After we were left alone, the compound felt a bit larger without everyone else's presence. Hmmm... the silence, maybe, made it feel larger, as our steps kept echoing between the walls. There was not much to see, though, because behind this main living space, with a round table in the middle, there were a few other rooms. They were there so one could sleep, be alone, and really, that was all. Barebones at best. After I claimed one of the rooms and came back out, I found Minato standing in front of the same mural again, close enough now to touch it as he was studying the figures and the massive form of the nine-tailed beast.
Walking next to him, I watched with him, and even though the Kyūbi was larger than anything else, the carvings still showed Hashirama Senju standing at the center of everything, his hands raised, assisting in a sealing formation. Next to him, there was a woman who had to be Mito Uzumaki, sitting upright. Her expression was made to feel serene by the master craftsman who made this, even as the Kyūbi's tails coiled around her, probably showing it as a moment when Kurama was sealed into her.
"Those chains wrapped around the beast," Minato spoke up, pointing at them, "are the same that Kushina can manifest."
"They do look like that." I agreed, "And they are stronger than we expected if they can contain something like this beast."
Minato didn't answer me after that; he just traced them with his eyes, standing in front of the mural, following the flow of the sealing array, his lips moving sometimes, as he reconstructed it piece by piece in his mind. Damn... Are you trying to learn it from this?
"It's not just restraint..." he said finally, blinking his eyes, "It's confinement for the monster... Inside a person," he added, glancing at Mito's figure.
"It's called a Jinchūriki," I leaned against the wall, arms crossed, speaking up as his attention wandered to me, "As far as my clan knows," I added, pulling out the Uchiha card, "it's when a tailed beast is sealed into a person. Every nation has them... Konoha has the Kyūbi. But you know this not from me, or my elders will grab me and spank my ass into oblivion..."
"Heh, don't worry, I wouldn't tell," Minato exhaled slowly, turning back to the mural with a confident smile, "But this…" He stepped closer, now touching it, "This technique for sure requires more than compatibility. Especially from the... Jinchūriki's point of view. Chakra tolerance is one thing, but the emotional stability, after being the host of such a creature... That is just as important as their longevity." His voice dropped, letting out a sigh, "No wonder Kushina was sent to Konoha... Lady Mito is dying, isn't she? They need a new host, someone who won't burn out, and an Uzumaki is the perfect choice for it..."
"That is what I had gathered," I nodded as my eyes slid to the smaller carvings along the edge of the mural. There were dozens of other Uzumaki figures depicted in meditation, their coils of chakra drawn thicker, denser, with repeated annotations etched into the stone, doing... well, whatever they were doing.
"That's why you have been pushing us together?" He suddenly asked me, still smiling.
"My dear friend!" I played being hurt, "I noticed how smitten you were the first time she came into our class! I'm just being a good brother and setting you up for life! And if it helps Kushina... isn't that just even better?"
"It is..." He murmured as his jaw tightened a little, "But to have a burden like this... It can eat away at a person's soul."
"Yes." I agreed, "That's why she will need someone, a proper soulmate."
"Like me?" He turned to me sharply.
"Why not?" I opened my arms, keeping my smile up, "I know no others who would be a better fit."
"Hmph..." Minato ran a hand through his hair, pacing once, twice, acting like a suddenly nervous kitten. Then, after the fifth round, he stopped, becoming dead serious in the face when he spoke again, "You are right. And I will make sure she will have a full life."
"Hah!" I slapped his back, "Now that's what I'm talking about!"
"And to do that," He continued, looking at the other murals, "I will need to study more of their seals and make sure that the fact she has a demonic fox in her won't burn her out."
Before I could say anything, he was already in front of another mural panel. This one was more abstract; there were fewer literal figures and more symbolic forms, with spirals interlocking with leaf motifs.
"This one shows a manual," he muttered.
"Does it?" I asked, taken aback, and I activated my Sharingan, and when I did... There was chakra residue left on it. Huh? What?
"It's not detailed or complete," Minato continued, studying it, while I was just floored by why he even knew it in the first place, "The seal is weakening over time, and it details that it needs reinforcement."
"How sure are you, because that's an assumption only at the moment," I said, "A solid one, but be careful with those!"
"I know," He looked at me again, and his eyes were as sharp as ever. "I won't risk her."
"Just saying!" I raised my hands, "Damn, you can be scary when you turn on your Minato-switch."
"What does that mean?!" He asked, both laughing and pouting at the same time.
"Nothing, nothing!" I waved it away, "So, what's your next move? Ask them to teach you how to create a Jinchūriki?"
"They wouldn't even acknowledge me, I'm just a genin," he shrugged, then waved at me, leading me to another mural depicting Hashirama and a figure standing just behind him. It wasn't hard to recognize who he was... Madara.
His presence was unmistakable, even on a stone carving, with his eyes... Wait. His Sharingan was etched faintly, watching the seal from the side, one hand half-raised, but... those weren't standard patterns... They... They recorded how his Mangekyō looked?! Or in his case, his Eternal Mangekyō?! Was this made by... Hashirama? Of course, for a regular viewer, it may just look like the way the stone and eyes were carved, but, knowing his pattern, I could recognize at once that it wasn't chipped or worn down... it was as it should be.
"That." Minato pointed at Madara, "You."
"Eh?" I flinched, "Speak clearly, I'm not as smart as you!"
"I mean, you can help me," he smiled, "I can't ask the Hokage or anyone to give me information before I prove myself, but... Your clan has to know just as much."
"You want to use me to get you info?" I asked, grinning, making him suddenly blush and look away, realizing what he was asking for.
"Ah... I... I mean... Sorry... forget it."
"Sure, sure! I'll do it." I answered, actually surprising him, "I got picked up by the future chief, so," I patted his shoulder, pressing it, "I can squeeze some info out of him for you."
"You don't have to... I was... too excited and..."
"Oy." I slapped his back, looking into his eyes, "I'll do it. Give me time, and I'll get you what I can."
Plus, it will be the perfect cover for why I know what I know. Hehehe... Thanks, Minato, you solved one problem for me, and now I can start guiding you better.
"Thank you, Renji," He said, hugging me, before glancing back at the mural, "I wonder why his Sharingan looks off..."
"It isn't," I tilted my head, considering my words carefully.
"It... isn't?" He stiffened, slowly looking back at me.
"Every Sharingan has a stronger form... I don't know how to achieve it." I said calmly, watching the mural, "But it's called a Mangekyō Sharingan, and Madara had it."
"Mangekyō..." He mumbled, repeating it, "What does it do?"
"I have yet to learn that," I smiled, shaking my head, not wanting to dump everything on him just now, "But it has a lot of unique abilities that are tailored to the Uchiha who acquires it, because it's a manifestation of their desires, as far as I know."
"How fascinating... Your eyes are dangerous, huh?" He elboved me, "Too bad we don't know more... Plus he is dead."
"Everyone believes that," I said, surprising him once again. "Those two things aren't always the same."
"..." He stiffened at that, catching on quickly, "Renji?"
"Unique abilities, Minato," I added quickly, looking back at the mural. "Avoiding death could be such a power."
Minato also looked back at it now, at Madara's eyes, his own narrowing as he studied the old monster's depiction more closely.
"Even if he survived, he never came back to the village," he murmured, "Especially after Shodaime's death, which could have been the perfect opportunity to take his revenge."
"True, but who says he couldn't come back later?" I asked. "There are people in this world who can't be stopped by even death if they want to take their revenge."
"I've read about their fallout more after the history lessons we had," he said, exhaling, shaking his head, "The Valley of the End, the final battle, Hashirama's victory, he is dead, Renji."
"Officially," I said, maintaining my position, finally making him fall silent, and considering all I had said.
"So..." He turned to me again. "You're saying the Uchiha version is different...?"
"I'm saying the private version is," I smiled, "Clan records don't contradict the outcome, yes, Madara lost... but..."
"But…?" Minato prompted, while I was thinking how much of it I should tell him right here and right now.
"But nobody ever produced a body," I finished. "Not even Hashirama. Out of respect? Maybe... but then again, Madara wasn't the kind of man who would walk into a death battle without amply preparing for it."
"Hmm..." Minato absorbed that in silence, humming to himself over and over again, before finally speaking up, "…If he survived," he said slowly, "then he had ample time to prepare."
"Isn't it weird that our Village is always in the center of a world war?" I asked, finding a way to make sure he believed me.
"You mean..." He clenched his fists.
"He may be weak, beyond repair," I added, "but he has found a way to sustain himself, but then again, he is no longer able to take his revenge. So... If everyone is against Konoha... See what I am getting at? Don't tell me you haven't realized yet that the adults feel nervous, in a... different way."
"I..." He muttered, closing his eyes, inhaling sharply, "That's… dangerous."
"Welcome to reality," I replied lightly. "It is."
"That's why you told them about airborne attacks?" He suddenly asked, picking up on something I hadn't even thought about again until now.
"I want them to consider everything." I nodded in the end, "I feel that a new war is coming, I don't know when or why... but I can feel it, Minato. And we, I mean, you and I, have to be ready for it. Because it will be... nasty."
"I hate that you make sense..." He groaned, rubbing his face, "We need to pick up speed! We have been dawdling enough; we must train extra hard!"
"Dawdling!? You mad?!" I grunted, slapping my knees, "We have been at it at full throttle, no?"
"No." He stood before me, speaking seriously, "We need to put in more effort. We need to learn better jutsus, and if not, make our own. Renji, we have to become chūnin at the very least. Jōnin would be preferable, though. It shouldn't be hard enough, a few years if we keep up the intensity, and it should be done. Our greatest weakness is our chakra reserves, so we will need to work on that first, and..."
I just stood there, listening to him, going on and on about it, laying out perfect plans on how to grow and do it as quickly as possible.
Fuck...
I woke up the monster... didn't I?