After the big, happy dinner, the house grew quiet.
The other children went to sleep, completely exhausted from their training.
Tsunade, Dale, and Nagato sat together in a clean, brightly lit medical room inside the Senju compound.
Tsunade carefully moved Nagato’s long red hair out of his face.
She coated her hands in warm, green healing chakra and gently placed her fingers near his temples.
She closed her eyes and concentrated.
After a few minutes, her face became very dark and angry.
“It is exactly as you said, Dale,”
Tsunade whispered, her voice full of anger.
“These purple eyes are not natural to his body. They are acting like parasites.”
“Parasites?”
Nagato asked quietly.
“Yes,”
Tsunade explained gently to the little boy.
“They are forcefully attached to your chakra network. They never stop drinking your life force. That is why you were always so tired, so hungry, and so weak. If they stay in your head as you grow… they will eventually eat all your energy until you die.”
Nagato did not look scared.
Instead, a big, bright smile spread across his thin face.
He felt incredibly excited.
“Then you can finally take them out!”
Nagato said happily, gripping the edge of his seat.
“I hate them. They only bring me bad luck. I do not want them anymore. Please, take them away!”
Tsunade looked at the small boy.
She was absolutely amazed.
Most ninjas in the world would fight and kill for such a rare, god-like power.
But this little boy just wanted to be healthy.
He just wanted a normal life.
She looked up at Dale.
Dale nodded back at her with a calm, sure smile.
“Are you completely ready, Dale?”
Tsunade asked seriously.
“Your body is strong but receiving these eyes will still be a very heavy burden on you.”
“I am completely ready,”
Dale answered without any hesitation.
“I promised him my normal eyes, and I always keep my promises.”
Nagato reached out and held Dale’s large hand tightly.
“I cannot wait to see the world through your eyes, big brother Dale,”
Nagato smiled warmly, his voice full of pure trust.
Tsunade felt a deep wave of love for both of them.
They were so brave and kind.
“Alright,”
Tsunade said, her voice turning completely professional and focused.
“We will not wait another day. I am going to do the operation right now, tonight. Both of you, lie down on the beds.”
Dale and Nagato laid down side-by-side on the clean white sheets.
Tsunade prepared her tools and gathered a massive amount of her green medical chakra.
The room grew completely silent, except for the soft, warm hum of her healing energy.
With absolute care and perfect precision, the greatest medical ninja in the world began the surgery.
First, she safely removed the dangerous purple eyes from the little boy, carefully detaching the heavy chakra lines that were choking him.
Then, she gently placed Dale’s normal, healthy eyes into Nagato, quickly healing the nerves so the boy would finally be safe.
Finally, she took the heavy, powerful Rinnegan.
She carefully connected the ancient, purple eyes to Dale.
The long, stressful night passed slowly in the quiet room.
But by the time the warm morning sun began to rise over the village, the difficult exchange was completely and perfectly finished.
The next morning, the medical room was perfectly quiet and filled with warm sunlight.
On the bed next to the window, little Nagato was sleeping deeply.
His breathing was slow and steady.
His face finally looked completely peaceful.
Tsunade had told Dale that the boy just needed a lot of rest.
When Nagato woke up, he would be perfectly healthy and okay.
Dale slowly opened his eyes.
He sat up in his bed and blinked a few times.
He didn’t feel any pain.
In fact, he felt completely fine.
He reached over and picked up a small hand mirror from the bedside table.
He looked at his reflection, expecting to see the scary, bright purple eyes.
But he didn’t.
Dale blinked in surprise.
Looking back at him in the mirror were his own, completely normal eyes.
There was no purple color and no strange ripples.
“Interesting…” Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
Dale whispered to himself.
He focused his mind and pushed a tiny bit of chakra up to his eyes.
Instantly, his normal eyes changed.
The colors shifted, and the ancient, purple ripples slowly swirled into existence.
He stopped focusing, and the ripples swirled away, turning back into normal eyes.
“That is very cool,”
Dale smiled.
He could hide his new, god-like power perfectly.
No one in the village would ever know his secret.
He could feel the eyes pulling on his chakra, trying to drain his energy.
But because he had a natural Sage body and a massive chakra pool, the drain was incredibly small.
His body fought it off easily.
To him, they just felt like a completely normal pair of eyes.
Dale put the mirror down and turned his head.
Tsunade was sleeping right beside him on the edge of the bed.
She had been so exhausted after the long, perfect surgery that she just collapsed next to him.
Dale’s heart grew very warm.
Because of the terrible war in the Land of Rain, it had been many long months since they had slept next to each other like this.
He watched her sleep.
Her blonde hair fell softly across her face.
She looked incredibly cute and peaceful.
He gently pulled the blanket up to cover her shoulder, admiring her incredible beauty and her ever-growing curves as a mature woman.
He looked at her and felt a deep, overwhelming wave of gratitude.
He was so fortunate to have such a brilliant, strong, and stunning woman as his future wife.
Suddenly, Tsunade stirred.
She slowly opened her beautiful brown eyes and looked up at him.
“Dale?”
Tsunade whispered sleepily, rubbing her eyes.
She quickly sat up, her medical instincts kicking in.
“How do you feel? Does your head hurt? Is the drain too heavy?”
Dale smiled and reached out to gently stroke her cheek.
“I feel perfect, Tsunade,”
Dale answered softly.
“Are you sure?”
Tsunade asked, looking at his face closely.
“Your eyes… They look completely normal. Where is the Rinnegan?”
Dale chuckled softly.
He focused his chakra again.
Right in front of her, his normal eyes swirled into the bright purple, rippled pattern.
Tsunade gasped in pure amazement.
“You can hide them?”
She asked, completely shocked.
“Yes,”
Dale nodded, letting the purple ripples fade away again.
“And the chakra drain is barely doing anything. My Sage body is keeping the drain to an absolute minimum. I just feel like I have a normal pair of eyes.”
Tsunade let out a long, heavy breath of relief.
She rested her forehead against his chest.
“Thank goodness,”
Tsunade whispered, wrapping her arms around his waist.
“I was so worried you would be in pain.”
Dale wrapped his arms around her tightly, holding her close.
“You did a perfect job, doctor,”
Dale told her warmly.
“You saved a little boy’s life, and you kept me perfectly safe. I am the luckiest man in the whole world to have you.”
Tsunade blushed happily and squeezed him tighter.
The quiet, loving moment was suddenly interrupted.
*Bzzzt.
Bzzzt.*
A soft vibration came from Dale’s pocket.
He gently let go of Tsunade and pulled out his wooden I-smart seal.
The ink on the wood was glowing brightly.
It was a text message from Kurama.
*Get in here, Dale,*
The message read.
*It is time for my daily scratching.*
Dale chuckled softly and showed the screen to Tsunade.
She rolled her eyes but smiled warmly.
Tsunade laughed.
“He just needs some attention,”
Dale said kindly.
To most people in the world, the Nine-Tails was a terrifying beast made of pure hate.
But Dale knew the real truth.
Kurama was never a bad creature to begin with.
People just treated him terribly for decades.
Madara Uchiha used his Sharingan to control him like a mindless weapon.
And Hashirama Senju captured him and locked him away, even though Kurama was just minding his own business in the forest.
Dale treated him differently.
He treated the giant fox like a normal friend.
He listened to him and respected him.
Because of that, Kurama did not have any reason to be a jerk.
Even little Kushina was a lovely host.
Because of Dale’s teaching, she never once treated Kurama like a monster.
She talked to him and kept him company inside her mind.
However, Kushina was still just a little girl.
Her tiny hands of chakra could not give Kurama the deep, satisfying scratching he really wanted.
“I will be right back,”
Dale told Tsunade.
He sat down in a comfortable chair, closed his eyes, and sent his mind straight into Kushina’s seal.
When Dale opened his eyes inside the mindscape, he wasn’t in a dark, scary cage.
The space was bright and warm.
The massive, orange Nine-Tailed Fox was lying down lazily, waiting for him.
“You are late,”
Kurama grumbled, his deep voice echoing loudly in the large space.
“Sorry, Kurama,”
Dale smiled, walking right up to the giant beast.
“I had a very busy night with the eye surgery.”
Dale reached up and started scratching the exact perfect spot right behind Kurama’s massive ears.
The giant fox closed his red eyes and let out a deep, rumbling sound.
He leaned his heavy head into Dale’s hand, enjoying the comfortable feeling.
“Kushina tried to do this yesterday,”
Kurama mumbled happily.
“She is a good kid. Very funny. But her hands are way too small. It just feels like a tiny bug walking on my fur.”
Dale laughed.
“She will get bigger eventually. Just give her some time.”
After a few minutes of good scratching, Kurama opened one large eye and looked closely at Dale.
“So,”
Kurama said, his voice turning a bit more serious.
“You took the purple eyes.”
“I did,”
Dale nodded.
“They feel completely normal right now.”
“They will not feel normal when you try to use them,”
Kurama warned him.
“The Rinnegan has incredibly complicated powers. Pushing or pulling gravity, summoning strange creatures, absorbing jutsu… If you do not know what you are doing, you could hurt yourself.”
Dale stopped scratching for a second.
“Do you know how they work?”
Dale asked curiously.
Kurama let out a proud, booming laugh.
“Of course I do, kid,”
Kurama smiled, showing his massive teeth.
“Who do you think raised me? The old man, Hagoromo, the Sage of Six Paths. He had those exact same eyes.”
Kurama shifted his giant body and looked down at Dale with a look of deep respect.
“Keep scratching my ears every day,”
Kurama offered smoothly.
“And I will teach you exactly how to use the Rinnegan. I know its ancient secrets better than anyone else alive.”
Dale smiled widely.
He started scratching behind the fox’s ears again.
Having a giant, ancient fox as a friend was definitely the best thing in the world.
“It is a deal, Kurama,”
Dale agreed.
“We will start my training tomorrow.”
….
Miso: Alright, I am really really going to stack up chapters for a while this time for real.
Stay tune guys.
And I might write a new fanfiction as well Re:Zero X Overlord.
Subaru was a member of Ainz Ooal Gown.
That was an idea.