson with this youthful body!"
"Sensei..." Kento-kun rushed forward with tears of emotion in his eyes.
"Argh!" With a scream, Kento-kun flew back.
Masahiko was helpless too. He felt that if he didn't take this opportunity to beat Kento-kun in Taijutsu now, in two or three years, barring any accidents, he would probably be the one getting thrashed by Kento-kun.
Masahiko also had doubts. Even without his guidance, Kento-kun's talent shouldn't have been buried. Yet, the original story never mentioned him. Masahiko suspected some accident must have happened to him, so he was constantly on guard against any misfortune befalling Kento-kun.
"Did he die when the Uzumaki clan was destroyed?"
These days continued for a week until Hashirama returned, followed by a shamefaced Senju Ten'yu.
"What?! Brother, you just let the Kurama clan off like that?!" In the Clan Head's hall, Tobirama's shout echoed all around.
"I'm not surprised at all..." Masahiko, sitting nearby, twitched his mouth and thought to himself.
"Tobirama, let's not talk about that for now..." Hashirama laughed awkwardly and signaled Ten'yu with his eyes.
Senju Ten'yu took two steps forward, walked up to Masahiko, and bowed deeply. "Thank you for the sacrifice you made this time. Otherwise, I would have become a sinner of the Senju clan!"
Masahiko rolled his eyes inwardly. 'The sacrifice I made really was huge. I used to maintain a 48-year-old face, and now I have to look 53. My handsome looks are fading away...'
Out loud, however, he replied, "No need to be polite. You were under a genjutsu."
Hearing this, Senju Ten'yu slowly raised his head and looked at Hashirama. "Clan Head, since I made such a huge mistake this time, I wish to resign from the position of Great Elder. In future wars, I will be the one to charge at the very front!"
Hashirama shook his head. "There probably won't be many wars in the future. The reason I let the Kurama clan off this time was to show the other small clans the sincerity of the Senju. In a while, I plan to visit them one by one, end this chaotic era, and build a peaceful village!"
"Brother, you're still holding onto that unrealistic fantasy!" Tobirama said flatly.
"It's not a fantasy. I will convince them! As for the Uchiha, I will go to find Madara last. He shares the same dream as me; he will agree."
Hashirama's eyes were full of longing.
Tobirama hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. "Brother, in this last battle, my sword struck Uchiha Izuna in a vital spot. He... is likely going to die."
Hashirama: "..."
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