The next day.
Yuki Seisui arrived early in the morning at the Panda Clan's territory.
"Seisui, Panda Wu has been waiting for you," Panda Ming called out, still sprawled on a heap of bamboo, gnawing lazily while tossing a few bamboo shoots toward him.
Catching the bamboo shoots, Seisui nodded. "I'll go see him now."
The shoots were essential — without them, he couldn't sense natural energy.
Fortunately, as his Sage Mode improved, so did his ability to sense it.
When he first came to the Panda Clan, he couldn't sense a thing. But with practice, he could now barely detect natural energy on his own.
Barely, though. Being able to refine sage chakra anywhere, anytime… that was still a ways off.
"Eat a little less bamboo," Seisui said offhandedly. "At this rate, I think you'll finish all the bamboo here."
He meant it — every time he came, Panda Ming was eating bamboo.
Didn't matter what else was going on, there he was chewing away. Seisui honestly feared this fat bear might eat himself to death.
Ming just tch'ed. "You don't understand anything about our bamboo! It grows back every year. Even if you cut it all down, by next year we'd have more shoots than you can count."
He shook his head. "Anyway, shouldn't you be going to see Panda Wu? Yesterday afternoon he wouldn't shut up about showing you his new art."
Seisui's brow twitched. …He's not getting weird ideas because of me, is he?
Still, he nodded and headed toward the remote spot where Panda Wu tested his bamboo bombs.
The explosions were so loud that the Panda Sage had moved Wu far from the village for his experiments.
Watching Seisui's retreating back, Ming shook his head.
"I'll never get what's so fun about blowing things up. Bamboo's better."
He took another bite, white light flickering around his paws as he split a stalk and handed half to Kuma beside him.
"Kuma, you should try eating bamboo too. Otherwise, how are you gonna learn… uh… what was it called again?"
He scratched his head for a long while, then smacked it. "Forget it, can't remember. That bossy old guy had to give it some fancy name anyway."
By now, Seisui had arrived at Wu's "art site."
Spotting him, Panda Wu grinned and tossed a lump of dark clay beside him.
Seisui glanced between Wu and the mound of clay that towered higher than himself.
"You're finally here!"
"Prepare yourself — my masterpiece awaits!" Wu plucked up a lump of clay, kneading it into the shape of a panda cub.
"Watch closely! I'm only showing this once!"
He infused chakra into the clay panda, which began to flash. Under Seisui's puzzled gaze, Wu hurled it toward a distant cliff wall.
Scratching his head, Seisui thought of Deidara's clay bombs — a secret art refined over years. Wu? He assumed the bear had just stuck an explosive tag inside.
Wu planted his hands on his hips, twenty meters of smug panda muscle. "Behold! Art… is an explosion!"
BOOM!
Fire and smoke erupted from the cliffside.
"This… this is a clay bomb?!" Seisui blurted, then his eyes lit up. "Whoo-hoo! Art is an explosion!"
But Wu's expression suddenly shifted. He'd just remembered… he had a lot more clay bombs piled near that wall.
"Run!" he bellowed, grabbing Seisui and bolting, white sage light flaring around him as a shield.
Seisui was about to ask why he was panicking — until he saw half the cliff wall blinking with ominous red light.
Oh no.
"Grass!" (the plant)
Slipping from Wu's grip, Seisui flickered away from the glowing cliff.
That much clay? It'll turn the whole area into dust!
The panda cub-sized bomb had been the size of Wu's palm. Those glowing lumps? Each was many times bigger than Wu himself.
He wished he had extra legs.
Dropping his bamboo shoots for speed, he used Flying Raijin to blink forward again and again.
"Take me with you!" Wu shouted, glancing back —
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!
The chain detonations ripped through the air, a massive shockwave tearing outward. The ground trembled, bamboo splinters riding the blast in every direction.
Panda Clan's bamboo, harder than steel, shattered into fragments — turning the shockwave into an even deadlier storm.
Seisui looked back mid-run — and froze for a heartbeat, terror prickling his scalp. Never… never seen anything like this. Not in this life, not in my peaceful last one.
He pushed his chakra to the limit, vanishing from Wu's sight in seconds.
Feeling the deadly pressure closing in, Wu knew he couldn't escape. Curling into a ball, he poured power into his sage light.
The shockwave slammed into him, bamboo fragments pelting like bullets. He grunted, blood spilling from his mouth, but held his stance.
At last, the roar faded. The ground stilled.
"Haaah… damn, that was dangerous," Wu wheezed.
"Damn right it was dangerous." The Panda Sage appeared beside him, towering with barely restrained fury.
"My beautiful bamboo forest… gone!"
"Die, you little bastard!"
Punches and kicks rained down on Wu. The only smart thing the Sage had done was keep him far from the cubs' area — otherwise, they'd have lost half the next generation in one blast.
When Seisui reappeared, seeing Wu getting pummeled, he didn't intervene. Wu had earned it.
After a long while, the Sage stepped back, snorting. "This time, I'll let it slide. Next time, you're going in the oil pot!"
"Got it…" Wu mumbled through a swollen face.
"See that hill over there? The one with no bamboo? That's your new playground. Don't ruin my forest again."
Then the Sage looked at Seisui, shook his head. "Idiot. You could've just gone home."
Seisui: "???"
Before he could argue, the Sage walked away. "True strength is wisdom. You're both far from it."
…Right. I could've just teleported home. Damn.
Wu mumbled through his mangled mouth, "At least now… I know… it's too dangerous."
After some effort, Seisui decoded it. "You think your bombs might be a bit too powerful?"
Where the cliff had been was now just a massive crater.
"Maybe too much clay," Wu admitted, healing his mouth with sage light. "I stored all my bombs there."
"How many?"
"Not sure… maybe ten of me?" Wu gestured.
Seisui fell silent. Twenty meters tall… ten times that… an entire mountain of bombs.
Then a thought struck him. "Wait here."
Vanishing, he returned moments later with a storage scroll — a gift from Kushina.
"Can these fit in here?"
"Maybe?" Wu handed over a lump of explosive clay.
They tried. It worked.
Seisui's eyes lit up. "Wu, you're a genius!"
Wu smiled — then frowned, realizing Seisui hadn't called him Big Brother Wu. Well… guess I almost killed him, so fair enough.
Looking at the scroll, Seisui grinned. "I, Yuki Seisui, name you… Master of the Explosive Arts!"
Still, he added, "Wouldn't it be better if these bombs weren't so… basic? Maybe try controlling them?"
Wu's eyes gleamed — but then dimmed. "They explode as soon as I add chakra. Can't control them."
Seisui shook his head. "Did you expect them to explode when you made them?"
"…No."
"Then why assume it's impossible?"
Wu froze, then nodded slowly. He's right… there might be more possibilities.
"Alright! I'll research it!"
Satisfied, Seisui smiled. If he succeeds… that's a supercharged Deidara.
Wu headed toward his new test site, still muttering, "Art is an explosion!"
Seisui chuckled. "Hope it works. Even if not… dozens of tons of bombs in a scroll will still do nicely."
No ordinary ninja could survive that.
He imagined using them back during the Death Forest battle against Rasa and Karura — one explosion would've cleared half the forest.
Shaking his head at the thought, he turned to go. His bamboo shoots were gone; time to get more from Ming.
Guess it's not so bad he's obsessed with eating bamboo after all.
Meanwhile, in the Senju Clan…
Minato and Kushina sat before Uzumaki Mito, listening quietly to her explain the basics of sealing.
Kushina already knew them, but Minato didn't.
Since the fall of the Uzumaki, Kushina had been subdued, smiling only faintly around Mito.
Mito sighed, glancing at her. "Minato, you two must learn well. When I'm gone, there'll be no one left to teach you."
"You won't die!" Kushina blurted.
Mito smiled. "Silly child… no one lives forever."
"No!" Kushina shook her head fiercely. "You're the only family I have left!"
Mito looked at Minato, silently asking, You didn't tell her about Seisui?
Minato scratched his head awkwardly.
"You're not alone," Mito said gently. "Minato will be with you… and Seisui is also your kin."
Kushina blinked. "But… my hair…"
"Yes," Mito nodded. "His Uzumaki bloodline has awakened. He just hasn't changed his hair or name."
"You two will carry the Uzumaki name forward."
Kushina burst into tears, and Minato pulled her into his arms.
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