Being elected as the new Kazekage had its perks, which I knew it would but finding out about what was inside Kazekage Peak was beyond what I had ever imagined. Stepping through the hidden entrance and watching it close, hiding itself away once more was mesmerizing. The main entrance was lined with the statues of the previous Kazekages showcasing their weapons of choice as well. Walking deeper into the hall, the statues went from the most recent until it came to a center room with the first Kazekage’s statue in the middle. The center room was lit up by a large chandelier and several shaded lights that hung along the walls. Several hallways branched out from this center room. Pacing around to look down each hallway, I noticed some were longer and some shorter, some slowly ramped upwards while there were some that sloped down. One hallway grabbed my attention as it was the shortest one and I could make out the words written above the door at the end of it’s hall. ‘Library’ was engraven upon the stone wall and it struck me with curiosity.

I stepped carefully down the short hallway and opened the door, swinging it wide to the right. What I saw open up before me made my jaw drop in wonder. It was another round room, with a spiral staircase in the middle that led to several more floors similar to the first. Each floor lined with bookcases along the walls and several desks and stand-alone bookshelves. The overwhelming sense of the wealth of information at my fingertips was purely exhilarating for me. I quickly moved from one bookcase to the next, running down the stairs to other levels of the Kazekage’s personal library. Four floors filled with books, and so many different subjects covered within them all, I was hard-pressed to find a spot to start at. Then I found the section that was perfect for me. A nice wide bookcase made of sandstone stretched before me, all the books dealing with Fuuinjutsu. I pulled around a ladder that was hooked up to the shelf and climbed to the top, grabbing the several books from the top shelf. Spreading them on one of the desks nearby, I sat in my chair and began to read. These books held knowledge of past Kazekage’s as well as other shinobi notorious for their prowess in Fuuinjutsu. The magnitude of it all was almost too much to bear, and I felt like the world was being introduced to me for the first time. I soon had my first book opened and began reading from it’s pages.

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The first book I opened was a basic instruction of Fuuinjutsu. From what I read, it seemed to be a simple way of teaching the method of writing seals on paper. Most of it were just characters to practice writing. After each section or lesson, as the book would call it, it detailed several exercises for the reader to complete to help hone making the strokes of the seal. The writer repeated endlessly about how necessary it was to get every stroke perfect otherwise the seal would not function properly or not work at all. For what seemed like several hours, I slaved away at the first book’s sealing exercises. The book told me to form a tiger hand sign after finishing each exercise. If the paper burned away, then the seal was written correctly. The paper had to be completely burned in order to pass the exercise. This seemed easy enough, but as I went through the first few exercises, I realized how poor my skill was at fuuinjutsu. Most of my time was spent repeating and repeating exercises. I wanted to train my skills at fuuinjutsu, hoping to excel to a much higher level as would be required by someone of Kage rank. Who knew what lay in store for me in the future, as well as the village? I needed to be strong for the Sand, so that the village would have time to grow strong itself.

As I bent down over my paper and carefully placed by brush to the paper, slowly making the strokes according to the book’s instructions. Each stroke had to be precise, focusing on the amount of pressure I put on the brush to the paper can decide whether the seal works or not. A stroke that is too thick or too thin can mean life or death for a fuuinjutsu user, or so the book says. So far, I had been doing okay, although I didn’t know too many seals that were of very high rank or detailed. The most detailed seal I had was the clan’s body seal, and that was imprinted on me by my father at birth, using his expert knowledge of fuuinjutsu. I still had much to uncover about that seal, which required more knowledge of fuuinjutsu to increase the body seal’s power. There was still so much to learn about fuuinjutsu and now that I was the Kazekage, an entire section of books could be dedicated to my knowledge of it. So I continued on tirelessly with the book’s exercises. After several hours I had finally mastered all of the simple exercises and read all of the lessons written inside it. Placing the book on a separate desk to keep things organized, I went on to another book, my hand trembling when I saw it was a second volume of the first book I had just finished. Quickly flipping through the pages to get a brief look at it’s contents, I saw that it was more advanced exercises than the first. Feeling my hand tense up in fear of more intense calligraphy, I decided to take a small rest, propping my feet on the desk and sinking a bit in my chair. I wouldn’t be bothered here, so it was perfect for a little nap.

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