Chương 534: CH_14.4 (534)

Takuma walked into the Hokage's Office building through a special entrance reserved for ANBU. He was dressed in full garb, mask and all, for his meeting with the Hokage. An operative from the Hokage's ANBU was waiting to escort him. The operative was a woman with straight, purple hair that reached down to her waist. She wore a cat-motif mask and the standard ANBU uniform, choosing to have her death-seal visible on her right shoulder, like many operatives who proudly wore their insignia.

"Lieutenant Ratel. Right on time, sir. I am Squad Leader Minou. Lord Hokage has asked me to escort you today." They shook their gloved hands and talked as they walked.

"Thank you for escorting me today, Minou… I wasn't told the reason behind the summons. Would you happen to know what Lord Hokage wishes to meet about?" The summons hadn't come via Weasel's or Stag's offices. Instead, the Hokage's staff had contacted his secretaries directly, which could mean a few things, among which was that the summons was for personal reasons or that the matter was outside his duties as an ANBU, thus there was no need to involve his superiors. Takuma had reeled in his captain just in case.

Or it could simply be that the Hokage was the leader of the village and could summon him directly for whatever reason he deemed fit.

"I wasn't told, sir," Minou replied.

"You're penned in for twenty minutes with Lord Hokage, and seeing that his schedule isn't running late, you may get to have the complete twenty." Takuma hummed. Twenty minutes was too long for a summary report, something he prepared on all of the important or urgent matters his unit was working on in case something was brought up in the meeting. They sat down in a private waiting room to wait out the ten minutes till the meeting.

"You were there, sir? At the ROOT eradication?" Minou asked. Takuma studied the kunoichi for a moment before nodding.

"What was it like?" she asked, leaning forward.

"Like any other battle where jōnin are involved. You understand your role, look out for your fellow shinobi's back, and stay the hell out of the jōnin's way. If they're the main characters, everyone else is a stagehand." He wasn't interested in recounting his experience of participating in a battle against Orochimaru. Minou nodded with a grave expression. She had been in a battle involving jōnin and seen her fair share of danger.

One didn't need to be the best of the best to be selected for the Hokage's personal ANBU, because that would deprive the department of talent where it could be used better. However, every single ANBU who directly answered to the Hokage had proved themselves in one way or another and had a record of consistent excellence that made them worthy of the prestigious position. Takuma noticed that she wanted more details, and leaving her just with a non-answer would be dull and awkward.

"The most impressive thing I saw was the A-rank ninjutsu from Lord Akimichi Choza. A mountain of a man in the sky with an even larger golden palm descending towards the land… He truly seemed like a raging divinity in that moment." It was a truly impressive sight that Takuma would have appreciated when he was there, if not for the hyperfocus on getting out from under the palm before it hit, as the alternative was death. Perhaps only rivalled by the clash of Itachi's A-rank ninjutsu against the Gates of Rashomon.

Takuma would never admit it, but the sight of Orochimaru surviving after everything that had been thrown at him—the writhing snakes that made up his body—had left a lasting impression. What the man had done to his body was disgusting, but it made it difficult to kill him.

"Did you see Orochimaru? They say he was there," Minou asked. Takuma had a feeling she was asking him because she already knew he was part of the group that fought Orochimaru. The details of the whole ordeal were confidential, but it wasn't a surprise that some things would slip out. Many people knew he led the effort against ROOT; knowing that, someone probably thought it would be fine to say he was there, since it wouldn't be surprising. That's all it took for some details to get around.

"I'm not at liberty to talk about it."

"Of course," she said, seemingly satisfied. Orochimaru's presence at the ROOT raid was classified knowledge, but the level of clearance was low, so plenty knew he was there. However, the finer details were locked under a high level of clearance. Only a select few Leaf shinobi knew that he possessed the body of an Uchiha. The Uchiha clan knew that one of their own, whom they thought had died on an unrelated mission, had been defiled by him.

A number of heads of major clans, especially those with bloodline limits or hiden jutsu, were made aware of the situation. A couple of minutes before the time, Minou went to check.

"He's ready for you, Lieutenant," she said upon return. Takuma stood up, did a final inspection of his attire, and then followed the ANBU kunoichi through the halls. None of the people they walked past reacted to his presence, much less acted surprised to see an ANBU.

"Lieutenant Ratel is here," Minou stepped inside to announce.

"Enter," came the voice from inside. Takuma entered the office, the most powerful seat in the entirety of the Hidden Leaf, and came face to face with Sarutobi Hiruzen. He was in his Hokage robes without his hat, which hung on the coat rack. He puffed on his trusty pipe as he gazed at Takuma from the desk that had a stunning view of the village behind him.

Takuma had been in the Hokage's vicinity as part of weekly and monthly ANBU briefings and was often called upon when the Hokage needed something explained from the regular summary reports. Weasel liked his lieutenants to answer the questions if they could do it better. But this was the first time since the home visit that they were meeting one-on-one like this. He went down on one knee and lowered his head.

"Lord Third."

"Rise." Takuma hesitated for a moment before fishing out a disgustingly neon box from his person and presenting it to the Hokage.

"A gift for the honourable grandson." That earned him a laugh from the Hokage. The first time they had met—excluding academy graduation—Takuma had presented a gift because Itachi had pranked him. A gift wouldn't have been out of place if he were a dignitary, but as an ANBU subordinate, it stood out like a clown without colour.

"What is this?" Hiruzen asked as he studied the flimsy box and then shook it.

"I'm told it's a candy popular with kids."

"Oh? Is it something novel that caught the children's interest?"

"… It's disgustingly sweet." Hiruzen laughed once more, the wrinkles on his face deepening in the best way.

"Good, very good. I'll make sure that Konohamaru gets it. How are you, Lieutenant Ratel?" he asked.

"Growing, Lord Third. This is the second time in three years that I've had to overhaul my wardrobe." Takuma had grown in both height and weight. His naturally lean frame, which had been bony during his academy days due to poor nutrition, had finally filled out nicely after years of training and eating. Putting on muscle wasn't hard for shinobi who could will their chakra to bulk up; Takuma had allowed his body to grow naturally. He wasn't buff by any measure, but he was no longer a scrawny little rat.

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"Ah, youth," Hiruzen smiled before a more serious expression set on his face.

"That's why I called for you today, Ratel. I wish to discuss another youth with you…

"Are you familiar with Uzumaki Naruto?" Hiruzen asked. Takuma silently swallowed. As expected, it wasn't about his duties, but to his shock, the topic wasn't something he had prepared for; it wasn't even something he thought would come up.

"The jinchuriki," Takuma said, savouring the word. Hiruzen nodded.

"What do you think about him?"

"I'm not sure I do, Lord Third. I met him once when I was visiting his teacher, Chūnin Iruka, if you know him…"

"I do."

"… but despite that brief meeting, I know as much as everyone else."

"Yes, I understand, but I want your thoughts nonetheless," Hiruzen said, a particular glint in his eyes as he urged him to answer. This was a test. Takuma could feel it in his bones. He thought about how to proceed before deciding to answer as honestly as he could.

"I'm grateful for his unappreciated service to the village. It's a great burden for someone so young to bear."

"That's not how people feel about him," Hiruzen said, his shoulders ever so slightly sagging in relief.

"They're wrong… and yet I can understand how they feel. I have no memory of the attack, but it has become an integral part of the lives of all who live in this village, even if they were born afterwards. Many loved ones were lost that day, families destroyed, dreams lost; it's human nature to find someone or something to blame. In this case, they blamed Uzumaki Naruto. Instead of seeing him as the jailer of the entity who ravaged the village, they see him as the entity itself in human skin.

"Even if you try to explain the concept of a jinchuriki, it's too far out for most civilians to understand—and that is if they agree to listen. It's not that different for a lot of genin, who, despite understanding a basic concept of fūinjutsu and seals, refuse to accept the truth… They've been told that he is the cursed child since they were little, and that kind of conditioning is difficult to lift.

"They look at his age and think that he's the Demon Fox incarnate instead of seeing that he must have only been a little babe when the entity was sealed inside him. I know respected chūnin, and somehow even jōnin, who can't overcome their own deep-seated bias." Before Takuma knew it, he had gone on a tirade about the unfairness of the situation. Even he was surprised by how much emotion had leaked out of him; he didn't know that he had it inside him.

"… I understand how they feel, but I don't accept it," he said after calming himself.

"You're a person of great morality, Lieutenant Ratel," Hiruzen said with a half-smile full of sadness.

"That's a low bar for being a good person." Hiruzen nodded with pursed lips.

"What are your thoughts on people who say that he should not be allowed to be a shinobi. That it will only strengthen him," he asked. Takuma couldn't help but scoff, which surprised Hiruzen.

"An entity like the Nine-Tails doesn't need our jutsu. He's disastrously powerful the way he is. As for Uzumaki Naruto learning the shinobi arts, it's only smart that he knows how to protect himself." He paused and then added, "I compare a jinchuriki to a kunai sealed inside a scroll, but he can also be looked at as an explosive tag ready to explode. If the Nine-Tails threatens to break out, perhaps a mastery of chakra would help the boy contain him."

Not everyone in the village thought of Naruto as the Nine-Tailed Fox. It wouldn't be an unsubstantiated claim that over half of the shinobi in the Hidden Leaf Village—still not enough—understood the concept of a jinchuriki and accepted that Naruto wasn't the Fox. Most of them still didn't want anything to do with him because they didn't have confidence in him. How could a child contain the disaster that had killed the Fourth Hokage?

"Nothing about training him to use his powers? Isn't that the primary function of a jinchuriki?" Hiruzen asked.

"We are destructive and murderous enough, Lord Hokage. I don't think we need help waging wars. We are the masters of that craft," Takuma said with a dull look in his eyes.

"And yet, other villages have jinchuriki who can take advantage of the power sealed inside them…" There was a moment of silence in the room as Hiruzen seemed to be deep in thought.

"He's about to graduate from the academy," Hiruzen said. Takuma nodded.

"It's a stacked academy class. So many children of clan heads." Hiruzen paused with only a split moment of confusion before the realisation struck him. It seemed he hadn't put that together. Not at all surprising. The Hokage had more concerns than the academy class roster.

"The reason I wanted to meet you is that Naruto has been struggling with the Clone Jutsu. He's a master at the Transformation Jutsu, disturbingly so." Hiruzen heaved a sigh and shook his head, recalling a memory.

"I won't go into the details, but he has too much chakra, and the nature of his seal does make it comparatively more difficult for him than most to properly control his chakra." Takuma frowned behind his mask. He tried to think if he knew that little tidbit about Naruto and the jinchuriki seal. All he could remember was that the Nine-Tails and the seal were behind Naruto's chakra reserves, on top of his Uzumaki genetics, who were cousins of the Senju, both clans known for their vitality.

Ironically, both of those clans were now extinct.

"It'd take an inordinate amount of effort from him if he wants to master the Clone Jutsu."

"Is this a matter of graduation?" Takuma asked.

"He's not the brightest student," Hiruzen sighed, rubbing his temple.

"His academic performance is below average, but he shines in the practical aspects. He's stronger and faster than most of his peers, has an instinctive grasp of taijutsu, and can handle the basic weapons decently. Some of his classmates are calling him dead-last because he's the only one who hasn't passed the graduation test."

"I can relate. I failed two of my attempts, and they called me dead last as well," Takuma said, shrugging.

"I could grant him an exemption to allow him to graduate, but I fear it would face opposition from those who don't want him to become a shinobi and grow stronger… I don't think Naruto would be happy to get his forehead protector that way—but there's only a couple of weeks to the final attempt, and I don't think there's enough time to master the Clone Jutsu. It's simply not a jutsu compatible with him." Takuma could guess where this was going.

"You're thinking of having him learn the Shadow Clone Jutsu? It's a B-rank ninjutsu, and he's not even a genin. Will he even be able to learn it?" Hiruzen nodded.

"He has spent more time trying to learn the Clone Jutsu than anything else. I suspect he may have the Yin nature transformation part down. His skill with the Transformation Jutsu certainly shows strong command of Yin. As for the Yang part, the Uzumaki have always had a strong affinity for it. He might just be able to do it. He won't be efficient by any meaning of the word, but chakra isn't a concern for him." Clone Jutsu technically fell under Yin Release, even if it barely used Yin principles.

Transformation Jutsu was, surprisingly, a Yin-Yang Release ninjutsu; it involved imagining a form and then making it real. The Shadow Clone Jutsu was also a Yin-Yang Release ninjutsu. By no means would knowing basic academy jutsu make one capable of using a B-rank ninjutsu. However, it was possible that Naruto might be able to learn Shadow Clone Jutsu in a short time. Some people had innate affinities for certain ninjutsu, allowing them to grasp their intricacies instinctively.

Uchiha Shisui and his command of the Body Flicker Jutsu, and the present Raikage and his use of and elevation of the B-rank Lightning Release: Chakra Mode to unprecedented levels, were prominent examples of the phenomenon. Knowing what Takuma knew, Shadow Clone Jutsu was clearly that for Naruto.

"What do you think?" Hiruzen asked.

"It makes sense. No one could complain about the basic clones if he could create corporeal clones," Takuma said. If he didn't have the knowledge, he would've struggled believing it.

"I'm assuming you'd procure the jutsu for him."

"I will."

"There's no harm in trying. If he has the chakra for it and has the skill for it, why not reward him for the service he's doing for the village?" Takuma wasn't going to be the one to stop Naruto from getting one of his signature ninjutsu.

"Lord Third… I must admit, I'm still confused as to why you wanted my input on this."

"I want you to teach it to him," Hiruzen said.

"P-Pardon?" Takuma was utterly taken aback.

"Is it that strange? Are you not an expert on the jutsu?"

"Yes, but…" In his mind, the Hokage simply wanted to hear that his plan was feasible from someone else, and he chose him because he was in a unique position regarding the Shadow Clone Jutsu.

"Lord Third, you're a master of the jutsu and its many derivatives. You have actual teaching experience—you trained the Sannin! And more importantly, you know Uzumaki Naruto and seem to care about him personally. From where I stand, you'd be a much better teacher."

"He won't listen to me. In his eyes, I'm a nagging old man he's trying to beat. He won't accept my help," Hiruzen sighed.

"Back then, it took everything I had to reel in Jiraiya and stop the other two from bickering." A nostalgic look, full of pain, flashed in his eyes.

"I'm not young anymore, Ratel. I don't have the energy to teach someone like Naruto."

"That's not true, Lord Third. You're still—""I think he'd respond better to someone closer to him in age. You two have more in common than you might think. You failed two attempts as well; you can bond with that to get him to listen. He's an orphan as well. I recall you telling me how much it meant when Maruboshi offered to help. I imagine Naruto would feel similarly." Takuma opened his mouth but swallowed his words back. Bringing up what Maruboshi did here was unfair; that man was a saint.

Comparing him to his mentor was an insult to the latter. But when he thought of what it felt like the time before he found Maruboshi, it was some of the worst he had experienced. He also knew what Naruto had been through growing up. It was more than difficult to say no in the face of all of that.

"Will you do it, Ratel?" That wasn't a question, not really. When the Hokage wanted something done, an ANBU like him didn't get to refuse. It was decided. He'd be teaching the Shadow Clone Jutsu to that Uzumaki Naruto.