Chapter 20: Back to School

On the third day after “Danzo's Teatime Smack-down” we re-sealed Kyubi. I had no desire to speak to Mito, and so was in “contemplative isolation in preparation of receiving the Kyubi” basically as soon as Jiraiya's tour ended. It wasn’t just an excuse; I actually did do some contemplation. I modified my memory-palace, as I assumed that would end up being my mind-scape, so that there would be a large wooded space leading up to the beach and ocean so that Kyubi might be comfortable.

The sealing itself was something of a disappointment; sure, it involved three high ranked specialist priests, one of whom was the second most senior Sealer period, but it didn't live up to my expectations. Why, you ask? Well, because whatever the transfer did, Kyubi was in a deep sleep afterward. I left a message on the wall of the fence keeping him enclosed, telling him to give a shout when he was awake, and then came out of my meditation. Mito was dead, and the party of Sealers and their escorts returned to Uzushiogakure.

Two weeks after Sachiko and I finished getting settled, school began. It was very weird being back in an organized, structured school, as it had been decades since I had completed my Masters of Engineering. It didn't help that I was expected to introduce myself in most of my classes.

I had something of an irregular schedule, taking many advanced electives as well as some general requirements like field-craft (outdoors), field-craft (urban), emergency medicine (basic), ninja tools (basic) and the like. There were enough advanced electives covering either higher levels of the basics, or more specialized skills like genjutsu (illusions) or Advanced Movement without Chakra (parkour), that I would be able to just stretch my studies out to the full four years possible, though to do so I needed to claim Independent Credits in Clan Required Studies for Sealing, Whirlpool-Fist and Sword, and my own personal diplomatic duties.

The advanced classes were typically full of eleven and twelve year olds, with the exception of the rare genius or clan-born specialist, and I while I was entering at the beginning of a new term, it was still mid-year and none of these brats had met me before. Sachiko looked suitably old, but I looked a bit odd, and so our introductions had a high level of attention even before we started speaking. I'll relate how the first introduction went. The others were not so different that they need telling. The class was Advanced Battlefield Presence, which taught both basic Killing Intent as well as how to counter it, and gave an introduction to similar proto-genjutsu auras.

So there I was, standing at the front of the class in a training outfit, which was basically a scaled-down Uzumaki combat-sealer uniform with some slits to push chains through, wearing my oversized swords (which I was finally not bumping things with). Sachiko stood behind my shoulder, and wore an outfit based on the female Clan-guard's uniform, though it did include my device to show her allegiance. And all these fucking brats were staring at us. More specifically at me. Except for a few boys who were staring at Sachiko and had thus already announced their desire to “spar” with me.

“So, why don't you introduce yourself?” Hmm… I thought I how I should, then decided to play up the samurai angle.

“Yosh! I am Recruit-Sergeant Uzumaki Daichi of Whirlpool's Militia. I have been seconded to Konohagakure's service indefinitely as part of a diplomatic program; you may address me as Daichi-san or Daichi-kun as appropriate, as there were many Uzumaki at home and things got confusing otherwise. If, however, you see me in formal clothing, then I am likely fulfilling my duties as Junior Baron Courtier of the Fifth Rank and Assistant to the Ambassador to the Fire Daimyo's court, Consul to Konohagakure Uzumaki Daichi. Please watch over me.” As I finished, I lightly bowed to the somewhat stunned room. It was a very samurai greeting; all about what my role and duties and title were, but nothing about me as a person. The teacher sighed.

“Daichi-kun, why not tell them something about yourself. What you like, dislike, and your goals, for example?”

“Ah,” I nodded. “My name is Uzumaki Daichi. I am eight years old. I like Uzushiogakure, training with my family and tutors, and learning about seals. I dislike those that threaten Uzushiogakure. My goals are to learn ninja skills at this academy, and bring honor to my Lord, my village, and my family.” There. I think that should set the right tone.

“Good. And now, Hisakawa-chan, would you care to do the same?”

“Yes. My name is Hisakawa Sachiko. I am Daichi-sama's retainer, as my family are retainers to his Ojii-sama. I too like Uzushiogakure, and training with my family, as well as serving Daichi-sama,” dammit, Sachiko, you totally did that double-meaning on purpose. I guessed she felt like my sensing was adequate to her concealment of amusement. She continued over the faint whispers. “I dislike those that threaten Daichi-sama or his interests. My goals are to become an excellent retainer and serve my master.” Yep. Definitely on purpose. Maybe she wanted me to have rivals to push my progress? Or was using me to shield herself from them. Or laying claim against the other females to protect me. Actually, with her, it was likely the last of those options.

I guess the teacher didn't think that he could keep everyone calm after that without some questions being answered, and so opened up the floor to questioners.

“Daichi-san, are you a samurai?” from a somewhat weak-looking girl with the indication of being a clan-affiliate.

“This one has the honor of such a title,” I replied half-jokingly in ultra-formal language. It also didn't exactly answer the question. I was a samurai, but that was only a fraction of my being, and I always preferred honesty.

“How are you only eight and yet the Consul to the village?” from a slightly jealous looking scruffy boy with brown hair wearing a green jacket.

“I would not presume to speak for my Lord's decisions.” Better than “classified”, but still kid, what the fuck were you expecting?

“Sachiko-chan, are you dating anyone?” His face I would definitely remember. The cocky little shit was in a fancy outfit and bore the symbol of one of the richer clans that straddled the line between ninja and merchant. I wasn't sure if I'd beat him, or cripple him to make a point, but he'd definitely made the list.

“No. My duties do not give me the time.” Nice shutdown, Sachiko.

“Daichi-kun, are you dating anyone?” This from a girl in a pretty outfit. Gods, what did they feed these brats to make them like this? We all just met each other, kiddies. Give it an hour maybe?

“No. I'm eight. And we don't know each other well enough for you to call me '-kun' yet.” I'm fairly sure I had started to emit a bit of spiritual pressure myself, and so the instructor decided to call a stop to things and a move-on with the class.

The Academy went well. Those first six months, I mostly caught up on the basic field-survival I had missed out on (easily solved via judicious use of photographic memory of edible versus poisonous plants and wilderness survival techniques) as well as Konohagakure history and standard operating procedures and communication conventions like their battle-signing. It wasn't much fun, but was necessary; in later semesters I'd be able to do more interesting classes, as these basically ended the requirements I'd need to integrate into a Konoha unit.

The only top-tier elective class I was taking was actually that one on Advanced Battlefield Presence, and it was very interesting. Basically, Presence, which included Killing Intent, took advantage of sympathetic resonance transfer in chakra. By flaring your chakra presence, in effect making the pressure of your chakra available to notice, you could add some emotion or sensation that would be transferred to your enemies. Your own confidence in their destruction, or the certainty you'd kill them painfully was a favorite. You could also help out allies, though that was more practiced by samurai commanders to improve troop morale, by flaring chakra and filling them with the sensation of inevitable victory while demotivating enemy troops.

The interesting thing about the Presence was that it differentiated between enemies and allies. Those that identified themselves as being “on your side” would be often be buoyed up by the technique, while those opposing would be filled negatively affected. It mostly gave you the presence of whatever it was you were flaring, making you a conceptual representation of it to the eyes of those effected. I imagined that greater beings like minor Kami would use something similar, but on a greater order of magnitude when they took up their Aspect; at a strong enough level, the world, or at least the world's chakra, might identify you as having authority over whatever your Presence was associated with.

I proved to be something of a monster with my custom version of killing intent. The first time I used it at a reduced setting, and still knocked out the majority of the class (including the instructor). After that I got some serious sideways looks, and was banned on experimenting on the other students using aggressive Presences. Even Sachiko was left shivering for hours after.

The reason I was so overpowered was that the effect of the Presence depended on three things. First, intensity of chakra flair, particularly the spiritual energy you had. Second, the skill of applying the Presence. Third, the intensity of the experience used to power it. Range depended most on skill, second on intensity of chakra. But the effect, effect depended most on driving experience, then on intensity multiplied by a factor depending on skill. And my driving experience was brutal.

It was well known that people like combat-experienced jonin could make the “best” killing intent. They had experienced the closeness of death, and had dealt enough of it to be familiar. Straight up psychos were pretty good at it too. But I, I had passed through Death and remembered it. Granted the memories weren't great.

So when I subjected those unfamiliar with it to the sheer presence of the Void, it tended to overload their mind, and do a forced reset. This left a remaining existential dread behind even after I stopped the technique. I was told not to use my power without first preparing any nearby allies, and a note was put into my file strongly suggesting Killing Intent Tolerance training for any future team-mates of mine. Sachiko forced me to practice at home until she could stay combat effective despite the aura, and didn't sleep well for weeks.

The assistant instructor started to teach me about the subtler uses of Presence. While at a gross level Presence could be used as indiscriminate Killing Intent, there were two ways that it could be refined. The first was in skill of applying the Presence; there were ways to focus it to only affect certain people or spaces. The second was in the types of Presence you could project. While I had good chakra control in general, and amazing control considering my absolutely huge reserves, I still had problems with limiting the area of effect, especially at longer ranges. So, while I could limit range, and within about ten or fifteen feet apply it only to those I wanted to, I couldn't show that kind of refined targeting during combat.

But applying different Presences was something I proved extremely skilled at, especially within the focus of “Presences which are part of my identity.” To do that, all I really had to do was focus for a moment on a facet of my personality, and draw that forward. This was similar to relatively basic levels of meditation I had long since mastered, and so I quickly became capable of focusing certain aspects of my personality and projecting them as a Presence.

It was particularly useful for social situations, since I could use minor chakra flaring to establish a Presence at interpersonal ranges. I could even fill myself with my own identity as a whole, something I knew so well from my mind/soul-binding, and make other people understand me better and faster. This too I practiced with Sachiko so that we'd be a more effective team. Her eyes were a bit wider around me for a while as she adapted, but she eventually acted normally again; it did succeed in making her a bit less formal and more comfortable around me, so I counted it as a success.

Overall, although the Presence Projection techniques were relatively minor, I managed to take them to a truly effective level, and they were effectively free to use in life and battle.

The semester ended, and I looked forward to a short, relaxing break. Sadly, it proved to be very busy.