"Clean work, as always. No misalignments, no fading edges. That batch of dampeners will sell out before the week's over."
Kushina grinned, hands on her hips.
"Of course they will! I used double-layering on those seals. They'll stick even if someone tries to peel 'em underwater."
Minato gave a faint smile. "I told her she was overdoing it. Looks like she was right."
Takumi's eyes crinkled. "Overdoing it is better than underdoing it when someone's life hangs on the paper."
Minato was tall and lean, with fair skin, spiky blond hair, and calm blue eyes, while Kushina stood out with her long, vivid red hair and lively violet eyes.
Side by side, they were a striking pair - his presence steady and composed, hers fiery and unforgettable.
The shop stood on a quieter street of Konoha, modest on the outside, but well-known among shinobi who needed seals.
Inside, everything was neat and practical: shelves of scrolls and tags stacked in rows, drawers labeled for ink and paper types, and a wide counter worn from years of use.
A faint sealing array in the floor kept the air dry and steady, so the parchment would never warp.
The owner, Takumi, came from a family that had produced sealing tools long before Konoha was even founded.
His apprentices and some family members handled the common stock, basic explosive tags, storage scrolls, and perimeter wards, while Takumi himself oversaw or finished the more advanced pieces.
He didn't have the manpower for everything himself, though, and that was where outside help came in.
The arrangement was simple.
The Hokage knew how rare skilled fuinjutsu users were, so when the library and shops needed more advanced seals in circulation, Minato and Kushina were often given some extended free time from missions to deliver their share.
It was an old practice by now: Takumi got reliable, high-quality stock, the village ensured seals reached the shinobi who needed them, and Minato and Kushina received fair royalties in return.
ANBU took theirs directly, paid for by the village; regular shinobi who could afford them bought the rest.
For the Hokage, even that availability was valuable; every extra storage scroll or barrier tag on the battlefield meant higher chances of survival.
Most of the front stock was familiar: standard explosive tags bundled in packs, storage scrolls for equipment, barrier wards for camp perimeters.
The advanced drawers, besides the advanced forms of the three basic talisman types, held even rarer work used mainly for Anbu regarding stealth and locks.
Delayed-detonation tags, chakra-dampening slips for stealth missions, reinforced unsealing patches for breaking enemy locks, and even small sets of temporary barrier anchors that could hold against beasts or ninjutsu for a short time. All of them existed here.
They weren't flashy, but in the right hands, they saved lives.
That was why Minato and Kushina were here today, boxes of completed seals just handed over.
They had been doing this for years, whenever missions allowed.
Kushina's Uzumaki heritage made her seals especially strong and long-lasting; in a few years, she was expected to surpass Takumi himself.
Minato, calm and precise, had a natural eye for formula, detail, and great chakra control, which made him also very valuable.
Between them, they were among the best fuinjutsu experts in the village despite only being twenty years old.
Takumi closed the ledger, noting down their contribution and sliding their payment boxes across the counter.
No ceremony was needed; they all knew the routine.
Kushina checked one last batch of chakra-chain primers with a practiced glance, satisfied, while Minato quietly slipped a reinforced scroll back into its case after verifying its lines.
Kushina held one of the chain primers up to the light, nodding in satisfaction. "Not bad, huh? Uzumaki seals aren't just strong - they've got personality. You can almost feel them hum."
Minato chuckled softly. "Most shinobi would rather not feel their explosive tags humming."
Kushina elbowed him lightly. "You know what I mean."
Takumi only shook his head, the ghost of a smile crossing his old face. "The village is fortunate to have you two putting in the time for this. I've seen jōnin rely on seals weaker than what you hand over."
Takumi tucked the payment away. "You'll surpass me before long. If you keep this pace, the two of you will set the standard for seals in this generation."
Kushina smirked. "Then you'd better keep a seat warm for me at the top."
Minato's expression stayed calm, though his eyes sharpened. "If we can keep the village supplied, that's enough for me."
Takumi inclined his head slightly. "Spoken like a future Hokage."
Kushina laughed out loud at that, while Minato only sighed under his breath.
The job was done, and the two were preparing to leave when the bell above the door chimed.
Ryusei stepped inside.
The faint smell of ink and paper filled his nose as his eyes swept the shelves.
He had only come for practice supplies, parchment, scrolls, ink, and the simple kits designed to take chakra for sealing work.
Instead, he stepped into a scene already occupied: the quiet, old master behind the counter, a red-haired kunoichi whose very presence seemed to vibrate with chakra, and a blond shinobi whose calm poise felt sharper than steel despite the visible gentleness of his face.
Previously, as soon as Ryusei zoned in on the shop's location, his senses brushed against it.
Two powerful auras pulsed inside, so bright they stood out even from the street's edge.
A third presence was ordinary enough that he dismissed it immediately.
By the time he reached the street itself, the pieces clicked together.
He had never met them in person, but there was no mistaking who they were.
His pace quickened, excitement tugging at his chest.
If he timed this right, he could arrive just as they stepped out.
'Thinking about asking for help, and these two just stroll in on their own. Timely rain indeed…' A small grin tugged at the corner of his mouth.
'If I can get even the smallest scrap of written fuinjutsu guidance from them covertly, it changes everything. And if I manage to build a closer connection… then the deeper secrets of the field come later.',
Ryusei's mind was already running ahead, charting how much faster his fuinjutsu growth could accelerate.
Rejection? He didn't even let the thought exist.
Kushina seemed the type to brag at the slightest prod, and Minato looked too polite to turn away someone who asked earnestly.
To him, the door wasn't just open, it was waiting for him to walk through.
He overheard the tail end of their conversation, and it only confirmed his guess.
Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki.
He already knew why they'd be here. Advanced sealwork.
'So they really are as deep into fuinjutsu as I imagined. They might be my only option in this village.'
Their strength didn't occupy him as much.
Once he realized who they were, he dialed his sensing back, careful not to provoke them.
Kushina, in particular, was known for sharp sensing too; if he pressed too far, she'd feel him probing.
Still, even with shallow sensing, he caught enough to know: they were monsters.
Stronger than anyone he had ever brushed against.
The Hokage's building had muted his senses before, full of disruptions, and he hadn't dared test Hiruzen himself.
So he had no clear frame of reference. Now he did.
If he used Okabe, his nominal dog of a sensei, as a measure, then just Kushina alone felt like 10 of him.
And that was without tapping into the monstrous chakra sealed inside her, which he hadn't dared to try and pry open with his sensing.
Minato was worse.
To Ryusei's crude estimates, the blond could have swept 30 Okabes aside without much effort.
It was only a rough estimate, but it painted the picture clearly enough.
Kushina's chakra placed her somewhere between Jonin and Kage, stronger than all Ryusei had secretly measured before, including his 'uncle' he had pried over directly just short while ago. So there were levels even among the Elite Jonin.
Minato… Minato was already past that.
His presence wasn't just at the threshold; he was qualitatively above an Elite Jonin altogether, so he was logically firmly within the realm of Kage, somewhere on a spectrum Ryusei had never felt until now properly.