Naruto: The King Behind the Curtain

After the two finished crying, Seiki finally asked with confusion, "Senior Duy, where exactly did that jutsu of yours come from? I'm a bit worried—it seemed far too overwhelming!"

Guy felt uneasy too. His dad was just a genin, yet according to Senior Seiki, he suddenly had terrifying power. Could it possibly be some forbidden ritual?

Might Duy grinned confidently, his signature tooth gleam shining brightly. "This is the strength I've gained through twenty years of training—the [Eight Gates]!"

Guy tilted his head, puzzled. "[Eight Gates]?"

Seiki gasped. "The Eight Gates were originally created by The Second as an advanced taijutsu technique, but it's only ranked A-class; this shouldn't be possible..."

"The Eight Gates alone wouldn't do it," Might Duy continued, his eyes burning with unshakable confidence. "But when I completed the final gate myself and activated the Eight Gates technique… my strength definitely reaches the level of an Ultimate Art!"

Might Guy stared in awe. He'd never seen his father look so radiant before.

"Still just a prototype then?" Seiki muttered quietly, unaffected by their emotional moment. "The final gate of the Eight Gates requires one's very life force to open. The Second Hokage probably realized this and decided not to pursue its development further."

"It's also possible," he thought to himself, "that The Second initially created the technique intending to work alongside the Impure World Reincarnation. But later, when he found out that the last gate consumed life essence—a quality corpses don't have—he switched focus to the Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags (MME Tags) instead."

While Seiki was deep in thought, Might Duy suddenly grabbed Guy's shoulders firmly. "This technique is something your old man received as a Graduation Gift…"

Guy's eyes widened with realization. No wonder! With all the contribution points his father could have gained from doing D-ranked missions—even a thousand of them—there's no way he could afford an A-ranked jutsu!

"Dad knew my talent was poor. Even a B-ranked jutsu would be hard for me to master, so he chose this one—an art said to be learnable through sheer effort alone."

"But this technique takes forever to train in! While my classmates were taking C-ranked missions, I was still training. When they became chunin, I was still training!"

"Dad didn't tell you everything because he was afraid you'd choose this jutsu and…"

"Dad, I will master it one day!" Might Guy suddenly shouted. "Because I've got a dad greater than anyone else's!"

Might Duy stood stunned for a moment, then burst into tears. "Guy… you must become stronger than your old man!"

Guy gave him a thumbs-up. "I will—I promise!"

Just as the two were about to embrace and cry together, Seiki quickly interrupted. "Senior Duy, though I don't fully understand why someone with your abilities remains a mere genin, I can recommend you to Lady Tsunade."

"When Might Duy said that, Guy suddenly became excited. 'Great! Father, you finally won't have to do D-ranked missions anymore!'

However, after a short pause, Might Duy slowly shook his head.

'Father, why...?'

'Do you remember what I told you when you discovered your weakness in ninjutsu and genjutsu?'

Might Guy nodded heavily. 'You said it was fortunate I wasn't good at those, because knowing my weaknesses let me shine through my strengths!'

'There are two sides to everything. Though lower-level ninja like genin might not be as glamorous as jonin, this also means freedom!' Might Duy gave Guy a thumb-up with a wide grin. 'Because I'm just a lowly genin, no one would even notice me appearing on the battlefield. That way, I can protect what's most precious to me!'

Tears instantly flowed down Might Guy's face. 'Father!'

Might Duy was moved by Guy's emotions in response. 'Son!'

'No wonder he always arrived in time in the canon—he must've been secretly watching from afar all along!' Seiki felt deeply shaken, but then sighed inwardly and quietly stepped out, giving this father and son some time alone.

...

A few days later, inside another old father's house.

Since realizing none of his schemes worked, Kurenai Yuhi stopped taking Seiki outside for training.

At least this way, Kurenai would seem happier.

Letting out a troubled sigh, Kurenai Yuhi asked, 'Seiki, how's your training going?'

Seiki shook his head slightly. 'Still not yet.'

'Don't rush. B-ranked genjutsu is already a dividing line. Moreover, attempting such a level at age six has already set a Konoha record!'

Kurenai Yuhi continued, shaking his head with some regret. 'It's a shame you spent last year solidifying your basics instead; otherwise, this record could've been achieved a year earlier.'

In his opinion, Seiki was obsessed with fundamentals. Something that should have taken only two months to learn took him an entire year to perfect.

'But perhaps this is the eccentricity of a genius!' Thinking about how he himself took two years just to master the basics, which earned him praise from his teacher as a prodigy in genjutsu, Kurenai Yuhi couldn't help feeling a little embarrassed.

Smiling calmly while accepting the compliment, Seiki didn't seem to mind at all.

After all, this so-called record of his would soon be broken anyway.

By a five-year-old graduate who could perform an A-ranked jutsu—[Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu]—in class before graduation: [cheat-level genius].

'If I hadn't split my focus toward medical ninjutsu, with my talent for genjutsu, I probably could've done the same,' Seiki mused inwardly, outwardly remaining composed. 'Though I still haven't figured it all out, I do have some ideas now.'

'You always have your own insights. When you have ideas, feel free to act upon them yourself,' Kurenai Yuhi assured Seiki confidently.'

"But this time, I also feel some confusion. I don't know whether doing this is right or not," Seiki hesitated as he spoke.

Kurenai Yuhi grew serious as she listened to Seiki speak.

"When I was practicing, I noticed that when I hit a Genjutsu impasse, taking a break to focus on Medical Ninjutsu helped me unknowingly break through my Genjutsu bottleneck afterward."

"Is that so?" Kurenai asked, her face showing bewilderment. Though a genius in her own right, mastering Genjutsu alone was already a huge challenge for her. She didn't have the bandwidth to juggle two disciplines like Seiki did.

Seiki nodded seriously. Didn't the teachers from his earlier days say the same thing? When tired of doing math problems, why not switch to solving some English exercises to refresh your mind?

A balance between work and rest made perfect sense!

"So, these past few days, I've been thinking—can insights from one field, like Ninjutsu or Taijutsu, help deepen our understanding of Genjutsu?"

Two fields already couldn't satisfy you anymore… Kurenai opened her mouth slightly, instinctively recalling how last year she had hoped Seiki would become her apprentice to specialize solely in Genjutsu. "If that had happened, wouldn't he be the one teaching me now instead?"

PS: Kakashi could use the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu during his school days, as seen in episode 639 of the anime.

<><><><><><><><>

Thank you for reading! Your support will keep me updating!

~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** this weekend!

<><><><><><><><>

~ 100+ Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!

~ More *Free* Chapters and Books Available on Patreon!

patreon.com/Tansnovel

<><><><><><><><>