By the time Fujin turned two, he had become something ridiculous.
Not in the real world. In the real world, he was just a quiet toddler who walked early and talked late. His parents thought he was maybe a little strange, but nothing worth worrying about.
In the mindscape, he was a monster.
The sealing arts came to him like breathing. He didn't have to think about them anymore. His hands moved through the signs before his brain caught up. He could draw a seal in his sleep, literally, and had woken up more than once to find his fingers tracing patterns on the futon.
Shukaku watched him one day, arms folded, tail twitching.
"You're bored."
Fujin was sitting on the water, staring at nothing.
"Yeah."
"You've mastered everything."
"Yeah."
"No more seals to learn?"
Fujin shrugged.
"There's always more. But the basics? The advanced stuff? The stuff that took Uzumaki masters decades? I've got it all. The chains, the barriers, the binding seals, the purification seals, the ones that can trap curses forever. I could do them with my eyes closed."
He demonstrated. A seal formed on the water in front of him, perfect, intricate, glowing with power.
Shukaku stared at it.
"That's... actually impressive."
"It's boring."
Shukaku laughed.
"You're impossible. Most people would kill for that kind of talent."
"I don't want to be most people. I want to train. I want to fight. I want to do something."
He let the seal fade.
"But I'm two. I can't leave the house. I can't hunt curses. I can't even hold a kunai without my dad freaking out."
Shukaku settled down on his sandy perch.
"So what are you going to do?"
Fujin was quiet for a moment.
Then he opened the system shop.
"I'm going to prepare."
---
His parents were ordinary people, by Heian standards.
His father's name was Kenji. A grade two sorcerer. Solid. Reliable. Not flashy. He carried a sword passed down from his own father and used it to cut down curses that wandered too close to their village. He wasn't famous, and he didn't want to be.
His mother was Mika. Grade three. She had been a shrine maiden before she married, trained in purification rituals and basic barriers. Her family had some minor spiritual lineage, nothing worth mentioning. She handled the small curses, the ones that nested in the walls and whispered to children at night.
They were good people. Quiet people. The kind of people who lived their whole lives without ever touching greatness.
Fujin loved them.
Not in the dramatic way. Not with speeches or tears. Just a quiet appreciation. They fed him. Clothed him. Kept him safe. His father trained him in the basics without pushing. His mother hummed while she cooked and never once looked at him like he was strange, even though she must have noticed something was off.
He watched them sometimes. The way his father's shoulders relaxed when he came home from a hunt. The way his mother laughed at his father's terrible jokes. The way they looked at each other when they thought no one was watching.
Normal people. Living normal lives.
Fujin wondered how long that would last.
---
With nothing else to do, he started being a kid.
It was strange at first. He hadn't been a real kid in two lifetimes. But there was something freeing about it. No pressure. No expectations. Just... existing.
He played with wooden toys his father carved for him. He ran around the small yard, falling down, getting up, falling down again. He ate his mother's cooking and pretended to hate vegetables even though he didn't care either way.
His father took him on walks sometimes. Short ones, around the village. Fujin would hold his hand and look at everything with wide eyes, playing the part of a curious toddler.
"The world is bigger than this," his father said one day. They were standing on a hill overlooking the village. "Someday, you'll see it."
Fujin didn't answer. He just squeezed his father's hand.
In the evening, his mother would sit with him by the hearth and tell him stories. Old stories. About spirits and sorcerers and the great clans that ruled the capital.
"The Gojo clan are the strongest," she said. "They say their eyes can see everything. Nothing escapes them."
Fujin listened. Nodded at the right times. Made his eyes go wide when she described the monsters.
Inside, he was cataloguing. Filing away information. The Heian Era was dangerous. The more he knew, the safer his family would be.
---
At night, when his parents slept, Fujin went to the mindscape.
He opened the shop.
[SP: 92,000]
He had been saving. Not deliberately. There was just nothing to spend it on. The Uzumaki pack had given him everything he needed for seals. The Senju and Uchiha packs had filled out his passives. The basics were covered.
But he needed more. Not for now. For later.
He scrolled through the shop.
[Sage Body – 15,000 SP]
He stared at it.
[Sage Body: Grants the user a body naturally attuned to natural energy. Passive absorption. Enhanced durability. Foundation for Sage Mode.]
He bought it.
The change was immediate. Not dramatic. Just... there. A new sense. Like a sixth sense he didn't know he had. He could feel the energy in the air. In the water. In the ground beneath his feet.
Shukaku sat up.
"What was that?"
"Sage Body."
The tanuki's eyes narrowed.
"You're going for that already?"
"I have time. Might as well use it."
Shukaku grunted but didn't argue.
Fujin kept scrolling.
[Two-Tails: Matatabi – 3,500 SP]
He paused.
He had planned to wait. To grow into Shukaku first. But the Sage Body had opened something in him. A hunger. Not for power. For readiness.
He bought it.
The seal in his chest shifted. A new presence. Cool. Blue. Sharp.
Matatabi's voice was calm.
"So you're the one."
Shukaku snarled. "Great. Another one."
"Quiet, sand-brat."
"I'm older than you!"
"And yet you're still trapped in a baby's body. Tragic."
Fujin tuned them out and kept buying.
[Three-Tails: Isobu – 4,000 SP]
[Four-Tails: Son Goku – 4,500 SP]
The purchases hit him like waves. Water. Lava. Earth. Fire. New instincts flooded his system. New affinities. New voices.
Son Goku was the loudest.
"Finally! Someone who knows how to spend points!"
Shukaku was fuming. "He bought four of you? Four?"
"I'm the fourth," Son Goku said proudly. "The best one."
"You're a monkey."
"A great monkey. A magnificent monkey."
Matatabi sighed. "We're never getting peace, are we?"
Isobu said nothing. Just settled into the seal with the quiet patience of deep water.
Fujin let them talk. He was busy.
[Sage Body upgrades available. Passive absorption active.]
A new line appeared in his status.
[Natural Energy Absorption: Active – Level 1/10]
He could feel it now. The energy of the world flowing into him. Slowly. Gently. Like breathing through his skin.
It was peaceful.
For the first time in two years, Fujin stopped pushing. Stopped training. Stopped trying to be ready for a future that was still years away.
He sat on the water in his mindscape, closed his eyes, and let the world fill him.
---
The next few months were quiet.
In the real world, Fujin was a normal toddler. He played. He ate. He napped. He followed his mother around the house, watching her work.
His father took him on longer walks now. Sometimes they went to the edge of the forest. Fujin could feel the curses there. Small ones. Weak ones. Nothing his father couldn't handle.
"You feel that?" his father asked one day.
Fujin nodded.
"Good. That's instinct. Trust it."
He did. But he didn't say that.
In the mindscape, the beasts had settled into a routine. Shukaku complained. Matatabi observed. Son Goku trained. Isobu slept.
And Fujin absorbed.
[Nature Energy Absorption: Level 2]
[Nature Energy Absorption: Level 3]
[Nature Energy Absorption: Level 4]
Each level brought more. More stamina. More strength. More awareness. He could feel the cursed energy in the village now. The small flickers from normal people. The brighter flames from his father. The steady glow of his mother.
He practiced the Multi Shadow Clone jutsu too. Not to use it. Just to master it. He formed the seals in his mind, over and over, until the technique was as natural as breathing.
[Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu: Mastered]
When the time came to train, he would be ready.
---
His third birthday came and went.
His mother made him a small cake. His father gave him a wooden sword. He smiled, ate his cake, and let them think he was just a normal child.
That night, he sat in his mindscape and opened his status.
[Status: Ryomen Fujin]
[Age: 3]
[Level: 12]
[XP: 1,200/1,500]
[SP: 68,000]
[Titles: Jinchuriki of Four, The Sleeping Prodigy, God of Seals (Unofficial)]
[Bloodlines: Uzumaki (Pure), Uchiha (Pure), Senju (Pure)]
[Jinchuriki: Shukaku, Matatabi, Isobu, Son Goku – All Stable]
---
[HP: 28,400/28,400]
[CP/CE: 41,200/41,200]
[Natural Energy Reserve: 5,600/5,600]
[Regeneration: S]
---
[Physical Stats]
Strength: C (Limited by age. Potential: S+)
Speed: D (Limited by age. Potential: S+)
Durability: B (Enhanced by Sage Body)
Stamina: S (Uzumaki + Senju + Sage Body)
Perception: A (Uchiha + Mind's Eye)
---
[Skills & Mastery]
Cursed Energy Control: A
Uzumaki Sealing Chains: S+
Uzumaki Sealing Arts: S+
Mind's Eye of Kagura: A
Wood Release: A
Fire Release: B+
Water Release: B (Isobu)
Earth Release: B+ (Son Goku)
Lava Release: C (Son Goku)
Hand Seals: S
Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu: S (Mastered)
Natural Energy Absorption: Level 4/10
---
[Passive Traits]
Uzumaki: Massive Vitality, Enhanced Lifespan, Sensory Prowess, Sealing God
Senju: Rapid Regeneration, Colossal Energy Reserves, Life Force Amplification
Uchiha: Keen Perception, Fire Affinity, Refined Control
Sage Body: Passive Natural Energy Absorption, Enhanced Durability, Stamina Regeneration