Chapter 72 - 2

Chapter 2: Many Wives, Many Blessings! The Legendary Bloodline Inheritance!"Uzumaki Ashina? That secluded sage of medical arts?" Minato stepped out from behind the screen, his expression serious. "Kushina, is it necessary to disturb the elder? He hasn't involved himself in worldly affairs for over a decade...""It is necessary." Kushina interrupted him, gently wiping the blood from under Naruto's nose. Her movements were tender, but her eyes were as firm as a rock. "If my guess is correct, then this matter... is more important than the seal of the Nine-Tailed."Two days later, an old man wearing a simple kimono with white hair and a white beard walked into the Hokage's residence leaning on a cane. His steps seemed slow, but each one landed on a critical node of Chakra flow, as if the entire residence's barrier was making way for him."Grandpa Ashina!" Kushina tried to get up to greet him, but was pressed down by the old man."Lie down and don't move, little Kushina." Uzumaki Ashina's voice was aged yet resonant. His cloudy eyes scanned the room before finally landing on the crib. "Is this the child?""Yes," Minato said respectfully. "We're troubling you."The old man did not immediately examine Naruto. Instead, he first set up three layers of soundproofing barriers in the room. Each layer used a different Sealing Jutsu formula, and the complexity made even Kushina, a master of Sealing Jutsu, secretly click her tongue in amazement."Now we can talk." Ashina sat down by the bed and reached out a withered but steady hand, gently pressing it onto little Naruto's forehead.Naruto felt a gentle yet vast, sea-like Chakra flow into his body. This Chakra carried an ancient aura, deeper than the Nine-Tailed's Chakra and more... wise. It didn't feel like it was checking his body, but rather reading his soul.Ten minutes later, the old man withdrew his hand, his expression solemn."How is it?" Kushina asked urgently."The body is very healthy," Ashina said slowly. "The Nine-Tailed's seal can be called perfect; one could even say... it surpasses all known Tailed Beast Sealing Jutsus in the history of the Uzumaki Clan. That child from the future left behind a remarkable gift."Minato breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good. Then the issue with the nosebleeds...""The problem isn't in the body, it's in the soul," the old man interrupted him.The air in the room froze instantly."The soul?" Kushina's voice trembled.Ashina stroked his long beard, pondering for a long time. "This child's soul... is very strange. His spiritual light is far brighter and more complex than that of an infant of the same age; one could even say... it's overly mature. Furthermore, deep within his soul, I perceived two completely different 'Time Traces'.""Time Traces?" Minato frowned."Is my identity as a transmigrator about to be exposed?" Naruto, in his swaddling clothes, stared straight at the old man."One belongs to 'this moment,' a pure time flow of a newborn. The other..." the old man paused, "is like an echo projected from the distant future. This should be the mark left by that future Naruto.""Okay! That explanation is reasonable..." Narutofinally breathed a sigh of relief.Kushina clenched her fists. "So the nosebleeds are because the soul is damaged?""No." Ashina's expression became peculiar. "Quite the opposite, his soul is incredibly intact. Those Time Traces didn't destroy the structure; instead... they seem to have provided a sort of 'pre-adaptation'."He looked at Kushina. "Little Kushina, you said this child only gets nosebleeds under specific circumstances?""Yes, only when I breastfeed him personally.""Demonstrate it once now."Kushina unbuttoned her clothes without hesitation.Naruto experienced that familiar ordeal once again. The battle between an adult's sense of shame and an infant's instinct. Three seconds later, the nosebleed gushed out right on time.Ashina observed the entire process carefully, even using some kind of ocular jutsu to track the trajectory of the Chakra and blood. After Kushinawiped Naruto clean, the old man fell into a deep contemplation that lasted five minutes."I see... so that's how it is..." he finally spoke, his voice carrying a nearly absurd realization."Grandpa, what on earth is going on?" Kushina was dying of anxiety.Ashina looked at her and Minato, saying word for word, "I have practiced medicine for decades and seen countless incurable diseases, but this one... is a first."He paused, seemingly considering how to express it, before choosing a blunt explanation:"Naruto's body and soul, under the impact of time's power, have produced a rare 'Premature Awakening'.""Premature Awakening?" Minato was puzzled."In layman's terms," Ashina pointed to his own chest, "this child's 'heart', in certain aspects of maturity, far exceeds his 'body'. While his body is still undergoing an infant's instinctive behaviors, his soul—or rather, the deep parts of his consciousness—already possesses the kind of... um... reaction mechanisms that only an adult would have."Kushina's face turned pale. "Will... will this cause any problems? Will it affect his growth?""In the short term, besides the nosebleeds, there are no negative effects." Ashina shook his head. "In the long term, this mind-body discordance might bring some... challenges during puberty. But more importantly..."The old man's gaze became profound. "Little Kushina, Minato, you should be aware that among the ancient bloodline inheritances, there is an extremely rare constitution known as the 'Innocent Clear Heart'."Minato looked up sharply. "Are you saying... that legendary bloodline that can naturally perceive the good and evil in people's hearts and is extremely sensitive to emotional energy?""Similar, but even more special." Ashina said slowly. "According to the Uzumaki Clan's secret records, there was an ancestor a thousand years ago who was born able to see emotions with his eyes, observing the love and hate in people's hearts as clearly as the lines on a palm. His yearning for and perception of beautiful things was hundreds or thousands of times that of an ordinary person. This constitution was known in ancient times as..."The old man cleared his throat and, in an incredibly serious academic tone, delivered the diagnosis that Minato and his wife would never forget:"'Congenital Emotional Overload with Aesthetic Perception Hypersensitivity Syndrome'. In common parlance, it is the 'Innate Pervert Saint Body'."