[Chapter Size: 2300 Words.]
Third Person POV
Uzushiogakure, The Floating Island, 42.
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Despite the still-strange atmosphere among the girls early in the morning, especially Tsuna, who was still walking around embarrassed knowing that they knew what had happened, and also with Kushina and Minato disappearing with her in the middle of the night to go somewhere private, Minato reacted normally with each of them.
No; he appeared bolder, giving each of them a kiss, wanting them to get used to the family dynamic they would soon have, after all, the wedding would happen in a month.
In any case, Minato went to the clan leader's house, while his granddaughter, Asuma, greeted him at the entrance. Minato ignored the look she had since they first met and followed her inside to speak with her grandfather.
"Grandpa said you're studying all the clan's fūinjutsu, even those that are nothing more than discarded attempts at creating new seals...", she said with a spark of expectation and curiosity toward Minato as they walked through the mansion's hallways.
Minato nodded. "Yes, that's true. I was curious about them, and there are certainly some very interesting things in that place that I might be able to use." He answered in a modest tone, not seeming interested in her, but also not wanting to be rude to the Uzumaki clan leader's granddaughter.
"If you want, I can help. I'm very good at fūinjutsu," she offered with some expectation.
"I'll keep that in mind..." Minato merely nodded, not talking much as they entered the room where her grandfather waited. In any case, she left them, closing the door behind Minato, and he knelt on the futon in front of Masaki, while the tea was still hot on the small table.
"Help yourself, Lord Minato," said Masaki, also kneeling on the other side, as they began a small meeting discussing some things about the floating island.
"So, I checked the island and people don't seem dissatisfied living in the sky in the nearly two weeks that have passed...", Minato commented in the middle of the conversation.
He had probed the island with observation haki to check the clan's emotions; people did not seem particularly sad or frustrated. In fact, they were living their normal routine, some still sad over their dead relatives, obviously, but none in particular because they were living in the sky.
Agriculture was still functioning even at that altitude, and the clan's non-combatants had returned to tending their small farms, since the island was practically self-sustaining, even with some crops partially destroyed by the battle, for the nearly four thousand members — after losing more than a thousand Uzumaki combatants in the war.
Unfortunately, there was no way to save everyone in the four-front war, but by comparison, more than sixteen thousand enemy ninjas had perished in the battle. All the nations now had a huge hole in their military forces.
And despite the sadness still present in many grieving people, life in the Uzumaki clan continued. The children returned to school, the ninjas trained, seeming more determined after that fight — something that Minato and his girls had also felt, particularly a desire to further increase their abilities.
"The Uzumaki are perfectly fine with the current arrangements. Even though many are still used to activities at sea. The landscape here in the sky is not particularly bad. The barrier Lady Kushina created adapted the island as if it were still at sea level," Masaki said.
Minato did not fail to notice how he referred to Kushina as "Lady Kushina" after the battle. Something that everyone also adored, in particular now treating her as a superior, adding "Sama" after her name. Even the clan leader himself treated her with respect.
It wasn't something anyone should be surprised about. Kushina not only demonstrated her power in fūinjutsu, able to create seals and barriers that would take years and hundreds, perhaps thousands of Uzumaki to complete — she could make them in a few hours alone thanks to Kurama's chakra — but she also demonstrated a combat power that shocked the entire ninja world.
Even all the Uzumaki together, in a fight against her, would not come out victorious, for she was more powerful than the entire clan at present. After all, she was already a master in fūinjutsu; for her, dealing with the Adamantine Chains and seals attempting to prevent the bijuu chakra inside her from manifesting would be no problem at all.
Not only was she treated like this, but all his girls were also treated the same way, for all of them demonstrated superior combat to the Uzumaki themselves, while also being linked to their main savior as future wives.
"I heard you're leaving the island today...", Masaki asked Minato.
Minato nodded with a serious look. "I'm summoning Guren to do maintenance on the clouds that make the island fly. And I intend to go to the dragon clan right afterward."
The man nodded. "I admit... it's still hard to believe I saw a real dragon in my life... Even harder when his power is enough to make the entire Land of Whirlpools fly. I've never seen a beast like that," the elder murmured.
"I wouldn't say that to his face if I were you. Dragons are very proud creatures and get offended easily," Minato warned.
"Of course, Lord Minato, I had no intention of offending him. But still... I heard rumors that you knew the dragon before he transformed into the powerful creature capable of lifting our country as if it were nothing," the man murmured, further emphasizing the feat that had kept them in the sky for 12 days.
Minato gave a small nostalgic smile.
"It's true. He was a fish, and I found him by accident when he was just a fish wandering through the sea. He wanted to explore the world to grow stronger at the time, and he found me on the southern coast of the Land of Fire while I was training my powers away from the malicious eyes inside Konoha. Since then, we trained together."
The man raised an eyebrow. "You trained with a fish? That is particularly strange," Masaki murmured, laughing.
Minato merely nodded. "Yeah... although it's not very common for a fish with horns who can speak the language. But he seemed quite enthusiastic at the time, not afraid of me or my powers... training tank-S jutsu. Since then, we've trained together. Once, I threw him on top of a bunch of enemies using the Hiraishin seal to appear in the enemy camp while everyone was distracted by the fish screaming."
Minato didn't fail to comment, remembering that time when he found Suna's camp entering the Land of Fire, before discovering their plan was to capture the Fire Daimyō. His strategy was to confuse the enemy while placing a seal on Guren's body and throwing him directly at them.
"Well, I hope he doesn't remember that at this moment," the man joked.
Minato agreed, still nodding. "Guren isn't one to hold grudges. Not that he could really do anything against me, even now. But we were friends — my bonds with him are stronger than any other summoning contract. Even though I really like the toads of Mount Myōboku, I don't have as strong an affinity with them as I have with Guren, after all we've been friends for years."
In any case, they continued talking a bit. Minato, in the end, left the clan leader and disappeared directly with the Hiraishin, appearing in one of the corners where he had his seals used specifically to summon Guren.
Minato stood at the edge of a cliff — if one could even call it that, after all, everything he saw below were clouds and the blue of the sea ten thousand meters beneath the clouds. He was at one of the island's farthest points, which led straight into the void in the middle of the sky.
He didn't fail to look with a certain admiration. Currently, the island was hiding in a mass of clouds surrounding it, preventing even curious eyes from finding it while it was still near the elemental nations, though farther south over the sea...
Minato was particularly satisfied with this. They were isolated, and he himself had searched for any sign of Zetsus since the first day, but there was nothing.
He didn't know what Madara would do after they had saved the Uzumaki clan, but he certainly wouldn't be as passive as he had been until now. Minato needed to be careful… he still had those two old academy companions of his, with Minato having stolen a pair of those eyes and given them to Mikoto. However, that might not stop the Uchiha from developing a new Mangekyō — and if they created a pair of Eternal Mangekyō, it would be a bit problematic.
In any case, Minato simply shone and his body flew in a straight line like a laser, leaving the barrier as the wind quickly struck him. Stopping in the middle of the sky, he cut his finger and began forming the seals before invoking the summoning jutsu.
In the middle of the clouds, an explosion appeared, and Guren emerged — the blue dragon taking shape before Minato, who was standing on his nose, with the enormous draconic eyes fixed on him.
"Minato," Guren said without needing to move his mouth, simply keeping it open as he spoke.
"Hello, Guren. Can you adjust the clouds surrounding the island?" Minato asked.
Guren nodded, relaxing as he began the work, summoning his yellow clouds and quickly placing them beneath the island, replacing the old ones that were already beginning to weaken.
Every three days, Guren was summoned for that task, and, particularly, the dragon was not irritated by it. He hadn't changed much in personality; although now more prideful — Minato had to admit — he was still always willing to help Minato, just as Minato had once helped him.
The clan members always looked at the dragon circling the island with eyes full of admiration, seeing him every three days.
"Are you ready to go?" Guren asked when he finished.
Minato nodded. "Yes."
"Then please, enter my mouth," the dragon requested.
Minato nodded and flew toward Guren's teeth, which opened for him to enter. As soon as Minato passed through, the mouth closed.
"What has Guren been eating? This is horrible…" Minato murmured quietly as he felt the stench of the dragon's breath. Not that he could complain. Dragons don't brush their teeth, right?
In the next moment, everything lurched, and Minato knew Guren had canceled his summoning on his own, returning to the Land of Dragons.
Three days ago, Minato had received Guren's answer regarding his request to visit the Land of Dragons — and even train his techniques there.
When Guren opened his mouth again, Minato stepped out and immediately found himself facing the legendary land of dragons, practically on the other side of the world relative to the elemental nations.
He saw a place not on land, but in the sky, full of floating islands at least ten thousand meters high. The dragons themselves placed them there to make their nests and establish their clan. It was no wonder dragons were extremely rare to encounter — no one knew of the fish clan unless they happened to meet one by chance. Even less the dragon clan, which lived in the middle of the sky.
Minato looked at each of the islands. He could see dragons flying above some, others sleeping, some in pairs.
Minato quickly activated his observation haki and scanned the entire area. There were at least forty dragons — some one hundred meters long, others up to three hundred meters, but there was one in particular, five hundred meters long, on the highest island.
Minato knew that the dragon clan was a bit exotic. In fact, they had their own offspring created through the obvious fertilization of a female or male. When the female was about to give birth, they flew to the Waterfall of Trial of the fish clan and released their eggs into the sea so that new fish could be born.
Later, the small fish were taken in by the clan, growing with the hope of passing the Waterfall Trial — which was extremely difficult. There were at least four hundred fish in the clan, but only forty dragons. And Minato suspected that dragons lived much longer than the fish.
Just like in Guren's case: he had passed the Waterfall Trial, transforming into a dragon and coming here, completely cutting ties with the fish clan.
It was quite a strange cycle, but it worked for the dragons. The dragons, in particular, did not seem to care much for their offspring, only expecting them to be worthy so that, years later, they could become blue dragons. Just as Guren should have his father and mother here, he was only recognized after becoming a dragon.
That was the cycle of the dragon clan.
In any case, on the highest island, a particular dragon — black in color, with a white beard — was resting when he felt something. Someone was probing not only him but the entire region.
His eyes opened, and his red tone began to glow.
"How interesting… who is trying to spy on the dragon clan? Could it be that human for whom Guren had requested permission...? Is he already trying to observe us without our permission? Interesting...", he murmured in a fierce tone.
Author here:
I'm thinking, what should the sage mode of the dragon clan be like... Should it be just some characteristics, or should it take on a hybrid dragon form, like Kaido had in One Piece with the mythical dragon fruit?
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