Chapter Seven - Naruto's Inheritance
The next day, the Hokage took Naruto and me to the part of the village that the Uzumaki compound was supposed to be in. "Around this corner is the street I remember the compound being on. I've not been able to find it, no matter how I've searched."
The sight around the corner is more amazing than I could have ever expected… A dead-end road with a small forest on both sides. No structures of any kind that I can see.
That's what can be seen. To my spatial abilities, a whole different world appears. I can sense several distortions in space, the whole area is covered in walls that attempt to block, reflect, or redirect my senses.
"There's definitely something here. I can't see anything, but my senses are going crazy. This is some amazing seal work. The Uzumaki knew what they were doing."
The Hokage turns to me with a raised eyebrow. "So there is something past this road then?"
Nodding, I respond, "I'm not entirely sure what though, a few feet down the road is where my senses start being affected."
"Hmm. I've walked this road dozens of times looking for the compound." He steps forward while rubbing his chin.
After a few steps, the Hokage approaches the beginning of the sealed area. My eyes see nothing as his foot makes contact. My spatial senses, however, tell a different story. They show me that he's walking in place, not moving anywhere. His body has become invisible, while a projection of him is walking where he would have been.
As I'm standing there with my jaw on the ground trying to figure out what's happening, Naruto follows through the barrier.
However, Naruto isn't affected by it. His body is unimpeded as he suddenly yells. "Whoa! Grandpa, where did that big house come from?"
The Hokage turns to Naruto and asks. "You can see something in front of us?"
"Yea, I can see a big house with a gate. It has the same swirl on it that my shirt does! Can you not see it? It's so big! I don't know how I didn't see it before!" Naruto exclaims excitedly.
'The seals must be keyed to the Uzumaki through their chakra signature. He should be able to go all the way in without any problems. We can't let him go by himself though. There might be other traps and obstacles. Even though I doubt there'd be anything that would cause harm to an Uzumaki, we can't be sure since the compound has been left unattended for several years. Who knows what could be in disrepair.'
The Hokage and Naruto return to where I'm at outside the barrier as the Hokage asks. "Ayo, did you notice anything? I still only saw the forest."
Nodding my head I reply. "As soon as you came to the barrier, you started moving in place, and an illusion made you invisible, with a projection of you walking to where you would be. Naruto wasn't affected though."
"There has to be a way for us to enter too. We can't let him go in by himself."
"I have a few ideas that might work. We should be prepared to escape or fight, however. We don't know what could be on the other side."
He nods. "Agreed. What's your first idea?"
Smiling, I reply, "We'll do two in one, hold hands with Naruto." I grab one of Naruto's hands as the Hokage takes the other. "Now, Naruto, would you like to invite Grandpa and me into your house?"
Naruto's eyes widen as he asks in shock, "I have a house?"
I nod at Naruto. "You do. You need to invite us in if you want us to come with you, though."
He nods his head up and down several times. "Grandpa, Ayo, come to my house with me?"
The Hokage and I smile and reply together, "Of course Naruto, let's go."
We let Naruto take the lead. As we head towards the barrier the Hokage and I hold our breath. We have no issues however, and pass right through.
What lays beyond is a sight to see. A massive walled-off compound with a large multistory building that can be seen over the wall. The gate appears to be made of some kind of metal with the Uzumaki clan symbol on it. On both sides of the gates are two large pillars topped with unlit lanterns. Approaching the gate, the Hokage attempts to push it open with no success.
Sighing, he says, "I guess it would have been too easy if the gate wasn't locked. I don't have any idea how to unlock them. They've already been opened every time that I've been here in the past."
"Let's take a look around and see if we can find anything." Saying this, I let go of Naruto's hand to search around the area.
After I take a few steps towards the gate, the lanterns atop the pillars flare to life with a bright yellow flame. As I come to a stop, wary of danger, the right pillar begins to glow. The next thing I know, the Hokage is in front of me, and I hear the sound of metal objects colliding.
"Get back to Naruto." I hear the calm voice of the Hokage among the continuing collisions.
Running over to Naruto and grabbing his hand, I notice that the collisions are getting faster with each one.
As I turn around back towards the Hokage, the left pillar starts glowing and the speed and amount of the projectiles being fired doubles.
I yell to be heard over the clanging. "Lord Hokage, I'm back with Naruto, come grab onto him!"
As soon as the words leave my mouth, the lanterns' flames turn orange and the pillars begin glowing brighter. A chain then sprouts from each pillar and rapidly heads towards the Hokage. When he shifts his balance to dodge the chains, the ground below him flashes, and a weak looking bolt of electricity strikes up at him. Caught off guard, the bolt causes him to stagger, allowing the chains to encircle him. The chains continue to wrap him until only his head is visible.
"Gramps! Are you ok?" Naruto yells with teary eyes after his shock begins to wear off.
"I'm fine. I'm not hurt, only captured," he responds smiling down at us.
Slightly shaking I ask, "Do you think you can break out?"
The chains shake for a few moments before the Hokage responds. "I think that I can, but I'm not sure if that's the best idea. The defenses don't seem to be taking any other action other than capturing me. There must be a way to deactivate the defenses and free me."
I stare at him for a solid minute before asking, "You want us to go in and look for a way to deactivate the defenses?"
Still smiling, he nods. "Yes, if it was Naruto alone, I might be concerned. But I believe that you can handle it. I want to avoid anything that might make the defenses react more violently."
Sighing, I turn to Naruto. "Ok Naruto. We're going to go in and look for a way to get Grandpa out of this. Before we do that, I need you to promise that you won't let go of my hand unless I tell you to. Can you do that for me?"
Naruto nods vigorously and responds while holding my hand with more strength. "I promise. I won't let go no matter what!"
Sighing again, we approach the gate and I place my hand on the Uzumaki symbol as I look for a way to open it. Naruto places his hand next to mine, and the symbol glows briefly. After the glow fades, a vertical split appears on the symbol.
Smiling Naruto and I push the gate, which opens without a sound.
"Lord Hokage, we'll be back soon. Don't go anywhere," I say, smirking back towards the Hokage.
He chuckles in response. "Don't worry about me. I'll be resting my old bones here."
Naruto and I begin walking down the path on the other side of the gate. After about ten minutes we approach the main house and I gesture towards the door. "See if you can open the door Naruto."
"Okay!" He replies, smiling as he pulls on the door handle. The door opens with no issues.
Stepping into the home, we're greeted by a large hall with a door to each side. To the front there's a statue of an elderly man, with long hair and facial hair, wearing the Uzumaki symbol. A plaque at the bottom of the statue labels him as Ashina Uzumaki.
To both sides of the statue, a staircase leads to the next floor.
Naruto and I walk forward as we examine the statue. "This is one of your ancestors Naruto. He was the leader of your clan when the village was founded."
"Wow, that's awesome!" Exclaimed Naruto reaching out towards the plaque at the base of the statue.
After making contact with the statue, Naruto jerked his hand away, gasping.
"What was that voice?" He asks, eyes wide and lower lip quivering.
"I didn't hear anything. What happened, Naruto?" I ask, searching again for any one inside my sensory range.
"A-as soon as I touched the statue I heard a weird voice inside my head."
Curious, I reach out and place my hand where Naruto touched the statue. Hearing nothing, I look to Naruto. "I don't hear anything. Can you touch it again and tell me what it says to you?"
Shakily nodding, he places his hand next to mine. "It's asking if I want to claim the manor."