Chapter 2

Both of them were busy.

When I stepped into the Hokage's office, I found the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, hunched over his desk, deeply absorbed in paperwork.

Stacks of documents towered in front of him, and he scribbled furiously, like a student cramming for university entrance exams.

"Hikari, you're here. Take a seat—I just need to finish these," Tobirama said without even looking up, continuing to read, stamp, and sign documents with remarkable speed.

Three hours passed.

Finally, Tobirama raised his head and looked directly at Nara Hikari.

Just when Hikari thought Tobirama was about to speak, the Hokage suddenly vanished.

"…Huh?"

Startled, Hikari instinctively released his chakra, heightening his awareness. He quickly raised his right hand and blocked a kunai strike—then vanished from view.

More accurately, he slipped into the shadow cast by Tobirama.

While Tobirama was still processing what had happened, Hikari leapt out from the shadow beneath the desk, reappearing opposite him.

"Haha! Not bad at all," Tobirama laughed, putting away the kunai.

"With some training, you'll be ready to break into the Kage level."

Tobirama sat back on the sofa, his gaze lingering on Hikari with increasing curiosity.

He recalled the dossier submitted by the Intelligence Department:

Name: Nara Hikari

Age: 16

Gender: Male

Rank: Genin

Talent: Extremely poor

Personality: Lazy

Profile: Son of Nara Kuro. A member of the first graduating class of Konoha's Ninja Academy. Failed all three Chunin Exams due to extreme laziness. In Jonin-level sparring, couldn't last more than three minutes. The First Hokage himself once called him the least talented ninja in his generation.

That was the official record.

According to it, Hikari was just a Genin with no talent, barely passing with help from teammates.

And yet now, he was a battle-hardened elite Jonin, already brushing against the threshold of Kage-level power.

Tobirama wasn't concerned that this boy had something to hide—the Nara clan was a staunch supporter of the Hokage. The clan, alongside the Akimichi and Yamanaka, dated back to the Warring States era and had survived countless wars. They weren't as simple as they appeared.

Hashirama had once warned him:

"Never corner the Nara clan. Their intelligence could pose a greater threat to the village than even the Uchiha."

That warning had always stayed with Tobirama.

In recent days, he'd been formulating a contingency plan. The four great nations were already mobilizing forces along the border. It was only a matter of time before they confirmed the deaths of Hashirama and Madara—and when that happened, invasion was inevitable.

With his elder brother gone, Tobirama alone couldn't hold the line.

He had even considered using the Impure World Reincarnation to bring back powerful shinobi from the Senju and Uzumaki clans.

But then, out of nowhere, Nara Hikari emerged.

His timing couldn't have been better.

Right now, Tobirama was the only Kage-level ninja in Konoha. The patriarchs of the Senju, Uzumaki, Shimura, Sarutobi, Nara, Uchiha, and Hyuga clans were only at elite Jonin level. The heads of other clans—Akimichi, Yamanaka, Kurama, Inuzuka, Aburame, Hatake, and so on—barely reached Jonin.

The village had around 30 combat-capable Jonin in total.

Some specialized ninjas couldn't even be sent to the front.

Tobirama took a breath and said plainly:

"Konoha is stretched thin. With the four great nations pressing in, I need you to command a unit of shinobi."

"…Me?" Hikari blinked, pointing at himself.

"Yes. You."

"That sounds like a pain… Can I pass?"

"What's the matter? Trying to keep a low profile?"

"I mean…"

"Enough. Go prepare. You'll lead 500 ninja to the Lightning Country border to confront Kumogakure. Assemble in front of this building tomorrow morning."

"…Ugh. Fine. What a hassle."

Realizing there was no room for negotiation, Hikari accepted the mission and left.

As Tobirama watched him go, he shook his head slightly.

He still couldn't understand why the boy kept hiding his true strength.

"Extremely poor talent?" Tobirama scoffed inwardly. "A sixteen-year-old elite Jonin? What a joke."

After leaving the Hokage's office, Hikari returned to the Nara clan compound.

When he got home, he relayed the Hokage's orders to his parents.

"WHAT?! The Hokage's sending you to the border?! And with 500 ninja?!"

His father, Nara Usagi, shot up from his stool like he'd sat on a hot plate.

Even his mother, Nara Yami, looked at him in disbelief.

"Are you serious? The Hokage really said that?"

"…That's right. It's official."

"…Well then, I guess you've finally made something of yourself." Usagi walked over and patted Hikari's shoulder with a proud grin.

"The border is dangerous! Why are you smiling like an idiot?!" Yami snapped, kicking her husband aside.

"My son's not going anywhere tomorrow. I'll talk to the Hokage myself and tell him to send someone else!"

"Are you insane? You think you can just overturn a Hokage's orders?"

"I don't care! I won't let my son go off to war! Have you forgotten how many members of the Nara clan died on battlefields?!"

"Of course I remember! But joining Konoha wasn't just to protect ourselves—"

"Don't give me your grand ideals! I'm only thinking of my son!"

Yami's voice cracked as tears welled in her eyes.

Too many Nara had died in war. Her resistance was emotional, not logical.

"Dad, Mom—please stop. I've already made my decision. I'm going."

"…Son."

Yami tried to speak, but Usagi gently held her back.

"The enemy is approaching. If everyone backs down like us, Konoha will fall. And if that happens, no one—not even you—will survive. I'm not doing this for Konoha. I'm doing it for you."

As Hikari finished, Yami couldn't stop the tears from falling.

Usagi placed a steady hand on his son's shoulder.

"Do what you have to. I'm proud of you."

"…Mom supports you too."

"Thanks. Both of you."

They spent the rest of the evening together, with Yami fussing over Hikari, giving him all the advice and motherly warnings she could think of.

That night, after everyone had gone to bed, Hikari lay on his back, staring at the ceiling.

Since coming to this world, he'd felt something he hadn't in a long time—care.

It would be a lie to say he wasn't moved.

He remembered how, during a recent mission, his teammates had tried to sacrifice themselves to protect his escape. That moment stayed with him.

In his previous life, he'd always felt like a burden.

"If I can't return to that life… Then I'll use this one to make up for everything I couldn't do."

In his heart, Hikari had decided:

The people in this world—he would treat them as the loved ones he failed to protect in his last life.

It was the only redemption he could offer.

A spiritual atonement.