[POV: 3rd Person]
[Scene: Hokage's Office, Early Afternoon]
[Track Change: Naruto OST "Homecoming"]
A few days later...
[Date: October 16th, Year 65 of the Konoha Calendar]
Minato worked through a neat stack of parchment. Each page carried the same heading: Joint Development Proposal: Spiritual Discipline for Stabilized Chakra Growth. His brushstrokes were careful and light. He did not believe in wasted motion.
The speech from the square had settled something in the village. People walked differently now. Less tense. More curious about what came next.
The new Lecture Hall needed only furniture and schedules. That meant the window was open. He intended to use it.
Kakashi waited near the window with a leather satchel stamped with the leaf crest. His posture looked relaxed. For Kakashi that meant he was ready to move rather than already moving.
"Deliver these to the clan heads." Minato lifted six sealed packets. "Shikaku, Inoichi, Choza, Hiashi, Shibi and Tsume. Fugaku already has his copy."
Kakashi took them and tilted his head slightly. "Should we add Danzo?"
Minato set down his brush. "Yes. He will complain if excluded. I would rather hear his objections clearly than discover them when they are already problems."
He added one more envelope. This one was thicker.
"Bring this one to Hiruzen. Ask for his edits. Tell him I want the first week's lecture roster finalized by tomorrow." Minato met his eye. "Tell him I need his wisdom on this. Not just his approval."
Kakashi's visible eye crinkled slightly. He understood. Then he vanished in a soundless rush of displaced air.
Minato exhaled and stared at the cleared space. He looked down at two other items on his desk. One was a small wooden box from Fugaku. The other was a scroll sealed with red wax.
He cracked the wax and unrolled the scroll. A list of proposed topics filled the page.
The Nature of Yin and Spiritual Conditioning, by Hiruzen Sarutobi
Chakra Control Errors in Youth Training, by Utatane Koharu and Medical Staff
Foundational Kenjutsu, by a rotating roster of Special Jonin
Applied Wind and Fire Interactions, by Uchiha Police Instruction Corps
Fundamentals of Sealing Techniques, open session, moderated by the Ino-Shika-Cho team
Trauma Response and Field Stabilization, by Frontline Hospital Corps and Aburame Consultants
He smiled. This was becoming real.
[Scene Change: Uchiha Compound, Writing Room]
[Track Change: Naruto OST "Loneliness"]
Fugaku sat cross-legged at a low desk. Light fell across the parchment and turned the drying ink glossy. He had already stamped the clan crest on six letters. The seventh was the most difficult.
To Lord Hiashi of the Hyuga
From Fugaku, Head of the Uchiha
Subject: Invitation to Co-Development of Spiritual Discipline
He wrote with the same stoic calm he used on patrol. The Hyuga and the Uchiha did not pass techniques easily. Even sharing theory felt bold. Still, Asriel's words had taken root. If the village would stand together for Naruto and Sasuke then the adults needed to set the example first. Spiritual discipline was safe to share. The gains would reach everyone.
He continued.
Proposal: A working committee under Hokage supervision with representatives from each major clan. Deliverables include three items. First, a written primer on meditation for youth adapted to diverse chakra signatures. Second, a supervised regimen that prevents violent spikes during ocular awakenings or Byakugan strain. Third, a testing metric for hospital intake to monitor imbalance.
Safeguard: Exercises will be content neutral. No clan secrets will be traded. Where a technique risks overlap the committee will accept an alternate form that achieves the same outcome without revealing private methods.
Fugaku signed and sanded the ink. He was folding the letter when Mikoto slipped into the room. She watched him place the seal.
"Writing to Hiashi?" Her voice was light but her eyes were reading him.
"Yes."
She moved closer. "You have softened."
Fugaku looked up at her. There was warmth in his eyes that he rarely let show. "I have decided to be useful. Asriel talks like a sunny young representative, just like Minato does. Renjiro thinks like a planner, like Hiruzen but blunt and honest. I can do my part too."
Mikoto leaned down and kissed his temple. Her hand rested on his shoulder for a moment. "Good. Then I will do mine. Itachi's bloodwork is scheduled this week. I will take him after lunch."
Fugaku covered her hand with his. "Thank you."
[Scene Change: Nara Compound, Strategy Room]
[Track Change: Deltarune Ch. 1 "Quiet Autumn"]
Shikaku skimmed Minato's memo and smiled in that lazy way that meant his mind was already running laps. Inoichi and Choza sat with him at a round table marked with chalk lines from old strategy sessions. A kettle steamed in the corner.
"Spiritual and mental discipline for everyone." Choza sounded impressed. "Imagine Genin squads that do not collapse during their first B-rank mission."
Inoichi tapped the table with his pen. "The real value is early screening. If we can chart emotional stressors alongside chakra growth we can catch spirals before they build." He paused. "The boy Itachi is a perfect example of what happens when we miss the signs."
Shikaku drew a rectangle on the table and divided it into three sections. He labeled them Mind, Flow and Form.
"The Lecture Hall only supplements the Academy if the content is layered properly." He drew connecting lines between the sections. "Week one should be Mind heavy. Make it easy to approach. Add a short meditation practice. Five minutes after every session. No burden. Just routine. Flow comes second. Form comes last."
"Shikaku." Inoichi leaned forward. "What about the Uchiha tablet? If the boys hear legends of glory before they learn control we will be right back where we started."
Shikaku drew a small circle and labeled it 'LEGENDARY TALES'. He stared at it for a moment.
"Legends are not the enemy. Unfiltered legends are the enemy." He tapped the circle. "We do not avoid the stories. We tell better ones. Ones with all the context. Ones with consequences shown clearly."
Choza poured tea for all three of them. "You sound like Hiruzen."
Shikaku smirked. "Then he and I can share the chalk."
He stood and wrote a schedule draft on a slate board.
Week One, Morning: Hiruzen on Ninshu roots and the Will of Fire. Asriel's reintroduction. Koharu on early mistakes in chakra control with clinic anecdotes. Aburame consultant on silence drills for sensory focus.
Week One, Afternoon: Uchiha instructors on safe ignition drills with water on standby. Inuzuka handlers on rhythm drills that sync breath to Taijutsu movements using drums. Nara evening session on mental frames that reduce panic.
"Send it to the Hokage." Inoichi looked satisfied. "Mark the Aburame session as optional. They prefer it that way."
"Already planned." Shikaku set down the chalk and dusted his hands.
[Scene Change: Aburame Compound, Garden Walk]
[Track Change: Naruto OST "Comrades"]
Shibi's reply was short.
To the Hokage: We accept the committee invitation. We will provide training in sensory narrowing and breath discipline. Our materials contain no clan secrets. We ask that sessions be outdoors near vegetation.
There were no flourishes. No additional explanation. Yet the timing note and the request for trees said what Shibi preferred not to say directly. The Aburame worked best when students did not stare at their coats. When the air smelled of green things rather than ink and paper.
[Scene Change: Hyuga Compound, Inner Room]
[Track Change: Naruto OST "Grief and Sorrow"]
Hiashi read Fugaku's letter twice. His face gave nothing away. An elder waited nearby with arms folded inside his robes. The silence stretched.
"Write back." Hiashi's voice was measured. "We will attend. Our members have had incidents of strain after prolonged Byakugan use. A neutral regimen would help." He set the letter down carefully. "It would help considerably."
The elder looked surprised. "You would accept Uchiha leadership on mind work?"
"I would accept Hokage supervision on mind work." Hiashi turned to face him fully. "This is not a question of pride. It is a question of whether the next generation tears itself apart or learns to stand together." His jaw tightened slightly. "I know which one I prefer."
He paused. "Send a separate note. Thank Asriel and Renjiro for their contribution. We will recognize it formally at the new Hall."
The elder bowed and left. Hiashi looked down at the letter again. Soft footsteps approached from the corridor. His daughter was not yet old enough to understand politics. One day she would be. He wanted her to learn it with fewer bruises than he had carried.
[Scene Change: Inuzuka Kennels]
[Track Change: Naruto OST "Afternoon of Konoha"]
Tsume barked a laugh when she read Minato's memo. She laughed harder when she reached the postscript about rhythm drills.
"Tell the Hokage I will bring the pups and the drums." She grinned at the messenger. "If his precious Lecture Hall cannot handle dust and fur it is not a Hall for shinobi. It is a parlor for bureaucrats."
The messenger looked uncertain whether to smile.
"Go on." Tsume waved him off. "He will laugh. Minato knows what real training looks like."
Her written reply came back with a pawprint and a rough sketch of a grinning dog face. The record keepers would groan. That was reason enough to include it.