Even though he later went to study with Hashirama, the friends he made at the academy were still in touch with him. This was the reason why Torifu was sending Minato, Yahiko, and Konan to the academy.
Time quickly passed until the evening. When Amado came out of the laboratory, he saw two children exploring in the yard. Out of curiosity, he asked.
"You two, whose children are you?"
"We belong to this house. Does Uncle live here too?"
Amado was a bit confused. Had the Kumotsuru clan compound been sold by his big brother because he had been in the lab for the past few days? What was the deal with these two children?
"Torifu Sensei brought us here. He said he was taking me and Konan in as apprentices."
Ah, so these two little ones were the apprentices that his big brother had just taken in. He hadn't realized it at first and thought the Kumotsuru clan compound had been sold.
He then happily crouched down. "I'm Torifu Sensei's younger brother. You can just call me Uncle Amado." He was in his twenties now and didn't have any excessive obsession with being young. He was in the lab all day, and his beard was very long. Although he was three years younger than his big brother, he looked like he was in his thirties or forties. But calling him "Uncle" was fine. Calling him "Old Man" was a little hurtful. After all, he was just a young man in his early twenties.
"Hehe, okay, Uncle Amado. Can you show us around? We just got here, so we're not very familiar with the place."
In fact, Yahiko was still a little afraid of Amado, but as a boy, he tried to hold it together and not let Amado see his fear. Amado had actually already sensed it. Although Yahiko was smiling, his body was trembling a little. It was quite funny.
"Don't be afraid. Let's walk around. There are talking birds here. I hope they don't scare you."
As soon as he finished speaking, Snowflake's voice came out. "Who's talking bad about me?"
But her voice was that of a kind old lady, which had a natural killing power over these children. A kind old lady seemed safer than a weird old man. But when the voice came from a big bird, it was a little scary.
"Auntie Snowflake, you must have seen them, right? Don't scare them anymore."
Snowflake flew down from the tree. She was a true Phoenix bird now. Every movement was graceful, and she didn't lie on the ground often anymore. You could only find her on the treetops.
"These two children are quite well-behaved. Go ahead and take them for a walk. Torifu will be back in a while."
Yahiko and Konan hid behind Amado in fear. Sure enough, being a human was the most important thing. Although the voice was kind and had a lot of charm, if it wasn't a human, none of it mattered.
Amado had just finished his experiment and was free anyway. It was a good idea to bond with these two children. They would probably be living in this house for a long time in the future. Maybe forever, just like him. Even though he had the money to buy a house, he just wouldn't leave. The main reason was that this place felt like home. Being in the lab all day was already lonely enough. If he came home and found an empty and lonely house, he would probably commit suicide.
"This is your Sensei's room. You can't go in without permission."
The two little ones nodded obediently. Then he introduced Minato's and his own rooms before taking Yahiko and Konan to the cranes' nest. It was something Torifu had specially built for them.
"Hey, Amado, not working overtime today?" Aokumo teased. Then he saw two little heads behind him. "Are these Torifu's new younger siblings?"
Amado shook his head. "They seem to be just apprentices, but it's pretty much the same. After all, that guy is very emotional, and he treats his siblings and apprentices the same."
Aokumo nodded when he heard that. He was right. Even though Ryūfū and he were just summoned creatures, Torifu treated them like family. They laughed and talked every day, and life was great.
"Where are your children? I don't see them."
Not a single one of the four little cranes was there today.
"The oldest one went on a mission with Minato. He'll probably be back in a while. The other three troublemakers flew out. I can sense that they're not in any danger."
Amado nodded. Those four little guys were a handful. They would jump up and down in the compound every day, so Torifu had given them an order that they could only fly outside. These little guys' favorite thing to do was to fly around the Palace in the Clouds. Amado then looked in the direction of the Palace in the Clouds. Hmmm... he couldn't see anything. It was getting dark.
Aokumo said to Yahiko and Konan, "You two little ones, study hard. Maybe you'll also be able to sign a contract with my children."
But the two of them didn't know what it meant to sign a contract. After all, they didn't even have a concept of ninjutsu, so how could they know about Summoning Jutsu? They still had a lot to learn.
After coming here, Yahiko felt that there were so many things he didn't understand. The rule for stealing that they had learned in the Land of Rain seemed to be completely useless here. Because they had food and a house, they didn't need to steal anymore. Konan, on the other hand, was a little curious about the huge crane in front of her.
"Um, Mr. Crane, are you and Sensei partners?"
Aokumo blinked. Mr. Crane. This was the first time he had heard that. "Hahaha, I like that name. As for partners... I think so. Your Sensei and I are indeed partners."
"What is the contract you were talking about?"
Seeing that the little girl was genuinely curious, Aokumo patiently answered her. "A contract is a link that binds your Sensei and me together, but it's not a restraint, because just because he summons me doesn't mean I have to respond. So we have to be of the same mind to successfully use the Summoning Jutsu."
Konan nodded, half-understanding. She was indeed a little curious about this Summoning Jutsu. After all, a crane this big was the Sensei's combat partner! She had seen cranes in the Land of Rain, but they were less than a tenth of Mr. Crane's size. She herself was not even twenty percent of Mr. Crane's size. He was so amazing.
Suddenly, a few crane calls came from the sky. Then three cranes, only about the size of Aokumo, landed in the nest. They were curious about the two people they had never seen before.
"Dad, who are they?"
"They are your Uncle Torifu's new disciples. They might sign a contract with you in the future."
The little cranes chattered amongst themselves. It was a bit noisy. But the little cranes weren't resistant to signing a contract. In fact, they were a little excited because they could go on adventures in a legitimate way. Every time their big brother and Big Brother Minato went out, they would come back and tell them stories, which made them very envious. However, they didn't want to sign a contract with anyone outside of this family. And their father had said that Uncle Torifu was getting married soon, and then they would have a little brother or sister to sign a contract with. They had to protect them well.