Despite being defeated for the fifth time in the row, Ben didn't feel annoyed in the slightest as he was nowhere near experienced at playing shogi like the one eyed veteran, who now introduced himself as Danzo Shimura, was. Though each time the board was resetted Danzo had to make twice the effort to beat him as the same set of tricks and moves didn't work on him as he was no stranger to mental exercises. Which clearly left him quite impressed. It was quickly became quite obvious to Ben that Danzo never did anything without reason. That man was quite hard to predict and his moves very well planned and he was even better at executing them. He sacrificed his own pawns, rooks, knights and even the queen if it gave him a favourable position to trap the Ultimatrix bearer.
That almost seemed...clinical...surgical. This is what he imagined a highly proficient strategist or spymaster to look and act, needless to say that thought itself was a little bit disturbing.
The one eyed veteran of three shinobi world wars talked a little bit about how the village was founded in general, It quickly became quite clear to him that he was a huge admirer of Tobirama Senju, the second Hokage and Ben could sense that he knew the third quite closely but there seemed to be some sort of bad blood between them as he didn't speak much highly of him like Kakashi did for an instance. He had an inkling that the bandaged creep clearly wanted something from him. He certainly had no idea what it was yet, however he was willing to indulge the cyclops if it meant he could help him learn more about this world's techniques.
After all if Hamura believed Ben stood no chance against this supposed darkness in his current state, he needed all the help he could get.
"The third Hokage is a firm believer in the will of fire." Danzo continued with his line of explanation, "It is a faith which causes the Konoha ninjas to risk themselves in an effort to protect those weaker than them, whether they are the next generation or the people working with them on a mission."
"You...don't agree with it." Ben slightly narrowed down his eyes.
"What should it matter to you if your teammates perish on a mission? Does it affect your well being or performance? Shouldn't you be focusing on serving the greater goal?" Danzo asked him with a hint of curiosity in his overall emotionless facade.
"Real people aren't pieces, and you can't assign more value to some of them than to others. Not to me, not to you, not to anyone. Anyone who looks on the world as if it was a game of shogi deserves to lose." Ben responded in a firm tone
"It seems you are set in your ways." Danzo observed
"I am not so arrogant to believe my way of thinking is the only right one." Ben replied in a casual tone, "Experience is the hallmark of learning and I have merely concluded best suits for my life based on my past experiences. Besides what's the point of being a warrior if you get swayed by others that easily. "
Danzo stood up, a speculative look on his visible eyes, his expressions still remaining mostly unreadable, "Indeed, you should give your trust only when it makes the most sense to you."
Before he turned to leave, the old man pulled out several books out of a sealing scroll and handed them over to Ben.
"This should be enough to steer you in the right direction."
Ideal Shinobi's Rule and Maxim by Sasuke Sarutobi.- It was pretty thin and the title was set in all caps.
Introduction to Fuinjutsu by Mito Uzumaki -Vol. 1 to 3- All three of them were quite thick, though some of that might be from their bloody red hard cover but Ben could feel it was going to take him a while before he could finish any one of them
How to train properly: ANBU Edition by Tobirama Senju - Vol 1 and 2: This one had a silhouette of the white haired man whose face he saw on Konoha's version of Mt Rushmore on it's sky blue covers alongside the title.
History of Konohagakure: Fifth Edition.
The history book seemed biggest out of all seven and while he wasn't a big fan of reading, it was essential for him to know how this village was formed and the trials it went through to get to where they were right now. And thankfully he had his Splixson alter ego Ditto was to rely on.
As long as I can convince my copies to read on my behest...which is easier said than done.
Ben looked at all the new books in front of him. They all really looked interesting but Fuinjutsu stuck out like a sore thumb, "Fuinjutsu?" He asked, "Why Fuinjutsu? Hatake-san always told me that the best path for me would be ninjutsu and taijutsu."
"Fuinjutsu, also known as the sealing arts can be used for many things such as summoning weapons or animals to fight, binding or trapping your enemies. Even most of the explosive seals use sealing arts as well. " Danzo explained as a matter of fact as he started packing his shogi board and chips.
"I get that." Ben blinked in confusion, "But even if I pick up a few things from these books, don't you have to be really precise while using complex stuff like that?"
"You are partially correct. Using sealing arts require extreme chakra control and focus." Danzo said with a knowing smirk, "However you are going to put efforts into become a true ninja, aren't you? Besides it's the most effective known technique to deal with a Jinchuuriki just like the current Mizukage. So I thought you might be interested in getting a feel for how sealing arts work."
Ben sharply narrowed down his eyes, glancing at the set of books. Better to read them and learn what fuss was all that about.
"Thanks for your help, Shimura-san."
"Don't mention it. You are genin and you are mainly responsible for your own training. I am just an old man offering you some wise words from my own experiences as a ninja. Until next time, Ben Tennyson."
Danzo replied nonchalantly, as if he was merely discussing the weather and before Ben could process what his true intentions were, the one eyed shinobi veteran had vanished. He moved even faster than Kakashi and Haku and didn't even leave the cloud of smoke copy ninja did while displaying that technique.
Ben shook his head with a sigh, his mind whirring with after experiencing the day's events. A part of him wondered whether he made a mistake by joining Konoha but he quickly dispelled all those negative thoughts away from his mind. Right now, the only thing he could focus on was his growth as a fighter so he could become badass by this world's standards as well. While he was still worried about his future in hidden leaf at the end of the day this was basically another wednesday for him.
Putting all those books back in the scroll, he took out a backpack from the Ultimatrix's very own personal pocket dimension, he carefully put the scroll inside. He really didn't have any idea about it till his eighteenth birthday and he still didn't know how that feature really worked. Because as far as he knew the said alien device had the ability to survive the destruction of universe and even cause it, and aid him in defying death countless times, but it couldn't be bothered to carry more than ten thousand, and one hundred kilos.
Not that he ever needed to carry so much stuff with him anyways.
And just like that he went back to punching the training dummy, he had to finish his regular workout after all.
...xxxxxxx...xxxxxxx...xxxxxx...
Once he was done with the exercising he spent most of his day crisscrossing through various streets of Konoha, browsing through multiple shops and stores that lined the road. He was quite surprised to learn that there was indeed some symmetry to the sprawling village. Hokage's tower was at the center, facing Konoha's version of Mt Rushmore from opposite side. Surrounding that were the official functions of the city's government, like taxes, license bureau for the various shinobi licenses, the ANBU base, and other things. Up against the financial and official district was the business district. This was where the majority of the shops and stores were located.
Further out from those administrative buildings were the residential areas, which expanded throughout rest of the village all the way to the border walls. As he previously noticed while entering the village, at the border walls were three gates, each one creating an intermission in the defensive structure that, along with the cliff the Hokage monument sat on, setting up a half-moon protective formation around the village and its inhabitants. A road led from each gate directly to the Tower, allowing shinobi and guests in a hurry to access the center of government as quickly as possible. Surprisingly districts themselves weren't completely isolated from one another, especially with each one blending into the next, but there were enough signs to let you know when you were in which one by the majority of unique buildings. Ben was quite amused to witness such a well functioning town in an alternate dimension. As expected from a ninja village, wide training grounds were set up quite nicely, which were located both inside the walls, in cases like the meadow field and memorial stone, to huge grounds like the Forest of Death which were located a few miles beyond the walls.
Now it was about dusk and the young Tennyson was looking for a place to stay. Before parting ways, Ben had been given his fair share of the pay that he'd earned by helping out with Zabuza and helping out Zabuza. So he had enough to stay on his own for at least a couple of months. The grown young man in a teen's body knew that he would be able to stay at no charge to him, but first he had to find a place to stay at!. Just when he was starting to think about going to the Hokage tower to ask for directions, he caught a familiar scent (As he was now transformed into his hyper evolved vulpimancer alter ego Ultimate Wildmutt)
The familiar scent led him through one of the more rundown spots in the Residential District, all the way up to a lighted window, none other than the infamous copy nin emerged from the sliding glass door and set out a decrepit-looking plant. Ben figured it was better to impose on the masked ninja for some time until he found a place he could call his own , so he soon found the door that led to the apartment and knocked.
The door slid open and Ben found himself staring at a yawning Kakashi in the face, still reading the smut novel he always did, "Ah, Ben! what are you doing here?"
The Ultimatrix bearer scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "Sorry Hatake-san! I needed a place to stay for the night, and I couldn't find anything worthwhile. I picked up your scent from far away..."
The copy nin responded with an eye smile, "It's alright . I really live on my own." He looked over his shoulders, " I gotta warn you though, the place isn't that great."
"I can manage, besides I have seen worse in the past." Ben nodded with a smile filled with gratitude. Night was about to fall and while he was capable of doing so, he didn't want to rough it in a place he wasn't truly familiar with.
Kakashi stepped aside, welcoming his new student in, while the place was simple the jounin did live in a decent two bedroom apartment.
"So Ben, this place everything you hoped it'd be?" Kakashi asked out of curiosity as he took out a spare blanket and pillow.
Ben began, keeping the fact in mind that everyone though he was originally from the same place Haku was which was much more believable rather than his true origins, "This land is much more peaceful than my homeland, and it's people seem much more welcoming. "
Kakashi eye smiled mysteriously as he led him towards the guest room , "You should feel right at home, Konoha truly fits your ideals . Anyways make sure to sleep early and conserve your energy as much as possible. I will be training my team sharp at eight am in the morning at the training ground 14. And afterwards we will be running D ranks for the village."
"Right! I will be there!" Kakashi nodded then disappeared in a burst of shinobi smoke.
The young Tennyson couldn't help but feel a strong urge to facepalm upon seeing that.
Did he really need to do that in his own house?
Considering the fact that he didn't have much else to do, he took out his backpack out of Ultimatrix's own inventory, unsealed all the books from both scrolls (Surprisingly Zabuza and Haku left him with some reading material as well).
Now let's look for what the term "Jinchuuriki" and "Demon Fox" truly means.
...xxxxxxx...xxxxxxx...xxxxxxxx...
The next day Ben awoke a little past seven in the morning and by the time he woke up, Kakashi was already gone. After seeing bare cupboards in the kitchen it didn't really seem Kakashi ate or cooked anything there in the first place. So he decided to head into town to get some light breakfast for himself.
Which happened to be a complete meal including steamed rice, miso soup, a grilled fish, and bunch of side dishes consisting of green salad and dried seasoned seaweed. He could easily tell that the restaurant owner likely had a lot of shinobis as regular customers. None of the dishes were greasy, deep fried or rich and they seemed quite light in general. Adjusted to meet the appetite of those who tended to work hard physically.
Unfortunately, despite hours of reading ( shared between three duplicates respectfully, since using a single one more than that would have caused a riot, he hated studying but his duplicates hated doing that even more.) He really didn't figure out much about those words , at least not as much as he intended to.
Apparently as long as mankind could remember in this universe, savage demons had roamed these lands, hunting humans and laying waste to all around them. They are massive beasts, most easily recognized by their giant tails. They were called the Ichibi, the Natabi, the Sanbi, the Yonbi, the Gobi, the Rokubi, the Nanabi, the Hachibi, and the Kyuubi, the one referred as nine tailed demon fox.
There were drawings accompanying the words as well, ranging from a raccoon looking creature made of sand to a giant bull-octopus thingy. To try and combat these powerful beasts and stop the destruction they cause, they were captured and sealed inside new born babies using a powerful technique that would kill the person using it. The fourth Hokage was one of those people who sacrificed their life to seal a Bijuu and protect the world from chaos. When the human has a demon sealed inside them they are known as Jinchuriki.
If the book was to be believed, these Jinchuurikis exhibited extraordinary powers due to the immense chakra reserves they possess, alongside several special abilities associated with the respective beast sealed inside of them.
He was quite surprised to find out that the first Jinchuuriki of Konoha happened to be none other than Mito Uzumaki, author of those books he had on sealing and wife of first Hokage. And apparently she passed away barely seventeen years ago, somewhere around her one hundreds.
Ben's face set into a frown once he carefully thought about it once again.
If my observations are correct, The fourth Hokage sealed the demon fox inside Naruto before his unfortunate demise. That certainly relates to the hatred others show him and all the name calling. But why did the Fox reappear out of nowhere and laid waste to the village? Why...would the fourth hokage chose Naruto of all people to seal the nine tails, what makes him so special?
He let out an aggrevated breath for the umptieth time in the day. He would mull over the new information for a while yet until he discovered answer to these questions. He wasn't usually this grouchy in the morning but his mind was plagued with the thoughts of Naruto and the situation that was forced upon him.
On the bright side, reading the book written by Tobirama Senju: How to train properly, proved to be an enlightening experience. The guy was called a legendary ninja for a reason and he knew what he was talking about. It had sections dedicated to all branches of shinobi arts. Including fuinjutsu and medical ninjutsu. There were hardcore programs written inside which made him sweat just from reading it. All sorts of pictures were given to describe practical things in a better way and they moved every time he put a certain amount of chakra inside it, making him feel as if he was watching a video in high definition.
Since he had some time before he had to get to the training grounds, he decided to go shopping. He at least needed to buy basic equipments ninjas tended to use.
Looking around the shopping district for a while, he found a store which looked fairly nondescript. The rather large kunai and anvil symbol above the door indicating that it had to do something with the shinobi supplies.
Opening the door, he took a peek inside, the lighting inside the store was dim , but his eyes did see an assortment of weapons. Swords, staffs, scythe anything anyone could name was present there. The only time he saw so many different weapons in one place was Kevin's personal hideout. Sight of so many weapons would have certainly made his best friend/ ex-nemesis drool, only if he were to see that. His sight did zero in the swords displayed , even if those weren't the reason for his visit. His mind went back to the victorious moment he sealed Diagon in the all mighty blade Ascalon, he may never be able to use the sword the way old George did, but he couldn't deny the awesome factor of being a swordsman.
May be he did feel a tiny bit jealousy towards the likes of Zabuza.
"Ah, a new customer! What can I do for you?" A jovial voice asked from the door in the back.
"Excuse me, I was..." Ben begun but stopped the moment he took in the owner, the young girl that was roughly around his age, wore a chinese style pink tank top, dark green cargo pants and had her hair done up in two buns. Which made her kind of look like a panda, or a mouse
But that wasn't the issue. It was her face...
No...It c-can't be...
"What's the matter, cat got your tongue?" She asked in a jest, and Ben couldn't help but shake his head in disbelief. This has to be some sort of twisted joke his destiny was playing on him.
This young girl...she just looked like...
Julie Yamamoto...
The one he could not save.