Chapter 18: Selecting The Metal
Hiruzen knew that Danzo wouldn't back off and will keep trying to get his hands on Sasuke or Yami. The only thing stopping him was Itachi who had made a threat saying that if anything happens to his brothers then he will spill the secrets of Konoha to the enemy villages. Hiruzen already regretted neglecting the hate that Naruto had been receiving since his childhood and he felt guilty think what would happen if Minato and Kushina found out how their son was being treated.
"I failed to protect Naruto but I won't fail to keep Yami and Sasuke safe." Hiruzen promised himself.
KONOHA BLACKSMITH SHOP
Yami walked into the shop and saw Samo standing at the reception.
"Yami!!! You are here early. Come in Sasuke is almost finished." Samo said and he and Yami went inside the forge room.
Inside the room, Benjiro was sitting on the table drinking a jug of beer while Sasuke was sleeping on the side and he had a pale face. As Benjiro saw Yami come in with Samo he said
"Oh come in Yami. We finished forging the sword a couple of minutes ago. Sasuke was completely exhausted and quickly fell asleep."
Hearing Benjiro talk Sasuke slowly opened his eyes and looked at the visitors. He first saw Yami and then the takeout bag in his hand. Yami noticed Sasuke's eye and put the takeout bag on the table.
"Eat something first and then sleep." Yami said and Sasuke got up and sat at the table.
"So where is the sword Sasuke. Show me" Yami said and he couldn't even hide the excitement.
"Not yet, kid, the sword has yet to be polished and the scabbard hasn't been made " the old man's voice came from behind them.
"Grandpa you are here early ca....." Samo was speaking when suddenly the old man shouted.
"Get out everyone except Yami. We have to start forging the sword now. It's gonna take way longer than it took for Benji to forge one for Sasuke" the old man said.
'I am already tired and this old man is throwing me out along with his son and grandson.' Sasuke thought sulkily as he exited the shop. As Sasuke was leaving the shop Yami noticed that Sasuke's hands had severe burns.
"Old man why didn't you let your own son and grandson see the process of forging this sword?" Yami asked after Sasuke, Samo and Benjiro left the shop.
"Kid you can call me grandpa Jiro. I normally show Benji how things are done but he isn't ready for what we are going to do today. If what I think is right then even making this sword today could become a big mistake so let's start before I begin to hesitate."
Old man Jiro took three square-shaped metal rods and kept them on the table in front of Yami. The three rods were blue, black, and silver.
"Yami take one rod and put it in the furnace and pass your chakra through it. Start with the blue one." Jiro said to which Yami nodded and picked up the blue rod.
Yami stood in front of the massive furnace. He could feel the hairs on his body were on the verge of burning. Slowly the rod started turning from blue to red. After a few minutes the rod was burning bright red.
"Kid take the rod out from the furnace and keep it on the forge." Jiro said and Yami did as instructed.
"Now hold the part which isn't burning hot and channel your chakra through the rod." Yami touched one end of the rod which was out of the furnace. Even though the end was still blue in color and looked normal, the moment Yami touched it, he instantly yelped.
"Kid I know the rod is hot but you have to hold it tight. Don't cover your hand with chakra like those Hyuga's. Your skin needs to be fused to the metal when you channel your chakra through it."
Yami held onto the rod until he felt the pain was bearable and now he could feel that the metal had somewhat fused with his skin. Yami started channeling chakra through it and slowly blue lines started appearing on the rod. These lines looked like veins and at first they were slightly blue in color. As Yami continued to channel Chakra in the rod, the blue veins started becoming more brighter, but then cracks started appearing on the sides of the veins. Yami looked at Jiro who was surprisingly smiling.
"Your chakra is too strong for this metal to handle." Jiro said while taking a puff of smoke.
"You knew this would happen? Then why did you make me go through this process?" Yami asked. He was little pissed about getting his skin burned.
"The faster your chakra overloads and crumbles his chakra metal, the higher quality metal I need to forge a sword for you. Now the time required from the moment you enter the chakra to the moment the rod crumbles determines your chakra quality. Yours is way higher than I have ever seen. The white chakra metal won't stand a chance. I hope the black one can handle your chakra" Jiro said.
Yami went back to the table and picked up the black rod with burns filled hands. Seeing Yami pick up the black rod and throw it in the furnace, Jiro thought
'Let's just hope that this works or else I will have no other option than to take that out'
Yami waited for the black rod to become bright red and pulled it out of the furnace. He put the rod on the forge and gripped his hand on the rod. The rod wasn't as hot as the blue one which was a relief for Yami.
"Now start channeling kid" Jiro said from behind. Yami started channeling his chakra and blue veins appeared on the rod. They became bright blue but not as bright as the blue rod. Yami had a smile on his face and he turned back to see Jiro.
Jiro stood up from his chair and walked towards Yami. He came and stood in front of the rod and looked at Yami.
"See grandpa Jiro, no cracks. This rod is perfect for my sword, isn't it?" Yami asked to which Jiro simply sighed and removed the pipe from his mouth and tapped on the rod. Instantly the rod broke down into pieces.
"Ehh...what just happened?" Yami asked in a confused manner.
"The rod had developed millions of cracks and was on the verge of collapse. Use that sharingan you have dummy" The old man scolded Jiro.
"Wait here. I have no option but to bring out the meteor" Jiro said as he left the forging room.
----------------------------------------------------------
If you like the novel then drop a power stone and for extra chapters subscribe to my patreo-n
Link in synopsis