A week into their training, the three of them met at the bridge by unspoken agreement, bringing the bento Deva's mother had still packed for them. They were all different. Sasuke moved with a new, dangerous speed, and Naruto's chakra felt more controlled, more focused.
"So, I learned something," Naruto said, breaking the silence as they ate. He was uncharacteristically serious. "The Fourth Hokage didn't kill the Nine-Tails. He sealed it. Inside a newborn baby." He looked at them, his blue eyes steady. "Inside me. That's why... that's why everyone in the village treats me the way they do."
He had learned the truth from his new teacher, Jiraiya. He expected shock, maybe fear.
Sasuke just took another bite of his rice ball. "Hn. I figured it was something like that," he said, his voice neutral. To him, it wasn't a curse; it was just a source of power. "Does it make you stronger?"
Deva simply nodded. "I know," he said quietly.
Naruto blinked, surprised by their lack of reaction. "You... you're not surprised? You're not scared?"
"You're still just Naruto," Deva stated, as if it were the most obvious fact in the world. "The loud, idiot part of our team. That's all that matters."
For the first time since their return, Naruto broke into a genuine, wide grin. He trusted them, and they hadn't let him down.
With his theory about Naruto confirmed, Deva's mind was buzzing with a larger question. He spent the next few days wandering the village, observing. He needed more data points. His search led him to the Nara clan's training grounds, where he found Shikamaru and Choji.
"Troublesome," Shikamaru said as Deva approached. "What do you want?"
"I want to see your clan's jutsu," Deva said directly. "Both of you. I'm trying to understand something."
Shikamaru sighed, but he was intrigued. Choji just grinned. "Sure! Watch this!" He performed the seals for his Expansion Jutsu, his body swelling to a massive size.
Deva closed his eyes, his senses wide open. He felt Choji's chakra change, taking on a heavy, dense, and "expanding" frequency as it filled every cell of his body. It was a unique vibration he had never felt before.
Next, Shikamaru performed his Shadow Possession Jutsu. Deva felt his chakra change again, becoming low, flat, and "sticky." He sensed the chakra leave Shikamaru's body, merge with his shadow on the ground, and then stretch out.
"Can you do that again?" Deva asked. "Slowly." They complied, curious. Deva walked over and placed a hand on Shikamaru's shoulder as he held the jutsu, then on Choji's. The physical contact gave him a perfect, high-resolution reading of the unique frequencies. He memorized them both.
He left them with a quiet "Thank you," his mind racing.
That night, in his room, he processed the new data, and the final pieces of the puzzle clicked into place. The truth of the shinobi world, as he could now sense it, was simple.
All chakra, when resting inside the body, had a default frequency, unique to each person. But to perform a jutsu, that chakra had to be changed. For a fire jutsu, you made your chakra vibrate at a "fire frequency." For a water jutsu, a "water frequency." Hand seals were just a manual method for less sensitive ninja to force their chakra to flow in the right way and vibrate at the right frequency to create the desired effect.
Clan-specific jutsu, like Shikamaru's and Choji's, were simply techniques that used unique, inherited frequencies that were incredibly difficult for an outsider to replicate without knowing the exact "sound."
But Deva didn't need to learn. He just needed to listen.
He stood up and looked at his own shadow on the floor. He focused, recalling the "sticky," flat frequency he had copied from Shikamaru. He channeled a small thread of his own chakra, tuned it to that exact vibration, and willed it to extend into his shadow.
His shadow stretched, elongating unnaturally across the floor, independent of his body. It worked.
A cold, thrilling realization washed over him. He could copy any ninjutsu. He could copy secret clan techniques. The only requirement was to sense it once. A whole new world of power had just opened up to him. He stood there, watching his shadow move, a single, burning question now at the forefront of his mind.
Where was the limit? Could he copy... a Kekkei Genkai?