Chapter 21: Chapter 21 - Wisdom of The Pioneer
Tobirama stopped to gather his thoughts.
"Now Shinjo, while I was born with the talent for water release, you were born with the affinity to Yin release and it is to a level or two higher in your case. Your ability to already manipulate your spiritual energy to interact with physical nature is a testament to that. I would say, that is the manifestation of 2nd level chakra nature control of Yin affinity. And if you master it to the next level, you can reach the super kage level chakra nature control, only by the virtue of your talent."
Tobirama's words shocked Kagami, Sakumo and Ryuga. Even he himself was shocked when he saw him for the second time in the forest, when he was returning from the graduation of the Hattori children.
"Sharingan, Byakugan and the mythical Rinnegan are manifestations of Yin chakra affinity in the physical body. But yours!!" Tobirama sighed at his own assumption,
"Yours is the true manifestation of Yin chakra nature in its purest form and it is spilling over to your chakra nature control of the second element. This is the case with most of your clan members, which is why they manifest their kekkei genkai when they hit puberty, meaning the maturation of their Yin chakra nature affinity to the absolute limit possible by their raw talent."
"Then I don't have to do anything, just wait for my Yin chakra affinity to hit its limit and I would be able to achieve my goal? To control earth as a fluid?" Shinjo whispered in a low voice, feeling the burning gazes that bore into his back.
Tobirama chuckled slightly and cautioned,
"Do you know how the first ever Kekkei Genkai manifested? Obviously they didn't possess the genetics from the start, now did they? The genes only changed after their chakra nature turned into that of Kekkei Genkai and the genes adapted to it."
"Then where did they come from?" Shinjo asked, bewildered.
Tobirama turned around, facing his back towards the entourage and looked at the distant hokage rock and the mountains beyond.
"At first, the Man didn't have chakra at all. There was only natural energy, which only a handful of sages mastered. Then Sage of six paths appeared and the chakra was magically borne in all the planet's inhabitants."
Kagami nodded, having read something similar in his clan's historical scrolls.
"When the humans slowly mastered their new found super natural abilities, those who lived in different climates evolved differently. Those in rocky area developed stocky bodies, while those who lived in oceanic areas developed lithe bodies. But along with their bodies, their genes also adopted the nature of chakra that was abundant in their respective climates. And gradually their genes evolved. And those able to inherently accommodate multiple chakra nature affiinities were born. The only missing element was to master the duality of chakra. Ice release of Yuki clan, Lava and explosion release from the Earth nation are just a few examples of that manifestation. Even those who had peculiar bodily structures appeared. The shark natured shinobis of Kirigakure, the shinobis from Hozuki clan who can turn their bodies into water entirely and as such."
"Hence although the Kekkei genkais are hereditary, the first of their kind evolved out of the necessity or intent to survive and adapt. This is the evolution of Ninjas. Back to your situation, your clan is also one of those few who evolved from nocturnal nature of your early environments, which forced your kind to adapt to the shadows and darkness. Now if you only wait for your Kekkei Gankai to evolve, you could take it easy because it is going to happen whether you want it to or not. Because you are standing on the shoulders of your forefathers. But it is also your responsibility to advance your bloodline to a step further. You won't be doing justice to your gifted potential."
Saying so far, the pioneer of the Shinobi intoned with as much seriousness as he could muster,
"Then what will happen if You actually begin to master your abilities in Earth nature by the help of your Yin chakra nature? You will tune your body to a very specific purpose, hence you can guide your emergence of your Kekkei Genkai and DOUBT me not, Shinjo, you will have few in this world that can match your prowess." Tobirama slowly turned around and enunciated word by word,
"Perhaps you will become the next God of Shinobi."
The words and wisdom blew away Shinjo's perception and understanding of the world. Truly a master, The man named Tobirama Senju. The pioneer that guided the development and evolution of a Shinobi's way of life.
They were really witnessing history at that moment. Kagami had a newfound respect for his sensei and Shinjo, Sakumo and Ryuga were gobsmacked.
They all bowed before the man and the myth and the legend, shouting,
"Thank you very much Hokage-sama. Thank you for your tutelage."
Tobirama smiled encouragingly at them,
"So Shinjo, continue to refine your methods to the limit, so when the time comes, you can make the most out of it. If you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve that. I am sure you can control earth like a fluid in the future."
And looked at everyone,
"You guys are the next pillars of the village. Konoha has always been the pioneer of the shinobi world. It is both our pride and also a burden. I hope that some day when I am not there, you guys will pick up where I left off and make the world a better place."
With that, he disappeared from the training ground, leaving behind a trace of lightning and the worshipping and determined group of master and his disciples.
It was now their job to make sure that the legacy of their master didn't stay unknown.
.....
On the way back to the village, the group stayed silent most of the way, having a lot of thoughts swirling in their minds.
Shinjo said goodbye to his mentor and friends and headed back to his clan compound. When he was climbing up the hokage mountain, his gaze inadvertently turned towards the faces carved in the rock.
He realized, as much as the first hokage was world renowned as the strongest man alive, the God of shinobi, his shadows covered his more talented brother. Did the world knew of the greatness and foresight of the second hokage? Would they really appreciate it if they knew?
His heart felt full, having had the opportunity to meet such a legend while he was alive. In respect, his head bowed unconsciously and remained bowing for a few mintues.
When he got up, his eyes were full of respect towards the second hokage. With new found determination and to live upto his expectations, he renewed his vigor and walked home with purposeful steps and a straight back.
.....
Back home after dinner, Shinjo silently stepped out of the hall and sat next to his father, who was staring at the clear moonlight peeking through the woods. They just sat together, comfortable in the silence.
After a while.
"Tou-san, you experienced the end of warring states era, right?"
"Hmm."
"How was it back then?" Shinjo asked softly, while staring at the moon. Crickets buzzed in the darkness, the wind completely absent. It gave the feeling of a father and son standing the edge of world.
"How was it? It was utmost chaos back then. Today's friends would be tomorrow's enemy. You would get stabbed in the back by your partners, who you fought with before. For benefits of course. You would never know who to trust. Only your clan would truly have your back. That was the era of clans and tribes. Sighs, I can still hear the echoes of that era." Saying that, he turned to him and asked in a puzzled tone,
"Why are you asking, son?"
Instead of replying, he questioned back,
"Did you know the second hokage before the village was founded?"
Kaemon hearing the question, didn't answer immediately and turned to stare at the moon. Shinjo too turned back and stared.
After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Kaemon answered,
"Yes I did."
"When? How?"
"Hmm, when was it again? I think I was 10. About your age. The village wouldn't be established for another 5 years. I was on a mission with your grandfather. It wasn't my first mission, I was already a veteran in the job. Your grandfather, a few of his friends, Me along with some of your uncles went in this mission that hired us to massacre a clan. Now the clan was inherently evil. They were a barbaric clan. They would steal women from the villages and money from merchants. Like we are assasins, they too were a clan of barbarians. Stealing and plundering was their job."
"So we get done with the job and were on our way to our clan. Now we couldn't come straight back, that would give away our location. So we took a round about way, that required us to pass through the territory of Hagorormo clan, an ally of the Uchihas back then. Coincidentally they had secret dealings with the barbaric clan, that we somehow were not aware. In hindsight, I know now it was trap. But we didn't know then. A grave mistake. We got ambushed by the Hagoromo clan on the way back. If we retreated hastily, our whole clan would be annihilated, if not then, with its clan leaded (Hanzo Hattori) gone, it wouldn't take much longer."
"When we were on our last legs, many of our clansmen sacrificed themselves for the clan leader and me to retreat. My clan elder brothers and uncles. They mostly died. I thought that was it. But suddenly, branches grew out the trees, piercing our assailants and surrounded us in defense for any sneak attacks. They were taken down in one fell swoop. When the branches cleared, we saw the famous Senju brothers, Hashirama-san and Tobirama. That was our first encounter."
Shinjo listened with relish to the stories of the old. It was as if he was there in that moment. He imagined how glorious the era had been, when the Senju brothers were still in their heyday.
"After that day, we became eternal allies of the Senju. They saved our clan from another genocide and a few years later, we joined them in the establishment of Konoha."
After saying that, Kaemon took back his look of reminiscence and advised his son in a fatherly voice,
"Listen up, Son. When you see a senju in jeopardy, you jump into help. No matter the consequences. We owe them our lives and prosperity and we will live repaying them back."
"Hai, Tou-san" Hana eavesdropping from the side room smiles contently.
.....
Honestly, the contribution of Tobirama to the world was never covered in depth in the canon or in the many ffs i have read. So i wanted to do justice to one of my favourite character.
Let me know how is the quality of the chapters in the comments.
P.s. I don't like Hashirama much.
Like it? Then add this to your library and hit me with them powerstones. Ciao.
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