Chapter 84 (Patreon)

The Nine-Tails fell silent. Put that way, some of Tobirama’s actions really had backed the Uchiha into a corner.

However, from Tobirama’s perspective, even Madara—one of Konoha’s founders—had eventually turned against the village and attacked it.

If someone like Madara could betray Konoha, then Tobirama must have believed that the other Uchiha who idolized him were just as likely to do the same.

His constant vigilance toward the clan was not entirely without reason.

After all, if another Madara appeared, there would never be another Hashirama to stop him.

It could be said that Uchiha Madara had become a shadow hanging over Tobirama’s heart.

Even so, during his time as Hokage, Tobirama had at least been willing to recognize Kagami Uchiha and entrust him with real responsibility.

If anyone was truly responsible for poisoning the relationship between Konoha and the Uchiha, it was Danzō and the other three members of Hiruzen’s generation.

“What are you two talking about?”

After entrusting the rest of her work to a shadow clone, as well as Fugaku and Shikaku, who had just arrived, Kushina entered her inner world under the pretense of training.

She had assumed Roy would be training, only to find him chatting with the Nine-Tails.

Kushina promptly sat down beside them to steal a break while asking Roy exactly what had happened during the Sharingan-awakening training.

After giving her a brief explanation, Roy asked, “You haven’t told Fugaku about the results yet, have you?”

“Not yet. Why?”

“Don’t tell him just yet. The students’ memories have already been sealed, so none of them even realize that their Sharingan awakened.”

Roy continued, “Wait a few days before telling Fugaku. We need him to believe that the training was difficult so he’ll feel the price was justified. That way, he won’t find an excuse to bargain us down.”

“I understand. Roy-kun really does think of everything. I was planning to tell Fugaku immediately, collect the payment, and begin training the next group.”

Whether Kushina truly meant every word or not, her praise landed perfectly.

The admiration in her eyes left Roy so delighted that he almost forgot himself.

The Nine-Tails could no longer bear to watch.

For the sake of his own sanity, he quickly changed the subject.

“Kushina barely has any time to train now that she’s Hokage. At this rate, when exactly will you become strong enough to withstand all of my power?”

Kushina and Roy both turned toward him with strange expressions.

Wasn’t he the one who had insisted that he did not care whether the seal was opened?

“What are you looking at me like that for?!”

Five enormous tails lashed behind the Nine-Tails, stirring up a powerful gale inside the inner world. Kushina’s long hair whipped through the air, and her clothes snapped loudly in the wind.

“Look, you’re getting worked up again.”

Afraid that the prideful fox might truly lose his temper, Roy hurriedly reassured him.

“Kushina’s constitution has improved considerably recently. In another week at most, we should be able to unseal your sixth tail.”

The Nine-Tails was extremely curious about how Kushina’s constitution had improved when he had barely seen her training.

But could he ask?

The moment he did, wouldn’t he be admitting that he cared deeply about when the seal would be fully opened?

What about his dignity?

The Nine-Tails lowered his swaying tails and kept his eyes firmly shut, wearing an expression that said he had no interest in speaking to either of them.

If his ears had not remained perked up, Kushina and Roy might actually have believed him.

Kushina truly had not found much time to train over the past few days.

Every evening after finishing work, her mind would remain completely numb for quite some time.

Mental exhaustion was every bit as draining as physical exhaustion.

Despite that, her Uzumaki constitution was growing stronger with each passing day.

The reason was that her Water Release Chakra Mode was now essentially complete.

It lacked the striking outward display of the Lightning Release Chakra Mode, but its strength lay in how quietly it worked beneath the surface.

It nourished Kushina’s body little by little each day, steadily increasing the limits of her Uzumaki vitality.

Kaorui had been the one to notice the change with the Mind’s Eye of the Kagura before telling Roy and Kushina about it.

Moreover, as Roy and Kushina became increasingly intimate, his Zanpakutō’s ability to purify negative emotions while in Shikai continued to grow stronger.

At this rate, Roy believed that Kushina’s body would be capable of enduring the physical and mental strain of a full Tailed Beast Transformation within six months at most.

Once Roy had explained everything he could, he and Kushina watched helplessly as the Nine-Tails’ ears slowly drooped.

For all his pride, the fox was painfully easy to read.

After discovering that the Water Release Chakra Mode could nourish her vitality, Kushina taught the technique to Kaorui as well.

She also compiled the method into a manual and placed it alongside Konoha’s other B-rank ninjutsu. In the future, it could be awarded to Water Release shinobi who made significant contributions to the village.

At Roy’s suggestion, Kushina had also begun developing a Wind Release Chakra Mode.

Using the Lightning Release Chakra Mode as a foundation, along with the experience she had gained while developing the Water Release Chakra Mode, Kushina managed to produce an early version of the technique in only two and a half days.

When Wind Release chakra enveloped her body, it could deflect close-range attacks to a certain extent. The effect resembled a continuous but weakened Rotation.

It could also roughly double her movement speed.

Once the technique was fully perfected, Roy believed its effects would become even more impressive.

The Wind Release Chakra Mode was not Roy’s only plan.

He also intended to have Kushina incorporate Wind Release nature transformation into the Rasengan, allowing her to create the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken ahead of time.

Just as Roy had said before, aside from being Asura Ōtsutsuki’s reincarnation, Kushina possessed nearly every advantage Naruto would one day have.

There was nothing wrong with having her follow Naruto’s future path of development.

Her ultimate potential might be slightly lower than Naruto’s after he obtained Six Paths power, but the difference would not be overwhelming.

After all, Roy would be there to guide and support her every step of the way.

In addition to planning Kushina’s future, Roy had also considered his own.

First, he naturally needed to achieve Bankai as soon as possible.

Second was the matter of obtaining a physical body.

After ruling out the possibility of using a White Zetsu body, Roy had considered asking Orochimaru to grow one through scientific means.

However, the same problem remained.

Cultivating a body artificially required a genetic template, yet there was no genetic material in this world that truly belonged to Roy.

A body created from someone else’s genes would have even less to do with him than a White Zetsu body.

Roy therefore rejected that option as well.

As for Soul Society’s Gigai technology, Roy understood neither its principles nor the method used to construct one.

Even if he cooperated with Orochimaru, the chances of successfully recreating the technology from nothing were extremely low.

However, seeing the Nine-Tails had given Roy a sudden flash of inspiration.

There was another method, and its chances of succeeding were not small.

He could use Yin–Yang Release to create a physical body from nothing.

The union of Yin and Yang could give form to that which did not exist and then breathe life into it.

In the original story, Naruto had even used Yin–Yang Release to restore Kakashi’s missing eye.

Kushina herself possessed Yin Release. However, thanks to Roy’s intervention, the Yang half of the Nine-Tails was now sealed inside her, while the Yin half had been sealed inside Naruto.

Once Kushina became a perfect Jinchūriki, she would possess the necessary conditions to wield both Yin and Yang simultaneously.

As long as she learned to combine those two powers into Yin–Yang Release, she could create a physical body tailored perfectly for Roy.

Even if the plan failed, it would not matter.

At worst, Roy could wait for Naruto to grow up and for the Sage of Six Paths to appear and grant him power. When that happened, Roy could take advantage of the opportunity as well.

That evening, just as Kushina was preparing to leave the Hokage’s office, Hiruzen suddenly came to see her.

“Kushina, I didn’t let you down. I’ve finished refining the irrigation technique.”

Hiruzen had practically been living beside the river for the past few days.

At first, crowds of curious onlookers had gathered to watch him. After all, civilians rarely had the chance to witness a shinobi of Hiruzen’s caliber perform ninjutsu.

However, the Water Dragon Bullet became increasingly feeble as Hiruzen continued modifying it. Eventually, it did not even resemble a dragon anymore.

By then, even the civilians had lost interest in watching.

What they failed to understand was that this seemingly powerless technique would soon have a direct impact on their everyday lives.