"Pretty divergent from what you're used to," admitted Toltiir. "Especially with the effects of your first wish."
"How so?" asked Naruto.
"You're faster, stronger, more accurate, smarter," said Toltiir, counting points off and quickly ending up with far more claws than was normal for a cat. "Your chakra control and accuracy are significantly higher than they were, as are your stealth abilities."
"So what is 'Satsuki' doing there?" asked Naruto.
"Studying," said Toltiir.
Age nine:
Satsuki listened to the lecture with one ear, taking dutiful notes automatically as her mind continued to work at the problem. She was close, she could feel it. The answer was just slipping out of her grasp for the moment.
"-which involved the Kyubi No Kitsune attacking the village. You children were never confronted with it, so you don't realize the sheer awful power of it. Just one lash of its tail-"
She'd studied fuuinjutsu and sealing techniques using the libraries and research materials available to her as the last survivor of the Uchiha clan. She knew the basics now, including that stuff written under the shrine, of a great deal of the subject.
"-and so the Yondaime killed the beast at the cost of his own life. Any questions?"
Satsuki wanted to ask several questions, but the answers couldn't be trusted. There were too many things about the material that was NOT covered. She'd watched Naruto since the day she'd been released from the hospital, it being something to focus on besides the Massacre. A mystery which continued to intrigue her.
"-so if it was so damn powerful, how did the Yondaime kill it?"
"A forbidden technique, and therefore classified," said Mizuki. "Next question?"
It was the Shiki Fujin actually, she'd managed to put together that much. Summoning a shinigami to seal away...
"Then this will be on the test Friday," said Mizuki.
Satsuki's eyes widened. Shiki Fujin. The Dead Demon Consuming Seal would place the sealed entity and the caster into the shinigami's stomach to battle for all eternity, at least according to the scroll he'd found. Much of that scroll had been speculation about what exactly the shinigami was - but that part the writer had been certain of.
The problem was that if one tried sealing a Tailed Beast that way - it shouldn't work. It would be the same as killing one, the Beast should reform after a set amount of time.
"And so we come to the reinstatement of the Third Hokage to his current position," continued Mizuki. "Shortly after that, we were able to get the current treaty with Grass-"
Which meant that the Tailed Beast was not killed. Satsuki frowned as she tapped a pencil against her notebook. The only real way to suppress a Tailed Beast like the Kyubi No Kitsune was...
"-mainly uprating the trade agreement that existed with them for some time. Who can tell me what Grass produces that we use here in Hidden Leaf?"
...to seal the beast inside a host or vessel. Wait one moment. They called Naruto 'demon' and 'monster' and he was born on the day of the Kyubi's sealing. It couldn't be that, could it?
"That's right, Sakura. Ales, cotton, and certain hardwoods. Now as to why they wanted that treaty, you have to look at who they neighbor."
Satsuki kept her face impassive and bored as she quietly freaked out at her deduction on the inside. Jinchuriki. Who historically were feared and hated by the populace around them due to having a demon sealed within them and the idea that this made them demonic. Often becoming a self-fulfilling prophesy as growing up with that level of hatred directed at them made those people less able to connect with those around them.
The conclusion was obvious now. Naruto Uzumaki was a jinchuriki, and the Ninetailed Demon Fox was the prisoner.
"So, now we'll go outside for taijutsu practice," said Mizuki.
Satsuki's eyes lingered for a moment on the blonde boy, then flicked to someone who spent a lot of time watching him already. This was all obvious now, though there was the feeling that there was still something she was missing. It would do for the immediate plan which was:
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(Posted Tue, 21 Feb 2012 16:06)
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