18 Months Later

Time and consistency are the two largest contributors to growth, and Kane was nothing if not consistent.

Kane, his family, the Uzumaki, and Konoha have undergone many changes in the last year and a half.

Relationships had begun both within and outside of the Uzumaki compound. Most notable for Kane were Nawaki and Naito. The two seemed to mesh well, and their antics amused much of the compound.

Kane's two senseis also had their firstborn sons. Hatake Sakumo had a smaller, well-tempered baby he named Kakashi, while Might Duy had a large, fussy baby named Gai. Both men were overjoyed and never let an opportunity to talk about their boys pass by.

Surprisingly, the two became drinking buddies in the months after their children were born. Sakumo was reserved enough to knock some sense into Duy while Duy forced Sakumo to lighten up.

However, their growing bond seemed to have an adverse effect on Kane's physical well-being. The two planned their lessons so that whatever Sakumo hammered, Duy would avoid while destroying the rest of him in their afternoon training.

This led to hellish full-body workouts every day, something that even an Uzumaki empowered by Nature Energy couldn't endure, at least not without external help.

Together, Tsunade, Mito, Naito, and Ashita created a hot spring-like medicinal bath to aid Kane's recovery. This wonderful combination of Fuinjutsu, Nature Energy, and medicinal herbs had an amazing effect on the body's recovery.

Between the constant nurturing of his Nature Energy, Tsunade's weekly recovery sessions, the hot water infused with medicinal herbs, his body's natural adaptation factor and his Uzumaki vitality, Kane could endure this horrific training without any negative side effects.

About 6 months into this time Kane received a training partner for his afternoon sessions with Duy.

Inspired by Kane's constant efforts, Kin Uzumaki asked his guardian and Might Duy for permission to join his training.

They both accepted his request, and needless to say, he began to regret his decision almost immediately, but he was unwilling to give up.

He stuck around but was limited without the assistance of Nature Energy. He couldn't keep up with Kane's pace, but that didn't mean he didn't try. 

A few months later, one day after collapsing, Kin revealed to Kane and his sensei that he also had a unique ability.

Lying on the ground, exhausted from the day's exertions, he bit into his arm. An action that startled the others. However, their shock turned to surprise as he had his stamina restored within seconds. He was in perfect condition, aside from a scar where he bit himself.

After calming down the two, Kin explained his ability. 

Now that he no longer concealed this innate trait, he could train twice as much. This new speed of growth still wasn't enough to keep up with Kane's, but he was no longer being left in the dust by him.

While the boys grew closer from their training, Kushina also underwent great improvements. From being solidly second best, she quickly surpassed Minato, becoming the top of her class. As time went on, she began pulling further ahead of her peers.

When graduation time came, she passed with a beyond-perfect score. She slightly scared the poor chunin examiner when she created 60 identical clones when asked to perform the basic jutsu.

By this point, she was well into Chunin's levels of strength but was missing the experience to become one.

On her graduation day, the entire clan celebrated, which caused a lot of stress for the bar owners and the Uchiha police force on duty.

That night Konoha learned just how much trouble a few hundred wasted Uzumaki can get into.

In the end, Kane and Mito paid several million Ryo for the damages caused by their clan's actions.

This sated the civilian's anger while also further ingratiating themselves with the adult Uzumaki.

A few days later, Kushina was notified of the formation of her Gennin squad under a Jounin they were already familiar with. 

Waiting in the classroom with her squad, a Lee girl named Miwa and a Hyuga boy from the branch clan named Shig; Inizuka Shuji and his ninken Kenzo walked into the room and introduced themselves as their Jounin sensei.

Her squad did several D-rank missions before Shuji thought they were finally ready for their first bandit extermination mission.

Her first kill went well, she didn't throw up or anything like Lee Miwa did. She just suffered a few sleepless nights from nightmares. However, she was over them within a week.

On a grander scale, tensions in the 5 great nations were beginning to rise as their shinobi encountered each other more and more often.

This led to a significant increase in escort missions, which made clashes with ninjas from other villages common. To combat this, larger teams took on the escort missions. however, this only made the confrontations messier when they occurred as Konohagakure weren't the only ones to do this.

Casualties would naturally occur in such a troubled time. However, the presence of the Uzumaki was a significant factor in reducing deaths on the frontline. Their seals could be used more frequently due to the greater supply in the village and the lower cost.

The introduction of a stasis seal, previously only seen in Uzushiogakure, ensured that any injured shinobi had a great chance of making it back to the village. 

Tsunade's name also gained fame for more than being Hiruzen's student. Her mastery over medical jutsu was so great that nearly any ninja who made it back to Konohagakure while breathing could be saved.

The most notable death was that of Lady Chiyo's son and daughter-in-law from Sunagakure.

In her anger, she placed a multi-million Ryo bounty on Sakumo's head, an action supported by Sunagakure. This action caused Hiruzen to pull him from active duty for a few months until the crazed headhunters looking for him calmed down. 

Sadly for Kane, this meant that Sakumo had more time to dedicate to training him and his sister.

Also, a dozen or so of the older Uzumaki children had entered the academy during this time.

This excited Hiruzen, as he knew how capable the shinobi from Uzushiogakure were. Having ninjas with such long life spans would only benefit Konohagakure.

Also at the academy, Kane's newest invention was being tested out by the children.

A new card game called Shinobi Wars was being played by the young children there as a test market. However the game was not only for enjoyment purposes. it was also educational as it pulled on real-life situations and it simulated what war is like as a shinobi.

It was a strategy game that required careful planning, information gathering, lying skills and foresight. 

Kane originally created the game a few months ago after Kin said he was bored. After a few weeks of research and development (mainly doodling on scrolls and brainstorming in the 'hot spring'), he came up with it. 

After showing it to Nawaki, Shuij, and a few others who enjoyed playing, Kane decided to grow the test audience. With some luck he would have a successful enterprise on his hands.