Reaching immortality (Reborn as Orochimaru)

5. The Uzumaki sealing style

Uzumaki Mito was a healer as well as a fuinjutsu specialist. Which in turn made her an exceptional and ideal Sensei for me. She was by no means similar to my Mother but she understood me almost on the same level as Mother once had. Of course, I'd always been fond of old people myself, even in my previous life so maybe I was a little biased.

Old people were the ones who experience so much in life and chose not to give up no matter what life threw at them, and I knew for a fact that life would always find ways to ruin any semblance of happiness people find. I respect them because they know exactly how cruel life is but they can still put on a smile and care for the young, and the stupid who are new to life.

Of course Uzumaki Mito seemed to have some inherent understanding that I was far more mature than my age suggested and almost immediately began treating me like an adult. She gave me her beginner journals from her childhood when she began her fuinjutsu training and told me I'd need to write my own study journals as I go in case I ever had a student in the future.

I'd make the journals for future reference but I severely doubted I'd willingly subject myself to the whims of a child at any point in my future. 

Mito gave me her beginner journals, for a total of twenty which I found ludicrous, before handing me three thick textbooks of beginner Uzumaki sealing instructions. Instructed me to read the three textbooks first and then read the journals at the spots she marked in the textbooks so everything would be in order. So I spent most of my time at home reading and writing in my own journal, and my time at Mito's being taught calligraphy and practicing it till my hands fell off.

She explained I needed to be ambidextrous when it came to sealing in case an enemy cut off one of my hands. A hard lesson her brother had to learn apparently.

Ah, and the issue where I couldn't look at her for long without my face heating up went away very quickly when she became my Sensei. She was far too Motherly for my tastes, and her gentle way of scolding unnerved me. Almost as if she'd smack me over the head if I made the same mistake. I always fixed any mistake I made when she used that tone with me. Perhaps she leaked killing intent with her gentle words? I Imagine it had something to do with being a seventy year old woman and the previous wife of the strongest man in history.

Good riddance for that pesky emotion. 

Eventually Tsunade was made to join us and learn the basics. She had expressed her desire to have the strength of the hundred seals that Mito currently had on her forehead and was promptly taught to bare basics. She had a lot less work to do than I did but I had mentioned to Mito that I wanted to learn everything after all.

I dug my own grave so I may as well lie in it. 

Unfortunately not all my time could go into learning the art of Uzumaki sealing since we still had to do missions. Sarutobi sensei and made the three of us a package deal when it came to missions because we worked so well together and we were constantly called to do more and more missions as the war efforts picked up. I made sure to keep my studies close to me using a self-made storage seal placed on my triceps. 

I suppose mentioning that Sensei became the third Hokage after we all made chunin should be mentioned but it had been somewhat of an open secret for years that Tobirama had been wanting him as a successor so it wasn't important. I should also mention that Tobirama went and offed himself in the war on a suicide mission but that's not really important either. 

Mito had been upset for a few days before she went right back into teaching me with as much or even more gusto than before. Meaning she got me to make a shadow clone to read stuff for me while I worked hard to make my calligraphy skills burn into my wrist muscles. The head aches I dealt with every night had been killer until she taught me a few healing jutsu in compensation.