Hiugo's days began to grow busier. Besides his daily ninjutsu training, he now had the added task of organizing intelligence.
No matter the era, intelligence work was extremely important. Such information could often give one's clan a decisive advantage.
However, Hiugo's task was to organize intelligence, not gather it. The information was a jumble, covering matters both great and small—from clans fighting one another to the smallest details of daily life in their territories.
Hiugo read through it all, gradually gaining a clear picture of the strength of the major clans in the Land of Fire:
The Senju and Uchiha were undoubtedly in the lead, occupying the first tier. Each clan had three clan-head-level fighters: the clan head, the First Elder, and the Second Elder.
Next came the Hyuga and Kaguya. Though their powerful Kekkei Genkai couldn't match those of the two leading clans, they were still enough to place them in the second tier. Each had two clan-head-level fighters.
The Hatake, Sarutobi, Uzumaki, and Fuma clans made up the third tier, with one or two clan-head-level fighters apiece, though the size of each clan also played a part.
The Hatake relied on their superb swordsmanship, the Sarutobi on their mastery of a wide range of ninjutsu, the Uzumaki on their complex Sealing Jutsu, and the Fuma on their unique techniques involving all kinds of weapons.
The Aburame, Nara, Yamanaka, Akimichi, and Inuzuka clans occupied the fourth tier, each relying on their own secret techniques and having only one clan-head-level fighter.
However, the Nara, Yamanaka, and Akimichi had long cooperated with one another, placing them somewhere between the second and third tiers.
It wasn't hard to understand why the Kaguya Clan was in the Land of Fire. Most of Kaguya Otsutsuki's abilities were there; it made no sense for Shikotsumyaku alone to be in the Land of Water.
However, the Kaguya Clan had an even worse reputation in the Land of Fire than the Uchiha Clan. The Uchiha were fierce, but at least they had some brains. The Kaguya, on the other hand, were genuine battle maniacs who went utterly berserk in a fight. They only accepted assassination missions.
According to rumor, someone had once hired Kaguya shinobi to protect him. They not only killed the shinobi who came to assassinate him, but also killed their employer—and afterward accused him of not paying.
With a temperament like that, maybe they'd gotten in the way of building Konoha and been kicked out of the Land of Fire by Hashirama and Madara...
Gathering his thoughts, Hiugo finished organizing the files and handed them to a Dark Ninja beside him. The Dark Ninja's duty was to protect the intelligence.
These files had to be read in a relatively secure room, with no one else present besides Hiugo and the Dark Ninja. Once organized, they had to be delivered to the appropriate location immediately.
Hiugo stretched, opened the door, and stepped outside. He hadn't seen Tobirama in a while and wondered what he'd come up with.
As soon as he stepped out of his home, he saw a boy crouched beneath the large tree in front of it.
Their eyes met. Hiugo rubbed his brow and said, "Senju Rinma, what are you doing crouching in front of my tree?"
Senju Rinma was the Third Elder's grandson, two years older than Hiugo. The only time they'd ever interacted was when they played together once, two years ago.
Senju Rinma stood and walked up to Hiugo, his eyes red-rimmed.
"What am I doing here...? You don't know what your father did?"
"Our branch never did anything to you, but you wouldn't let one little mistake go. You forced us to sell off our family business."
"Isn't it just because your father's a clan-head-level fighter, while my grandfather's only a peak jonin?"
Hiugo calmly looked at the boy in front of him and silently rubbed his face.
"Did you come here just to say all that?"
Senju Rinma's eyes widened. He reached for Hiugo's collar, but Hiugo easily grabbed him by the throat.
"You're too slow. When was the last time you trained? A few months ago?"
Hiugo spoke indifferently, then loosened his grip just as Rinma was about to suffocate.
Rinma stumbled back a few steps, gasping for air. His voice grew weaker. "You don't feel even the slightest bit guilty about what happened to us?"
Hiugo rolled his eyes.
"If your grandfather caused a peak jonin to die, would you feel guilty?"
Senju Rinma lowered his head slightly, his face flushing red.
"Besides... your grandfather caused more than one peak jonin to die. Why do you think they didn't go around yelling in front of other people's homes like you?"
"Why?"
"Because they were shinobi. They'd already prepared themselves to make sacrifices."
Rinma was struck as if by lightning. He staggered back several steps and collapsed to the ground.
"You have a good grandfather, but people grow old and die in the end. The only person you can rely on is yourself..."
Hiugo paused, then pulled Senju Rinma to his feet and brushed the dust off his clothes.
"I hope you'll grow up a little."
With that, Hiugo walked away at an unhurried pace.
Senju Rinma watched the boy's retreating back, his expression complicated. He was older than Hiugo, yet Hiugo understood far more than he did.
Training... He hadn't heard those two words in a long time.
After his parents had died, his grandfather had promised to protect him. Rinma had been spoiled and told that he'd be fine even if he never trained.
But Hiugo was right. His grandfather would grow old and die eventually. What would he have then? Nothing. Without his grandfather, he'd be just another ordinary Chunin.
Rinma silently vowed:
"Senju Hiugo, I'll prove it to you. I'll become an excellent shinobi!"
"Where's Tobirama, Itama?"
Itama pointed toward the house.
"Big Brother Hiugo, Second Brother's in his room, but he usually doesn't come out."
Still inside, huh? Looks like he hadn't finished developing the ninjutsu.
Hiugo was about to head back when Tobirama suddenly opened the door and quickly pulled him inside.
Scrolls were scattered all over the room. There were plenty of ninjutsu from all five elemental natures, not just Water Release.
"What are you developing that you need so many ninjutsu for?"
Hiugo casually picked up a Fire Release technique and began to read it.
"I've already developed the ninjutsu, but along the way, I discovered something else."
"What?"
"I went through every Water Release technique and found that none of them helped me develop a new one. But when I looked through Wind Release, I got some inspiration. You can't limit your thinking to a single area."
"So?"
"Out of curiosity, I started searching through the things the Senju had preserved from the past. In the end, I found this..."
Tobirama took out a scroll and handed it to Hiugo. The ink on it was clearly fresh; he must have copied it to preserve the original. He'd circled three characters: [Yin-Yang Release]
"We all know the Nara Clan's secret technique belongs to Yin Release, while the Akimichi Clan's Multi-Size Technique belongs to Yang Release. But Yin-Yang Release has never been mentioned..."
"I have a feeling I might be able to incorporate it into the Clone Technique and develop a new ninjutsu. Unfortunately, there's no information on Yin-Yang Release, and there's very little on Yin Release or Yang Release, either. Does your family have any similar scrolls?"
Hiugo shook his head. "I think you're looking at this the wrong way."
"Oh?" Tobirama listened attentively.
"If we know exactly where the information is, then once you're powerful enough, just ask them for it."
"..." Tobirama.
"Secret techniques concern a clan's very survival. And I don't just want the techniques themselves; I want all their related information, too. How could they possibly hand that over?"
Tobirama shook his head, thinking it was unlikely.
Once Big Pillar had fully grown up and gotten all six pieces of his gear, what wouldn't be possible? They could sweep through the Warring States period. A little secret technique would be a piece of cake.
Hiugo shook his head, brushing the thought aside. "Show me the new ninjutsu you developed."
"You want to learn it? Call me Second Brother."
"Second Brother."
"?" Tobirama stared at him, momentarily stunned by how readily Hiugo agreed.
Hiugo smiled.
"Learning makes me happy. If you have more ninjutsu, I can keep calling you Second Brother."
"..."
Tobirama covered his face, thinking that learning to do things Hiugo's way was a little too difficult.
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