"Our clan, the Gokan clan, was part of the village in the beginning, we were accepted by the First Hokage, but our history goes further back than that. In the beginning we were 3 different clans, located in what is now Fire Country, Water Country and Hot Spring Country."

"These three clans, they were not very large to begin with, were very different in their way of fighting and their customs, first of all there was the Shimizu clan." My uncle took out paper and paintbrush, and wrote the kanji meaning 'clear water'.

"It was a clan known in its time of the best fighting underwater only after the Hoshigaki clan, the famous clan that its members have fish-like characteristics, they were noted for their jutsu specialized in using touch and hearing, to detect what was going on underwater, unfortunately some clans joined to exterminate them, and the survivors had to flee."

"Then the Dokuda clan." My uncle wrote the kanji meaning 'poison' and 'field', indicating that they were specialists with poisons.

"As its name indicates, it was a clan well known for its poisons, as well as for being experts in cultivating medicinal and poisonous plants and certain spices. It was a famous clan that resided in what is now the -Hot Springs Country-, it was divided into two families, the Dokumi family ". The kanji mean 'poison' and 'savor'.

"Specialists in detecting poisons by tasting them with their mouths, they said that there was no poison that they could not detect with just a taste, and they also had techniques to do so without poisoning themselves. "

"Then there is the Shibata family." The kanji this time do mean 'smell' and 'field', which indicate that they specialize in smelling.

"Like you imagine they were similar, but they detected poisons by the smell, besides being able to follow traces like animals. These two clans were condemned by greed, the clan leader was from the Dokumi family at the time, he was experimenting with a poison that would be useful in battle, it would make the one who injected it stronger, despite many complaints from the clan, several members of the Dokumi family used it, the poison proved being very useful, but it was only a few years later that they realized the consequences of this."

My uncle paused.

"If there's one thing you should remember from this story Shin, it's to never deal carelessly with poisons, no matter how much you know about them," he told me seriously.

"Sure Uncle," I didn't know what else to say, it was kind of obvious, like not to play with fire, and clearly fire jutsus don't count as playing.

"The poison made more difficult to have children, and many of the children born tended to have diseases, the ruin of the clan was written when this became known by other clans, the leader of the Shibata family was smart, he took the healthiest children and young people of the clan and escaped, soon after, a massacre was made in Dokuda clan."

"Lastly, we have the Toriumi clan." The kanji mean 'bird' and 'see'.

"They specialized in two things, raising messenger birds and eagles. You can imagine that we inherited those skills from them.".

Amazing, from what my uncle told me this was many, many years ago before the 5 great villages existed, it means that the clan has been breeding eagles for a very long time, we must be one of the best. I can't wait to raise one.

"The Toriumi clan was very strong, they were good in combat, and in trade, their fast messages were very useful in this, but above all is their Eagle Eye technique, which allowed them to see at very long distances, and have better reaction when fighting, this was their real strength, added to the fact that they lived in a mountainous area, which made their territory very difficult to invade."

"Can we do that, see like eagles?", I couldn't help asking.

"If you let me finish the story, I might have time to answer some questions for you later." He said seriously.

"Sorry, continue the story uncle, it's very interesting," I said, trying not to make him upset and then not wanting to tell me more about our clan.

My uncle just laughed, "Don't worry I was joking, and yes we can see like eagles or better."

He continued with the story, even though I told him it wasn't funny.

"The Toriumi clan was a very strong clan but was at the gates of great trouble, fate brought them together with the two other clans at their worst situation. The son of the clan leader was on a mission to trade with another clan, he was far away from his clan, since he would soon inherit the position of leader, he was tasked with more important missions, although he was far away he was also in a clan that had been a trading ally of theirs for years"

"Uncle, at that time there were no cities or large villages, everything was controlled by clans?", I asked.

"Practically yes, any settlement was under the command of a clan or several" he answered me.

"The leader's son, Taka Toriumi was leaving the village belonging to an allied clan, but this clan had betrayed them, and as soon as they left the village they were ambushed. Some managed to flee by separating, but most died or were poisoned, at that moment Taka met the leader of the Shibata family and by default leader of the Dokuda clan. Recognizing the poison in Taka he decided to help him, and leave him in hiding."

"When Taka recovered, traveling back to his clan he met again with the survivors of the Dokuda clan, since most of them were children and young people they could not travel very fast. When they met, Taka wanted to repay the good gesture to the leader of the Dokuda clan. Knowing that Taka was from a powerful clan, he asked him to take them in his clan, since they needed time, and a safe space to teach the children of his clan."

My uncle paused and looked at me.

"Although at that time Taka did not have the authority to accept a clan within his territory, Taka promised him this. "

"Shin, something that is seen throughout the history of our clan, is that we maintain a strong moral code, especially when it comes to children and returning favors. It is true that disobeying clan rules should be punished, but breaking your own values or your Nindo is a much more serious consequence for the person. Some will break their Nindo out of love for the clan, others the other way around, these are the kind of decisions that philosophy helps you make," he told me.

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"It's something that when you grow up will understand better."

My uncle continued with the story. "On the way back, the Shimizu clan is involved, although this is not very clear how this happened since there are many versions in the writings, what is known is that on the way back to the Toriumi clan they passed through some rivers, in which the Shimizu clan was fleeing from enemies of the Water Country, it is believed that they tried to assault the boat that Taka was on."

"The Shimizu clan were strong in combat as I told you, they were born warriors, but for the rest they were not very smart, they resorted to stealing in order to keep running away. Seeing that the ship had many children on it, they didn't raid it. The Shimizu clan also considered themselves warriors and did not cross the line of hurting children." I noticed that my uncle was still smiling.

"But they didn't know that they were still chasing Taka, and as soon as he landed they attacked him. Taka promised a good payment to the Shimizu clan if they helped him, the Dokuda clan leader couldn't help him much, since he had to protect the children, he made a cloud of poison to protect them, since the children had the antidote they were safe inside the poison," my uncle took a pause as if remembering something.

"This would later become a clan technique, using poison to defend, I only saw it once but it is very problematic, if there is no one who knows strong wind jutsu it is a complicated technique to be easily broken by the enemy," my uncle told me.

"Continuing with the story. It is not clear how the battle went, but it was the first time the 3 clans fought together. The Shimizu clan aided by the nearby river attacked relentlessly with ninjutsus, the leader of the Dokuda clan from his poison cloud threw senbus, every senbu that touched someone was a death. And Taka was good with sword and fire jutsus."

"It end in a good victory for them, there were no deaths on their side, when they returned to the Toriumi clan and gave the payment, Taka's father saw potential for the clans his son had brought and decided to take in the two, although Taka was punished for making a decision he shouldn't have, his fame grew for bringing in two valuable clans, and surviving the ambush."

"So the 3 clans joined together and formed the Gokan clan?", I asked my uncle.

"In short, yes, but the last part of the story is missing, the greatest genius of the clan known as The Gokan, who got the clans to unite as one."

My uncle got up and went to the kitchen, he started making tea. I followed him, "Uncle, what happened next, what did The Gokan do?"

"My throat is a little dry, I want some tea, take this time to think about what I have told you, when the tea is ready I will continue with the final part of the story," he told me.

I was upset, but my uncle told me that it is not good to learn so much important information so fast, sometimes it is good to stop and think about what you have learned, so you remember more new knowledge.

I insisted but my uncle refused, I just sat and waited, and thought a little about the story. It sounded like one of legends, but the 3 clans that formed the current Gokan clan, the Toriumi, Dokuda and Shimizu clans, were very different from each other.

A strong clan that used a lot of trade and birds, a clan that uses poisons and lastly, a warrior clan that is very good underwater or if there are rivers nearby.

I stopped to think, why would they come together, what do they have in common. Everyone in the story followed their morals or code, but I don't think that's enough there would have to be something more.

When I smelled that the tea was ready, an idea came to me.

All clans rely heavily on one sense, the Toriumi clan on their sight, the Dokuda clan on smell and taste for use of poisons, and the Shimizu clan on their hearing and touch for guidance under water. In addition, the kanji of Gokan can mean '5 senses'.

Now everything makes more sense. Surely they united their techniques and formed a clan that can use all the senses very well.

"Uncle the clans came together because their techniques handle different senses, and together they could use techniques from all 5 senses," I told him.

My uncle smiled and told me "You realized, in a way it is true, the signature techniques of our clan have to do with using the 5 senses to superhuman levels, but for the clans to unite they needed that decisive person to convince them, that was The Gokan".

"Gokan Toriumi, was the last son of 4, his father the second to last leader of the Toriumi clan, his mother was the sister of the leader of the Dokuda clan, he grew up 3 generations after Taka event the clans were very close, Gokan's father, Karasu had a sworn brother from the Shimizu clan, who would later become his teacher." My uncle stopped and looked at me, seriously.

"It is a custom among the clan members to read about The Gokan's life, and each one understands his life according to his own thoughts, since The Gokan kept a diary there are many records about him that have been preserved. What I will tell you is a superficial summary, I will talk more about his impact on the clan than about his life, when you are older you will read about his life in detail", he told me in a serious tone.

Hearing this just made me want to know more about The Gokan, the clan's greatest genius, and that even though he is from so many years ago, there are so many memories of him, and that part of the clan's philosophy is based on his life.

"The Gokan was a very kind person, but above all curious, he grew up learning the techniques of the clans of his parents, Toriumi and Dokuda, but also of the Shimizu clan because of his teacher and since he was born with a great affinity for the water and wind release"

"When he grew up he became very interested in traveling and seeing other places. being the youngest and therefore not a candidate to be the next clan leader, he was allowed to go on missions to trade or explore."

"When he left he would be at the level of a current Jounin, he was around 15 years old, when he took his first mission away to try to make contacts with other villages and clans, he was like this for 5 years getting to know all kinds of people and jutsus. In these 5 years he also dedicated himself to improving the jutsu of his clan, and even created new ways to teach the jutsu he had improved", said my uncle, I noticed that he liked to talk about Gokan.

"But its time of exploration tend,a war was looming for the three clans, at first all these jutsus dedicated to improve some sense, it was believed for outsiders that it was a kind of Kekei Genkai, that it was techniques that could only be inherited through blood connections, but since the three clans came together through marriages, and some people learned these jutsus without being part of the corresponding clan, like husbands or wives, made the secret came to light."

My uncle said to me very seriously. "The greatest treasure we have and the most coveted are our jutsus, they are jutsus that can elevate to unthinkable levels all your senses, they may not make you directly stronger like being able to make a fire dragon, but they enhance everything you do incredible levels, they make you be more, and feel more. Even now Shin, many people covet our jutsu, they have done everything to get them, and it is the duty of every clan member to preserve them."

"I understand uncle for every clan ninja their jutsus are their legacy, if everyone knows them they would lose their identity and the effort of their ancestors," I remember talking to Hiroto Yamanaka about his jutsus, and how important it was to keep them secret.

I could tell my uncle was surprised.

"I understand how clans work, my best friend is from the Nara clan, he explained to me a bit about what it's like to be in a clan, he told me that his dad always reminds him how important it is to protect his legacy," I said.

"I'm glad you understand the importance of this. You really surprised me Shin, you are smarter than my brother used to write me through letters," he said.

I can't help but feel proud, my grandfather has told me that when a smart person recognizes you for being smart it is a great accomplishment, just as a strong person recognizes your strength.

The story continued. "When Gokan returned to the clan, he came with many surprises, first the new improved jutsus created by him, at first they did not believe him, but when he taught his brothers and parents, the results were obvious. His fame grew in the three clans, he did not hesitate to teach anyone who wanted to learn, although this annoyed some members of the clans, being close to a war they gave in to practicality, they needed to be stronger."

"The second big impact was in the first battle, Gokan was very strong, given his personality and that he did not like to fight, few had seen him fighting seriously, thanks to him the first battle was a resounding success, it is believed that at that time Gokan was at the level of a Hokage. And a few years later it was known that his power rose even higher, to levels never seen before by anyone in the clan."

"The clan went through years of war and peace, they destroy one clan and another wanted to attack again because of our techniques, in these years Gokan not only managed to get the whole clan to use his jutsus, he also improved many more among them almost all the cooperative jutsus they had."

"Cooperative jutsus?" I ask.

"Jutsus performed by 2 ninjas or more, make the result stronger than if two ninjas do a normal jutsu, the more people can do it, the stronger the jutsu, they are usually ninjutsus and are very useful in war or large scale battles", Uncle explained.

It sounded interesting, I wonder if I can make several fire dragons with dad together, or one really big one.

"The rest of the story is sadder," continued my uncle.

"Although thanks to Gokan the battles diminished, but not quite ending, they began to capture clan members to obtain the jutsus, but that was something the clans had precautions to avoid forcing members of any clan to reveal our jutsus. Still the attempts did not stop."

My uncle's face looks a little sad now. "Gokan died in his 50s from an illness. A few years after so many battles together, the clans decided to unite into one, and have the name Gokan, in his honor, to show how he saved and kept the three clans safe for so long."

"The Gokan clan remained as long as possible, but declined by the constant battles with small clans of thieves, until at some point one of its trade allies offered the possibility of being part of a village. The Senju clan offered us a union and we accepted it, from that moment the Gokan clan was part of Konoha".