Chapter 22: A Visit to the Uchiha Household [Part 1]
"How about this, Lord Third? Let's make a deal," Sakura suddenly said with a gleam in her eye. "I'll go to the border and give the Hidden Cloud forces a painful lesson. In return, when I come back, you let me take a look at the Scroll of Seals. How about it?"
"The Scroll of Seals contains countless forbidden jutsu—it's not something just anyone can look at!" The Third Hokage frowned as he took a puff from his pipe. The scroll had been compiled by the First Hokage, with additions from the Second and others. Normally, only the Hokage was allowed to access it.
"This isn't 'just anyone.' I'm not looking out of curiosity. I want to find a few jutsu that are suitable for Naruto to train with. We're about to enter the Ninja Academy anyway—think of it as preparing for the future."
Among Sakura's peers—Sasuke, Neji, Ino, and the rest—all came from prominent clans, each training in their family's secret techniques. Naruto, on the other hand, was alone. With the Fourth Hokage and Kushina both gone early in his life, he had no one backing him, let alone teaching him. Sakura wanted to browse the Scroll of Seals for techniques Naruto could learn early on—so he wouldn't have to wait until graduation, like in the original timeline, to start truly learning ninjutsu.
"Naruto, huh…" The Third Hokage was silent for a moment before finally saying, "Very well. If you successfully handle the situation at the border, I'll allow you to examine the Scroll of Seals. But you can only read it here—you're not allowed to take it out."
"No problem!" Sakura agreed instantly. It wasn't like she planned to steal it. With her current memory capacity, memorizing the entire scroll wouldn't even be that hard.
"I'll assign someone to escort you to the border. Any other requests?" the Third asked.
"Can I choose who comes with me?" Sakura's eyes lit up. She couldn't be careless about who accompanied her out of the village—she needed strong people by her side.
"Who do you want?" the Third asked curiously. Ever since discovering that Sakura had knowledge of the past and future, he had paid special attention to her decisions.
"I only need three people," Sakura said, counting on her fingers. "Kakashi Hatake, Shisui Uchiha, and Might Guy."
"Guy?" The Third Hokage looked puzzled. Kakashi was one of his subordinates—strong and reliable. Shisui, the famous "Body Flicker," was the highly talented descendant of his old friend Uchiha Kagami. Both choices made sense. But Guy?
"Don't underestimate him, Grandpa Hokage. He might act goofy, but his strength is the real deal."
Sakura knew that at this point in time, Might Guy wasn't yet at the peak we saw in the Fourth Great Ninja War. Because few had seen the true destructive power of the Eight Gates, he was still seen as an eccentric joke. But who would've thought that this "goofball" would one day nearly kick Madara Uchiha—a Six Paths-level monster—to death?
"In fact, if his father were still alive, I would've preferred he led the team."
Sakura's tone carried a hint of regret. Might Duy, Guy's father, had opened the Eighth Gate—the Gate of Death—to protect his son and teammates. He took down four of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist before dying of exhaustion. Yet in the village, he was mockingly called the "Eternal Genin," ridiculed for years.
"Might Duy, huh… Can you tell me more about him?" The Third asked. He vaguely recalled hearing about Guy's team returning from a mission, but no one had believed the story about Duy defeating the Seven Ninja Swordsmen. Now, it seemed there was more to the tale than he'd known.
"There's not much to tell," Sakura replied plainly. "He opened the final gate of the Eight Gates technique and wiped out four of the Seven Swordsmen. The other three were seriously injured. But he burned up his own life in the process and died of exhaustion."
After a brief pause, she added, "And that wasn't even the perfected version of the technique. His Eight Gates were only a prototype—focused on boosting physical stats. The true ultimate techniques, the finishing moves… those hadn't even been developed yet."
If Might Duy had known the secret techniques that Guy would later master, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist wouldn't have had a single survivor. Techniques like Evening Elephant and Night Guy were far beyond anything they could withstand.
"How powerful is the Eight Gates Technique at its full potential?" the Third Hokage asked, his mind already racing with thoughts of forming a specialized Eight Gates unit. If even a so-called "eternal genin" like Might Duy could take out four of the Seven Swordsmen, what could a trained squad of such warriors accomplish? Who would dare threaten the Hidden Leaf then?
"To put it bluntly," Sakura replied, "when someone opens all Eight Gates and goes all out, they could mop the floor with all five Kage from the other villages—and they wouldn't even be able to fight back. That's how overwhelming the power is. But the side effects… are devastating. It's basically a suicide technique."
She could tell from the look on the Third's face exactly what he was thinking. "Don't even consider creating an Eight Gates army," she said firmly. "Hardly anyone can endure the training required to master the technique. And even fewer have the mindset or determination to use it in real combat—it's a style that literally demands your life."
"I understand," the Third nodded, though he clearly hadn't entirely given up on the idea. "I can make arrangements for Kakashi and Guy, but as for Shisui Uchiha… you'll have to speak with the Uchiha clan yourself."
"No problem," Sakura replied confidently. "As long as you can get Kakashi and Guy on board, I'll handle the Uchiha side."
She was sure she could convince Fugaku to let Shisui join. After all, she was Sasuke's personal stylist, responsible for giving him all those cool new looks [!?], and she'd even helped strengthen his bond with Itachi [!?]. Not to mention—if she remembered correctly—Sasuke's mother, Mikoto Uchiha, was close friends with Naruto's mother, Kushina. That was her angle. She refused to believe Fugaku could resist the influence of a bit of well-placed "pillow talk."
That evening, Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke were walking together down the street. Sasuke's expression was dark, like the bottom of a soot-stained pot.
"Why are you following me? And why are you dragging this idiot along too?"
"I told you," Sakura said matter-of-factly. "I need to speak with your father. As for Naruto—he's going to be helpful in this mission, so of course he's coming."
Then she added with a grin, "Besides, I need to do some field research—figure out what your parents and your brother are into. Only then can I tailor a better outfit for you."
"Don't bring that up again!" Sasuke growled, exuding a cloud of resentment. It was bad enough being forced to wear dresses at the ramen shop, but now even his own mother was encouraging it at home. His resentment was practically about to break through the sky.
"Aw, why not? I think you looked great dressed like that," Naruto said with a snicker.
"Shut up, you idiot!"
Sasuke's angry yell startled a flock of birds in the nearby trees. But beneath the setting sun, the three figures walking side by side painted a surprisingly warm and harmonious picture.