Chapter 19: Archives

Chapter 19: Archives

Authors note: Right now I am actually writing chapter 37 right now, and while I made a contreversal choice, I actually love it. So I hope you guys are as interested as I am for this novel.

For now I needed to meet sensei again since we had to go and collect my new Jutsu.

I walked over to our usual training ground, to see him sleeping in front of a Buddha Statue.

"Sensei?" I called out, to which he quickly woke up in shock.

"Shikomu? He questions out in slight surprise as he quickly wiped some drool from his face and sat up right.

"I was just praying."

"Praying?" I raised an eyebrow, my voice laced with skepticism. 

Naido-sensei coughed into his fist, avoiding eye contact. "Of course. As a devout man, I always take time to reflect on life's mysteries." 

I glanced at the small puddle of drool beside him and decided not to comment. "Right… Anyway, we need to head to the archives." 

At that, he immediately perked up, stretching as he stood. "Ah, right. The Hokage really pulled some strings for you, kid. Normally, Genin aren't even allowed near the archives, let alone pick their own jutsu. Even most Chunin don't get this privilege." 

As we started walking, the village bustled around us. The sun was just beginning to rise, casting a golden glow over Konoha's rooftops. 

"The Shinobi Archives hold some of the most valuable techniques in our village's history," Naido-sensei continued. "Only those who have greatly contributed to Konoha's success—seasoned Jonin, elite Anbu, and a select few—are allowed inside." 

I absorbed the information silently. It made sense. Powerful jutsu were assets of the village, after all. If just anyone had access to them, it could lead to dangerous consequences. 

"Usually," Naido-sensei added, side-eyeing me, "a Jonin selects techniques for their Genin, based on what they think is best. But the Hokage gave you special permission to choose for yourself." 

I smirked slightly. "Guess I'm just built different." 

Naido-sensei let out a short laugh. "Don't let it go to your head." 

Soon, we arrived at a tall, heavily fortified building tucked away near the center of the village. Two Anbu guards stood silently by the entrance, their blank masks making it impossible to read their expressions. 

One of them stepped forward. "State your purpose." 

Naido-sensei pulled out a small scroll stamped with the Hokage's seal and handed it over. The Anbu took a moment to examine it before nodding and stepping aside. 

As the heavy doors creaked open, I felt a strange energy in the air—like stepping into a place where history itself was stored. The walls were lined with towering shelves, each filled with countless scrolls. 

At the far end of the room sat an elderly man, his long white beard nearly reaching the desk he was hunched over. His eyes flickered up to us, sharp despite his age. 

"You must be the one Hiruzen-sama mentioned," he said, his voice surprisingly strong. "Come." 

We followed him deeper into the archive until we reached a smaller, more secure section. Here, the scrolls were marked with the names of Konoha's past Hokages. 

The old man gestured to a large scroll placed neatly on a pedestal. "This contains a list of advanced Water Release jutsu developed or refined by the previous Hokages—powerful techniques, but none reaching the Forbidden Rank." 

I stepped forward, feeling my heart pound slightly. This was it. My chance to claim something truly powerful. 

"And here." The man said with a slight smile on his face, "Are the notes of the previous Kage...take this as an extra prize the Hokage has for your splendid progress."

At that I couldn't help but nod...seems like the title was much more broken then I thought!

(Author's note: Yes, this is because of the 'Prince of Konoha' title.)

Soon after, the old man and Naido sensei left the room, seemingly leaving me alone inside of the room.

{Player Mathew, you are now allowed to learn 3 New Jutsu. Simply select the Jutsu and they will be learnt}

{Please note, if you decide to learn more than 3 Jutsu, the Hokage will be notified and it will be considered as a potential act of treason}

As I read the system notifications, I couldn't help but frown slightly. Did this mean that if a player was able to reach this place, they could simply press a couple of buttons to learn a lot of Jutsu?

Now that seemed…way too easy.

But I guess that you would instantly be executed for knowing Village secrets.

To safely be able to read all the Jutsus inside of this Archive one has to probably be a Kage Level Shinobi, maybe slightly higher.

And by that point the majority of the Jutsu here would be useless, since your fighting style would be cemented and you would already have an arsenal of your own Jutsu.

And even as a Kage level Shinobi, death was guaranteed fighting an entire Village alone.

But there was definitely something I had realised when the system gave me its notifications.

As long as I took 3 Jutsu, no one would know which Jutsu I had taken…

Looking towards a specific segment of the scroll, I couldn't help but smile slightly.

[First Hokage Hashirama Senju: Wood Release segment]

…

It didn't take me long for me to select the Jutsu I wanted to use.

I selected 3 A-Rank Ninjutsu, and 2 of them were Wood-Release. I decided that if I didn't show Naido sensei a Jutsu I could use out in the open, he would defintely be suspicious.

I had to hide my bloodline as a secret from the village. Not only that, no one could know I had these Jutsu. If they did, I would have to kill them.

No one could know my secret.

As I was training in our designated area, Naido sensei eventually walked up to me.

"Shikomu, did you forget we have another mission from today?" He asked as he saw me concentrating on Water Elemental manipulation.

"Have you finally moved onto the next segment? Nice." He complimented as he noticed what I was trying to do. I was already able to do the ripple thing Naido sensei wanted me to.

Now I was doing the next part, being able to submerge a piece of paper in water from between the palm of my hands.

"Sorry sensei it seems like I got caught up into this."

"It's fine, I am happy you are training seriously." Naido sensei said.

"Yeah well, I have to have an insane amount of Chakra control for the Jutsu I had selected."

Which was true, especially for the Wood Release Jutsu. If not, the amount of Chakra they take is insane.

"So what's our mission, sensei." 

He then raised his hand and pointed in a certain direction.

I then saw a girl that was familiar to me.

"Ayumi?" I questioned.

"Yes, the Hokage and the hospital has deemed that she seems to be cured of her disease, but will still be kept under monitoring in case she randomly sleeps again." 

It seemed like the game was giving her another chance, allowing her to play as long as she didn't go away for too long.

She nodded at me and I did the same.

"We still need to catch her up on the mission count, so we will be working extra hard. I am also in the process of finding us 1 more genin for the 3 man squad so give me another week. We have time till before the exams anyway." 

"Now, why don't you two complete this D rank mission for today, I have other work." He said as he passed me a scroll and left.

Ayumi walked closer to me and sighed.

"Dude, they locked me in a room and didn't let me leave all this time! I felt like I was in a prison since if I didn't log in enough the game warned me that it would terminate my character!l"

I nodded and replied, "I know I have been reading the forums."

"Anyways now I'm back, I've missed a lot." She commented with a smile and then added.

She then observed me carefully before continuing, "Naido Sensei mentioned something about the Hokage recognising your talents. Seems like you are defintely really strong now."

I also didn't expect the Hokage to speak highly of me. That being said this man loved anyone with the 'Will of Fire.'

"Well yeah, something like that did happen after completing an A-rank mission." I said, to which she didn't seem surprised. Naido sensei seemed to have told her about this as well.

"I see. Well, I guess you will have to carry me for a bit. How strong are you now anyway?" 

"About ChunIn level, and how about you?" I asked.

"Average Genin, so I guess we are not so far apart."

As she said that I couldn't help but laugh inside my head.

First of all I was well on my way to be a Jonin.

And secondly chakra and physique wasn't what decided power and people would soon get that.

Ninja needed a variety of Jutsu to survive their missions.

If you're a Jonin and a Chunin Sasuke rammed a Chidori into your chest, you would die for sure.

Some Jutsu give crazy buffs, like the 8-Inner-Gates.

From the Jonin rank, power disparity comes from the massive differences in Jutsu levels and rarity.

 But for now, I need Ayumi and my other 3 man to be half decent. 

I need them to survive the first round of the exam, and I need to throw some distractions in the miniscule chance Pedomaru comes after me.

Hopefully he has no reason to.

But if he even got a sniff that I was a Senju, I can kiss my chances at that goodbye.

...

Authors note:

Alright guys, as an incentive, every time someone joins my Patreons highest tier, I will release 1 extra chapter.

You can read some chapters ahead if you want to on my p#treon.com/Fat_Cultivator