Hiruzen's eyes widened in shock. Though he was swift to recollect himself, even Tatsuya had noticed the change in his expression.
"...How did you get this?"
"I have a Kekkei Genkai. I'm also sure that you've received relevant information." Suguru's prideful smile hardened into a more serious one.
"Oho, is it your alleged ability to absorb chakra?" Hiruzen quickly hid the scroll in his sleeves.
It was clear to Suguru that Hiruzen liked the gift.
"Indeed." Suguru answered, "I can analyze the chakra I absorb to utilize its properties. It's also why I like studying."
He then made a few hand seals. Fake ones were weaved as a display.
"I can also do this—"
Suguru activated his Chakra Field Hacking, disappearing from the chakra fields monitoring him. Despite that, he was still visible to anyone's regular vision, creating a dissonance that Tatsuya felt deeply uncomfortable with.
Hiruzen nodded. "I see... No wonder you could disappear from the Anbu watching you."
Tempted to ask for Suguru's whereabouts whenever he disappeared, Hiruzen thought for a moment before shaking his head.
Hiruzen could tell that Suguru would answer superficially. The latter had already handed over valuable and implicating research if word got out. Therefore, Hiruzen decided to reciprocate the boy's show of faith.
He withheld his curiosities.
"Now, what about you?" Hiruzen's gaze shifted to the young Uchiha.
"I'm Uchiha Tatsuya, Hokage-sama. Son of Uchiha Noboru and Uchiha Asuka." Tatsuya's answer came swiftly.
He continued, "On the day of the incident, I hid outside the village by joining a merchant caravan."
Tatsuya gritted his teeth, still mortified by what had happened to his clan.
"I don't know how to explain it, but I just felt that something was wrong when I woke up that day."
Fearing that he sounded insane, Tatsuya added.
"I still have those intense feelings from time to time. Every time it happens, I somehow avoid certain death."
Tatsuya visibly shivered.
"Honestly, I don't know how I'm still alive."
Hearing these words, both Suguru and Hiruzen had the same thought.
'What monstrous instincts.'
It was almost prophetic. Suguru's eyes flashed with intrigue. He knew that Tatsuya's Sharingan had awakened because of his Kaisugan. It was the only variable that could've played a part in Tatsuya's instincts.
After all, there was no Uchiha Tatsuya with monstrous instincts in the original timeline.
'If the other kids who awakened their Sharingans through me had also survived... then their only connection would be me.'
However, Suguru highly doubted it. There were no other surviving Uchiha members popping up. If they all shared similar instincts, they would've surfaced all at the same time. At least, it would be convenient if that was the case.
'Tatsuya is probably special on his own. Awakening the Sharingan so early in his life might have allowed him to awaken those instincts. It isn't an ability of my Kaisugan.'
Those were the facts.
When Suguru completed his thoughts, Hiruzen had also arrived at a decision.
"I'll arrange a place for you to stay." He said, before nodding to the Anbu watching from outside.
Hearing these words, Tatsuya's expression brightened. In comparison, Suguru felt like pouting.
'Wow, so all those ninjas weren't to test Tatsuya, but me?'
Suguru was tempted to betray the village right then and there to prove a point.
***
Tatsuya left the Hokage's office feeling greatly relieved. Luckily, he was able to find Suguru still living in the student apartments. If not for him, Tatsuya felt that he would've succumbed to the first attempt on his life.
After all, the little test had only been conducted by Hiruzen's Anbu. The Root shinobi was a different topic altogether.
In comparison, Suguru was deep in thought. He was wondering why Hiruzen was so firm in their earlier conversation. It was quite out of character.
'Perhaps...' Suguru smacked his lips, 'Konoha is probably up to something and they need me for some reason.'
From the Blaze Battle Body appearing in the hands of a Root shinobi to the sudden test of loyalty, Suguru could sniff out a possible scheme.
Furthermore, Hiruzen's apparent hostility had 'died down' in the instant Suguru offered up his research. That scroll seemed to be even more valuable than Suguru's secrets.
'Thankfully, I stole from Suna. Maybe I should go back and steal a bit more.' He thought.
Suguru thus made a prompt decision.
'I'll go back to Hiruzen and ask him for some freedom.'
***
When Hiruzen was alone, he opened up the scroll that Suguru had given him. Upon looking through the descriptions of each seal, he froze.
"This..."
There was so much jargon that even Hiruzen failed to understand the intricate details. All he could comprehend was the gist of what Suguru was trying to say. A slash of nostalgia clouded his mind, and he realized that it was the same feeling he had when he was still a young shinobi, struggling to learn Fuinjutsu and the sciences.
"...Hm?"
That was when Hiruzen realized something else.
"Where did he learn all of this?"
The concepts, the math, and thus the so-called [Geometric Theory of Fuinjutsu] couldn't be found anywhere. Hiruzen knew that for a fact. Even other villages did not have topics such as these.
Hiruzen's eyes fluttered towards the last parts of the scroll. There was a section entitled, [The Inefficiencies of the Real Mirage Formation and its Possible Improvements], which had been painstakingly written.
'This child... is a type of genius that the world has never seen before.' Hiruzen could barely understand the changes that Suguru had proposed.
All he knew was that the formation's specific seal placement and therefore, its effects, could be maximized by writing them in certain shapes, sequences, and styles.
Hiruzen noticed a particular concept that Suguru had claimed was still in development.
[Fuinjutsu Calligraphy].
Hiruzen's eyes shone.
This was an idea he had when he was younger, yet he was unsure where to begin. Fuinjutsu had such a complexity that made it hard to make any small changes to the way one would write them.
'To have developed so many systems at such a young age... I have failed to recognize his true talents.' Hiruzen pursed his lips.
'No wonder the boy was full of suspicious points yet never created any detriments for the village.'
Suguru was simply intelligent beyond his age. Perhaps the boy could hear of a certain idea and come up with ten more.
'No... even that might be an understatement.'
Hiruzen thus decided, 'I'll need to give the boy an environment where he can shine.'
Otherwise, Konoha would waste a level of theoretical intellect that had never been seen before.
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