Jay opened his eyes to a grumpy Pakkun on top of his chest.
Jay blinked slightly at the dog who was in the process of drinking from a can …
[Jay] - … where do you even find the booze ? -
Pakkun grunted a half smile.
[Pakkun] - An old dog has his tricks, are you good enough to get up ? -
Jay rolled his shoulders and took a deep breath, feeling his spine and ribs pop into place …
[Jay] - … Feels like it -
[Pakkun] - Good, they are in the backyard training or something, see ya later kid … -
And with that, Pakkun was gone in a puff of smoke, leaving Jay free to get up …
[Jay] - I know where Kakashi got his grumpyness from … -
Jay rolled his eyes and went to notify his team of his recovery …
[Jay] - I also need a bath … -
*** *** ***
Sasuke already had some experience with genjutsu, in fact, his experience could be said to be greater than most, with his brother making sure he was well trained and well prepared for ninja life …
Experience didn't make that much of a difference though … everything felt real in a way that Sasuke didn't question …
His mind skipped a beat and he was back at the same backyard at night …
There was a distinct feeling that something wasn't right … There was very little room for thinking, Sasuke's body and chakra were already going through the motions before his mind even caught up …
Sasuke dodged out of the way leaving a simple clone behind in an illusion … the híbrido Nin-Taijutsu of the substitution technique buying Sasuke enough time to take a breath …
Sasuke infused said breath with chakra and a gout of flame illuminated the scene enough for Sasuke to barely see a sword going for him … but his body was already in motion right after the flame … Always moving, never in a single place … Sasuke rolled on the ground as the sword passed where his torso was, in that same motion, Sasuke stuffed his hand on his ninja pouch and tossed a handful of shurikens in the general direction the sword came from, still not stopping to see the results …
.. Sasuke's free hand completed a set of seals … a simple clone spawned and kept running in that same direction while Sasuke went another way … Sasuke focused his chakra on the principles of the Henge technique while his other hand fished for a smoke bomb … the transformation taking place as chakra shrouded him … Sasuke's form was occluded by a dark and opaque disguise, the smoke bomb hit the ground and Sasuke's form seemed to blend in with the smoke …
Sasuke knew he couldn't escape by running, jounin were much faster and had better senses … Sasuke needed to delay the inevitable for as long as he could, to look for that one chance in a million … mistakes meant death but not taking risks also meant death …
Sasuke could feel chakra gathering like a torrent, his legs were already filled with chakra before his mind formed a coherent thought … A roaring waterfall of water bursting out of the night as the suiton jutsu crashed against the ground Sasuke was …
The jump should have put a lot of pressure on his legs … weirdly, the pain didn't … his mind screamed danger … Sasuke's eyes could only watch as a blur in the shape of a spinning sword made its way through the air … Sasuke filled his lungs with a quick breath … the improper mix of air and chakra burned slightly but Sasuke was an Uchiha and fire was his to command …
A small flame burst out of his mouth in a scream of excitement and desperation as Sasuke threw his body backwards … the fire jutsu giving him just enough of a kick to push him out of the way of the sword … dodging the attack in mid air …
***
Sasuke blinked his eyes and got up quickly … his eyes and ears scanning the surroundings as his senses were still razor sharp and his mind completely wired …
The backyard was illuminated, the sun was still up … Sasuke could see the trees of the sparse forest surrounding the place …
Sasuke blinked some more, the constant pressure he was experiencing was lesser … as his mind calmed down he could hear a clapping sound …
Sasuke turned around to see Kakashi clapping and Sakura having a small panic attack in the back …
Sasuke took a deep breath and calmed his heart …
[Sasuke] - I hate spiritual training … I hate it so much … -
Sasuke glared at Kakashi …
[Kakashi] - Well, I'm glad you liked it … -
Kakashi said ignoring Sasuke's glare and Sakura's grunt as she tried her best to compose herself …
Kakashi took a look at his genins, both were twitchy and hyper aware at the moment …
[Kakashi] - Now, Sasuke might already know something about this methodology from the Uchiha and my Kouhai Itachi, but it's good to reiterate, especially for you Sakura … -
Kakashi clapped a hand and saw that Sakura flinched … good … She was paying attention …
[Kakashi] - This training is all about getting your instincts and senses to be as sharp as possible … It's a state of acute stress that most people only experience during a life or death struggle … -
Kakashi gave pause, noticing that Sakura immediately went into a student mindset, absorbing everything he was saying …
[Kakashi] - … the objective of this training is to be able to get into this state at will … It's something most veteran ninjas have some control over and something of a specialty of my dear friend Maito Guy … he calls this the breaking of the first limiter, or opening the first gate … Don't ask me why he calls it ‘gates’, but the initial stages of this technique is something Maito Guy graciously passed to Konoha's library … and something that's almost a requirement for a veteran ninja to learn … -
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Kakashi closed his eyes, remembering what Guy told him …
[Kakashi] - … In the moments between life and death, you can see the world moving slowly, your decisions become clear as if you had time to think about them … -
Kakashi looked at Sasuke.
[Kakashi] - The Uchiha have an innate capability to do this thanks to the Sharingan … -
Kakashi removed the bandana from his borrowed eye … the Sharingan and the accompanying scar stared at Sasuke.
[Kakashi] - To answer your unasked question, a dying friend gave me this, your Clan and I have an understanding over the issue, don't worry … -
Sasuke only nodded his head, he would ask his father about it, bloodline theft was something that no Clan would ever let go … Kakashi had kept a Sharingan in Konoha of all places, the Uchiha must have approved …
Kakashi covered his Sharingan and looked at Sakura who had her hand raised slightly before speaking.
[Sakura] - Kakashi sensei, you said it's almost a requirement for veteran ninjas … Why didn't we see this at the academy ? -
Kakashi smiled.
[Kakashi] - Great question my cute little genin … now answer me this … How would most of your classmates react to the training you just went through ? -
Sakura stopped, blinking her eyes and remembering the rest of the kids in class …
[Sakura] - Not well … -
[Kakashi] - Not well is an understatement, I'm taking a risk because our situation is not ideal, but you both will see an Yamanaka as soon as we get back to Konoha … now back to the training at hand, I want you guys to meditate on the sensations, get used to how your senses are reacting, how your mind is picking up signals that generally go unnoticed, Sasuke, you already have your Sharingan, so I'm tasking you to guide Sakura in the process, teaching is the best way to learn it yourself … let your body relax and your nerves unwind, we will repeat the process in a few hours … -
Sasuke and Sakura nodded.
***
Jay walked over to the backyard where he saw Sakura and Sasuke seated close together, meditating, Kakashi was seated close by reading his orange book … Jay walked closer to him …
[Jay] - Yo … -
[Kakashi] - Take a seat, how are the ribs feeling ? -
Jay took a deep breath and beat his chest with his hands.
[Jay] - Everything in place, good as new … -
[Kakashi] - Good, good … -
They both went silent for a few moments, Jay watched as Sasuke and Sakura murmured to each other pointing slightly around them and nodding …
[Jay] - What are you having them train in ? -
[Kakashi] - Guy's first limiter … -
Jay paused slightly.
[Jay] - Did Sakura react well to it ? -
[Kakashi] - Well enough … she is a tough cookie and she learns fast … -
Jay nodded.
[Kakashi] - Did Guy teach you about it ? -
[Jay] - As a thanks for giving him pointers pertaining to medical ninjutsu … too bad the initial stages of his technique aren't very useful to me … -
Kakashi narrowed his eyes at the unexpected response.
[Kakashi] - How so ? -
[Jay] - You know from my reports that I don't work normally … I have quite a bit more control over my body than most people have, but I also don't have the same reactions… The first three Gates of Guy's technique are something I can already do … -
[Kakashi] - Focus … -
[Jay] - Stress induced hyperfocus … I can already put all of my mind into a task, but I don't have the same responses to stress … -
[Kakashi] - Stamina … -
[Jay] - I don't have the same responses to exhaustion, I can keep going until I collapse like I did during my childhood with my retainers … But I can't push past that point either, when I'm done I’m done, no second wind to be had … -
[Kakashi] - Power ? … -
[Jay] - You know that I don't have the same responses to pain as most do … I can punch a tree with everything I have and snap the bones in my arm no problem … but there isn't anything extra to recruit in an emergency … -
[Kakashi] - Let me guess, you also don't feel fear the same way, that's why Zabuza's bloodlust didn't do anything to you … -
[Jay] - Right on the money, his chakra made it a bit harder to move but I had no hesitation … -
Kakashi passed a hand through his face … his apprentice had to be weird …
[Kakashi] - I asked you about this because you tore a few muscles tossing Zabuza’s sword like you did, now I see what Guy warned me about in trying to push you past your limits … -
[Jay] - He told you not to bother didn't he ? -
[Kakashi] - Can you imagine my surprise ? Maito Guy of all people telling me NOT to push someone past their limits … -
[Jay] - He had this haunting look on his face during our training when he finally understood that my limits were my actual physical limits and not something I could push past with will power … because I could give 100% on command, asking for more was pointless and self-harming … -
Kakashi gave a small laugh imagining the face of his friend when confronted with Jay's deadpan look …
[Kakashi] - Did he agree to teach you more ? The initial three Gates is something he gave to Konoha, but anything after that … -
[Jay] - He said my body still had too much to develop and my chakra reserves and output were already more than I can handle, benefits of having a furry fox I guess … -
Kakashi nodded …
[Kakashi] - Speaking of foxes … Anything to comment on that ? … -
Kakashi tried to approach the subject after seeing the tell-tale red glow of a biju’s chakra during Jay's healing … it was faint but it was there … and if the information they had on Jinchurikis and Minato's seal … a life or death situation like that would make the seal open slightly so more of the biju's chakra passed through … that meant that the Fox could have gotten in contact with an unconscious Jay on his mindscape …
Kakashi's heart almost stopped in his chest when Jay looked at him, considering something …
[Jay] - Well … depends on who is asking … Master Kakashi or Jounin Hatake ? … -
Kakashi felt the question grip at his heart …
***
Jay looked at Kakashi's frozen form … it was a bit risky but Jay felt confident that the man valued family higher than the Village and Jay made sure to be his family, even if through a master apprentice relationship … just like the one he had with Minato …
Jay could use a closer allie, especially one as well connected as Kakashi … but he needs to keep his story straight …
Time to preach about the Utopia that was the Empire and gather its first believer …
***
Kakashi's mind spun in place … what could Jay Uzumaki have to say ? What kind of secret was it ? … The first time he said it, it didn't mean much, he didn't share any big secret with Kakashi … it was almost a test, almost as if Jay was gauging what Kakashi's attitude would be …
And maybe it was … maybe it was a test … a test of character, to see if Kakashi was trustworthy …
Kakashi felt in his heart looking at the spitting image of Minato … the same kind of genius, but with sharp edges, just like Kakashi himself had at his age …
Even though Pakkun said that Jay didn't smell like he cared … Kakashi couldn't help but wonder …
[Kakashi] - Your master is asking, apprentice … you can confide in me I swear on the Hatake’s Clan … -
Jay narrowed his eyes and nodded …
[Jay] - Things are not what they seem to be … I have been in contact with the Kyuubi since I started the academy … -
Kakashi's eyes widened, he controlled the instinct to knock Jay out and run with him towards Konoha, warzone or not …
[Jay] - But that's besides the point … I have visions … more like memories than anything … of a life before this one … not here, not in this place … but in a place full of wonder and possibility … -
Kakashi couldn't help but lean in closer when Jay started to talk about a world that simply couldn't be … but one that Kakashi desperately hoped it COULD be …
They talked for a few minutes but those were long minutes …
Jay left to talk with Sasuke and Sakura, train together to get used to the reflexes and prepare for the next section of training …
Kakashi stayed on the tree, mind slipping into memories …
***
After Minato’s death, Kakashi kept a heavy resentment in his heart for Jiraya of Mount Myouboku…
Kakashi knew that Jiraya was almost a father to Minato … Jiraya was part of the pack … he was supposed to be the Godfather of Minato’s son … He was supposed to be THERE with them … With Kakashi, with Minato’s baby …
… But Jiraya never showed up …
Kakashi kept reading the books … they were good books, but they also reminded Kakashi about what the man was doing during his absence … it was a reminder for Kakashi that as useless as he was, as guilty as he felt … he wasn’t as bad as Jiraya …
Kakashi tried to confront the man once … but the Sage of the toads could only speak of his mission, his need to travel to find a prophetized child … another one … because apparently that’s everything Minato was for him … the supposed prophesied child that would bring peace … A child that Jiraya would raise to ‘save them all’ …
Kakashi almost had the need to laugh out loud when his mind finally caught up with the contents of the conversation … with everything Jay said …
And Kakashi could believe him … Kakashi could believe the impossibility that Jay proposed … Because Jay was the spitting image of Minato … Jay had that same inventive genius … But most importantly, Jay spoke like someone who had a plan and not just ‘hope’ …
***
Kakashi waited a few more minutes before he summoned Akino … The dog took off his sunglasses and gave Kakashi a lazy salute before dropping a scroll into the ground …
Kakashi slowly read the scroll about what this mess of a mission was going to be … Kakashi had an inkling about it, but it was good to have the paper to back up his hunch …
Kakashi could protect the bridge if the risk wasn’t too high … Hokage-sama let him call the shots on the mission and Konoha would deal with the rest … an Investigation was going to be made and a fuss was being kicked about the issue, especially the use of Konoha’s genin teams as a cheap way to hire a Jounin …
There was a lot of risk involved … Gatoh somehow got to hire a missing Jounin like Zabuza Momochi and he might not be the only ninja under Gatoh’s payroll … but … Kakashi had a good feeling about this … Wave country smelled like … Opportunity …
***
I have mixed feelings about what I wrote …
Let’s start with the simple things first …
The eight inner gates … that shit is way too underutilized … Look, I get it, Taijutsu specialist shit and all that … but let’s remind ourselves that Kakashi said that he can open two and Rock Lee exist’s … he is a CHILD that can open FIVE … and Rock Lee was talentless … “But he is a genius of something …” no, he is not, Lee sucked at EVERYTHING a ninja did, his taijutsu only improved when Guy taught him and come on, the increase in power we saw with Lee using that shit, Lee was doing feats of power we didn’t see up till shipuden or some shit, he destroyed that arena RUNNING … The eight inner gates is something that gives WAY too much power for what they are to NOT be used by every single Jounin out there …
But the whole system of the 8 Gates isn’t well explained, you just open more gates and you gain more power … no rhyme or reason as to HOW that happens (save the first gate) … so I’m changing that, the first three gates are all about releasing the brain's limits …
First gate is Focus … open that shit / break the limit and you are now in a constant state of that ‘Life or Death’ focus, where everything seems to slow down and all that Shonen shit that’s kind of ‘real life’ …
Second gate is Stamina … the famous second wind, your brain stops sending you signals that you are exhausted and it lets your body perform at a ‘higher’ state, giving you that extra oomph of energy.
Third gate is Power … the classic Hysteric Strength, 100% muscle usage …
Fourth and Fifth are about surpassing the limits of the ‘Body’ (ain’t giving spoilers now)
And the sixth, seventh and eight gate are about the ‘Soul’ … I have a whole thing prepared for the Gates and it’s relation to ‘Sage-mode’ shit … because as I alluded in the first few chapters, Sage-mode is a thing with different ways to be attained …
Next point, the Sharingan ‘reaction speed’ and whatever …
Look, I get it, magical eyes that give you BIG ASS power up … but let’s remind ourselves that the Clan Uchiha wasn’t the GOD CLAN of all shinobi … so a Sharingan alone does NOT account for the massive power we see on the few Uchihas we had on the series …
Case in point, there are a bunch of Ninjas who fight at those CRAZY ASS SPEEDS with regular fucking EYES, Sharingan may give you a leg up the competition, but those reflexes SHOULD BE something that’s trainable …
Now the next point of the simple ones and something I didn’t get to talk about this chapter … Chidori and the bulshit of ‘Requiring a Sharingan to work properly’ …
First, let’s get something out of the way, ‘Too much speed that causes tunnel vision’ … this is just a healthy dose of ‘Kakashi Copium’, as I said before, we see a lot of ninjas fighting at ludicrous speeds no problem, Chidori is just something Kakashi wasn’t used to because he JUST MADE THE FUCKING THING …
Now on to the next point of the Chidori … You know what is JUST like a Chirori but a ‘complete’ jutsu ? … Lighting Armor …
You cover yourself in lighting, it makes you Super Mega Fast and … and hear me out … we see the Third Raikage using that shit to pierce through stuff by just using his fingers as a lance … a lot like a CHIDORI isn’t it ? …
My head cannon is, Kakashi was trying to copy the shit out of the Lightning Armor after one of the various encounters Minato had with Ay and Bee during the war, Chidori being what he could do with the help of Minato as he was researching the Rasengan … because let’s be honest, if Chidori is just a ‘Lighting Rasengan’ … where the hell does the ‘Extra Speed’ comes from ? Just a side effect of holding lighting in your hand ? … Nhaaaa, Kakashi the Copy ninja tried copying the shit of the big Jutsu that is the pride of Kumogakure and almost succeeded …
Now on to the complicated point and also the short one … Jiraya … his character is … wierd … there is a LOT there to unpack, especially with the Toads giving him a prophecy to follow and all the shit that happens and the history the Toads have with Hagoromo and all that … Hells, the Toads know a LOT about the history of the world, probably know the truth about the biju, the whole Otsutsuki thing … like, they were THERE … they TAUGHT Hagoromo how to become a Sage and shit … they were in the KNOW … and what did they do with all that info and power ? … well, JACK SHIT …
… so … yeah … something fishy is going on there with the Toads and Jiraya being a ‘believer/pawn’ to then is just so much better than the other option of him just bein another depressive fuck fleeing from responsibility … I’ll have some fun doing it …
There is some major plot bulshit brewing on my mind over where I’m moving this story towards … hells, there is still OROCHIMARU out there and holy fuck that guy can be a problem … like a PROPER problem, he is a SCIENTIST … he KNOWS his shit … the guy can probably engineer a virus or something that targets specifically Hyuuga or Uchiha cause they are all INBRED as fuck … Heeeeeeey … that’s an idea on how to get rid of the Uchiha like the plot demands … he he he he he …
