A Quiet Day
Outside the seal space, Tōma glanced at Naruto, still sprawled across the bed, snoring without a care in the world.
He couldn't help but shake his head.
With Naruto's personality, sending him out alone on missions would be a disaster waiting to happen. Fortunately, Konoha didn't actually need Naruto on the front lines right now.
And truthfully speaking, Naruto was already terrifyingly strong.
After mastering Sage Mode at Mount Myōboku, his strength was brushing up against the high end of Kage-level, even if you were being conservative. And if things truly went south, did anyone really believe the Nine-Tails would just sit back and watch?
More likely, Kurama would reconcile on the spot and unlock Nine-Tails Chakra Mode.
Of course, knowing Kurama, it would probably reconcile first… then sulk afterward.
With Nine-Tails Mode active, Naruto might be the only shinobi in Konoha who could genuinely match Tōma head-on. And above that was an even scarier possibility: Sage-enhanced Nine-Tails Mode.
Even Tōma had to admit it. In that state, Naruto's raw physical parameters might actually surpass his own. Combat experience and technique still mattered, of course, and Tōma had an edge there. Techniques like his newly developed unstable Yin–Yang detonation were things even Six Paths–tier opponents wouldn't want to take head-on.
Still…
"That kid really is terrifying," Tōma muttered.
With Kurama backing him, Naruto was practically cheating.
Sasuke, by comparison, was lagging slightly behind. Even with the Mangekyō, the potential for Eternal Mangekyō, Hashirama cells, and Sage techniques from Ryūchi Cave, Sasuke would still likely fall short of Naruto's peak Sage Fox form once everything was fully realized.
After that brief reflection, Tōma left.
On the way home, he looked down at Tsukiel, which was busy grooming itself in his arms.
"So… why did you even come into existence?" he asked quietly. "And what else can you actually do?"
After speaking with Kurama, Tōma was certain of one thing. Tsukiel's birth was anything but ordinary.
Tsukiel tilted its head and blinked at him.
That was the only answer he got.
…Admittedly, it was ridiculously cute.
Tōma chuckled. Whatever the reason, Tsukiel was undeniably his creation. And its abilities would reveal themselves sooner or later.
So far, three traits were clear.
First, Tsukiel could teleport freely to any location marked with a Flying Thunder God seal.
Second, its spatial movement ignored seals entirely. Kurama's prison used the Four Symbols Seal, one of the most sophisticated sealing techniques in existence. Tsukiel didn't just pass through it, it dragged Kurama along without resistance.
That alone was alarming.
Third, even without seals, Tsukiel seemed capable of short-range teleportation within its line of sight.
Any one of these would be dangerous. Together, they were absurd.
If a tailed beast possessed abilities like this, capture would be nearly impossible. Sealing techniques wouldn't even work. You couldn't imprison something that simply ignored the concept of confinement.
The only drawback was obvious.
Tsukiel showed no offensive ability whatsoever.
Even so, Tōma couldn't help wondering if he had any right to create such a chakra lifeform at all.
After teasing Tsukiel for a bit, Tōma returned home and set it gently on the bed.
"No sneaking out tonight," he said seriously.
Tsukiel stared at him with wide eyes… and nodded.
Tōma glanced at the sky. He'd mostly recovered after resting, but heading straight back to Shikkotsu Forest now felt excessive even by his standards. Training endlessly without pause wasn't dedication, it was madness.
So he lay down again.
Just this once, he'd sleep in.
The next morning, Tōma's spiritual clone looked at the "sleeping-in" original and couldn't help smiling.
This was self-deception at its finest.
Their senses were linked. If the clone was awake and working, then Tōma wasn't really resting at all.
The clone waved at Tsukiel.
Tsukiel looked at the clone, then at the sleeping Tōma, hesitated briefly… and chose the clone.
The little creature was already awake, after all. There was nothing fun about lying around.
They left together.
Moments later, Tōma opened his eyes.
"…Yeah. Figures."
Sleeping in had lost its charm entirely.
After washing up, he headed straight back to Shikkotsu Forest. There were still many techniques he had to explore alone. These weren't things he could copy from others.
Later that morning, Tōma arrived at the Hokage's office with Tsukiel in tow. Nara Shikaku was already there.
"Morning, Shikaku," Tōma greeted, taking his seat.
"Good morning, Hokage-sama," Shikaku replied with a polite smile.
"Bring me the personnel list for the Intelligence Division," Tōma said suddenly.
Shikaku blinked but complied quickly.
As Tōma read through the files, he frowned slightly. The workload was heavy, especially for the division head.
"Shikaku," Tōma asked, "do you know what's been going on with Yamanaka Inoichi lately?"
Shikaku paused.
"…I hadn't heard anything."
But as he thought about it, something felt off. Inoichi had been skipping their usual get-togethers more often than not, always citing work.
"…Wait," Shikaku muttered. "Did something happen?"
Tōma smiled.
"Looks like I'm getting a brother-in-law. Or sister-in-law."
Shikaku froze—then burst out laughing.
"That old fox didn't say a word to us?" he said, shaking his head. "He owes us a drink. Three, at least."
Even Shikaku relaxed at the news.
"So," Tōma continued, "ease up on Intelligence Division assignments for a while. Shift some duties around. Make sure Inoichi gets home earlier. Keep an eye on it."
"That makes sense," Shikaku nodded. "They're not young anymore."
"And Ino's helping," Tōma added. "But from what I hear, pregnancy moods can be… unpredictable."
Shikaku immediately thought of his own wife and nodded gravely.
"All right," Tōma said, stretching. "Anything serious today?"
Shikaku considered it, then frowned.
"There is one thing," he said slowly. "Something… strange."
Tōma's interest was piqued.