Systematic Shinobi - Chapter 45.2 (Patreon)

When the joking conversation died down, Hiruzen turned to Daiki, "Are you ready?" he asked.

"I wouldn't be here if I wasn't old man." Daiki responded, smirk fading as his lips pressed into a thin line, serious mode going into effect.

"Good, because we don't have a whole lot of time," Hiruzen nodded, "I won't be going easy on you at all." he said, placing his hand on Daiki's shoulder.

And it was then the boy noticed.

His pipe was gone.

He hadn't noticed.

…When did he?

That thought didn't get much time to process as the old mans chakra enveloped him and he was brought along via shunshin.

'Fast!' Daiki noticed.

He could barely keep track of their surroundings as the old man transported him along with the jutsu, even with his Heavenly Star Seal and Three Tailed Cloak together, he'd be hard pressed to keep up.

It would be another thing if he could use Lightning Chakra Mode with them in his physical body, but that was currently impossible for him.

Moments later, it ended, and Daiki noticed, that they were standing atop the Hokage monument.

"Why are we-" Daiki began asking, looking around.

But, he never got to finish his question as the elderly Hokage brought his hands together into a single seal and the ground rumbled beneath their feet.

Daiki blinked and stared as the ground rumbled and part of it began to slide away, revealing a staircase that led into the mountain itself.

"…What the..?" the teen gave the old man an odd look.

How was that there?

He'd looked at the mountain plenty of times with his Shinkugan, it was pretty hard not to seeing how big it was, but he'd never saw anything like this!

At his baffled look, Hiruzen gave him a light grin, "I see there are things even you haven't been able to see even with those eyes of yours." he noted, knowingly.

His tone implied he knew why he hadn't seen it before either.

The old man gestured for him to follow him down into the stairs, and Daiki did so, the opening sliding shut once more as Sarutobi made the same hand seal he did previously once they were both inside.

For a moment, they were both in pitch black darkness, before everything lit up. Glowing blue lights travelling down the walls on either side of the staircase lighting the area up.

"What is this place?" Daiki asked as the old man began walking down the stairs and followed behind him.

"I should think that would be quite obvious consider what you're here for," the Hokage chuckled, "But to clarify and speed things up, the Hokage need somewhere private to train as well, to not become rusty, to become stronger and keep up appearances all in one."

Getting stronger and not getting rusty, he could understand that. But, the other, not so much, "Keep up appearances?" he asked.

"Hmm?" Sarutobi looked over his shoulder at Daiki and gave him an almost mischievous look, "I'll give you a hint. When the tree leaves dance, one shall find flames. The fire’s shadow will illuminate the village."

A poem…or a haiku? Honestly, he wasn't very well versed in either, so he couldn't tell. But he'd heard those words before, from the very same man in another life.

As he died.

…And he was using it as a riddle for him? A test?

"Seriously?" Daiki gave him a deadpan gaze.

Sarutobi chuckled again, "I'm sure it sounds like hogwash to a young man like yourself, but there is great meaning in this phrase, and in fact, it's only half of it," he replied, "It is a saying created by Hashirama-sama himself and is passed down from Hokage to their chosen successors."

…Wait, what?

But didn't he say it to Orochimaru as he died?

No wait, or was he just thinking it? It was hard to remember that part especially clearly to remember if it was talking aloud or thought.

Well, whatever.

"Fine, I'll play your game old man," Daiki rolled his eyes, "The leaf finding fire is obviously the one that is going to become Hokage. And the Hokage is the one that illuminates the village, so I guess a beacon everyone is drawn to and gathers around? Or use that light to lead them or something."

"Yes, that's correct." the old man nodded, proudly.

...Why though? It wasn't exactly some hard riddle, it was pretty straight forward.

"For reference, the full quote is; 'When the tree leaves dance, one shall find flames. The fire’s shadow will illuminate the village, and once again, tree leaves shall bud anew'," the older man revealed, "You were near spot on, only missing one thing. The Hokage is also the pillar that supports the village, their strength and leadership must be seen as infallible, and inspire the belief that as long we are here, there is no greater defender for them and their loved ones."

Daiki stared blankly at the mans back for a moment, pondering those words, before it clicked for him, "This place is super private so nobody can possibly see any mistakes the Hokage make when training," he realised, "It's so nobody can see that the Hokage isn't actually infallible and invincible."

"That is correct Daiki-kun," Sarutobi paused and looked back at him with a warm, beaming smile on his elderly face, "We are strong yes, but we are not gods. Yet, we must cultivate such an image when it comes to strength, to provide the support the new leaves need to bud and flourish to their greatest heights. That is what it means to be Hokage, the fire shadow that illuminates the Leaf Village, it is to be the pillar that supports the village and the undefeatable sentinel that will guard the village against any and all opponents even if it costs our lives."

Daiki fell silent at the mans words, and from there, followed him down deeper into the Hokage mountain without a word.

He was, thinking on the mans words. He understood it all, and the point, and even why it was necessary.

But…it was just so.

Contradictory.

Take the Yondaime Hokage for instance. Namikaze Minato was an incredible shinobi and powerful beyond words. People treated him like he really was a god and spoke of him in awe to this day over a decade since his death.

But he wasn't invincible. He wasn't even close to infallible. He was freaking dead after all and left his only son to fend for himself.

…Yet, people acted as if him actually dying didn't detract from that all. Fucking hell, even in the academy not even a year ago, there were girls in his clash gushing over pictures of him and wanting to marry him…when he was fucking dead!

'Humans as a whole are a contradictory species,' Isobu mused, piping in, 'You speak of love and peace, yet readily wage war and commit atrocities in the same breath. You look down up murderers and thieves, yet have made a profession out of them that dominates the world. You yourself are terrified and find yourself lacking in too many ways to count, but brag and boast louder than anyone else of your greatness.'

Daiki grimaced.

He couldn't even think of anything to say in response that. After all, that was the ugliest part of being human. And the ugliest part who he was.

His very identity was an illusion that he made himself believe in. And to be Hokage, it seemed…

Was to make that illusion your reality.

When he thought about it like that. Maybe Naruto wasn't wrong at any point in his path at all. The blonde constantly lied to himself and lived an illusion, buried his rage, despair and hatred into a deep dark corner and hid it away from anyone and everyone.

The only one who knew the true Naruto for the longest time, was Kurama.

'Just like only I know the true Daiki,' Isobu added with a wistful sigh, 'Kind of ironic when you think about it. Considering your practically the direct opposite of him and well, I am the polite sibling as I've said multiple times now, while Kurama is the most violent, rude and gruff among us, but also the most damaged.'

…Daiki wasn't sure how to reply to that.

'You don't need to,' Isobu pointed out, 'That's your biggest problem Daiki and the biggest source of stress in your life, you always think you need something to respond with, or a counter. Sometimes, the best course of action is to say or do nothing at all.'

Daiki opened his mouth, before pausing. If he replied, he would just prove his point.

'Not what I meant at all,' Isobu sighed, 'But baby steps I suppose.'

He didn't get much time to ponder on the Bijuu's words, because finally, after minutes of walking down the stairway, they reached the bottom.

It opened up into a large cavern area. And by large, he meant massive, it had to span the length and width of the entire mountain.

And it wasn't exactly empty either. There were rows upon rows of weapons from swords, to maces, to even staves lining the cavern walls, huge training posts at one side of the huge area, and at the far end of the room he could see what looked to be a massive pond, with a huge tree growing up out of it.

And behind it, he could see a door leading in to some other area. Honestly, how the hell had he not noticed something this massive underneath the mountain?

It was as he looked around the room though, he noticed it.

Familiar scrawls of ink over the walls.

Seals.

He couldn't recognise most of the patterns, but some of it was similar to a few things he knew.

Specifically-

"Barrier seals?" he muttered aloud.

"That's right Daiki-kun," Sarutobi nodded, "This is the personal training area for the Hokage, it was created by Hashirama-sama with the help of his wife Mito-sama."

Ah…that explained it. Playboy Kage and his kinky Uzumaki wife, this was definitely something he could see coming from them.

And it explained the stupid huge tree growing out of the underground pond as well.

…Where there was no sunlight, yet it looked healthier than most trees he saw outside the village.

"This Daiki-kun, is where we'll be spending our time training over the next eight days," Sarutobi gestured to the wide expanse of the training…cavern? "I will of course not be able to spend all my time here with you, and will have to often leave to take care of mu duties, but for the next eight days, you will not be leaving this area."

…Well, good thing he had already planned ahead for that kind of thing, even if it was actually going to be longer than he thought. His dimension force seal was always stacked with food that would keep for a while just in case he went on a training binge after all.

Though it did bring up the actual questions, what if he hadn't been prepared already? "What about eating, or pissing and shitting for that matter?" the genin asked.

In response the old man gestured to the door behind the pond, "That area behind that door is a small living space, it has everything you'd need," the older man replied, "There is a bed, basic medical supplies, food, and of course a toilet with plumbing."

…There was fucking plumbing down here?

"How?" Daiki asked, raising an eyebrow at the man.

"Fuinjutsu, how else my boy?" Sarutobi laughed, and then placed his right hand on his chest and his left hand on his left leg, "Speaking of seals though, I believe it is time we get down to business, no?" as he said that, his Hokage robes shifted and disappeared, leaving him clad in nothing but a familiar full black outfit, the Hokage hat disappearing the same way a second later and being replaced by a black hooded helmet.

Daiki blinked, "Wait…huh?" he gaped.

"I must admit, your storage seal is very useful." the old man mused with a grin.

This motherfucker stole his jutsu!

Well really, it was just an augmented storage seal really, but come on that was his thing!

"Y-you…you Uchiha!" Daiki spluttered, such was his surprise.

'….I mean, how many jutsu have you stole from others?' Isobu pointed out dryly, 'Pot meet kettle, you’reboth black.'