Coming across a 'wealthy looking' 5-story tall apartment complex, Tekai entered a U shaped courtyard. Scanning the area, he saw fancy hand carved stone benches, and a small garden covering the walkway that led to the entrance.
Following the paper's directions, Tekai took the stairs to room 314, and unlocked the door.
Looking inside the room, Tekai saw no immediate threats, and took his first step into his new life.
Although he saw no threats, that didn't mean there were none. Perhaps he was being paranoid, but before he sat down and got comfortable, he examined every inch of the flat. He then proceeded to roughly pinch every surface/object he came across.
Whether it be a bowl, a sheet, or a towel, he left no surface unmolested.
When shinobi could change their appearance to look as harmless as a teacup, he wouldn't take any chances with his safety.
While he was finishing up his search, he had also explored the apartment.
It included 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom, 1 tiny office, and a sizable living room/kitchen combo. For appliances, he had a pair of gas lamps, a gas stove, a working shower, and a flush toilet. Sadly, this era was still behind Naruto's, and electricity wasn't commonly used, but plumbing was a feature, so that was nice.
Unfortunately, he would have to wash his clothes without a washing machine, but now that he was salaried, he'd just pay to have them cleaned, or maybe once he learned the technique, have a shadow clone do it.
Such a thought had him thank his lucky stars that he didn't isekai into a village out in the boonies. While Tekai could appreciate rural life on Earth, he could still stay connected with the internet. Feudal rural life however, was a different animal, especially with wild shit like Pokémon lurking in the dark.
So while it wasn't a mansion, or fully sized house, Tekai was thankful for what he had.
Overall, it was a satisfying arrangement for someone living alone.
Stretching his back, Tekai entered the bathroom, and filled the admittedly large-jacuzzi sized-tub full of warm water. It seemed the Ryu Clan was aware many of their Pokémon preferred water, and had made something large enough that a dratini could comfortably soak inside.
Once the tub was half full, he released Gil from his pokeball.
"Karp! Karp!" Gil splashed around.
Tekai raised his hands to shield himself from the water, but found himself getting hit anyway. Fortunately, the Ryu Clan robes he wore were specially tailored, and the water slipped off him as if he had seal skin.
Looking at the happy magikarp, Tekai also wanted to shower off, but he planned to do some more training in the day, and didn't want to clean himself up, only to work up a sweat again. Besides, if he took a hot shower now, he would probably be too tired to do anything else for the rest of the day.
Rubbing Gil on the side, and scratching his scales, Tekai hummed a song to himself, then moved back to his bedroom.
From his room, he had a full view of his magikarp playing around, and began to unpack.
'Maybe I should buy a few toys. I know magikarp don't know any offensive techniques, but I can start training Gil some basic maneuvers at the very least.' Tekai pondered to himself as he reverently put his scrolls away, and found a few hiding spots for his money.
He doubted anyone sneaking into his house would be interested in such a 'small' sum, but it was a good habit to get into.
After a quick stretch, Tekai looked towards the gift his Uncle had left him on his bed.
A small package was wrapped up in fancy paper, and had a note resting on top.
Tekai, the Dragon Dance is the foundation of every technique.
Tekai paused in his reading to face palm. His Uncle said that line of dialogue every single time they met. He swore the man was like spam mail he was so persistent.
Finding himself smiling, Tekai was quick to taper down on such positive emotions after today's reveal, and continued reading the letter.
Now, on to the gift, heh heh heh. Hope you're still reading~ Anyway~ When I was your age, my father commissioned some Uzumaki Seal Master to make a pair of training weights for me. Now, I want you to have them. They can increase up to 1,000 lbs each. Simply tap on the seal symbols to have them work, then double tap them to turn them off. The more seals that are activated, the heavier the weight will become by increments of 100. Congratulations on realizing your dream of becoming a Pokémon trainer, you are a Little Dragon no more. Make me proud, Tekai.
Ps. I left some of those milk teas I know you like in the ice box.
-Uncle Borah :)
Tekai read the note, then put it in his drawer to save as a memento. He then tore apart the packaging, and saw a pair of blue leg weights similar in appearance to Rock Lee's. Although if he got creative with it, Tekai saw that he could easily fit them around his arms, biceps, torso and neck. It was truly an ingenious Uzumaki invention.
Smiling to himself at the excellent gift, Tekai wiped a tear from the corner of his eye, and tried to keep his emotions centered. He then examined the weighted clothing closer.
On the inside, he saw 10 different circular seals. When he pressed on one, nothing happened.
Frowning, he tried doing so again, but this time, focused some chakra at his fingertips.
A bluish glow lit the seal up. The sight was vaguely reminiscent of the power button being lit up when he turned on his computer.
Suddenly, the legging became heavy, and Tekai almost stumbled into the bed as he held onto the weight.
100lbs was alot for a 12 year old, even one who regularly worked out, but with his physique, it wasn't much more difficult to move around than carrying a backpack with one heavy book inside. It was a bit of a pain in the ass, but hardly a hassle.
Wrapping the weight around his right leg, then activating the other and doing the same for his left, Tekai walked around the room, and started to perform a few kicks to get used to it.
Nodding his head, Tekai grinned. He most definitely could do some training in these, and go about most of his daily life set at 100 no problem.
But he still wanted to see how high he could go.
Bumping it up to 200lbs per leg, he noticed his speed decrease by over a quarter, and it was a bit of a struggle to do a high kick, and jump so he could touch the ceiling. This seemed like a good setting to work at if he was in a safe environment to train.
Eventually raising the scale up to 500lbs-per leg-and Tekai found it extremely difficult to move. Walking was possible, and if he pushed himself, he could surely run a short distance, or maybe to a few kicks, but he would gas himself rather quickly. Tekai could see himself doing some high intensity, short reps with this setting.
As for 600 and beyond, he didn't even bother. Tekai would rather not fall flat on his face, and scramble to shut these leg weights off.
Double tapping the seal several times, he reduced the weight to 100, as he determined this would be a decent beginner weight for everyday use. It was kind of insane to think that Rock Lee, at the age of 15, had leg weights that reached up to supposedly 10,000 lbs! That was Chunin Exams Rock Lee. A kid who, in terms of raw power, was likely at the high end of Chunin, if not already strong enough to throw hands with a Special Jounin!
Flexing his legs, Tekai marveled at this frankly busted level of technology.
Making an object as small as this heavier was an incredible yet simple use of seals. He could imagine a flying Pokémon carrying a thousand marbles, then drop them over an enemy, and activating the weight seal. The devastation would be legendary.
This was just one of many ways a weight seal could be applied. Hell, if he had a weight seal on his extremely durable staff, he could quite literally pummel most people to death with ease.
If something as 'simple' as increased weight could be so terrifying, Tekai was beginning to understand why the Uzumaki had been hunted down, and Uzu had been destroyed.
The famous redheads were quite literally wizards in a world of magic swordsmen.
Seals, and what they could accomplish were frankly terrifying. Teleportation, trapping the Tailed Beasts which transformed people into living nuclear bombs, and so much more.
While he had a soft spot for the Uzumaki, a small part of him was glad he wouldn't have to fight them. Because seals were some bullshit.
He wished he was a sealing genius, but for one, he never got his hands on any study materials, and two, it seemed like the kind of skillset someone who was adept at high level math, language and art at the same time would be best suited towards.
Tekai was average at things like math, and was abysmal at art. On the other hand, he was pretty good at remaining consistent, a trait necessary for training in taijutsu.
There was just something so satisfying about being able to lift 5lb more than last week, or running a faster mile, or outlasting your previous longest run time.
Maybe there was some method to benchmark progress in fuinjutsu, but the readily observable gains in taijutsu and the Dragon Dance was like competition against himself.
Looking at it from that angle it made him want to train more, to see where he could improve. How he could better himself. So while he wanted to be a fuinjutsu genius, he was rather happy with his current self.
Besides, not everyone could be an Einstein, or be born into a good family. Kakashi for example, had both those things. He had wealth, techniques, and genius from the start.
The future Copy-Nin was one of the coldest killers by the age of 14. Yet he let his genius go to waste-understandably so-but it was a fact. His old self would have mopped the floor with Zabuza.
It wasn't until the 2 year time skip that he got somewhat back into shape, and could throw hands with Kakuzo.
Such a talented guy had it all, but threw it away. Tekai saw that as a lesson. That to slack in the world of Naruto meant death.
All that is to say, he may not be a fuinjutsu expert, but he appreciated the gifts he did have. His bloodline was a godsend, and he had been given 12 years of time to grow and develop. Most kids in this universe would kill to have the upbringing Tekai had.
Shunned? Forced labor? Made fun of? Mocked? No parents?
Who cares?
Tekai learned how to read/write, he was fed 3 meals a day, had a roof over his head, and had a Pokémon companion to call his own.
On top of all that, he had a bloodline that turned him into a physical/special type beast, and a secret technique that boosted his chakra capacity, speed, and damage.
Tekai realized how blessed he was, and dreaded becoming like Kakashi.
It wasn't only his desire to become stronger that he trained, but he also saw it as a responsibility.
To find meaning in this second life, Tekai decided he would do right by the people his family oversaw to the best of his ability.
Feudalism was a promise. One in which the nobility offered protection for obedience.
In this chaotic world where Legendaries lurked in tales and mythology, and ninjas slaughtered villages wholesale, Tekai didn't think he could or even if he should change the system.
That was too much to ask of him.
All he wanted to do was protect those who were close to him, and extend that umbrella of protection to the people who looked to the Ryu Clan for protection.
So long as he benefited from his clan, he knew that many of those gains were built upon the hard sweat and labor of the peasant class.
Who grew his food? Made his clothes? Built his home? Paid his salary? Maintained the sewer? Cobbled the roads? Cleaned the streets? And a thousand other imperceptible, yet critical functions to society.
Becoming strong was a personal goal for himself, and also, his responsibility to the people who relied upon his strength for survival.
Shaking his head to get his mind away from such lofty ideals, Tekai took another look at his training weights with a fire in his belly. He had work to do.
Performing a front flip on the spot, Tekai performed a few dozen reps, and then moved on to other small exercises, working up a sweat.
While he was doing squats, jumps and lunges around the room, he made sure not to over do it.
During his mini training session, Tekai began to yearn to train in them, and perform the Dragon Dance at the same time. To push himself to the physical limit. However, he was certain he would need plenty of energy for his meeting with Cynthia tomorrow.
Tekai fully expected to spar with Zinnia and Clair to show off what he knew. If he was going to impress his new mentor, he planned on showing his A game.
Besides the current warm up exercise he was doing right now, he had three scrolls that he needed to study! It may be mid morning outside, and he could be exploring the city now that he had spending money for the first time in his second life or even run around with these weights on. But nah, he'd rather go after his first love: books!
'Just as soon as I finish a few more reps.' Tekai thought to himself.
After working out for another two hours in total, Tekai was drenched in sweat, and took a seat on the edge of his bed.
Pulling out the scrolls that Jjraiya had traded to him earlier in exchange for the Black Apricorn, Tekai felt a giddy energy take hold of him. There were so few things he could read when acting as a cleaner. He must have read the eight secret scrolls his mystery backer had gifted him hundreds of times before today.
Now, however, he had three more to add to his collection!
Glancing at them, he wondered what he should put his efforts towards first.
Shadow Clones would be the most difficult to learn, but would also let him experiment in both the Eight Gates, and Dragon Dance without fear of harming his body.
The Eight Gates was something that would be a long and arduous journey to master. The earlier he started, the sooner that journey would be complete.
Mystic Palm could save a teammate or his own life. It could also relieve his own sore muscles, and increase his training time so long as he had chakra to keep moving.
They were all so tempting, he wished he could learn them all in one day!
Hovering his finger over the three, he eventually settled on one.
"Shadow Clone jutsu, I choose you!"