· Hideki Sato lightly traced a finger over his lips, murmuring to himself as he savored the lingering sensation.
“Still as reckless as ever…
she didn’t even give me a proper answer…” Meanwhile, inside a certain estate within the Senju compound.
Kushina was currently rolling frantically back and forth across her mattress, completely wrapped in her comforter like a distressed silkworm.
Was that a confession?
That was absolutely a formal confession, right?!
Should I give Hideki an answer?
If I accept right away, will it make me look entirely too forward?
But that absolute rogue already stole my first kiss…
How am I even supposed to look him in the eye now?
This is so incredibly frustrating!
If I knew it would end like this, I never would have crashed at his place…
While Kushina was restlessly tossing and turning in her bedroom, the secondary architect of the situation had long since drifted off into a peaceful sleep.
Three days passed, yet Hideki saw no sign of Kushina.
Instead, Tsunade manifested at his estate.
He had initially assumed his mentor was dropping by to evaluate his structural mastery of Cherry Blossom Impact.
However, the absolute moment his eyes caught the heavy, suffocating weight of grief marring Tsunade’s features, his heart violently dropped.
Don’t tell me…
is today the official deployment for Kushina to assume the Jinchuriki mantle?
Precisely as Hideki calculated, Tsunade stood inside his quarters, scrutinizing him in heavy silence for a long stretch before speaking in a raw, thoroughly hushed cadence.
“Follow me.
Kushina is waiting for you.” Hideki instinctively opened his mouth to inquire about their destination, but faced with the complete lack of vitality in Tsunade’s posture, he locked the words behind his teeth and silently fell into step behind her.
After navigating a considerable distance behind his mentor, the standard civilian footprint entirely vanished from the perimeter.
The dense forest branches flickered with the continuous, blurred silhouettes of Anbu operatives, weaving an ironclad perimeter that signaled an absolute high-tier security deployment.
Before long, the familiar visages of four senior village authorities materialized within Hideki’s line of sight.
Standing in a tight vanguard formation were the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi; the notorious chief of the underground circuits, Danzo Shimura; and the twin senior councilors, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane.
The microsecond Hiruzen caught sight of the approaching duo, he stepped forward, a warm, profoundly grandfatherly smile gracing his features.
“Tsunade, Hideki.
You’ve arrived.” Weighed down by her internal distress, Tsunade merely offered a stiff nod.
Hideki, maintaining absolute operational etiquette, lowered his posture in a respectful bow.
“Greetings, Lord Hokage.” A glint of profound satisfaction flickered across Hiruzen’s features.
He stepped directly to Hideki’s side, bringing a firm, comforting hand down on the boy’s shoulder.
“There is absolutely zero necessity for such rigid formality between us, Hideki.
Your mentor happens to be my direct disciple, after all.
In the future, you may comfortably address me as Grandpa Third.” Observing Hiruzen’s seamless deployment of psychological diplomacy, Danzo’s expression grew exceptionally dark and rigid.
By all standard protocols of the military hierarchy, an unranked Genin like Hideki Sato possessed absolute zero clearance to stand within this restricted perimeter.
However, Mito Uzumaki had explicitly designated his presence as a mandatory variable for the succession.
According to the dying matriarch’s doctrine, a Jinchuriki required an unshakeable core of authentic love to comfortably withstand and neutralize the malice of the Nine-Tails.
Hideki Sato served as the absolute psychological anchor connecting Kushina to the Hidden Leaf.
Given that the girl originated from the ruined ashes of Uzushio, her internal allegiance to the Leaf remained an unverified metric.
Looked at from a purely tactical standpoint, if the administration could secure the loyalty of Hideki Sato, they would effectively establish an indirect stranglehold over the ultimate weapon of the village.
This calculation was the sole reason Hiruzen Sarutobi was displaying such an exceptionally gentle, accommodating demeanor toward the boy.
Just as Hiruzen prepared to prolong the domestic chatter to deepen the rapport, Danzo cut through the air with a freezing tone.
“Enough.
Since the final variable has reported to the perimeter, let us advance.
Do not keep Lady Mito waiting.” Hiruzen nodded smoothly, taking Hideki by the arm as he guided him down into the secluded basin of the valley.
Reaching the basin floor, Hideki’s eyes instantly locked onto Kushina.
She was standing guard directly beside an ancient, frail matriarch seated resting within an ornate chair.
Though the elderly woman exuded a profoundly gentle, grandmotherly aura, the gazes both Hiruzen and Danzo directed toward her were anchored in absolute, uncompromising reverence.
Her identity required zero deduction: the wife of the First Hokage, Tsunade’s maternal anchor, and the reigning Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails—Mito Uzumaki.
Mito raised a frail hand, gesturing gently for Hideki to approach the seat.
Hideki cast a brief glance toward Tsunade, receiving a silent nod before stepping across the grass to kneel respectfully before the matriarch’s chair.
“Lady Mito, it is an absolute honor to make your acquaintance.
Please look after me.” Mito thoroughly scrutinized Hideki’s features for a long moment before letting out a soft, highly amused chuckle.
“So you are the young Hideki?
A remarkably handsome boy.
It is no wonder Kushina routinely fills my ears with your name.” The absolute instant the words left her lips, Kushina’s entire face erupted into a brilliant crimson.
She aggressively tugged at Mito’s sleeve, her voice dropping into a desperate, embarrassed whine.
“Grandma~!
Didn’t we explicitly agree to lock those conversations away?!” Mito gently patted Kushina’s hand, a warm smile gracing her wrinkled features.
“Very well, very well.
I shall cease the teasing.
Our Kushina has officially evolved into a proper young lady; she possesses a sense of bashfulness now.” Turning her gaze back onto Hideki, Mito’s expression transitioned into profound seriousness.
“You are an exceptionally perceptive child, Hideki.
I assume you have already accurately calculated the exact necessity behind our convergence in this valley?” Hideki offered a firm, quiet nod.
Mito let out a long, heavy sigh.
“This child has endured a thoroughly punishing history.
She lost her parents during her infancy, was uprooted from the ashes of Uzushio to relocate to the Leaf, and faced isolation from her peers.
Now, the baseline laws of our military asset management dictate she must inherit the Nine-Tails.
Operating solely on her own internal reserve, the sheer volume of that malice will tear her apart.
Therefore…
can I place my absolute trust in you?” Hideki met her fading gaze, his voice ringing with absolute, unshakeable conviction as he answered.
“Rest your mind, Lady Mito.
So long as a single breath animates my lungs, I will ensure Kushina never suffers a fraction of grief or grievance.” Mito nodded slowly, a look of profound relief settling over her features as she extracted a heavy storage scroll from her robes, offering it to him.
“Contained within this seal is the complete registry of the Uzumaki clan’s advanced sealing architecture.
I officially pass the lineage down to you.” Hideki hesitated, his eyes instinctively darting toward Tsunade standing in the vanguard line.
Catching his micro-glance, Mito couldn’t help but chuckle again.
“Why are you looking toward Tsunade?
This is strictly an internal transaction of the Uzumaki lineage.
Furthermore, now that Uzushio has been reduced to ash…
even if I pass the blueprints to you, our Kushina would never dream of hoarding secrets from you.” As the mention of her homeland left her lips, a brief, sharp flash of devastating sorrow colored Mito’s amber eyes.
Though she stood as one of the founding pillars of the Hidden Leaf, Uzushio was the cradle that had nurtured her youth.
The total annihilation of her clan had dealt a terminal blow to her internal vitality.
Had that tragedy been averted, her cellular longevity likely would have anchored her to reality for several more years.
Faced with her declaration, Hideki could only reach out and accept the dense scroll.
“Since you have officially accepted my endowment, you bear the absolute mandate to treat Kushina with utmost care for all the horizons ahead.
Otherwise…
I promise I will not release your character from the heavens, cough, cough, cough—” Before Mito could finalize her warning, a violent, hacking cough suddenly wracked her frail frame.
Kushina immediately lunged forward, gently smoothing her hands along the matriarch’s back, her features completely consumed by intense panic and concern.
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