Gimme your power stones please.
...
"It better be cooler over there, dattebane!" Kushina bemoaned annoyedly, her purple eyes looking into his with distaste as she rubbed her forehead tiredly. The heat of the military district still clung to her skin like an invisible shroud, making her long for even the slightest respite.
With a chuckle, Hidetada moved lightning fast and picked her up before she could react. He held her firmly in his arms, carrying her in bridal style. "Oh, it definitely is."
Before she could even mount a protest, he was already moving. He added amusedly, his brown eyes flickering down to look at hers, "Hold on tight, or you might fall off."
As Kushina opened her mouth to say something, the world around her blurred.
Objects and buildings passed by at an incredibly fast pace, turning into streaks of muted color. A sense of dizziness enveloped her as she felt him jumping and launching himself into the air. They hung in the atmosphere for a moment, suspended against the blue sky, before gravity took its hold and brought his feet back down to a rooftop instead of the dusty ground.
A squeal escaped her lips as she shut her eyes tightly, realizing that he was using the Body Flicker Technique to move around even faster than usual. The technique was already supposed to make the person using it feel dizzy and off balance, but being in someone else's arms made the sensation even more terrifying.
The sound of the wind zipping by made her realize that they were moving incredibly fast, even for a Shunshin. How was he even able to move this fast and not crash into a chimney or a water tank? It was utterly ridiculous; she could wondered if there was anything that he could not do.
Kushina pressed her face deeper into his chest—she definitely did not do it because she liked the feel of him—as he made continuous jumps in a rapid series.
She finally remembered to breathe as the world stopped moving so fast. Opening her eyes while her body was still firmly pressed against his, Kushina looked up to see him looking at her with a smirk. A flush appeared on her cheeks as she quickly jumped out of his arms with a cough, almost falling to the ground due to the sudden dizziness before Hidetada caught her to prevent her from stumbling.
With a growl, she slapped his shoulder lightly and spoke boisterously, her arms flailing around her animatedly. "You should ask for a lady's permission before doing all these things, dattebane!"
"I don't see any lady over here," Hidetada teased, pretending to look around the empty space before Kushina hit him again with a pout on her face, causing him to burst out laughing. She was far too easy to tease.
"Hmph." With a huff, she turned away from him to take note of their surroundings.
Looking around, she realized that she was surrounded by massive trees in all directions but the one directly ahead of her. A content sigh escaped her as a cool breeze went past, fluttering her vibrant red hair in the air.
Walking toward the straight path, the Uzumaki girl gazed at the vast vista below her.
Numerous houses and streets of all colors dotted her vision as Kushina stared at the village of Konoha. She could see the tiny figures of people walking through the streets and going about their day. Birds chirped in the high branches around her, their songs mixing with the cool gust of wind passing through the narrow gaps between the trees.
Walking a bit further forward, the Uzumaki realized that she was standing near the edge of a high mountain.
"We are at the top of the Hokage Rock," Hidetada informed her as he moved past her to sit at the edge of the mountain with his feet dangling off the precipice. Taking a step forward curiously, Kushina looked down to see a sheer drop below her that made her stomach churn. She immediately pulled back and sat down beside him, making sure to stay a bit further away from the terrifying edge.
"It's really cool here, even the trees are massive." Hidetada hummed to himself as he heard her voice, his gaze not tearing away from the village as the sunlight shone through the gaps of the leaves. The sound of rustling could be heard as the trees shook their leaves and branches against each other in the high-altitude wind.
A sense of peace enveloped him as he relaxed, leaning back on his arms that were pressed against the grassy ground.
"Pretty cool, right? I made them myself."
Kushina glanced at him curiously with her eyebrow raised, her red lips parting as she said, "What? You planted all the trees here?"
She looked around with her purple eyes, glancing at the area appreciatingly; he must have had a lot of patience to grow such a big forest by hand.
A tired groan escaped Hidetada's lips at her words.
"I can use Wood Release, you chipmunk."
Kushina opened her mouth to tell him off furiously for calling her a chipmunk, but the words died in her throat.
'Wait a second. Wood Release.'
The Wood Release? The same legendary power used by Senju Hashirama, who was more commonly known to the world as the God of Shinobi?
That was ridiculous. How could Hidetada–
"No, I won't be explaining myself." Kushina shut her mouth with a click, still in disbelief as her respect for Hidetada grew by another notch. She had suspected that he was strong because of the sheer amount of chakra that he radiated subconsciously, but he could use Wood Release? That was simply unbelievable.
Still, the Uzumaki girl decided to keep her mouth shut as she processed what he had just said. No wonder all those people in the village respected him; if he was even close to the First Hokage's strength, then he deserved it completely.
"Say, Kushina, when you gaze down at the village, what do you see?" Hidetada's voice drew her out of her thoughts as she turned her head to look at his calm face curiously.
A few seconds passed as she thought about his question deeply, thinking it through carefully before finally giving her reply with a serious tone.
"A bunch of houses and streets?"
This girl...
With a sigh, Hidetada rubbed his forehead, realizing that waiting for a profound response had been meaningless. It was time to go for the usual route where he didn't let the other person speak.
"Let us imagine for a moment that the village below us is not Konoha, but Uzushiogakure, yes?" He waited for her to give a small, hesitant nod before he continued. "In this scenario, you see all the people you love. You see your kin, your friends, the very faces you desire to protect above all else. You would do everything in your power to save them from harm, would you not? You would bleed for them without a second thought."
Hidetada did not wait for her response this time. The fires of a cold passion began to burn in his eyes as he stared down at the sprawling infrastructure of the Hidden Leaf.
"You look at that village and you feel the burning desire to protect it. After years of agonizing effort and sacrifice, you finally gain the strength required to shield them from the world. But then, the crushing realization hits you. You realize that the heads of the village, the ones sitting in their high towers, are nothing more than spineless fools. They are weak men who, through their indecision and cowardice, will bring about the total downfall of everything you love, no matter how hard you fight for them. You realize that the very moment you leave their side or the moment you die, everything you have worked for will be destroyed. It will all turn to ash because the world is governed by those who are unfit to lead."
He took a deep, steadying breath, his gaze mapping the streets of Konoha below as a sudden quietness claimed the peak. Once again, the silence was broken by his strong voice.
"So, I ask you, what do you do in the face of such a pathetic reality? Do you embrace a lesser evil to defeat the greater one? Or do you waste your life trying and failing to persuade the people around you to be better, to be so much more than they are? Most would choose to do nothing, watching as their world burns around them while they pray for a miracle."
Hidetada turned his head sharply, staring directly into her purple eyes with an intensity that made it impossible for Kushina to look away.
"In my case, the choice was made long ago. I shall embrace evil to defeat the greater evil. I will become the monster if that is what is required to bring about a change in this accursed world. That is the purpose that has been bestowed upon me."
He clenched his fist tightly, raising it slightly as his voice gained a sharp, biting fervor. He spoke with the conviction of a man who believed every word that was coming out of his mouth, regardless of the consequences. This was the voice of a man who would not deviate from his path no matter what.
"What is the point of strength? What is the value of power when everything you have built will be obliterated the moment you are gone? That is right. They are worth nothing. They are empty weights. Strength and power without the grand ambition to fundamentally change the world for the better are utterly worthless. To have power and not use it to fix this broken cycle is the greatest sin of all."
Hidetada reached out and took Kushina's soft palm into his own. His eyes seemed to stare past her own, past her muscles to look directly into her soul.
"This world is a terrible, fractured place, Kushina. Chaos rules every corner of it, and it will continue to do so as long as men are content with their own mediocrity. It will never end if there is no reckoning. But you see, I am that reckoning. I am the being that has been born into this era to lead a righteous crusade. I will be the force of nature that resets the board and brings about a peace that actually lasts. I will succeed in this, or I will die trying. There is no middle ground for a man like me."
His hand rose up from her palm to grasp her delicate chin, tilting her head so that her startled eyes were locked onto his own unwavering gaze.
"The question remains, my dear Kushina. A question that will define the rest of your life. Will you join me in this? Will you stand by my side as we make this world a place worth living in, regardless of the cost?"
As she gazed into his warm brown eyes, which had suddenly gained an intensity like never before, Kushina already realized what her answer was going to be.
There was no way she could refuse him.
It was not only due to his speaking skills; the words had resonated with her and made her want to leave the world a better place than she had found it. Absent-mindedly, the Uzumaki couldn't help but wonder where he had learned to speak like that, as it was honestly impressive.
But that was not her only reason for accepting.
Kushina knew that she simply did not have it in her to refuse. Even though she had met him just a day ago, it already felt like she had known him for a lifetime. The thought of what would happen if she refused was what terrified her. Hidetada was her first friend in the entire village, even better than the few friends she had back in Uzushio.
What would his reaction be if she refused?
Kushina could already imagine it. He would never show it outwardly, but she would always be able to feel a disconnect in their bond, something that would tear them apart slowly but surely.
She had become addicted to the presence that was Hidetada Senju.
So it was not a surprise as her arms wrapped themselves around his shoulders.
She pulled him into a hug, her mouth opening to speak without her needing to even think about the words.
"Yes! I would stand beside you no matter what situation you find yourself in, Hidetada."
With her face buried in his chest, as he rested his head on her shoulder, a sense of melancholy developed in his heart before he crushed it.
Resisting the urge to let his lips turn upward at the success of the situation while Kushina couldn't see his face, he simply pulled her deeper into the embrace.
His face became heavily shadowed due to the absence of the sun; as he pulled back slightly from the hug, he angled his head so that the golden light from the horizon was blocked by the thick canopy and his own posture. The features that usually held a warm, kind charm were swallowed by a pitch-black gloom, leaving only the sharp, dangerous silhouette of his jawline and the unnerving, glowing intensity of his eyes visible within the darkness. He opted to stare into her lovestruck eyes instead, his expression unreadable behind the veil of shade.
A masterclass in manipulation, indeed.
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A special thanks to hh for subscribing to my patreon, thank you. I really appreciate it.
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Read up to 20 chapters ahead on my patreon: Patreon.com/dekiru77
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Word Count: 2286.