"By the way, weren't you recently studying fūinjutsu? Any notable results?"
Nobuhiko suddenly remembered and couldn't help but ask.
"Hmm?"
Riku looked at him with a bit of confusion. "I've made some progress, sure—but most of the fūinjutsu techniques available to our clan are low level, so the gains are limited."
"They're far from meeting my expectations."
"I think it's time I try to get some higher-level sealing arts from Tsunade-sensei."
"After all, her grandmother is Uzumaki Mito, isn't she?"
Besides, Riku had also confirmed that Uzumaki Kushina hadn't arrived in Konoha yet.
Which wasn't surprising.
Even in his past life, there were multiple conflicting accounts of when she arrived.
Some said she was a war orphan brought over after the Uzumaki clan's fall.
Others claimed she arrived first, and the clan was destroyed shortly after.
Personally, Riku believed the latter was more likely.
"Uzumaki Mito? You're even aiming for her knowledge now? Isn't that a little risky?"
"You better be careful, kid. That woman isn't someone you can mess with."
"When facing her, it's best not to have any funny ideas—she won't be fooled easily."
Nobuhiko didn't look happy—on the contrary, he seemed serious and concerned.
Only those who had truly interacted with Uzumaki Mito knew how terrifying she could be.
Though she was the wife of the First Hokage, Hashirama, she was no mere decorative figure.
"Huh?"
Riku looked at his father with surprise. "You've met her before? You know her well?"
Thanks to his past-life knowledge, he immediately picked up on the implications of Nobuhiko's words.
The Kyūbi had the power to sense good and evil.
As its jinchūriki, Uzumaki Mito would naturally share that ability.
And with her being from the Uzumaki Clan, she likely also possessed the Kagura Shingan (Kagura Mind's Eye). Together, those two powers made her practically a human lie detector.
"Not exactly well. But I heard some things from your grandfather regarding the Kyūbi."
"That beast has a terrifying ability to sense the good and evil within people."
"And as the Kyūbi's jinchūriki, Uzumaki Mito inherited that power."
"So anyone who ever plotted against her... let's just say it never ended well for them."
As he spoke, Nobuhiko's expression became somewhat solemn.
"I see..."
Riku nodded slowly, though he was thinking, as expected.
He suspected that his grandfather had probably learned all this from Madara back in the day.
After all, it was Madara who had captured the Kyūbi and made it his kuchiyose (summoning beast).
If anyone knew the Kyūbi's capabilities inside and out, it would've been Madara.
"Father, now that I think about it—doesn't it seem like our clan's archive is missing a lot of fūinjutsu techniques? Especially those related to the Sharingan beyond the three-tomoe level?"
"For a bloodline clan as ancient and powerful as ours, that shouldn't be the case."
"Did Madara take them when he left the village?"
Riku finally voiced a question that had been bothering him for days.
"Heh... so you noticed, huh?"
Nobuhiko gave a bitter chuckle and nodded. "You're absolutely right."
"When Madara left Konoha, he tried to convince the Uchiha to go with him."
"But we were tired of war. We'd grown used to the peace Konoha offered, so we refused."
"In a fit of rage, he took a huge portion of the clan's valuable scrolls and resources with him."
"He even took the clan's ancestral artifact—the Uchiha fan."
"Of course there are missing pieces."
If that hadn't happened, a clan as formidable as the Uchiha wouldn't be left with just scraps of fūinjutsu.
And even then, many of the remaining scrolls had only been gathered through generations of clan members scouring and salvaging whatever they could.
"As I suspected..."
Riku sighed, thinking to himself: Looks like when I eventually face off against Madara, I'm going to have to take those scrolls back.
They were the product of a thousand years of accumulation.
There was bound to be valuable knowledge inside—knowledge that could help him further develop the chakra system and other training methods.
Just thinking about Madara made Riku remember Zetsu.
He expanded his spiritual perception, scanning his entire neighborhood and even underground—only after confirming that Zetsu wasn't present did he relax.
Over the past few days, he had occasionally detected Zetsu lurking underground or hiding in trees throughout both the Uchiha compound and Konoha.
Clearly, both the village and the Uchiha were under surveillance.
Madara had likely never stopped watching Konoha.
It made sense—how else could he stir up trouble behind the scenes if he didn't keep himself informed?
"Don't dwell on it."
Nobuhiko saw Riku's disappointed expression and assumed he was still upset about the lost scrolls. He consoled him, "Come on, it's Madara we're talking about. Who could've stopped him back then?"
"Unfortunately, he's dead now, and those scrolls he took are long gone."
"Unless we use Edo Tensei to resurrect him and ask where he hid them, there's no way we're getting them back."
"But Edo Tensei is a forbidden jutsu listed in the Scroll of Seals."
"As things stand, we Uchiha would never be allowed access to that."
"Unless one day you become Hokage—then maybe. But for now, don't even think about it."
Riku, of course, wanted to tell his old man that Madara was alive and well—and still scheming in the shadows!
Eventually, he'd definitely choose a proxy from the Uchiha clan.
And because of Riku's existence, the future had already begun to shift.
The person chosen might not be Obito this time—either Riku himself or even Fugaku could be the target.
They were blood brothers, after all, and fit the profile.
Just thinking about it filled Riku with a sense of impending danger.
So he looked at his father and said, "Don't worry—I won't dwell on it."
"Good!"
Nobuhiko nodded in satisfaction. "Once you've gotten your hands on some higher-level fūinjutsu from Tsunade, see if you can create or refine a secrecy seal."
"That way, when we eventually begin teaching the Sharingan Awakening Method and the Three-Tomoe Training Method to certain clan members, it'll be safer."
"We could at least prevent the techniques from leaking."
He wouldn't ask just anyone for this kind of favor.
But with Riku, Nobuhiko believed it was possible.
Because Riku always seemed capable of miracles.
"A secrecy contract, huh? Got it! I'll figure something out."
Riku nodded, already thinking it through.
After that, he chatted with his father a bit longer, checking in on the progress of the Police Force, the clan's merit system, and the reforms in education.
Once he was updated, and after having dinner with his family, Riku returned to his room and resumed training his chakra and the Sharingan Awakening Method.
...
(End of Chapter)
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