Hiruzen Sarutobi felt a pang of regret, but his most urgent task was to steady Jie Uchiha. After all, the Kumogakure delegation would be arriving soon, and the village desperately needed the Uchiha clan's strength as a deterrent.
After a long silence, Hiruzen smiled bitterly. "Then what do you want to do?"
"I don't want to interfere too much with the village's decisions," Jie replied calmly. "But there is one non-negotiable point: Naruto cannot suffer any harm. Furthermore, he must stay in the village at all times, not in some strange, hidden facility." He stared directly at the Hokage, his voice hardening. "As for what kind of place I'm referring to, I don't think I need to elaborate."
"Fine." Hiruzen gritted his teeth, his voice heavy with resignation.
"Additionally, the Fourth Hokage once taught me a Jutsu. When the time is right, I will pass it on to Naruto," Jie continued. "I presume Lord Third wouldn't refuse to let Naruto receive his father's legacy, right?"
Minato Namikaze had died when Jie was only five years old. 'What kind of Jutsu could a five-year-old child possibly learn?' Hiruzen thought, bewildered.
Just as the Hokage's confusion peaked, Jie casually raised a hand. Without any hand signs or noticeable movement, a deep blue sphere of violently spinning chakra materialized in his palm.
"The Rasengan!" Hiruzen gasped in shock.
How could he not be familiar with it? This was the sign-less Jutsu Minato Namikaze had specifically developed—inspired by the Tailed Beast Bomb—to enhance the lethality of his Flying Thunder God Technique. After Minato's death, only two people in the entire ninja world could use it. One was Minato's teacher, Jiraiya of the Sannin. But after Orochimaru's defection, Jiraiya had never returned to the village; there was no way Jie could have crossed paths with him.
The other was Minato's disciple, Kakashi. However, Hiruzen's investigations confirmed that aside from a brief encounter during the graduation exams, Kakashi and Jie had never interacted in private. Furthermore, while Kakashi had mastered the Rasengan, the technique didn't suit his combat style. Coupled with his lack of affinity for Wind Release, Kakashi had never been seen using the Rasengan in actual combat. Therefore, even with an awakened Sharingan, it was impossible for Jie to have copied the Jutsu from him.
Once you eliminated the impossible, whatever remained—no matter how unbelievable—had to be the truth.
Jie's Rasengan had to have been personally taught by Minato Namikaze. That meant Jie had mastered an A-rank Jutsu at the mere age of five. Realizing this, Hiruzen felt a chill down his spine, once again terrified by the Uchiha prodigy's astonishing talent.
After a moment of tense silence, Hiruzen sighed. "Fine. But you can only teach Naruto the Rasengan after he enters the Ninja Academy. Other than that, you are not to have any further contact with him."
Jie frowned. He still wanted to extract some of the Nine-Tails' chakra through Naruto. He also needed to interact with the boy so his system could harvest more of Asura's chakra to upgrade his Sage Body. If he agreed to Hiruzen's terms, those plans would go up in smoke.
On second thought, he let it go. He had only just integrated the Intermediate Sage Body today; fully excavating its potential would take time. Besides, he also needed to dedicate time to studying sealing Jutsu.
With that in mind, Jie nodded. "Agreed. However, Sasuke needs friends, and so does Naruto. I trust the Third Hokage won't object to a bond forming between the two children."
"Agreed."
Hiruzen answered so readily that Jie almost thought he had misheard. For the old Hokage, he had already conceded so much ground today that one minor step backward hardly mattered anymore.
"We can handle Naruto according to your wishes, but right now, the village needs the strength of the Uchiha clan," Hiruzen said, his tone suddenly shifting to serious business.
Hearing this, Fugaku Uchiha—who had been sitting quietly on the sidelines for half the time—instantly perked up. When it came to Naruto, Jie had his own plans, and Fugaku couldn't contribute much beyond holding down the fort. But now that the conversation had shifted to the clan, it was his time to shine.
"Is this because of the Kumogakure delegation?" Fugaku asked, his voice deep and authoritative.
Hiruzen nodded. "The delegation will arrive in Konoha the day after tomorrow. Our spies have sent intelligence indicating that their goal isn't as simple as merely signing a peace treaty. However, the village hasn't been able to uncover their deeper motives." He leaned forward. "Therefore, I want Clan Head Fugaku to utilize the Konoha Military Police Force to establish a robust, visible defense. Give the Kumogakure delegation enough of a deterrent to force them to either show their hand or abandon their plans entirely."
Listening to the exchange, Jie cursed inwardly.
'Old fox.'
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