Gimme your powerstones.
...
Hidetada walked inside his room, his feet thudding against the floor as he slid the door closed behind him. Humming to himself, he jumped over the bed to land on the other side and turned toward the dresser. He had still not written the scroll for Might Duy containing all of his known information regarding the Eight Inner Gates. Opening one of the drawers, he pulled out a fresh scroll, a brush, and a bottle of ink.
Taking the materials to his desk, he turned on the lamp and arranged everything on the surface before pulling back the chair to sit down. Removing the cap from the bottle of ink, he picked up the thick brush and dipped it inside, rotating the bristles before pulling it back out. It was strange that the use of ink and brushes remained so prevalent in this world, despite the fact that pens and pencils were objectively more effective tools.
Opening the scroll with one hand, Hidetada began to write down everything he knew about the technique. He started with the precise anatomical locations where the gates were situated, the specific methods required to unlock them, and finally, the specialized techniques Duy could recreate with them. He meticulously detailed the side effects and the exact physiological changes each gate induced before finally setting the brush aside on a tray where it would not leave a stain. A sigh escaped his lips as he stood up to let the dark ink dry.
Stretching his tired limbs, he checked the time on the grandfather clock in the corner and realized that the night had grown quite late. Pacing around the room, Hidetada wondered what he could do to pass the time. Finding no immediate inspiration, he simply shrugged and let himself fall onto the bed. Closing his eyes, he began to relax and almost drifted off after a few minutes before the memory of the scroll jerked him awake. Getting up, he walked back to the desk and found that the ink had finally set into the parchment.
Replacing the cap on the ink bottle, Hidetada wiped the brush clean and rolled the scroll into a tight cylinder. Pocketing it, he gathered the rest of his supplies and returned them to the drawer, sliding it shut with a quiet click.
The room fell into darkness after he clicked off the lamp. With a few heavy steps, he let his weight drop once more, falling back onto the bed with a huff. Massaging his face while his head lay cushioned by the pillow, Hidetada contemplated his plans for the following day.
'Let's see. I have to meet Duy and give him the scroll, maybe spar with him again. Then I have to train Mikoto and talk with Grandma about whatever is going on with Kushina,' he thought, before slowly drifting back into a deep, dreamless sleep.
The hours drifted by quickly before Hidetada woke early, just as the first pale sliver of sunlight touched his skin. Yawning, he rose and went through his morning routine to prepare for the day ahead.
Stepping out onto the rooftop of the Senju Compound, he watched as the sun began to crest over the eastern horizon, casting its long, golden rays across the dew-covered ground. Pursing his lips, he couldn't help but let a small smile touch his face. "Today seems to be a good day." He decided against waking Mito or Kushina; the hour was still quite early, and he would likely return later in the day when hunger finally drove him back.
He darted off the rooftop, landing with a silent thud on the next as he looked down at the early-rising citizens of Konoha preparing for their work. Sliding a hand through his brown hair, he wondered where to start. Suddenly, a thought sprang into his mind, 'I wonder, is Might Duy awake right now?' Jumping away to test his theory, he made his way toward Training Ground Forty-Four.
Speeding across the rooftops, he finally landed near the edge of the Forest of Death. He checked for the chakra signatures of any nearby shinobi by sending a sharp pulse of chakra through the soles of his feet into the earth. The response came back almost immediately, informing him that the forest was currently empty of life.
With a shrug, Hidetada patted the scroll he had written for Duy and made his way toward the outer borders of the village to go for a run. He had not focused purely on his stamina in quite some time.
As he leapt from one rooftop to another, he couldn't help but remember that, in the future he knew of, everything around him would be erased during the Pain Arc. It was hard to believe the village could be rebuilt in such a short span of time. Even more surprising was the fact that people actually agreed to continue living in a village after being killed and then literally brought back to life en masse.
Maybe it was just anime logic?
'Eh, it was probably anime logic,' he mused. That thought made his mind drift toward the fact that Yahiko would likely still be alive at this point in time. 'Wait, does that mean Nagato doesn't have the Rinnegan yet?'
He paused in his stride as he considered the implications before continuing his run. The timeline of this period was blurry. From what he recalled, Nagato's parents had been killed by Konoha shinobi during the Second Great Ninja War before the Rinnegan was ever transplanted into him.
Hidetada blamed the black man for it.
When nothing else made sense, blame the black man.
'That sounds a little racist,' he thought. 'But, who cares? It isn't like anyone can hear my thoughts.'
Regardless of the specifics, the killing of Nagato's parents was almost certainly the handiwork of Black Zetsu and Madara. Well, maybe not a hundred percent; it could actually have been Konoha shinobi who killed his parents, only for the boy to be 'found' by those two opportunists later.
Hidetada was not naive enough to believe that no one from his own village would be capable of such an atrocity.
War brought out the worst in everyone.
Still, he leaned heavily toward the theory that Black Zetsu had orchestrated the event; it simply made too much sense. Though, out of all the children in the world, why choose Nagato? Aside from being an Uzumaki, there was nothing particularly special about him.
Hidetada reduced his speed as he pondered the question. Maybe there had simply been no better candidate? That was certainly a possibility. But to find the true answer, he had to eliminate the other options. There was no notable Uchiha available from this period except maybe Mikoto or, if he was alive, Fugaku. All the Senju besides himself and Tsunade were dead. They couldn't pick a random civilian child, as their natural chakra levels would be far too low to sustain the power of the transplanted Rinnegan. The Hyuga were out of the question immediately due to their own dojutsu. That left the minor clans and the Uzumaki. Someone from Uzushiogakure made the most sense, as they possessed the vast chakra reserves necessary to support techniques that would kill anyone else.
The real problem was finding an Uzumaki who could be given the eyes without drawing attention. If a random kid in the middle of a major village suddenly developed the Rinnegan, it would be far too conspicuous.
So, the obvious choice was Nagato. He was young and could be easily molded to match their goals. They wouldn't have to worry about outside influence because he technically belonged to no major clan. This was likely the same reason they hadn't chosen an Uchiha.
Due to the importance of their eyes, the body of an Uchiha had to be burned immediately upon death to prevent theft. Every member on the battlefield was to be accounted for.
Furthermore, an Uchiha would be hunted down and killed instantly if they defected and became a rogue nin.
The case of Obito Uchiha was a rare anomaly. Since he had been buried under dozens of massive boulders, Kakashi and the rest of the village likely assumed the boy was already dead. But that had not been the case, and the Ghost of the Uchiha had acquired a perfect minion.
For all these reasons, it made perfect sense why Black Zetsu and Madara Uchiha had selected Nagato Uzumaki as their vessel.
Standing at the edge of a rooftop, Hidetada looked down to see a blur of green running laps around the massive perimeter walls of Konoha.
It was none other than Might Duy.
Jumping down, he didn't have to wait long before the man dashed toward him with an enthusiastic, toothy grin, waving his arms wildly. "My Eternal Rival! I see that you too have come early today to celebrate the eternal flames of YOUTH!"
Duy's voice boomed across the empty morning streets. He paused, flashing a bright thumbs-up. "I have been running for two hours already! Let us see how many more laps we can complete together in the glorious springtime of YOUTH!"
"Uh, actually Duy, I wanted to give you this," Hidetada said, pulling the scroll from his pocket before tossing it toward the man. Duy caught it out of the air and looked at it with intense curiosity. "It's the scroll I promised. It contains everything I know about the Eight Inner Gates, their uses, the physiological effects, the side effects, and everything in between. I even drew some diagrams to make it easier to visualize."
Thick, hot tears began to pour from Might Duy's eyes as he clutched the scroll carefully to his chest. This was the first gift he had received in his entire nineteen years of life. Wiping the tears away with the back of his hand, he rushed forward and pulled Hidetada into a crushing hug, squeezing the air out of his lungs. The Senju Heir could do nothing but pat the man's back awkwardly before croaking out that he couldn't breathe.
Once Duy pulled back and regained his composure, he flashed his signature grin. "I will keep this with me at all times," he said, patting the back pocket where he had secured it. "It means a lot to me, Hidetada-sama."
Scratching his cheek, Hidetada didn't have the heart to tell the man that he didn't really see it as a 'gift.' He had only given it to Duy because it was a promise that he had made.
With a sharp beckon, the spandex-clad man motioned for Hidetada to follow.
Understanding the request, he fell in alongside Duy as the man resumed his laps around the walls. Once they settled into a comfortable pace, Duy finally spoke, "Unfortunately, I won't be in the village for a few days."
As Hidetada raised a questioning eyebrow, Duy elaborated. "I tried to secure some C-rank missions outside the village, but as you know, the war has caused the number of standard missions to decrease significantly. There simply weren't any available."
The man let out a weary sigh before perking up again. "However, I have been assigned to patrol duty." Duy's eyes narrowed as he seemed to contemplate something deeply. "Something big is going to happen soon. Both the Land of Stone and the Land of Lightning have reduced their offensives against everyone else. People are saying that they have agreed to a ceasefire, but so quickly after the war just started? They have made no significant gains. And while the populace does not like the war, if the leaders return with nothing to show for it, the people would be even angrier."
This was the most Hidetada had ever heard the man speak without using terms like 'Youth' or 'Spring' every other sentence. It was almost uncanny.
With a shrug of his shoulders, Might Duy added in his usual enthusiastic tone, "Then again, I am just a Genin, so I could be easily wrong about all of this." A grin returned to his face as he continued, "I have managed to increase my chakra control to a level where I can subconsciously direct it toward the First Gate, even while sleeping! It seems that in a few more months, I should finally be able to break past it! YOSH!"
Hidetada hummed to himself as he processed everything Duy had told him. It only served to make him wonder how Tsunade was faring on the Suna front, and just how much of a difference he himself could make if he were finally allowed onto the battlefield.
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Word Count: 2106.