Kapitel 16: 16. Zanpakutō
"Yes, the Dead demon consuming seal is a type of contract seal, where the user forms a contract with shinigami using their soul as a price, that is the reason this jutsu is forbidden, our ancestors tried to reduce the price by letting the shinigami posses an external object other than the user and created the mask but for the shinigami to pull out the soul of the target, it is a must that it has to use the caster's soul as a medium, making the mask useless, ya know" explained Kushina.
Aiko nodded his head and understood why she had told him to just learn and never practice that seal.
Soon they entered the main hall of the shrine, the shrine was mostly empty, but it was relatively clean, on the east-facing wall of the main shrine there were an array of masks hanging on the wall.
'These many masks?' thought Aiko looking at the different designs.
"Are there other jutsus which contract other supernatural beings?" asked Aiko doubtfully, as the only technique he had seen in the study was the dead demon consuming seal.
"Yes, there must be, I studied my sealing techniques after moving to Konohha, even though both senju and uzumaki clan had close ties, not all secrets were shared between them, so most of the sealing techniques were lost along with the destruction of Uzushiogakure. " lamented Kushina.
Aiko also understood that because, in that case if there was a traitor in one clan then it would spell the doom for both of them.
"But, every jutsu is created by someone, ya know? As time goes on the techniques also evolve, so even if the jutsus are lost, you can still create them again" said Kushina looking intently at the boy.
It was now a fact accepted by the Namikaze couple that the little red-head is a genius, but he had a habit of going with the flow, a stoic mindset, and was a bit gullible as he accepted things at face value if it is from the person he trusted, even though these were good qualities and can be summed up as innocence, this world wasn't a place where innocent people lived long lives, at least, that was the case for shinobis.
So, Kushina thought that by bringing him here, hoping that the place would provide him inspiration to forge his own path as a shinobi in the future.
"Create them?" muttered Aiko as he looked at the masks and felt like a fire was lit in his heart as he thought about the possibilities.
"Minato's teleportation technique is also an improved version of an old technique, ya know" said Kushina looking at the boy's eyes which grew brighter.
'Wow' thought Aiko as his admiration he already felt for the man increased yet another level.
"So, you should also try to make the techniques you learn yours, ya know" she added causing the boy to nod his head.
Kushina smiled a little looking at the boy, as her purpose in bringing him to the shrine was achieved.
Soon, Kushina took him to the room next to the main hall of the shrine. It was smaller than the main hall but it's wall was also adorned like the main one, it was filled with different types of weapons and artifacts.
"These are few of the sealing artifacts crafted by the people of our clan" introduced Kushina as they entered the room.
Aiko looked around the room and focused his gaze on the wall, there were weapons like gunbai, swords, kunais, a few oddly shaped jars and pots and also a few large sealing scrolls.
Aiko felt chakra fluctuations from all the artifacts inside the room except one black short sword with a white hilt.
"What is that weapon?" He asked Kushina curiously pointing at the weapon.
"That….," thought Kushina as if trying to remember about the sword.
"It is a Short sword named 'Zanpakutō', it is said that it was modeled after the Tantō carried by the Shinigami" explained Kushina.
"It is said that it has the ability to cut the souls of living beings, but as the soul is intangible its effects are not visible and it also does not contain seals to trap the cut soul." she continued.
"So, apart from inducing pain greater than a normal sword it does not have any other use, it was created after the shinigami mask was considered useless, but this sword also has a price, it is not powered by users chakra, but the users vitality, it is said that the crafter had to draw the seals on it using his own blood as vitality as ink to give it it's desired effect." she said grimly.
It was also the reason the sword was placed here, as using it in a battle would spell doom for the user.
As he listened to Kushina's explanation, he heard a system notification in his head.
'Ding! Do you wish to obtain this sword?
-yes
-no'
Aiko once again carefully looked at the sword, it looked truly common like any other normal short sword, but Aiko felt a strange attraction towards it, he instinctively wanted to possess this sword even after hearing about its history and disadvantages.
"Can I have it?" he asked Kushina, deciding to trust his instinct.
"Why do you want to have it, I won't allow you to use it by damaging your vitality." said Kushina a bit agitated.
Aiko felt the care that was contained in her voice and thought for a bit and answered, "I won't use it recklessly, I just want to study the sealing technique which uses blood and vitality as a medium."
Kushina looked at the boy's stoic face as she listened to his answer, sometimes she wondered what was going on in that little mind of his as it was impossible, at least for her to tell from the expressions on his face and she also hesitated as it was the first time he had asked her of anything since he started living with them and as a member of the clan, also had the claim to the things in here.
'Well, I won't tell him the method to activate the sword's ability' she convinced herself and nodded her head causing a small smile to form on his face.
Aiko held the short sword in his hands, but due to his height it felt like he was holding a normal sword, he curiously touched the blade and it felt cold and the edge seemed very sharp. After looking at it from different angles he sealed it into a sealing scroll and handed it to kushina who kept it inside the bag she carried.
So after spending some time inside the shrine looking at other masks and artifacts, the red-haired duo decided it was time to go home.
Aiko walked with Kushina to the entrance and once Kushina made some quick hand signs, the barrier rippled revealing the outside world. A few moments after they had stepped out of the barrier a yellow light flashed and Minato appeared in front of them.
Aiko's eyes flashed with confusion for a moment before he moved in front of Kushina, taking a defensive stance as his eyes turned emotionless.
"Who are you?" he asked indifferently, his voice cold, looking at the man in front of him while his mind worked on ways to escape while protecting Kushina.
AUTORENGEDANKEN 
Spiritlord
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