Chapter 11: A Sudden Burst of Motherly Instinct!
Let's rewind time just a little.
Inside the Kazekage Tower, in the Kazekage's Office on the fifth underground level.
"You're saying that the child identified those fine-detail problems during his first-ever Chakra refinement?"
After listening to Chiyo's report, the Third Kazekage, who had been reviewing documents, brightened. He tossed the file in his hand to the side, propped his chin on one hand, and repeated her words with great interest.
"Yes, that's right. You're still young, Lord Kazekage, and your hearing is fine, so don't use such a clumsy method to dodge your work."
The next second, the file he had just tossed aside was slung back in front of him by Chiyo's Chakra threads.
As shinobi from the same generation, Chiyo knew the Third Kazekage's personality and abilities like the back of her hand. She could instantly tell he was just trying to escape his paperwork.
"Ah… I'm just not good at this. I can't help it."
Being scolded by his subordinate, the Third Kazekage—the supreme leader of Sunagakure—showed no anger. He just made a sour face, like he'd eaten a pickled plum, and sullenly picked up the file to resume his approvals.
"Don't be so selfish. Everyone else has already handled all the documents they can. The only ones left are the ones that you must personally handle and make a final decision on."
Chiyo casually picked up a file, glanced at it for two seconds, and delivered her merciless verdict.
The First Kazekage, Reto, was a man who had united the warring factions of the desert with overwhelming power, establishing Sunagakure through sheer strength. At the same time, he did everything he could to negotiate with other ninja villages to strengthen the nation.
Even the fertile lands that now served as Sunagakure's foundation were something he had fought for at the first Five Kage Summit.
As Reto's successor, the Second Kazekage, Shamon, inherited his philosophy and expanded upon it.
He developed Sand Manipulation Jutsu (which allowed one to fight many and was especially powerful on home turf), the Puppet Technique (which allowed puppets to act in place of shinobi), and the research into weaponizing the One-Tails, Shukaku.
All these techniques were developed during Shamon's reign. Combined with a series of policies to strengthen the military, Sunagakure's power developed by leaps and bounds.
After the First Great Shinobi War, Shamon stepped down due to hidden injuries and accumulated fatigue, retiring to work behind the scenes.
Adhering to the philosophy of military expansion, the man who took his place, the Third Kazekage, was the strongest individual in all of Sunagakure. Possessing the unique Magnet Release Kekkei Genkai, he was hailed as the strongest Kazekage in history.
However, he had absolutely zero talent for political administration.
While his Magnet Release jutsu required precise calculation to be effective, and the Third Kazekage, who had earned his position with that power, was certainly not stupid…
They all thought that after a few years of training, he would grasp the essentials of the job. But it seems specialization is key: if you can't learn it, you just can't learn it.
Combat Ability: Overwhelmingly strong!
Paperwork Ability: Utterly useless!
The man was a total numbers-geek; his head was full of calculations, with no room for anything else.
This was something that even Shamon, who had chosen him as his successor, had not anticipated. Because of this, Shamon had to work with the shinobi of that generation to spend several years completely restructuring Sunagakure's entire administrative body.
As for why the Third Kazekage's office was on the fifth underground level, that was his own choice.
As Kage, his administrative ability was terrible. The most he could do was 'serve his sentence' down here with the civilian staff, hoping his presence would alleviate some of the psychological stress they endured working in this environment.
Oh, and act as an unfeeling stamping machine.
"Hmm… For a beginner, the child's observations are indeed too sharp."
The sound of flipping pages and stamping documents filled the room. The Third Kazekage, having resigned himself to his fate, continued processing files while steering the conversation back to Chiyo's report.
"But in your report, you said there was nothing else unusual about him, correct? Perhaps that superhuman sensitivity is the very reason the Uzumaki Clan's Sealing Jutsu and Barrier Jutsu are so powerful."
As a user of jutsu that required extreme attention to detail and calculation, the Third Kazekage was himself a type who was exceptionally sensitive to Chakra flow. Therefore, he wasn't particularly concerned about this one point.
He was more upset about the burned corpses of the Uzumaki couple. But, like Chiyo, he agreed that it wasn't worth creating a rift with the living child over two bodies.
"Perhaps that's it."
Chiyo folded her arms and tilted her head. "Although there's a subtle sense of wrongness about him in many ways, it's not incomprehensible when I think about it. This is probably what they call a 'genius'."
"In that case, Lord Kazekage, how do you intend to handle the brat?"
The change in address signaled a change in attitude. This matter concerned the future development of all of Sunagakure. Even if they were close friends, they had to treat it with formal respect.
"Find a trustworthy family to adopt him, influence him subconsciously, and make him a member of Suna. That was the initial plan, but it seems that won't be necessary now."
At this, the Third Kazekage stopped stamping. He steepled his fingers under his nose, his gaze deepening.
Seven or eight years had passed since the end of the First Great Shinobi War. Conflicts and friction between the nations were gradually heating up again. In this situation, it was an unspoken default that all nations and all Hidden Villages had spies from other villages.
Therefore, Suna had never planned to welcome the Uzumaki family with great fanfare. After receiving Chiyo's initial report, the plan was always to cultivate Hiiro Rinko in secret.
But clearly, Rinko's talent and intellect far exceeded their expectations, so the previous plan, designed for an ordinary child, was now useless.
"Since that child is consciously raising his own value, then we will make a clear transaction with him. Give him resources, help him get his revenge, and in return, he will finish the work his parents started. We will make no other demands…"
"In any case, we were already prepared to raise him for over a decade before he became useful. Nothing has fundamentally changed, we're just removing the 'subtle guidance' part.
"In any case, after living in the 'home' we provide for ten years, he's bound to develop some feelings for it, right?"
"Then… I will adopt the brat."
"Because of his red hair?"
"Get lost. Don't make it sound like I have some weird fetish for red hair."
"But it is a good cover story, isn't it? 'While returning from a mission, I stumbled upon a talented orphan. Because his hair color was so similar to my own husband's and son's, I was moved by pity and decided to bring him back to adopt'."
The Third Kazekage's eyes were sharp, as if he could see right through Chiyo's mind.
He was bad at paperwork, but he could still read his old friend.
"Oh, shut up!"
The gray-haired kunoichi's face flushed red. She snapped at him, turned, and stormed out of the office.