Chapter 52: Forbidden Scrolls and Questionable Histories
The Pure Land's perpetual debate arena had found a new, bizarre topic. Tobirama Senju, ever the administrator, turned his analytical gaze toward the Fourth Hokage with the intensity of a prosecutor.
Tobirama Senju (VIP5): Fourth Hokage. Be honest. Was that... literary material in your student's possession part of a curriculum you endorsed? Did you, perhaps in a misguided attempt to support your teacher's... side enterprise, introduce such texts to impressionable young shinobi?
Minato Namikaze (VIP1): His ethereal form seemed to pale. I am innocent, Lord Second! As Hokage, I would never! Besides, I had no idea Kakashi was reading that... genre!
Tobirama Senju: Then the corruption is self-inflicted. A prodigy's mind, rotting from the inside. A tragedy of wasted potential. Let us hope this degradation of character does not lead to... criminal deviance.
Minato Namikaze: Criminal? It's just... romantic fiction! Surely it's not that corrosive?
Tobirama Senju: You underestimate the human capacity for depravity when discipline fails. My own brother never imagined his closest friend would resort to cannibalism during their final battle. When madness takes root, humanity is the first casualty.
Hashirama Senju (Regular Viewer): A profoundly weary sigh echoed through the stream. ...
Uchiha Madara (VIP1): SENJU! Who are you calling a cannibal?!
Tobirama Senju: I'm stating documented fact. Did you, or did you not, take a bite out of my brother's flesh at the Valley of the End?
A stunned silence filled the chat. Even the eternal bickering paused.
Uchiha Izuna (Regular Viewer): Big brother... you bit him?
Uchiha Madara: A grumble that was half pride, half embarrassment. It was a tactical necessity, Izuna! For the Rinnegan!
Third Raikage (VIP2): By the Lightning! The legendary Uchiha Madara... is a biter?
Yagura Karatachi (VIP2): Rumors say the First Hokage died not long after their battle. Could it have been... infection? Rabies, perhaps?
Yashamaru (Regular Viewer): The timeline fits. The symptoms of advanced rabies include aggression, hydrophobia, hallucinations...
Fuguki Suikazan (Regular Viewer): I've uncovered a dark historical truth! The downfall of the God of Shinobi was caused by a zoonotic virus!
Brubi (Regular Viewer): This changes everything we know about the Warring States period!
Hyuga Hizashi (VIP1): No wonder he didn't spare his own brother's wife. The lack of impulse control is a known symptom.
Yuhi Kurenai (Regular Viewer): That's... horrifyingly ruthless. No wonder he's a legend.
Uchiha Madara: ENOUGH! You insects! One more word about this, and I swear when I next manifest, I will reduce your family tombs to dust! I will desecrate your lineages!
The Ghost of the Uchiha was practically steaming with spectral rage. His grand, sacred sacrifice—biting Hashirama to obtain Hashirama's cells and awaken the Rinnegan—was being reduced to a case of poor zoonotic hygiene. It was the ultimate indignity.
Back in the hospital ward, the atmosphere was only slightly less chaotic. Kakashi had returned from the courtyard, his usual lazy mask firmly back in place, though his single visible eye held a new, sharp intensity whenever it landed on Ren.
"Kid," he said, his voice deceptively light. "Where exactly did you learn the Flying Thunder God and the Rasengan?"
Ren offered his prepared excuse with a straight face. "The Forbidden Scroll. Same place Naruto got the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique. It had a lot of interesting things in it."
He sold the lie with perfect calm. The story was airtight: a scroll full of forbidden techniques, a brilliant graduate with a knack for complex jutsu. If Naruto could learn a kinjutsu in one night, why couldn't the top student learn two?
Kakashi stared at him for a long, silent moment. His gaze was a physical weight, the sharingan behind his forehead protector almost palpable in its scrutiny.
"Is that so?" he finally said, the words slow and measured. "You're even more exceptional than reports suggested. No wonder the Third Hokage has taken a... special interest."
He didn't believe it. Ren could see the skepticism in the slight tension around Kakashi's eye. But the alternative—that a ten-year-old had somehow been taught by the ghost of the Fourth Hokage—was impossible. So Kakashi was forced to accept the improbable over the impossible.
He thinks I'm a once-in-a-generation genius, Ren mused. A monster prodigy. That's a useful mask to wear.
Tobirama Senju: The lie is serviceable. It leverages existing events (the stolen scroll) and plausible deniability (Naruto's success). The boy thinks on his feet.
Minato Namikaze: But he's using our techniques to build this legend! Our legacy!
Kushina Uzumaki: And he's protecting our son with them. That's what matters.
The moment was shattered by a furious, wet roar from the window.
"YOU WHITE-HAIRED PERVERT! WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY BUTT?! I'M GONNA KILL YOU!"
Naruto Uzumaki launched himself into the room, dripping pond water and lily pads, his face a masterpiece of outrage. Without hesitation, he formed six hand seals in a blur.
Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!
Poof! Poof! Poof!
Six additional Narutos appeared, all equally soggy and furious. Seven identical, orange-clad avengers surrounded Kakashi, kunai drawn, a wall of righteous indignation.
Minato Namikaze: That's my boy! Never gives up!
Kushina Uzumaki: He's so... energetic.
The assault was chaotic, loud, and utterly predictable. Kakashi didn't even look up from where he had casually picked up Sasuke's chart to review. In a series of motions too fast for Naruto's eyes to track, six gentle but precise strikes landed on pressure points.
Poof. Poof. Poof.
The clones vanished in rapid succession, leaving only the original Naruto, who found his wrist captured in a grip like iron.
"AGH! LET GO! THAT HURTS!"
Tears of pain and frustration welled in Naruto's eyes. Kakashi held him firmly but without malice, his expression unreadable.
"Persistent," Kakashi noted, his voice bland. "A valuable trait. But directionless aggression is just noise." He released Naruto, who stumbled back, rubbing his wrist. "Your friend here," Kakashi nodded toward Ren, "uses clones as tactical tools. You use them as a blunt instrument. There's a difference."
Naruto glared, but the fight had gone out of him, replaced by a sullen confusion. He looked from Kakashi to Ren, then to the unconscious Sakura and the silently observant Sasuke.
Uchiha Fugaku: My son watches. He learns. This is good.
Uchiha Mikoto: But he looks so lonely. Surrounded by people, yet completely alone.
Kakashi turned back to Ren, the brief interruption over. "The Third has assigned you to protect Naruto. I've been briefed. But understand this—Team 7 is under my command. If your... extracurricular activities endanger my students, we will have a problem. A problem not settled by sparring."
It was a warning, calmly delivered. The message was clear: I don't know what you are, but Naruto is under my protection too. Step out of line, and it won't be a shadow clone you face.
Ren met his gaze and gave a single, slow nod. "Understood."
The unspoken agreement hung in the air: an uneasy truce between the official guardian and the ghost-powered protector.
In the Pure Land, the debate had moved on from rabies, but the undercurrents remained.
Uchiha Madara: Still simmering. I will find a way to mute all of you. Permanently.
Tobirama Senju: Your threats are as empty as your moral compass. Focus on the present. The boy has just established a working, if tense, relationship with a key Konoha jonin. This is progress.
Sakumo Hatake: My son... he's so stern. So closed off. He wasn't like this before I...
His spectral voice trailed off, consumed by a father's regret that stretched beyond the grave.
Down in the hospital room, the founding members of Team 7 were finally all present—one unconscious, one silently furious, one dripping wet and chastised, and their sensei, who was now deeply suspicious of a fourth, unofficial member who carried the ghosts of his past in his techniques.
Konoha's next generation was assembling, piece by broken piece, in a hospital ward. And the dead were watching every moment, their ancient arguments and fresh pains echoing through the only boy who could hear them.