Renjiro's eyes scanned over the ancient scroll, his Sharingan spinning lazily as he absorbed every word of the text.
"They really copied it," he muttered, barely above a whisper, as the symbols shifted and realigned themselves into a readable script.
Yet as his eyes flicked through the detailed descriptions of the technique, Renjiro's brow furrowed. He paused.
'What? It only goes up to the third gate?'
His mind raced with questions. 'Then why the hell is it in the private library if it's incomplete? It should have been in the public library.'
Renjiro could not understand it, he was aware of the potential of the technique but all that depended on it being complete. Even if he mastered all the first three gates, then his power output would only take him to the elite jounin rank at best. He could already feel the bitterness rise in his throat at the thought.
'And that's me being generous,' he thought with a grimace.
Renjiro's hand tightened on the scroll as he considered the possibilities. 'They must have placed this scroll here because they recognized the potential of the technique. The clan wouldn't waste space in this library on something they didn't value. But why would they put it here if it's incomplete?'
'Even Madara immediately recognized the technique when Guy used it. That means there must have been other users of the technique before Guy and his father. So, surely, the clan had other sources to copy the technique from. Duy can likely open more than five gates, right?'
Renjiro shook his head, feeling a mix of exasperation and determination.
'Maybe I'm overthinking this,' he concluded after a few moments of thought.
'It's possible that the person they copied this from was only able to use the first three gates.'
He sighed in resignation, muttering under his breath, "I guess that explains why Kaya could only open so few gates."
But despite the incomplete nature of the scroll, Renjiro's resolve remained firm.
'It doesn't change anything. I already planned on consulting Duy about this.'
He nodded to himself, feeling more assured as he continued perusing the various jutsus that lined the shelves of the first floor. He carefully weighed each scroll, wondering which ones would best complement his style.
His eyes lingered on some of the more powerful and dangerous techniques. 'This is just the first floor,' Renjiro thought, glancing around the room.
'So it makes sense that I wouldn't find something like Izanagi here. They are probably on the lower floors. I need to see if I can exchange my seals for contribution points and get them before the next Shinobi war. The fact that I can regenerate my sharingans means that I will be pseudo-immortal.'
After a few more minutes of searching, he found two additional jutsu that piqued his interest.
The first was the Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu, a technique that was infamous for its chakra consumption, but equally known for its tactical versatility.
The second was a more obscure technique Saiko Denshin. Renjiro's Sharingan scanned the scroll carefully, and he let out a small hum of interest.
'I'm glad the Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu is here,' he thought.
'While I'm not sure if I can handle the chakra consumption considering I do not have tailed beast chakra like Naruto, all I can do is hope that I'll be able to pull it off.'
The Saiko Denshin, on the other hand, was a technique with a different appeal. It was originally an ANBU jutsu, designed to delve into a target's memories, alive or dead.
The scroll detailed how the original version of the technique required a special tool to assist the process, but the Yamanaka clan's Inoichi had modified it, allowing the user to sift through someone's memories with their own chakra, bypassing the need for a tool entirely.
Renjiro's lips curled into a small, predatory smile as he read further.
'They say it's difficult to use this jutsu on someone who's alive since they can form a mental resistance towards it,' he thought, recalling the rumours surrounding the technique.
'But if the target is dead, like Ohashi… well, that changes things.'
The knowledge he could gain from Ohashi's memories could be invaluable. Especially since Lady Momo told him that his chances of learning Senjutsu were very slim.
'It's a good thing Ohashi is dead,' he mused, 'I'll go through his memories in due time.'
After spending several more minutes reviewing the jutsus he had chosen, Renjiro gathered the scrolls and made his way back to where Toshiaki stood at the entrance of the library. The elder Uchiha regarded him with an inscrutable expression as Renjiro presented the scrolls.
"Toshiaki-sama," Renjiro said, "I've selected three jutsu I'd like to learn: the Eight Gates technique, the Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu, and Saiko Denshin."
Toshiaki raised a single brow as he glanced at the scrolls Renjiro held.
"Interesting choices," he remarked before looking at a parchment before him. Toshiaki's eyes swept through the parchment, and after a moment, he turned back to Renjiro,
"These jutsu are fairly inexpensive, considering their complexity. I'll deduct four thousand contribution points from your total."
Renjiro blinked in surprise, raising an eyebrow. "Four thousand points? That seems cheaper than I expected," he said, his voice trailing off into thought.
Toshiaki's eyes twitched as he smirked slightly thinking, 'This boy, does he know how hard it is to get contribution points?'
Nevertheless, Toshiaki was prudent enough not to reveal his views.
"You're left with thirteen thousand contribution points now," the elder informed him.
"The Eight Gates technique is worth two thousand points, while the other two are a thousand each. Cheap, but valuable if you know how to use them."
Renjiro nodded slowly, absorbing the information. 'I still have thirteen thousand points left?' he thought incredulously.
'That's more than I thought I'd have after this.'
What Renjiro didn't know, however, was that he was an anomaly within the clan. His work with the police force had earned him more contribution points than most Uchiha would accumulate in years of service.
The investigating mission that he had helped solve earlier had allowed him to amass seventeen thousand points, a feat that many Uchiha on the police force could only dream of achieving in under a year.
As Toshiaki continued with the transaction, he glanced back up at Renjiro.
"You are not permitted to leave with the scrolls," Toshiaki said firmly.
"You will have to use your Sharingan to memorize the details. This is a matter of clan security."
Renjiro nodded.
"Understood," he replied, his Sharingan spinning as he committed every word, every diagram, every intricacy of the jutsu to memory.
It took a few minutes, but with his dojutsu active, the process was far smoother than it would have been for most shinobi. Each line of the scrolls burned themselves into his mind with perfect clarity.
Once he had finished memorizing the jutsus, Renjiro carefully rolled the scrolls back up and handed them to Toshiaki.
"Thank you," Renjiro said, his voice steady and resolute.
Toshiaki simply nodded, though there was a glint of something akin to approval in his cold eyes.
"Good luck, Renjiro. Mastering those jutsu will not be easy."
Renjiro offered a respectful bow before turning to leave the library. It was close to noon when Renjiro finally reached his house. He stepped inside, closing the door behind him quietly as the cool morning air filtered in through the open windows.
"Time to get to work," Renjiro murmured to himself as he prepared to begin mastering the jutsus.
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