· The entire shinobi world felt as though it were teetering on the edge of a gathering storm, a reality that saddled Hideki Sato with a massive volume of psychological pressure.
However, the timeline hadn’t been entirely devoid of positive developments.
Over the intervening months, Charmander had successfully evolved into Charmeleon, its raw combat metrics instantaneously leaping to a tier equivalent to a standard Jonin.
Furthermore, Hideki’s cosmic wheel lottery system had recently spat out another Pokémon egg.
Though its specific internal metrics remained a mystery, it ultimately represented an additional trump card for his future survival.
On a thoroughly pleasant afternoon, Hideki was systematically “torturing” a common river carp.
To break down the sequence: he would deliberately inflict a precise laceration on the fish, utilize his medical ninjutsu to fully regenerate the tissue, and immediately repeat the incision.
It was a tedious loop executed solely to augment his practical casting proficiency.
Given that while geopolitical tensions were suffocatingly high, the rival hidden villages had yet to officially deploy their main forces, the general casualty metrics at the Leaf General Hospital remained remarkably low.
Consequently, Hideki could only offer his silent apologies to what was destined to become his dinner tonight.
Suddenly, a localized blur materialized as Charmeleon emerged directly before him.
Noticing his partner’s frantic, highly animated gestures, Hideki quickly ceased his loop.
“What’s the emergency?” Following a complex series of physical demonstrations from the bipedal dinosaur, Hideki finally decoded the transmission.
The mysterious egg he had safely deposited within his private pocket dimension was officially beginning to fracture.
That structural emergency was the sole reason Charmeleon had rushed across the dimensional boundary to fetch him.
Without a second thought, Hideki casually tossed the thoroughly regenerated carp back into the stream.
Beyond siphoning a micro-fraction of cosmic karma, he quietly hoped the gesture would purchase a sliver of good fortune.
If the matrix ended up hatching a standard Rattata or a Caterpie, his strategic roadmap would face a severe setback.
The pocket dimension where his summons resided existed entirely isolated from any terrestrial geography, functioning parallel to the localized sub-dimensions detailed in high-fantasy literature.
As of this moment, only Hideki and his Pokémon possessed the clearance to bypass the boundary.
The geography inside was a spectacular matrix of diverse ecosystems: dense woodlands, vast arid dunes, open oceanic sheets, tranquil lakes, and even an active volcanic crater.
It was an absolute paradise for elemental life.
Under the intensely focused gazes of Hideki and Charmeleon, the pale shell of the egg violently vibrated.
Crack.
A small, distinct green horn suddenly punched through the calcified surface.
Before long, the creature completely fractured its enclosure, freeing its frame from the remnants of the shell.
It was Larvitar—the infant stage of the pseudo-legendary Tyranitar, the apex predator universally heralded across its native ecosystem as the Emperor of the Desert.
If Charmeleon represented his future Master of Fire Style, then Larvitar was undeniably his impending Master of Earth Style.
Hideki couldn’t help but wonder if the cosmic matrix would eventually grant him companions anchored to the remaining elements of Water, Wind, and Lightning.
Staring down at the exceptionally stoic, cool expression fixed on the infant Larvitar’s face, Hideki knelt onto the grass.
He extended his right palm, his voice dropping into a gentle, welcoming cadence.
“Welcome, Larvitar.
I am Hideki Sato.
This bipedal guy beside me is our partner, Charmeleon.
Let’s look after one another from now on.” Larvitar blinked its dark eyes, casting a clinical glance toward Hideki’s smiling features before evaluating the crimson dinosaur standing watch.
Satisfied with the diagnostic review, it gently rested its small claw against Hideki’s open palm.
After exchanging a baseline greeting with Charmeleon, Larvitar abruptly pivoted and tunneled straight into the earth, burrowing with surprising speed toward a heavily mineralized mountain ridge visible in the distance.
Catching the thoroughly perplexed expression marring Charmeleon’s features, Hideki chuckled softly.
“Don’t worry about him.
The biology of a Larvitar dictates that it must continuously consume massive volumes of soil and dense minerals to accumulate the raw energetic reserves required for its evolutionary sequence.
Structurally speaking, it will literally need to eat an entire mountain before it shifts forms.” Hearing Hideki’s explanation, Charmeleon stared at the massive tunnel opening left in the dirt, its eyes widening into a look of profound, terrified reverence.
To possess the capacity to digest an entire mountain just to evolve…
that newborn guy is going to become ridiculously strong.
A sudden, competitive fire violently ignited within Charmeleon’s chest.
It needed to aggressively accelerate its own training regimen; it absolutely refused to allow a junior addition to outperform the baseline standard it had established.
Watching his primary partner randomly burst into a state of intense, silent motivation, Hideki remained entirely oblivious to the dinosaur’s internal monologue.
Still, witnessing Charmeleon plunge straight into a series of high-intensity physical drills was undeniably a massive development.
If his partner managed to hit its final evolution into a fully realized Charizard prior to the formal outbreak of the Second Great Ninja War, Hideki’s baseline survival metrics would jump exponentially.
Concurrently, now that Kushina had officially assumed the mantle of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, the administrative command would heavily restrict her assignments, ensuring she remained isolated from high-risk deployments.
The risk profile of losing control over the ultimate weapon was simply entirely too high for the Leaf to tolerate.
Looked at from a strategic standpoint, even if a global conflagration erupted, Squad Three would likely remain anchored to the safest sectors of the theater.
Time ticked past in a seamless succession of completed deployments.
Over the course of the season, Squad Three successfully processed a substantial registry of missions, including several high-order B-rank assignments that required direct combat engagement with foreign shinobi operatives.
However, an oppressive, lingering silence had gradually consumed both Tsunade and Kushina.
Faced with the shifting dynamics of the cell, Mikoto had privately cornered Hideki to voice her concerns regarding their mentors’ psychological health.
Yet, Hideki could only offer a quiet shake of his head, acknowledging his absolute lack of leverage.
After all, the passing of a parental anchor wasn’t a sudden, violent summer downpour that cleared within an hour; it was a lifetime of stagnant humidity.
Only the passage of years could gradually smooth over the edges of such a wound.
One morning, Hideki reported to the private training grounds of the Senju estate to refine his techniques, only to find a severe verbal altercation ripping through the living quarters between Nawaki and Tsunade.
“I am officially committing to this deployment!
Kevin and Nicole have already registered for the vanguard line!
Why am I the singular asset being held back?!” “You are restricted from deployment because I am your elder sister, and my authority is absolute!” Tsunade shrieked, her voice echoing off the walls.
“I will personally clear the paperwork with Orochimaru.
For the foreseeable horizon, you will remain locked inside this compound!” “I don’t care about your administrative clearance, you absolute hag!
I am a fully registered shinobi!
I don’t require your custody!” Hurling the final insult, his face completely flushed with pure fury, Nawaki glared at his sister before spinning on his heel, storming out past the main gates in a localized blur.
Left standing in the empty corridor, Tsunade let out a long, exhausted sigh, aggressively rubbing her temples.
Only then did Hideki cautiously step out from the shadow of the entryway, his voice dropping into a thoroughly polite whisper.
“Sensei…
should I proceed to the rear training field to log my hours?” Tsunade shot a sharp glance toward him.
“You aren’t even going to inquire about the logistics behind that argument?” “The internal disputes of a prestigious clan are entirely beyond my clearance, Sensei.
Furthermore, it requires zero diagnostic review to know Nawaki is fundamentally in the wrong.
After all, how could my brilliant, matchless mentor possibly miscalculate?” Hearing the seamless deployment of absolute flattery, Tsunade could only roll her eyes.
“That response was thoroughly void of actual substance, kiddo.
If you must know…
Nawaki’s cell has officially received a high-priority deployment order directing them into the theater of the Land of Rain.
I am systematically blocking his deployment.
I assume you possess the cognitive capacity to understand why?” The current geopolitical climate within the Land of Rain was exceptionally lethal, with localized detachments of Amegakure and Sunagakure continuously engaging in violent, small-scale skirmishes across the borders.
However, given that the squad operated under the direct command of an elite powerhouse like Orochimaru, the functional risk profile should have been remarkably low.
After all, Orochimaru’s baseline combat efficacy was an absolute metric.
Furthermore, if Hideki’s historical knowledge remained uncorrupted, Nawaki’s ultimate expiration wasn’t scheduled to occur during a standard border skirmish; he was destined to be torn apart by an explosive tag network during a major, specific campaign later in the war.
Structurally speaking, this initial transit into the Land of Rain shouldn’t present a lethal variable.
Nevertheless, Hideki maintained an iron lock on his lips.
If his own temporal butterfly effect had somehow corrupted the structural timeline, and he accidentally validated a deployment that resulted in Nawaki’s premature end…
the administrative and emotional fallout would completely destroy his standing with Tsunade.
He chose survival over commentary.