Ruling by the Book: Chapter 7: Rituals (Patreon)

Ruling by the Book

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 7: Rituals

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- Kazuya -

I looked at the ritual circle in front of me and rechecked everything twice.

Letting out a sigh, I looked around the massive ritual room covered in fuinjutsu from the floor to the ceiling.

The room was several times larger than the place I had started before. In fact, it was large enough to even house a Tailed Beast sealing without any problems. It was also the place which had cost me the most to get warded as well as the first on the list of priorities for me.

Today was the day of Solstice and also the day when Rituals had the best rate of success. I had planned eight rituals for today. From midnight to midnight.

Several plants like Cactus, Eucalyptus, Snake Plant, Golden Photos, Ginseng Herbs, etc were kept on different parts of the ritual circle.

With everything done, I summoned the Grimoire and started the Ritual.

The Ritual Circle lit up as I felt my chakra pour into the circle. The plants lit up as well and slowly disintegrated into motes of light, swirling around me before finally crawling into my body.

My entire body felt warm before the heat started to increase as if I had a high fever. I still held on.

Slowly but surely, the heat subsided and I sat down on the floor and breathed heavily.

I could feel the energy increase in my body.

Chakra is made up of Physical and Spiritual/Mental Energies so the easiest way to increase them is by increasing either. One must however be careful as an imbalance can be harmful for the body of the user.

The reason the Uzumaki Clan have such high chakra reserves is because of their high vitality. An average Uzumaki could live to ages of one hundred and twenty easily which was also the reason the Land of Whirlpools is also called the Land of Longevity.

The increase was good, almost 40% or so more than my previous reserves but there was still a lot I could do.

I began cleaning and preparing for another ritual.

This time, I had prepared twelve animals for the ritual to increase my chakra control and affinity with chakra.

One of the strongest things in this world is Senjutsu.

After all, the Sage of Six Paths was also a… well, sage.

This art however was not something easy to learn. One must have high chakra, a strong physique and even then they might not be able to learn this art even when they dedicate their whole life to it.

For example Jiraiya. He couldn’t enter Sage Mode without help from the two toads of Mount Myoboku and even then it was imperfect.

While there were some people who could learn and master it in a month, like Ninja Jesus, Naruto Uzumaki.

There was also the Sage of Six Paths who created his own form of Senjutsu after being taught by the Toad Sage.

Also, why was it that animals like toads, snakes and slugs were able to easily master Senjutsu compared to humans?

The answer to all that was affinity.

They had incredible affinity with chakra.

Animals lived in close relationship with nature and were thus more attuned to nature energy and hence could use the art of Senjutsu so easily.

The case of the Sage of Six Paths and Naruto were different.

Hagoromo Otsutsuki was an Otsutsuki, a race which had spent thousands of years robbing the vitality and life from planets and improving their genetic code. They would obviously have incredibly high affinities with Nature Energy.

In fact, not just him, any Otsutsuki would have similar affinities but those conceited morons would never practise Senjustu.

After all, they could just crush everyone with pure power so why waste time and practice or train like the so-called inferior beings?

What was the point of painstakingly gathering all the nature energy and mixing it with physical and spiritual energies to make Senjutsu Chakra when all they had to do was plant a tree and harvest its fruit?

Hagoromo Otsutsuki and his brother Hamura Otsutsuki, while only half Otsutsuki, had plenty of their genes and thus their power.

Asura Otsutsuki’s case was different. He was given the Sage’s Sage Chakra and had the Sage’s body which increased his own affinity.

What I was trying to do was similar. I was trying to use the ritual to increase my affinity to Chakra, in the Otsutsuki way, just instead of sucking up the entire planet, I was just sacrificing some animals.

Rat, Ox, Tiger, Hare, Ram, Snake, Horse, Dragon, Monkey, Bird, Dog and Boar.

A ritual circle had to be made with twelve circles, each separated at 30 degrees, with each animal placed inside one in a particular order.

The only problem was getting a Dragon but it turns out that Komodo Dragons were also qualified as Dragons.

Phew, that saved me a lot of headache.

I couldn’t even imagine where I would run around trying to search for Dragons here.

I had kept the animals in my Grimoire, all tied up and ready with required symbols already drawn on their bodies.

One by one they were placed in the ritual circles and I got back to the centre once more, beginning the ritual.

My chakra seeped out of my body, forming strings and getting attached to the twelve animals, forming a link and suddenly a wind started to blow around us and the Ritual Circle lit up.

The wind was not normal but rather chakra and power from nature swirling around as the animals all struggled before turning into a mud like substance and rushing to me. The mud crawled along my skin before getting absorbed into my body and I felt a rush of dizziness overcome me. I sat down on the ground and closed my eyes, breathing deeply, waiting for it to pass. The feeling did pass away. It happened after around fifteen minutes. I was still feeling a bit weak so I decided to take a small break.

Outside the room, Kuina and Kanae were waiting on standby just in case I needed protection or if I didn’t come out after five hours, they were to wake me up so that I didn’t sleep away the entire day and had to wait for the next solstice.

“Are you alright?” Kuina asked, worry tracing her voice.

“Yes. Just a little dizzy. I am going to sleep. Can you wake me up in an hour or so?” I asked. I could understand the reason for her worries because most of the time, she had seen me passed out on the floor after a ritual. It was normal for her to worry.

“Alright.” They nodded and I left, collapsing on the bed as soon as I reached my room.

I didn’t have chakra exhaustion because that’s something I cannot recover from in one day. I was just tired.

_________________________________x____________________________________

An hour or so later, Kuina woke me up.

I felt fresh as soon as I woke up.

That vitality ritual was doing wonders.

I closed my eyes and tried to feel my chakra and surprisingly found it extremely easy to move and control it. The degree of ease was actually remarkable.

I don’t know how long people would have to practise chakra control to get to this level. Even the range of my Chakra Sensing had increased by a lot. If I were to close my eyes, I could feel chakra in a five hundred metres radius. That was huge.

“Is everything alright?” Kanae asked, looking at my surprised face.

“Alright? No, Kanae-san, it’s better than alright.” I smiled. “This feels amazing.” I looked at my hand. I really wanted to do some experiments but I didn’t have time for that.

The clock was running and I had to do preparations for the next ritual.

This one was for acquiring a healing factor.

Yeah, that sweet sweet healing which made Hashirama and the Jinchuriki such pains to deal with.

This ritual was also divided into several parts similar to the Poison Resistance Ritual. The first part needed me to get several animals who could regenerate their body parts. The second part needed the chakra beast variants of the same animals. The third part was not yet unlocked so I had no idea.

Chakra Beasts were currently out of my reach as while it is easy for shinobi to kill them, it is just as hard for them to be captured so easily, let alone transport the living monstrosities through a large distance.

For those, I will have to go out myself and carry them back in my Grimoire, not something I can do right now.

Since I can’t do it right now, there was no need to worry about it for now.

I concentrated on what I had in front of me.

The new ritual circle took an hour to prepare and I placed several animals like salamanders, lizards, starfishes, axolotls and several others including a shark. Yes, a fucking shark of all things.

I had been stunned at the requirement but not all sharks are massive. Some can fit in the palm of the hands too. When I went out to find more, it turned out that the Land of Water sold a lot of these fishes and the Uzumaki Trio knew of places we could get them, even living ones.

The reason I needed a shark was because they could regenerate too. Not their bodies, their teeth.

The ritual was very thorough.

Apart from that, there was also a flatworm. I never knew that these creatures could regenerate everything, including their brains. Lastly a Deer as they can regrow their antlers too.

Aghh, time for work again.

- Kuina -

She sat near the door of the ritual room with Kanae as Seraphim came to replace them so that they could take a break.

“You two should go and eat. That annoying guy would probably stay there the whole day.” Sera said, in her usual Sera-like manner.

“It’s been three hours. Let’s wait for two more. I will go after that.” She replied, before taking a look at the door. Usually, he only did one or two rituals in a day.

This time however, he was pushing himself too much.

Even one or two left him exhausted enough to sleep the entire day, let alone the eight he was planning this time.

“You shouldn’t worry about him. That guy is like a cockroach. He’s not going to die this easily. He is too much of a coward to take any risks and waste all his work. Still, if he does, I will kill him.”

Her lips twitched at Seraphim’s words.

That was probably her way of reassuring her and showing that she cared. After all, while she didn’t tell Kazuya himself, she considered him her husband due to Vampire Ninja traditions.

It was a weird tradition if someone asked her but hey, she was not one to blame others for being strange.

She was in a different world, training as a samurai, a title which her father had repeatedly told her only belonged to men, when she was actually supposed to be dead after a fall from that damned staircase. Her mood soured everytime she thought of that.

Her, the future Greatest Swordmistress of the World, died due to a fall from a staircase? The entire world would laugh at her if it was ever found out.

Safe to say that all of them had seen their fair share of strange things.

This applied to Sera as well, who might behave rudely at the guy but was willing to take down any enemy who came his way.

She wondered when that dummy would realise this.

Hell, even Kasumi knew about Sera and even the times when he flirted with Kanae-san but that girl is just too sweet for her own good.

While nobles taking more than one wife was not uncommon even in her world, Kuina hadn't been associated with any nobles to know better. She had at best heard about it.

Apparently Kanae-san’s world had similar things too although more uncommon which explained why she would become so embarrassed at Kazuya's teasing.

Kuina had suspicions that Kanae-san also has feelings for Kazuya but just held back due to Kasumi-chan, not that she had to worry about her. Knowing her, she would only be happy for both of them and even welcome her with open arms.

Perhaps it was due to this nature of hers that even Sera was very polite towards Kasumi-chan?

Coming back to her. Her life here was… new. Not to say her life here was bad. In fact, she was freer here than she was back in the Shimotsuki Village.

Everyone respected and looked up to her for her swordsmanship, something she had always desired.

She did miss her father and Zoro sometimes but the people here always supported her. She had even made good friends like Kazuya, Kasumi-chan and Sera. Kanae-san was like a big sister to her while Saito-san and Toji-san were like two uncles, one strict and the other fun.

They waited outside for an hour more before the door opened and he came out, even more exhausted than before, looking like he would collapse if he took another step. “Kazuya!” She shouted and perhaps that was the limit as he did collapse.

Sera caught him before he could hit the ground.

“Need sleep, 5 hours.” He whispered before passing out.

“Sigh, this moron.”

They picked him up and were carrying him towards his room when they heard a voice.

“Kazuya-sama?”

They froze and looked back to see Kasumi-chan carrying what looked like a packed bento in her hands and staring at them.

Oh crap.

- Kazuya -

I woke up to the familiar ceiling of my warehouse.

Pulling four rituals in a line was pushing it too much.

I did the rituals for Underwater Breathing, Eye Enhancement and Night Vision, the second round of Vitality and Mind Enhancement, the last ritual draining me of more of my chakra than expected.

The increase in my stats was beyond expectations and I didn’t have any time to waste so I pushed myself more.

The Eye Enhancement Ritual needed the eyes of several animals, birds and insects. Even now when I concentrated even slightly, I could see everything around me in detail, to the point of seeing the granules of the wooden boards and the roughed up strings of the curtain.

I was pretty sure I could see long distances as well as have an incredible dynamic vision and night vision. In this way, I had a makeshift Sharingan and Byakugan and this was just the first stage of the ritual. If I could get the eyes of the same chakra beasts, I could even get the chance to get chakra vision.

I have to make this ritual for Kanae too as her Flower Breathing needed the user to overstrain their eyes. With this, she could push her abilities to a whole new level.

Underwater Breathing was always a good skill to have. Many ninjas of Kiri had it too.

The main rituals were the last two.

The second vitality ritual increased my vitality furthermore, this time sending my chakra to almost triple of its previous amount, finally reaching Uzumaki levels of chakra. I still hadn’t seen any kage to know how much chakra they had but I was pretty sure, even if I lowballed, I would still be at the elite jōnin level of chakra… and growing. I was pretty sure that if I didn’t do anything and just trained normally from now on, I would still reach the Kage levels in chakra in the future.

It needed the sacrifice of several animals with long lifespans like turtles, clams and sea urchins.

Getting these were a pain in the ass but again, the Uzumaki trio were able to help a lot with some although even they were confused why I would need some of them.

While I haven’t been able to check it, I was pretty sure that I had a minor regeneration by now as there was no way I could start feeling so good after some sleep. I know I was very exhausted.

Last was the Mind Ritual which needed the sacrifice of some specific animal brains or animals with multiple brains and wasn’t this a surprise?

Eidetic Memory, faster thinking, increased calculation power, higher information processing speed, this ritual has enhanced my brain way beyond the last one. In fact, the reason I had kept the Eye Enhancement for later was because I could only use it to the best of its ability with a fast enough brain to process the information I was receiving through my eyes.

There were still two rituals left, one to enhance my strength and durability and the last one to increase my reflexes.

I looked at the wall on the side to see the clock. Eight hours left.

Yeah, I can work with this.

As I was about to get up the door to the room opened again and to my surprise Kasumi entered the room with a tray of food in her hands.

“Kazuya-sama, you are awake.” She hurried to my side and kept the food on the table and looked at me, checking my temperature as well as pouring water for me.

“When did you come here?” I asked.

She normally stayed away when I worked to not disturb me so I was surprised to see her here.

“I… came here to bring you lunch because you were not back for breakfast or lunch. I apologise if I disturbed your work.” She said softly as she sat down on a chair by the side of my bed.

“That… no, it’s fine. I was busy and skipped breakfast and lunch.” I did forget about lunch today.

No wonder I was feeling so hungry after waking up. The rituals and the exhaustion had left me hungry.

I got up and looked at the plate of food. “Did you make this?” I asked.

She nodded slightly nervously. “Yes.”

“It looks delicious.” I smiled and picked up some fried meat and took a bite. “And tastes even better than it looks.”

I wasn’t even joking. She might have some serious talent in cooking.

Her face lit up at my praise.

“But there is something missing.” I said with some thought. And just like that she became nervous again.

Does she wear her emotions on her sleeves? Not wanting to see her sad anymore, I decided to cut my joke short and pulled her by her arm onto the bed and into my arms making her yelp in surprise.

I took another bite of the meat. “Yup, now this tastes perfect.” I smiled and it took her a moment to realise what I did, making her blush even more.

My clothes had slipped down during my sleep, leaving my upper body bare and I could feel her warm breath on my chest. She was realising the position too as her breathing became quick.

I picked her up and made her sit in my lap before my arms snaked around her, pulling her in a hug. “Now, feed us, Kasumi-chan. We are hungry.”

The blushing girl nodded and started feeding me while I enjoyed having her in my lap.

She smelled like jasmine flowers, probably the baths prepared for her by Mira.

That reminds me, this world still didn’t have many good products for hygiene like soaps and shampoos. I could totally make and sell them without any problems.

A thought for later.

I finished my meal in minutes and was still not full but it was rare to get some private time like this with Kasumi as I have been very busy these days with the preparations for the Rōen mission and World Travel.

I have been wondering how long World Travel would be?

I am supposed to get married to her in a few months and if I disappear after that for a long time. How am I supposed to explain this to her?

The only reason I have in mind till now is a long trip for trade purposes but I had no way to take her with me.

While I could hide in other worlds using the transformation jutsu, she didn’t even know anything about ninjutsu.

Hmm, maybe I should start teaching her some ways to protect herself. While she was already eighteen and it would be hard, I can make up for the lost time with medicines and rituals.

I am sure she will be in danger in the future due to her connection to me so it’s better for her to have ways to protect herself.

By now I was sure that there was no way she was going to betray me and I intended to tell her more about my powers similar to how I had told Grandpa.

The man was actually relieved as he sometimes wondered if I had been replaced by someone else.

Although he himself stopped me from telling him anything more as in this world, stealing such information from someone’s head was not uncommon and if my powers were revealed, the entire world would be after my head.

His exact words were, this is your problem now. Just tell me if you need any help and I will lend a hand too.

“Say, Kasumi-chan.”

“Yes?”

“Would you like to train with us?” I asked.

“Eh?”

“Would you also like to train with us? That way you can stay here with us when we are training here.”

“I… I but I don’t know anything…” She started to speak but I cut her off.

“And neither did we. We all have to start from somewhere. If you are worried about starting late, then don’t worry, we will take care of it. We just want you to have some means of self protection or anything you might like, for example Fuinjutsu.”

She looked in thought and then nodded after some time. “If Kazuya-sama wants me to, then I will.”

“We want you to do this if you want to, not because we want it. We absolutely don’t want you to do something you don’t want to. We are not like those people in the Land of Stairs.” I spoke and she suddenly froze, looking at me with wide eyes.

In response, I hugged her closer to myself. “We found how you were treated there and we promise you that you will never have to live like that here.”

“I… didn’t… I wasn’t hiding…”

I felt her shiver in my arms and raised her face with an arm and saw tears in her eyes and let out a sigh. Wiping her tears lightly, I gave her forehead a light kiss.

“You are going to be our family, the first wife of Kazuya Katsuyoshi, the future Daimyo of the Land of Flowers and you will always be treated as such, with respect, love and care from both us and our people… this, we promise you.”

I pulled her into a hug and let her calm down.

After a few minutes when she did, she spoke again.

“We wish to learn, Kazuya-sama.”

“Hmm?”

“We wish to learn Medical Arts.”

“Hmm?” I asked, surprised at her reason.

She went on to explain the reason for her choice. She had arrived when Kuina and the rest of the girls were carrying me after my collapse. Apparently, my body temperature was also high due to the rituals, as if I had a high fever.  The girl was obviously worried out of her mind and had been looking after me since then.

“Alright, then we will get someone to teach you about Medical Ninjutsu and as long as you train hard, we promise you that we will make you the greatest healer in this world.”

While I didn’t have any medical ninja, I had access to all the knowledge in the world. I could totally teach her with enough time.

“I promise.”

Almost right after that, the door to the room opened and all three girls, Kuina, Kanae and Seraphim entered, pausing at the sight of Kasumi in my lap.

Each of them had a different reaction.

Kuina wasn’t even hiding her twitching lips, Kanae was blushing why Seraphim… she was her usual self, glaring.

Kasumi on the other hand was frozen from the shock so I gently helped her get up.

Kuina stared at Kasumi and then frowned at me. “Are you bullying Kasumi-chan? Why was she crying?”

“Hah?”

“Her eyes are red. What did you do?”

“Why do you assume that it was me who did something?” I protested.

“Because I don’t see anyone else here?” She replied while going forward and actually checking if I did anything to her.

My lips twitched at her action. “Just what kind of person am I in your mind?”

“An unrepentant flirt.” She replied without blinking an eye.

“A pervert.” Seraphim replied without even being asked.

Kanae just looked away when I looked at her.

Seriously, these girls…

Thankfully, my future wife was the one who helped me out in this situation and explained everything to the group.

I ordered something to eat as I was still hungry.

“Did you finish your… work for today?” Kanae asked while I was eating.

“Nope. Still got two more left. I will do those after eating.”

“Just… don’t push yourself too much, Kazuya-kun.” Kanae said and I nodded.

__________________________________x___________________________________

The next two rituals also went without a hitch.

The Strength Ritual gave me enough brute strength to put a hole in a rock with my bare hands. Not only that, it also increased the durability of my skin and bones.

I am pretty sure that with another Ritual, I could reach and even surpass Toji’s brute strength and that’s a scary thought.

The Reflex Ritual made sure that I could react to things at the fastest time possible.

With these two rituals and the enhanced Mind, I can finally utilise the body to the fullest.

I am pretty sure I could absolutely obliterate my pre Ritual First Gate self With just my body right now.

The eidetic memory and enhanced eyesight also helped me perfect my Water Breathing at an accelerated pace. I could literally observe the way their muscles moved and memorise it with one look.

I could directly open the third gate now and with some practice will be able to open the fourth and fifth gates without any difficulty too.

Overall, I would easily be a jōnin level, maybe slightly stronger if I were to use the eight gates, except for the combat experience outside of the sparring matches here.

For the first time I could match Kuina and actually suppress her in a fight.

She had complained the entire day about cheating morons but refused to have any rituals done on herself when I offered her.

She wanted to become the greatest swordswoman in the world without any cheating.

If anything, the defeat only pushed her to work harder and open her fourth gate too. Now I really need a healer to help heal her wounds because I doubt my potion reserves can sustain that.

Another thing I finally did was search for the identity of Kasumi’s mother.

Now wasn’t that a surprise? The information would take seven days to recover, the same as Genshiro’s information.

So whoever this woman was, she was not simple.

Today I was with my subordinates, except Toji, waiting for the people from Uzushiogakure to arrive. They had requested that the meeting be private. 

“So, any ideas who we might be expecting?” Saitō asked.

“Probably someone high up in the Land of Whirlpools that even Genshiro-sensei has to wait on the door for. Maybe a noble or an advisor of the Uzushiogakure Village?” I replied. I had no clue.

My questions were answered when I sensed two chakra signatures coming in our direction rapidly.

I almost froze sensing the chakra of one of the people.

It was the largest chakra signature I had ever felt. It was at least a dozen times more than my current chakra levels.

Was it a jinchuriki?

No. That didn't seem right.

Uzumaki didn't have tailed beasts.

So what was this?

I soon got my answer as two figures appeared in front of me.

The other person had similar chakra reserves to Genshiro-sensei so probably another elite Jōnin.

One of them was a guy and the other was a woman, probably in her thirties. You could never say anything with the Uzumaki. It was the woman's chakra I was feeling all this time.

Genshiro-sensei stepped forward and bowed in front of the woman. “Uzukage-sama.”

Holy crap, that's a kage!

The woman nodded. “Genshiro. Are they the ones?” She asked, looking at me.

“Yes, Uzukage-sama. The one in the lead is Prince Kazuya Katsuyoshi-sama and the rest are his retainers.” He then turned towards us and introduced the woman formally. “She is Uzukage, Shiroyasha Uzumaki-sama.”

“Welcome to the Land of Flowers.” I greeted the two. “We weren’t expecting to meet the Uzukage or We would have arranged for a better place for us to meet.”

“No. This is good enough.” She replied, shaking her head.

“Very well then, come, let's take a seat first.” I led them to a place nearby and we all got seated for the discussion.

“I wasn’t expecting the Prince to be this young. Are you sure you can represent the Land of Flowers?” The lady asked me.

“We assure you that We have full authority to make any decision for our land as long as We don’t harm our land but We can understand your worries. If you would like, We could take you to meet our Grandfather and confirm everything for yourself.”

She merely raised an eyebrow. “In that case, we will take your word for it. First of all, let me convey my thanks for saving the life of my daughter, Tamami. As a mother, I would like to express my eternal gratitude for your actions.”

“You are welcome.”

She nodded. “Now let’s get to the real topic. What is it that you want from the Land of Whirlpools and Uzushiogakure?”

“Friendship and alliance.” I replied without any hesitation.

She just rolled her eyes at the reply. “Alright, I take back my words. I can see how you can become a daimyo. You can lie with such conviction that it would shame even those old fogies from other lands. But enough of these pleasantries. Let’s talk for real.”

I controlled the twitch of my lips at her words.

“Our answer would remain unchanged. We truly want friendship and alliance with the Land of Whirlpools and the Uzushiogakure Village. Could you please explain why you think We are lying?” I asked, actually perplexed.

“I am not saying that you are lying. I am just saying that you are not speaking the whole truth. You were able to figure out that Iwa, Kumo and Mizu were planning something even when none of our spies or most of the world had any ideas about it and then you revealed it to us of all people. That shows you know more than you are letting on. You know the actual situation of the Land of Whirlpools and even after knowing all this, you still ask for friendship and alliance from us? I don’t believe it. Even our biggest ally, Konoha, is turning a blind eye to this and yet you approach us. So, what is it that you actually want?”

“Indeed. We knew about the danger the Uzumaki Clan faces and it was exactly why We gave you a clue. You obviously made good on it and are now in a much better position than you would have been before. As for Konoha being your biggest ally, We think you are misunderstanding something, Uzukage-sama. Konoha was never your biggest ally. It was the Senju Clan. With no Senju Clan, you are just like any other clan to them.” I saw her face change slightly, a frown came before disappearing almost as if an illusion.

I would have missed it if I didn’t have my eyesight.

“For Konoha right now, you are just a clan with extremely great resources, whether it be your knowledge and prowess in the art of Fuinjutsu or your bloodlines. It is something which can fall into the hands of their enemies and become a danger to them.” I shrugged but was interrupted in between.

“The Uzumaki Clan also acts as a backup for Konoha in times of danger and comes to help them. Losing us gets them nothing. If anything it will be foolish.”

I chuckled.

If I was being honest, I didn’t know if Konoha, especially Hiruzen, was actually a grandfatherly person from my memories or just a manipulative bastard but none of that really mattered to me.

What if it’s true and what if it’s false. The only thing that mattered right now was to convince the Uzukage.

“Sure. Your words are all true. But tell me this, if they had to choose between sacrificing two thousand of their people for the sake of two hundred of yours, would they? If they had to choose between sacrificing a clan from their village and your clan, who would they choose?”

Her face blanched.

“They already have whatever you have to offer. Due to this, they hold an advantage against their enemies too. But if the same knowledge and bloodline were to fall into the hands of their enemies, it can overturn their advantage in an instant. Perhaps if Hashirama Senju were to be alive, things would have been different. Then again, no one would have dared to start a war if that person were still alive. But We are not here to talk about past matters. Konoha could have had second thoughts if the Senju Clan had been the same as before but they are in a similar if not an even worse situation right now. If We are not mistaken, Mito Uzumaki is on her last leg, isn’t she?”

Her expression worsened with every word of mine.

“Seems like you understand that too or you wouldn’t be here, so as you said, let’s talk for real now.” My expressions became serious too. “We will say it again, what We want is the friendship and alliance of the Uzumaki Clan and not like the one they have with Konoha but the one they had with the Senju Clan. We will say this again. We do not want your Fuinjutsu knowledge or your bloodlines. We just want a cooperative relationship. You help us and we help you. Nothing more and nothing less.” I replied.

She just stared at me for a while and then spoke. “Why?”

“Two reasons. First, We appreciate the loyalty of the Uzumaki Clan and the whole structure of the Clan and the Land of Whirlpools. It’s exactly how the relationship between a land and their village should be. Second, We do not want to see a place with such masters of Fuinjutsu go to ruin due to the greed and fear of the five Great Nations. We understand what it is like to be in such a situation and do not want anyone else to suffer like that. There have been enough casualties for that reason already.”

“And what exactly can you provide us with? You cannot save our Clan from extinction.” She asked.

“And why exactly can We not do that?” I asked.

“You are barely a jōnin and these subordinates are chunin level or tokubetsu jōnin level at best. Even I can take you all out without breaking a sweat.” She answered with a roll of her eyes.

This made me laugh.

This woman really didn’t hold back her thoughts.

“Why do shinobi always think of fighting and killing as a solution to every problem?” I shook my head.

“It’s what they are trained to do.” She replied without any hesitation.

“Yes, We know. Honestly, it’s quite a waste of their skills. There are so many useful ways a shinobi can use their skills and yet they choose to use it for violence of all things. Water Style could be used to gather water from the air to water crops, Earth Style can be used to pave roads through the mountains and construction and yet they use it to drop and bury people. Sigh, such a massive waste of resources. But then again, it’s not the fault of the shinobi alone but also of their daimyos for only using them for such things. Anyways, let’s not get into this line of talk or We will continue to babble for the rest of the night.”

I shook my head and concentrated on the topic at hand. “There is a simple way to solve this problem. All the Uzumaki Clan needs to do is relocate to somewhere they cannot find you.”

“It won’t work. Do you truly think it’s that easy? They will search the entire Elemental Nations if we were to disappear suddenly. Since they have decided to exterminate us, they will not give up that easily.”

“Again. If they will search for you throughout the elemental nations, then why don’t you go away from the Elemental Nations?” I asked.

“Eh?”

“The world is far bigger than you think, Uzukage-sama. The Elemental Nations are not even a tenth of the whole world. There are other continents other than the Elemental Nations, some big, some small. One of them is one and a half months away from us by the ocean if you know the way. None of the people from the Elemental Nations will be able to find you there.” I finished and saw their eyes widen in surprise.

Initially, I had been planning to get some of their people for the Land of Flowers but something changed in between.

Toji asked me for a map of the world to know more about the places and that’s when I realised that I knew nothing of the world apart from the Elemental Nations so I asked my Grimoire for a map of the world and the information only took three days to get.

And that’s when I realised just how little we know of this world because no one knew of the continent I was talking about in Elemental Nations.

“You are not joking.”

“We do not joke when so many lives are at stake, Uzukage-sama. Our sense of humour is far better than that.”

“If your information is indeed correct, then the Uzumaki Clan will be the eternal allies of the Land of Flowers and the Katsuyoshi Clan. I know that you are interested in Fuinjutsu and are even teaching your people so we will even send three of our top Fuinjutsu Masters along with the ones already here to your court to teach you and anyone you wish our art, even the Fuinjutsu of the Uzumaki Clan. They will be yours to command. We can even establish an alliance in a similar way as the Senju Clan, through marriage. I know you already have a fiance so we can send you a concubine in secret to seal the deal.” She finished in one breath.

This time, it was my turn to be taken aback.

Damn, that… was a lot.

I collected myself after a few seconds and spoke. “We appreciate your offer but We would like to make some changes to the offer.”

She nodded.

“We appreciate you sending your people to our command and We won’t lie that it’s an incredible offer, swaying even us, We do not wish to take advantage of you. As We have said, We want a friendship similar to what your clan has with the Senju Clan. We do not want to separate those people from their families. If anything, you can send them to teach our people but allow them to leave when our Land has at least three Masters of our own. Even teaching them the Uzumaki Fuinjutsu will be left to your wishes and will not be forced by us. As for the offer of a concubine, We accept it but would like for it to be a year or so later. We are scheduled to marry Princess Kasumi and taking a concubine just after will not only be disrespectful to her but to the concubine as well. We cannot and will not do that.”

She just stared at me for a while and then opened her mouth again. “You are a fool, you know that, right?”

“Hahahaha, yes. We have been called that by our retainers several times.” I laughed before taking out a piece of paper from my sleeve pocket and handing it to her. “This is the map to the continent.”

She quickly took the paper and looked at the map, memorising it with almost a look and then keeping it in her sleeves.

“Thank you. I will meet you again after verifying this information and discuss further plans. Again, thank you.” She replied with a bow.

“Don’t worry. This is something We would have done regardless. After all, two of our teachers are from the Uzumaki Clan. We cannot sit aside and see them perish.” I smiled.

This time even she smiled. “You really are a fool.”

“We have a feeling that you prefer this version.” I smiled and replied.

“You do realise that I could finish you off right now and take this map away and no one would ever know where the Uzumaki Clan goes? If anything, you become more of a liability after giving us this information than an ally.”

I smiled at her words.

“Obviously I know that… but tell me, do you seriously think We would walk in without any preparations?” I asked.

“With just you five? There are only you and your retainers here and no other humans in a five kilometre radius of us and I could take you all on and leave without sweating.” She replied.

“Oh, and how strong does Uzukage-sama think we are?”

“I have heard that you have some technique to hide your chakra but your chakra was sensed when you were training. You are a jōnin level at best, an average jōnin.”

“Hoh.” I looked at Genshiro- sensei and released my chakra blocking technique and let my chakra run wild. I saw his eyes widen. “Was this what you sensed last time? The reason you sensed our chakra was not because you caught us off guard but rather because we wanted you to sense us.”

Even the Uzukage was slightly surprised. “Alright, definitely more than I expected. An Elite Jōnin level at such an age was not something I was expecting. Still, it’s not something I cannot manage.”

“Obviously, we know that. But tell me, Uzukage-sama. Have you perhaps heard of the Eight Inner Gates?”

“The Eight Gates are eight specific tenketsu along the chakra pathway system which  exist in order to limit the flow of chakra within an individual's body.”

“Exactly. Normally, individuals can use no more than 20% of their body's full potential, the brain's way of protecting the individual from harming their body through overexertion. With training, individuals can learn to remove these limiters, referred to as "opening" the gates. With each opened gate, individuals are given access to more and more of their body's chakra, thus increasing their physical strength and speed. If one can open all eight gates, they can gain power surpassing even the likes of Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha but the only catch is that you will…”

“Die.” She completed. “Yes. I am aware and so are many others and yet in thousands of years, no one has been able to devise a method to open these gates safely…” And then she paused looking at me with a slightly open mouth. “You did not?”

“But of course We did.” I looked at Kuina and ordered. “Would you please give us a demonstration? Not much just opening till the third gate will be enough.”

She nodded and walked to a distance from us and took a deep breath and suddenly her chakra roared.

She went from Tokubetsu Jōnin level to almost Elite Jōnin levels, her chakra cracking the ground under her as the wind from her chakra release blew away the trees around us. She drew her sword and the next moment, her figure blurred and appeared near a rock, sending a wave of chakra which cut apart dozens of trees.

“That will be enough.” I ordered and she reverted back to her normal state again while I looked at the stunned Uzukage and spoke calmly. “While We might not be able to rival Uzukage-sama in terms of experience, skills or even chakra.” I narrowed my eyes. “We can make sure that if our life is truly endangered, We drag our enemies down together with us to become nourishment for the very flowers our land gets its name from.”

I was obviously not serious. I couldn’t do shit to her if I didn’t open at least six or seven gates, something I didn’t have the ability to do right now.

We stared at each other and I was thanking all that was good that I had done the previous Mind Ritual before meeting her or I would have obviously shown some flaw.

She backed down after a few moments and I smiled and continued.

“Obviously, as We have said. We are not exactly into violence so We have also prepared some backups. For example, some of our retainers have also been given this same map and told of our plan. They know of our meeting and if anything were to happen to us… well, you can guess that.”

“Good. If you want to survive on this continent, you would need to have at least this kind of preparation. Your attitude reminded me of Hashirama Senju’s but you do not have the strength like him to back it up. If you continued like that, you would just get taken advantage of and die before you can reach your full potential. That would be an incredible shame.”

“We thank you for your advice.”

The rest of the meeting went on without any problems.

Genshiro-sensei had told them about my odd hobby of collecting chakra beasts and other things and as the leader of a Shinobi Village, she had far more information and even access to these things.

We were promised these things and in return we sell them food and gold to prepare for their relocation. In the other continent, the currency from the Elemental Nations will not work so they had to liquidise everything too.

I even asked them for the prisoners they had, citing targets for testing out new Medical Ninjutsu we were developing as a reason.

She didn’t even blink an eye at the demand.

Prisoners of war were treated as dead in this world unless they were some big shots in which case, they would likely actually die rather than get captured.

After all, there is a thing called the Bingo Book as well as a bounty on the heads of any decent ninja around.

We parted ways after discussing the basics and decided to finalise things after they verified my information.

I slumped on my couch after reaching home.

“That was a dangerous game you played out there, my Lord.” Saitō said as he took a seat too.

“And yet We couldn’t back down at such a time.”

“She could have attacked you.” Kuina said, sweat visible on her forehead.

“No. There was no way she was going to attack us. You don’t get to be the head of a ninja village by being an idiot. If she truly wanted to attack us, she wouldn’t have said anything and returned and verified the news and then have us assassinated. Worst case, they could have tried to use some Fuinjutsu to control us. In both cases, I had ways to escape and then ruin them. Moreover, they didn’t know if we had any back ups.” Worst case, I would have taken me and all my subordinates inside the Grimoire and set the time to return back after ten days.

It was a risky move no doubt but I am pretty sure we could have left if we wanted to. They couldn’t afford to make overt moves here and attract attention.

It’s going to take them at least two months to verify the news and I would have enough time by then not only to prepare for any eventualities but also get Rōen and secure a method to fight against them in worst case.

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Author’s Note:

I am back with another chapter of ‘Ruling by the Book’.

Kazuya went all out to strengthen himself this time and had a talk with the Uzukage.

I tried a different solution to the problem with the Uzumaki Clan. If you cannot defeat them by using strength, just avoid fighting.

This method was never tried before so it would be interesting to see how this goes.

Moreover, it will open up the resources of a whole new continent for him.

Enjoy the new chapter.

Good Day, Peace Out.