09 - The Clan's Obligations

Kushina's suspicions were confirmed.

Realizing that it was Kei who had vented her frustration on her behalf, she slowly calmed down and wiped away her tears. Hugging her knees, she sat contentedly in the corner of the sofa.

Maybe it was the alcohol, or perhaps the emotional ups and downs had drained her. As the peace settled in, drowsiness crept over her.

"I'll heat up some water for your bath. You can sleep in the guest room afterward."

Seeing her nod slightly with her eyes closed, Kei stood up and headed for the bathroom.

By the time he returned, she had already curled up on the sofa, fast asleep. Even in sleep, her brows remained slightly furrowed, and traces of tears clung to her lashes. With a quiet sigh, he gently picked her up, carried her to the guest room, and tucked her in before leaving to wash up.

Half-submerged in the bathtub, he replayed everything that had happened earlier at the jonin standby station. After confirming that he hadn't given anything away, he finally felt a little at ease.

According to the original story, only two people were explicitly stated to have the ability to sense malice—Mito and Naruto, both jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails. Otherwise, during the Fourth Great Ninja War, the transformation technique of White Zetsu wouldn't have rendered the entire Allied Shinobi Forces helpless.

Kushina clearly hadn't reached Mito's level, where she could treat Kurama like a pet fox, nor had she achieved Naruto's perfect jinchūriki status by fully reconciling with the beast. Her ability to vaguely perceive malice likely stemmed from forcibly suppressing Kurama with Adamantine Sealing Chains and siphoning a large amount of its chakra.

On top of that, while she never awakened the Mind's Eye of the Kagura, her sensory abilities were exceptionally sharp. During her encounter with Danzō, her chakra had been operating at high intensity, and a series of coincidences had aligned—only then did she fleetingly catch that intense burst of malice when Kei made his move.

"I need to be more cautious in the future," he reflected.

As far as he knew, no other methods for detecting malice existed in the shinobi world, but who could say what strange abilities might appear? Just like how the original story never mentioned Kushina having such a perception at all. The plot wasn't omniscient, after all. A little extra caution could never hurt.

Sinking deeper into the warm bath, he retrieved the notes he had scribbled when he first arrived in this world. Cross-referencing them with the memories that had resurfaced after two overlapping traits merged, he carefully sorted out any useful information.

It wasn't until the moon hung high in the sky that exhaustion took over, and he finally went to bed.

The night passed in silence.

---

By the time he woke up the next morning, Kushina had already left. The neatly folded bedding caught his eye, along with a small note pressed under a teacup.

---

I'm not messy at all, okay? o(´^｀)o

Also, Kei, you've gotten quite bold, huh? Sneaking a hug like that~ (˘︶˘).｡.:*♡

---

A playful doodle of a smiling face and a big heart accompanied the words, bringing a smile to his face.

As she had pointed out, he really had become bolder since activating the system. The old him would never have let a Nine-Tails jinchūriki spend the night. Let alone talk about ambushing Danzō.

After years of living in Konoha, he knew exactly how to avoid catching the attention of the schemers lurking in the shadows.

If he had been a little bolder back then...

"He'd have dragged me off for a warning ages ago!" Kei scoffed.

He knew exactly what his identity meant and what Kushina represented to Konoha. If he hadn't deliberately maintained a careful distance between them, Danzō would have come knocking long ago.

But now… he wanted to hold that red-haired girl in his arms and have a sweet, carefree romance. If Danzō, Koharu, or Homura dared to interfere, well—perfect timing.

In his past life, he had been fascinated by extreme thrills and dangerous stunts, and in this life, he had even learned a technique that allowed him to control others' bodies.

Wingsuit flying over the Valley of Death in the Land of Bears, extreme snowboarding down the snow peak of the Land of Snow, surfing monstrous waves in the Land of the Sea's typhoons… If those places were too far, there was always bungee jumping off the Hokage Rock. After all, it wouldn't be him facing the consequences—why not go all out?

"Why am I actually looking forward to them making a move?" He grinned and stepped out the door, heading for the mission assignment office.

A quick stop in the shopping district for a couple of dango skewers and rice balls was enough to appease his rebellious stomach. He wondered if it was time for his clan to open a few breakfast shops in Konoha—bringing in some extra income for the elderly while giving the villagers a taste of something new. He couldn't say much, but with his memories from the trait fusion, he could perfectly recreate soybean milk, cheese danish, panna cotta, meat pies, focaccia bread, and lamb soup.

Arriving at the mission office, he handed over the signed confirmation from the client of yesterday's mission to the duty jonin, Shikaku, and collected his payment. Just as he was about to browse for another low-level mission, Shikaku called him over to an office on the side of the hall.

"Kei, how's it going as a squad leader?"

"If I say I don't like it, can I quit?"

"Nope. Just making conversation. Pretend you didn't hear that."

"Then get to the point."

They exchanged matching eye-rolls.

The Ino-Shika-Chō clans had always been close, and being only a year apart in age, they had grown up together—there was no need for empty formalities between them.

"The three members in your squad were personally chosen by the Hokage, especially Kurenai. It would be best if you take her in as a disciple and guide her well."

"Kurenai's father, right?"

"Yeah. The situation in the shinobi world isn't exactly stable right now, and since our clans support the Hokage's faction…"

"Got it. I'll train them properly." Kei waved a hand dismissively, unimpressed.

He had already suspected Hiruzen's intentions when he first saw his squad's composition.

Guy and Genma both came from clean backgrounds and were the kind of people willing to sacrifice for their teammates. Their skill sets complemented each other, and they'd get along without issue. As for himself, being a member of the Yamanaka clan, he was naturally aligned with the Hokage faction. He was also skilled in genjutsu and his clan's Yin Release techniques—making him the perfect choice to mentor Kurenai.

Hiruzen's plan was obvious.

By fostering Kurenai, he could secure Shinku's loyalty and quickly win over lower-ranking ninjas, preparing for the turmoil ahead.

As for Ebisu, who had been transferred to the logistics training department? He was just another pawn being moved under the pretense of "best utilizing his skills."

Kei wasn't particularly fond of these political maneuvers, but since he benefited from his clan's influence, there were some things he simply couldn't avoid. The best he could do was treat his squad fairly and train them to the best of his ability.