Nagato slowly looked up.
He stared at Kushina’s bright, beautiful red hair.
“Um… excuse me,”
Nagato asked quietly, his voice very shy.
“Are you… from Uzushiogakure?”
Kushina stopped hugging them and stepped back.
She smiled proudly.
“I sure am!”
She said,
“I am an Uzumaki!”
Nagato looked down at the clean wooden floor.
A deep sadness filled his eyes.
“My family is from there, too,”
Nagato whispered.
“We fled from the outer village when the war first started. We were trying to find a safer place, but… my father and mother died trying to protect me from enemy ninjas.”
Kushina’s smile faded.
She felt very sad for him.
She knew how much it hurt to lose someone since Mito had gone.
“I am so sorry, Nagato,”
Kushina said softly.
Nagato took a small, shaky breath.
“Do you know what happened to our home?”
He asked, his voice full of worry.
“There were so many enemies attacking the borders before we left. Was the main village destroyed?”
Kushina shook her head quickly.
Her sad eyes turned bright and happy again.
“No!”
Kushina told him happily.
“Our village is perfectly safe! The enemies tried to destroy it, but big brother Dale went there all by himself. He chased the bad guys away and fixed the barrier!”
Nagato’s eyes went wide.
He quickly turned his head to look at Dale.
He was so happy that his true home was not destroyed.
He looked at the tall, gentle young man leaning against the wall.
To Nagato, Dale wasn’t just a strong ninja anymore.
Dale was a true, living hero.
As Dale smiled back at the children, he suddenly felt a soft vibration in his pocket.
He reached inside and pulled out a small, flat piece of smooth wood covered in tiny, glowing seals.
The ink lit up like a bright screen.
It was a “Smartphone Seal.” Dale had used his modern knowledge to invent it.
It allowed people to send text messages using chakra.
He had not published it for the village yet because the range was still too short.
It only worked if the other person was very close by.
Right now, the text message was coming from inside Kushina’s stomach.
It was Kurama.
*Dale.
Look closely at the red-haired boy’s eyes,*
Kurama’s message read on the glowing wood.
Dale frowned.
He typed back with his thumb.
*Why?
What is wrong?*
*Those are the Rinnegan,*
Kurama texted back quickly.
*They are the eyes of the Sage of Six Paths.
But they do not belong to that boy.
Someone else put them there.*
Dale looked up from the screen.
He stared at Nagato’s long red hair, knowing what hid underneath it.
*Is that dangerous?*
Dale typed.
*Very,*
Kurama answered.
*Those eyes require massive amounts of energy.
They are constantly draining the boy’s life force.
Why do you think he is so skinny and weak?
If you do not do anything, his life will be in absolute danger.
He will die.*
Dale felt a cold chill in his chest.
He looked at Nagato’s hopeful, happy face.
Dale was completely conflicted.
What should he do?
He had just promised to save this boy, but his eyes drained his life from the inside.
*How do I stop it?*
Dale asked the Fox.
*Why not exchange your eyes with him?*
Kurama suggested bluntly.
*Your body is completely different from a normal human.
You have the ancient god-seal and my chakra.
His human body cannot.*
Dale stared at the glowing screen.
Exchange eyes?
It sounded crazy, but in this ninja world, it was actually possible.
He could give Nagato his normal, healthy eyes so the boy could live a long, happy life without pain.
Dale put the wooden smartphone back into his pocket.
He looked out the window toward the rainy sky.
He couldn’t do the surgery himself.
But Tsunade was the greatest medical ninja in the entire world.
When she finally returned from the war, he would ask her to help him save Nagato’s life.
Later that evening, after everyone had rested enough, Dale pulled Nagato aside into a quiet room.
He sat down on a mat and asked Nagato to sit in front of him.
“Nagato,”
Dale began gently, keeping his voice very soft.
“I need to talk to you about your eyes. The ones hiding behind your hair.”
Nagato flinched slightly.
He reached up and touched his red bangs.
“My eyes?”
Nagato whispered, looking down.
“They are… weird. I do not like them.”
“They are very powerful,”
Dale explained honestly.
“But they do not belong to you. Someone put them there when you were very little. And because they are so strong, they are slowly eating away your energy. That is why you are always so tired and skinny.”
Nagato looked up.
His strange, rippled purple eyes showed no attachment to their power.
He only looked relieved.
“I knew something was wrong with them,”
Nagato said sadly.
“They never helped me. They only brought me trouble and pain. Can you take them out?”
“I cannot do it myself,”
Dale smiled, reaching out to gently pat the boy’s head.
“But my fiancee, Tsunade, is the best doctor in the world. When she comes back from the war, she can do the surgery. But we cannot just leave you blind. We will have to exchange our eyes.”
Nagato blinked in surprise.
“Exchange?”
He asked.
“You will give me your eyes?”
“Yes,”
Dale nodded.
“My body is strong enough to handle your purple eyes safely. And you will get my normal eyes. You will be able to see perfectly, and your body will finally be healthy.”
A huge, bright smile spread across Nagato’s face.
He didn’t care about losing a rare power.
“I get to have your eyes?!”
Nagato asked, his voice filled with pure awe.
“The eyes of my hero? I would love that! Thank you!”
The next morning, the sun shone brightly over the Senju Clan compound.
Mikoto and Hanako arrived early for their daily training.
When they walked into the courtyard, they stopped and stared in surprise.
There were three new kids doing warm-up stretches next to Kushina.
“Good morning, Sensei,”
Mikoto said, bowing politely.
She looked curiously at the orange-haired boy.
“Who are they?”
Dale walked over, carrying a stack of fresh towels.
“Good morning, Mikoto, Hanako,”
Dale greeted them warmly.
“These are Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato. I brought them back from my quick trip to the Land of Rain. They are going to live here, and they will be training with us from now on.”
Kushina ran over and grabbed Konan’s hand.
“They are super nice!”
Kushina cheered.
“And now we have an even bigger team!”
Hanako smiled her gentle smile and bowed to the new kids.
“It is very nice to meet you all,”
She said kindly.
Dale did not waste any time.
He placed the heavy gravity and chakra seals on Mikoto, Hanako, and Kushina.
Then, he turned to the three orphans.
He placed similar black paper seals on their shoulders, but he made sure the pressure was much lighter.
They needed to build their strength slowly since they had been starving for so long.
The kids grunted as the weight pushed down on them.
But just like Mikoto and Hanako, Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato gritted their teeth and started doing their chores around the large yard.
They refused to give up.
Dale sat on the porch, watching them work together as a team.
He felt very proud.
Suddenly, a quiet *swish* of wind disturbed the peace.
An ANBU ninja wearing a painted animal mask appeared right in front of the porch, kneeling respectfully.
“Dale-sama,”
The ANBU spoke in a flat, hidden voice.
Dale frowned deeply.
He had already sent a shadow clone to deliver a full written report last night.
He had told Hiruzen everything about the Land of Rain, the enemy camps, and his decision to adopt the three war orphans.
*Lord Hokage already knows everything,*
Dale thought to himself.
*He shouldn’t have any reason to call me right now.*
A cold feeling of unease settled in Dale’s stomach.
Something was definitely wrong.
Dale stood up.
He quickly formed a single hand seal.
*Poof.*
A perfect shadow clone appeared next to him.
“Watch the kids,”
Dale told his clone quietly.
“Do not let anyone near them.”
The clone nodded seriously and sat down on the porch.
Dale looked at the ANBU messenger.
“Lead the way,”
Dale said, his eyes turning sharp and cold as he headed toward the Hokage’s tower.
Dale walked into the Hokage’s office.
It was not empty.
Hiruzen was sitting behind his desk, but three other older people were standing in the room.
Dale recognized them.
They were the Village Elders, the highest council of Konoha.
And standing right in the corner, holding his wooden cane and wearing bandages, was Danzo Shimura.
“You called for me, Lord Hokage?”
Dale asked politely, keeping his face completely calm.
An old woman with glasses, Koharu, pointed a harsh finger at Dale.
“We demanded this meeting!”
Koharu said angrily.
“You brought three unknown children from the Land of Rain right into our village! They could be enemy spies!”
“They are starving orphans,”
Dale answered simply.
“They are not spies.”
An old man next to her, Homura, slammed his hand on the table.
“How can we trust you?!”
Homura yelled.
“You suddenly appeared in our village out of nowhere! You have strange jutsu! You might be a spy sent from another hidden village to destroy us from the inside! We demand you be arrested and interrogated!”
Dale did not show any fear.
He just looked at Hiruzen.
The council did not know the truth.
They did not know Dale was actually from a completely different world.
That was a top-secret fact.
Only Hiruzen, Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru knew about his true origins.
Hiruzen sighed and released a heavy puff of smoke from his pipe.
“Calm down, my friends,”
Hiruzen said, his voice deep and commanding.
“Dale is a hero. He saved Uzushiogakure. I completely trust his loyalty. There will be no arrests today.”
Hiruzen looked directly at Dale.
His old, tired eyes sent a very clear, secret message.
Hiruzen had allowed this meeting on purpose.
He called Dale here to indirectly warn him.
He wanted Dale to see exactly who was targeting him behind the scenes.
Dale understood instantly.
He turned his eyes to the dark corner of the room.
Danzo Shimura finally stepped forward.
He looked completely nonchalant.
He acted as if he was just a bored, concerned old man.
“Hiruzen is right,”
Danzo said smoothly, his single eye looking at Dale.
“We should not arrest a hero so quickly. But we must be careful. We simply want to know more about you, Dale. We want to know how you learned your powerful lightning, and where you truly came from.”
Dale’s eyes grew cold.
He realized the truth right then.
The other council members were just loud fools being manipulated.
But Danzo was the real snake in the grass.
Danzo did not care about three starving kids from the Land of Rain.
The war orphans were just a convenient excuse to attack him.
Danzo was the one who wanted to know about Dale the most.
He wanted to uncover his secrets, steal his power, and figure out how to control him.
“My past is my own,”
Dale told Danzo, his voice flat and perfectly steady.
“What matters is that I fight for the Leaf Village. And I will protect my family.”
“Of course,”
Danzo smiled a fake, chilling smile.
“We all want to protect the village. Let us hope your new *family* does not cause you any trouble in the future.”
The words sounded polite, but the threat was incredibly clear.
Miso: What world is this… here is a hint (Sorry Rem… But I love Emilia!) 😉