The Caretakers were… trying something different this time around.
They would still intervene in the universe of course, but the idea that they would come in and then alter reality in some way by destroying large swathes of land didn't hold as much appeal anymore. It might have been because they were maturing or something ridiculous as that, but in more simple terms it was because they wanted something new.
Something that hadn't been tried before.
That was, less direct interference, and more of an… organic one.
They would still be there, just less hamfisted.
As of right now, there were HeMUs spread out amongst the Triplets that had been born, pretending to be human, spreading the stereotype that they were… crazy in some way. Which they were, by human standards that is.
The general plan being that they would allow for the humans, or in this case, their children to direct the way that things were going (at least on the surface). They would not reveal themselves as of yet, no, it was better if they instead attempted to keep themselves to the shadows. After all, if one was in a Naruto universe, then one should at least try and act like Shinobi right?
Which was what they were doing, keeping to the shadows… doing… boring things.
The HeMUs were bored and dammit, they wanted to do something. Maybe they could pretend to be normal civilians and screw with the ninjas some how? Or maybe they could go and… something.
This whole non-interference thing was actually proving harder than expected on the HeMUs who had been expecting to be doing the whole kill and destroy everything shtick, it was what they were designed to do.
But here, not so much. Here, it was very evident that they were severely overpowered (as always) but what was more, they had the power of future knowledge on their side. That of market economics and the like which gave them a huge advantage over the smaller and much more… well… limited nations and clans who still thought that barter was an acceptable form of trade in some cases.
It was therefore decided that the HeMUs would intervene if only to stop them nagging about them not being able to actually do anything. A select few would be placed as the "Minds", those that were really "wise" and the like, those that would help guide the entire process, a means by which they could ensure that the world didn't implode… especially with the other HeMUs on the loose. They would be conduits of the actual Minds who were reluctant to take on actual bodies while the HeMUs were sort of designed to have bodies. Regardless, they would be playing the role of the wise men, directing the Mitsugo who in time would have control over the world through their evil machinations influence over the world and be able to ensure the will of the Minds would be carried out. It was going to be a near thing that was for sure, the Minds were still… erratic and it was going to be up to interpretation for their mortal and ignorant clan members.
The other ones, the ones that had been freed and allowed to roam free to terrorize many innocent villages and the like had decided they were going to be doing things… differently. It would not do to simply be like a Tailed beast and crush everything before them. No that was bad, and also a waste of resources.
Terribly inefficient.
No, they would be doing things in a very different and very clear manner. Or so they thought.
The plan was a little convoluted, to say the least, that the HeMUs were proud of it... said the rest.
They were going to be impersonating children. As in they would be inserted via the Minds into the wombs of women, re-arrange their DNA to match that of the man who was doing the impregnation part (without replacing embryos, that was just weird), then 9 months later, tada! Fully formed humanoid child.
Then they would be able to do things like influence the technology of the universe from the start. Or at least the ninja technology. Regular technology was going to be advancing just fine without them, but the fact that ninjas used such basic techniques outside of a few of them meant that when it came down to it… well, they lacked the ability to do much beyond just throw clones out, throw some kunai, some shuriken and call it a day.
Something needed to be done and the HeMUs volunteered for the job! They would be heading into the entire situation with their abundant knowledge of how to kill people and then applying it through Jutsu, advancing Shinobi-Kind down the path that they were destined to be, that of weapons of mass destruction.
It wasn't fair that it was like 2 ninja per generation that were allowed to do cool shit like explode moons, or shoot giant balls that exploded mountains, that shit was unfair. And so the HeMUs decided that it was naturally a good idea that everyone would be able to do that.
Only if they did it suddenly then it wouldn't work out, that was just asking for failure. No. They needed to plan this one out, to do it in such a way that by the time the story rolled around to the climax, everyone could do giant Jutsu which would mean that it would be awesome.
The height of awesomeness!
Smack
Only for Hannah, the human Hannah that is to swat them on the back of the head. Apparently, their idea was one of the worst she had ever heard and the HeMUs were offended by that.
Seriously? The worst? They were just going to make sure that all ninja would be able to throw moons around, that was the best way to do it, right? Seriously, if everyone was world-shatteringly powerful, then nobody would be and it would be an even playing field.
If anything Hannah should be thanking them for thinking of such a great idea.
It would even out the playing field immensely and there wouldn't be just 2 super ninja, but hundreds of them.
Hundreds of humans… with super powers… humans with super powers… humans.
Oh right.
That was the problem.
The HeMUs considered that maybe their idea hadn't been such a good one in hindsight and decided to scale it back a little.
Instead, they were going to be making everyone more effective with the stuff that they had. That way they could all do stuff without dying all the time which would increase efficiency. Genius!
Yes, they were going to need to do things peacefully and the like, not trying to make the ninja go crazy in power.
That would be something that was very dangerous… very dangerous indeed. Something would need to be done.
But if they weren't allowed to do big things then they were all going to die of boredom and that was incredibly terrible as well.
Perhaps… perhaps they could do things more quietly?
Maybe they could give them like small powers and stuff?
Maybe… maybe just go and shoot lots of people in the face for fun and stuff.
But no guns.
Guuuuuuuuuuuuh.
The HeMUs were thinking about things, they were rather annoyed at the way they had been forced to maybe not go and do crazy things all the time. That was boring.
They had to do a little thinking and decided that they might as well make sure that everything went along the way that it did in Canon. They might be able to accelerate things and that would totally be worth it, right? It wasn't as if it was that was going to change things very much if everyone was also really powerful as well right?
The first of the HeMUs were deployed, or rather they were being born, their child bodies being transferred into the various different little bodies that would serve as their chassis in this universe.
The first stage of the plan had been accomplished and things were going to be done according to their plan layout that had been instituted so that they would not go crazy. Because the Minds were watching them and that wasn't fun at all.
And here they were, their baby bodies ready to perform crazy Jutsu and kick major ass. The plan as it was, was going to be using their baby bodies to show that they were genius children and that they were going to advance the world with their amazingness.
Only… a problem arose. That of the fact that their bodies were still that of children and in actual fact… their chakra coils as they were called had not yet stabilized in such a manner that they were able to do anything. As in, their bodies which had been specifically designed in order to not trip any alarms by being too powerful and the like.
They were therefore locked into their bodies for the foreseeable future, their bodies that were that of infant children that were going to have to grow and mature just as normal children did. They were understandably furious at that, but there was nothing that could be done, the HeMUs were told that it was a required step in order that they would be able to infiltrate the villages and cities more easily.
As in they had been placed as normal civilians in some cases and tasked with infiltrating the governments of the various groups, things that essentially meant that they were no longer truly proper ninja, they didn't even have proper chakra. It was infuriating.
Deep cover their asses, something was going on.
The HeMUs were locked into their forms, the objective looked to be asinine and their futures filled with nothing but eating, defecating, sleeping, and crying for the next 10 years or so of their lives. Very likely it was an attempt by the Minds to corral the HeMUs so that they didn't do something like change the balance of the continent or something they reasoned.
It was a possible concern what with the continent still in the Warring States era, but it also meant that they were being forced to do things that no self-respecting HeMU would… as in not doing anything.
They were the ones called do get the job done since they were the only ones who could get the job done.
But this? This was a travesty.
Still.
They were the HeMUs and they could do nothing but obey their orders.
Starting with the children they would slowly demonstrate their intelligence in offering tactics and strategies involving the specific kinds of techniques used by the shinobi of their own villages, or they would be assisting the government in some way by helping to develop new infrastructure and the like.
The general plan so far was one that had not yet been decided, or the Minds had decided and they wanted things to be done without the HeMUs knowing about them in the first place. In other words, they were doing this because they wanted to torture the HeMUs and watch them suffer the agonies of mediocrity as they laughed from up on high in the Origin Universe.
It was evil, it was something that the Minds would do without a question.
And so the HeMUs accepted their fates and decided that they might as well just sit and wait since there wasn't going to be anything they could do in the first place.
Except perhaps meet up in their villages… but how would they go about doing that?
Perhaps… perhaps they could do something after all.
Something that involved them displaying their genius, being super smart babies and then being able to do smart baby things like calculus!
Yes! That was a great idea!
If they could show their ability to do things like differential equations as children then perhaps…
No
Dammit. Apparently, that was not allowed either, the Minds not allowing any kind of fun.
Bleh.
Boring.
Who knew that being a child was this boring. If this was the case… then perhaps they could do things like make explosives?
Or maybe they could show how smart they were which would then let them meet the other HeMU children who were really smart as well and then they would be awesome and form their own group of super ninja that were made of all the genius ninja and they could be like… the Sannin from Canon but infinitely better because they didn't have a snake fetish.
Genius.
The idea had been made! Time to put it into motion!