The Genjutsu Devil of Konoha

When his break was officially over, he looked at his progress and felt semi-proud. Sure, he couldn't practice the technique with the clones, but he could still level up the technique proficiency with them.

So, he got like three months' worth of proficiency during his little vacation. He was better with it now—even able to do it while asleep.

From now on, until he finished the technique—which, with his chakra amount, would take roughly two years (the same time clock he'd set for himself to have a Jinchūriki)—he needed to be careful.

Also, he felt like the Nine-Tails would be able to sense the presence of a beast living inside Seijuro, which is why he didn't plan on taking the consciousness. Just some chakra. Enough chakra so that he could enter a semi-Bijū state.

He needed to master that Semi-Bijū state. The Bijū cloak... speaking of which, Kushina was supposed to be the Nine-Tails' host. He'd checked on her so far—went to the Academy, played around with her.

Though lately, he noticed she seemed to be out of it. He didn't like that. So, he made the horrible—horribly financial—decision to buy her as much ramen as possible.

Seijuro opened his wallet, watching as a fly flew out of it. Six months' worth of cash, just gone. Telling an Uzumaki they could eat as much food as they could stomach wasn't a good idea.

Anyway, he got all he needed. He had bought a mask—a boar mask. It was nice and all.

Yes, the mask was bought for a reason. Don't mind it. He gifted Kushina a fox mask, gave Nawaki a beaver's mask, Mikoto got an eagle.

When he gave Kushina the mask, she would have asked why a fox. He would say that she was a trickster—and just like a fox, she was adorable. Really, he was helping her out mentally. Anyway, Mikoto was very mad, so he had to cheer her up somewhat.

That was in the past, however. Took him going to a restaurant—a very good one—for her to calm down a bit. Jeez, felt like they were dating already. Out here having teen drama at the tender age of ten years old.

Anyway, this ten-year-old Seijuro was now standing somewhere in front of the Hokage building.

Seijuro noticed a lot of people were there—all of them were Chūnin. The Jōnin were in front of them.

And behind them? Some prominent Genin. Cool.

Then, Hiruzen could be seen at the top of the Hokage building.

The man looked at his soldiers. Ah yes, war was not harsh. Time to make his speech and send the vast majority of those men to their deaths.

"Sons and daughters of the Leaf... hear me."

The shinobi stood at attention, the murmurs fading. Even the Genin instinctively straightened their backs. Seijuro's eyes remained locked onto the man, watching with calm detachment.

"The Will of Fire burns not in the land... not in the buildings we protect... but within us. Within every Konoha shinobi who dares to rise when others would fall."

He paused, allowing the weight of his words to sink in.

"The world beyond our borders grows restless. Our enemies—Kumo, Iwa, Kiri—they smell weakness. They see the peace we worked so hard to preserve... and call it cowardice. Softness. They creep toward our borders with blades drawn and blood in their eyes."

Hiruzen's jaw tightened as he clenched his staff.

"But they are wrong."

His tone grew sharper.

"We are not soft. We are not afraid. We are not children clinging to fading peace."

The Jōnin nodded solemnly. The Chūnin stood with silent determination. Some of the Genin flinched—others, like Seijuro, watched with still, sharp eyes.

"We are Konoha. We are the fire that endures."

He took a step forward, his voice rising like a storm.

"Let them come. Let them test our borders. Let them bleed against our forests and fall to our steel. They will learn—as they always have—that the Will of Fire does not flicker in the wind."

"It roars."

A gust of wind surged through the crowd like punctuation. Hiruzen raised his staff toward the sky, his eyes blazing with conviction.

"We will fight. We will endure. And when the dust settles, it will be Konoha that remains!"

A thunderous chorus of cheers broke out from the ranks. The Jōnin raised their fists. The Chūnin stomped their feet. Even some of the Genin shouted with fire in their throats.

Except for Seijuro, of course.

He merely closed his eyes, the faintest smile brushing his lips.

When the whole speech was over, he went to take his papers. He would be in a squadron with ten other Chūnin or so. They weren't the main squad or anything—more like scouts.

Wow. Really out here sending him to die.

His squadron captain was an Uchiha named Fugaku. He was a Jōnin—should be like sixteen or so.

He felt like the guy hated his guts for some unknown reason, as if he had fucked the man's wife.

Well, he was unaware of it, but technically... kinda was doing that.

Man was supposed to marry her off to consolidate his power as the future clan head of the almighty Uchiha clan.

Oh well.

Seijuro didn't mind.

He went to his house, prepared all the necessary items needed, and was ready to enter this squad with six Uchiha, an Inuzuka, two Hyūga, and an Aburame.

As the team comp could say—this team was, for the most part, Uchiha.

It was a scouting team, really. So mostly everyone here was good with speed.

It did say Seijuro was a sensor—but still, the Hyūga Byakugan was probably better than what he could sense.

His squad was under the leadership of Orochimaru, as it was the Iwa front. Jiraiya was closer to the Kumo front as of now. Though those two might switch fronts in the future, for now, he was under Commander Orochimaru.

Also, the notes he got on the jutsu were given to him by Tsunade. She told him that if he ever bumped into a hurdle, to send her a message.

"Miss Tsunade, how can I send you a message? You will be fighting on the Suna front... while I will be on the Iwa front." To be more exact, he would be stationed in the Grass Village.

A village that shared a border with the Village of Rain to the south... and the Waterfall Village to the north.

Easy pickings, really.

She seemed to have a thoughtful expression.

Then bit her finger, drawing blood.

"Summoning Jutsu."

He watched the intricate marks appear on the ground. Oh nice.

Then, a small slug appeared.

"Lady Tsunade, to what do I owe this summoning?" A slug the size of a human stood before him. Seijuro blinked once, then twice. Why the hell was there a big-ass slug?

"Sensei, isn't that your summoning, Lady Katsuyu?"

The woman nodded her head. This was, in fact, her summon.

"You will use Katsuyu in order to contact me."

Seijuro was confused. Why the heck would she do that?

"You are my student. It's only fair I teach you a thing or two," she said boastfully. Hm. She's acting like someone trying to bribe a kid because she knows someone else is going to try to bribe that said kid later.

Oh... oh.

It kind of clicked. Even though in name she was his sensei, the amount of shit she actually taught him could be counted on one hand. And the amount of time he actually needed her help was even less.

She kinda just tossed books at him and he picked it up quite easily. He was a horrible example of an average student—a prodigy.

And she knew full well what Orochimaru was also. Plus, she was quite prideful. People might see her as straightforward, but she did not care. She would just do it.

"Are you sure, Sensei? Summonings are quite precious and not things that can be freely handed out," he said calmly.

Summons were very important stuff. Handing them out so easily wasn't something one should do.

"Just take it, dammit." Hm, her temper was flaring up once more.