At the Senju ancestral residence.
Mito helped Shio to her feet and, together with the Nine-Tails, listened to everything that had happened between her and Seisui.
Both the girl and the fox were completely dumbfounded...
The Nine-Tails couldn't help but offer a sharp critique:
"I feel like this brat's emotional intelligence is worse than mine. What kind of brain does he have? This is the first time I've met someone who talks even more offensively than Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara!"
Mito chuckled.
The fox was slandering her husband again!
"That's only because you haven't met enough people..."
At first, Mito had been somewhat angry.
After all, one of her clansmen had suffered such grievances out there. Naturally, someone ought to answer for it.
The way Seisui had behaved was practically treating Shio as a tool to be used!
This was Konoha...
Not Kusagakure!
But Mito quickly calmed down.
After all, Seisui had protected Shio while they were in Kusagakure...
Based on that point alone, there was no way he harbored any ill intentions.
'Right...'
'He's Tobirama and Izuna's descendant...'
'Then it's not strange at all—not strange at all!'
'No wonder the sense of déjà vu was so strong. He didn't inherit a single thing from Izuna. He's practically a miniature Tobirama brought back to life!'
Mito muttered inwardly.
In an instant, long-buried memories rose from the grave and attacked her once more.
"Nine-Tails, did you know? There used to be quite a remarkable man in Konoha..."
"Hashirama and I tried setting him up on dates dozens of times, and not a single one worked out..." Mito complained.
"Such a legendary figure actually existed?"
The Nine-Tails perked up its ears curiously.
"With both your reputation and Hashirama's backing him up, women should've been lining up at the door. How could every single matchmaking attempt fail?"
"That man was Hashirama's younger brother—Konoha's Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama."
Mito grumbled: "Not only did he expect the woman to maintain a superior-subordinate relationship with him as strict as the Shinobi Code, but she also had to understand research, possess considerable strength, and be pleasant enough to look at..."
"He was basically trying to find a female version of himself to wait on him!"
"And he never stopped to think—if there really were a female version of himself, why would she want to wait on someone else?"
"To borrow Isshin and Tenzō's words, it's the classic mindset of a Warring States-era shinobi..." Mito rolled her eyes so hard it was obvious she had been holding this grudge for years.
"Seriously ridiculous!"
"That really is ridiculous..." the Nine-Tails nodded from the bottom of its heart. "Did he never succeed even once?"
"No. Who could possibly meet standards like that?" Mito sighed.
"Though I can't blame him entirely..."
"Tobirama shouldered all the darker aspects of the Senju Clan. He spent his life immersed in controversy, criticism, and countless extreme situations. Hashirama and I wanted him to go on those dates because we hoped it would help him relax a little."
"I think Seisui is much the same..."
"That boy was born in Kusagakure and carries Tobirama's bloodline. Looking at his experiences, he's lived an extreme life as well. It's only natural that his temperament resembles his grandfather's."
The Nine-Tails swayed its tails thoughtfully.
Lately, it had been gradually learning logic and human relationships, trying to understand the structure of the shinobi world and how people interacted with one another.
The old Nine-Tails would have sneered at such things.
The current fox analyzed everything frame by frame...
If it could understand these things, then when facing enemies in the future, it would have powerful allies by its side!
Sometimes the Nine-Tails wondered—
Back when Hashirama had sealed it away...
If it had shouted, I can love Konoha too! I can believe in the Will of Fire too!
Then perhaps it might have ended up serving as one of Konoha's advisors.
There were many kinds of power in this world.
A Tailed Beast Ball wasn't the only one.
Mito slowly helped Shio to her feet, wiped away her tears, and said gently: "Shio, Seisui may not necessarily be disrespecting you..."
"His circumstances are special."
Shio froze.
Mito then explained Seisui's background to her.
Using Tobirama as an example—"the older Seisui"—she told several stories about Tobirama's disastrously low emotional intelligence during matchmaking attempts.
Mito had already sensed Shio's desire to become stronger.
That alone was enough.
There was no need to let the misunderstanding deepen further until it gave rise to resentment and hatred.
After all, the method best suited for Shio's growth was learning how to control the violent chakra of a Tailed Beast...
As Shio listened, her heart pounded harder and harder.
She had never imagined that the boy who had shared life-and-death struggles with her in Kusagakure was actually a genuine descendant of the Hokage's lineage.
And he was even connected to Uchiha Izuna—the rival of Senju Tobirama...
The twists and melodrama of the story were so outrageous that Shio couldn't help becoming completely engrossed in it.
"So you're saying Seisui has Uchiha Izuna's soul inside him?"
Shio frowned deeply.
"That doesn't sound right... Mito-sama, didn't you say Izuna was a hopeless womanizer? If he's inside Seisui, shouldn't he be leading Seisui astray instead?"
"Oh, I get it!"
"Seisui dislikes Izuna's way of doing things. The Uchiha tend to be pretty extreme, right? So he overcorrected and ended up becoming like Tobirama-sama instead. It just so happens that he also has Tobirama's bloodline influencing him..."
Shio slapped her fist into her palm, convinced she had uncovered the truth.
Mito silently sighed.
She had only offered a small step down, yet somehow the girl had sprinted all the way down the staircase on her own.
Still, she could understand.
One option was a socially awkward blockhead with terrible emotional intelligence.
The other was a shameless flirt who fell for every woman he met.
Between the two, anyone hoping for a normal relationship would obviously prefer the former.
"Shio, you need to understand this."
"Love may be something that most men and women long for, but it is neither indispensable to life nor the first thing a shinobi should concern themselves with."
"Your value is determined by your own heart."
"No matter how Seisui treats you, you are still yourself."
Mito looked directly into Shio's eyes and said calmly: "Even if I weren't Hashirama's wife, I would still be Uzumaki Mito..."
"As a shinobi of Konoha, you should think about what kind of person you want to become."
"That is why you should study, why you should seek strength. When you've grown enough, you can make those complicated choices for yourself."
Mito was in no hurry to have Shio accept the Nine-Tails' chakra.
Power required the right mindset to control it.
On the smaller scale, lacking that mindset would greatly reduce the return on the investment, preventing Tailed Beast chakra from displaying the power it ought to possess.
On the larger scale, if a person's thinking was flawed, then the greater their power became, the greater the trouble they would cause.
Mito certainly didn't want Shio to fail to become a younger version of herself, only to end up becoming a younger version of "Uzumaki Madara" instead...
Shio fell silent.
She nodded gently and thought for a long time.
"Seisui certainly deserves enormous credit for rescuing me from Kusagakure..."
"But the most important reason was still the village itself!"
"If the village hadn't dispatched an organized force to launch a surprise attack on Kusagakure, then no matter how capable Seisui was, given the condition both of us were in back then, there was no way we could have escaped..."
"And yet all I saw was Seisui. I completely overlooked everyone else in the village..."
"How could I do that?"
Shio closed her eyes.
The scene from the day she escaped death was still vivid in her mind.
Fugaku, Sakumo...
Shio also knew that Danzō had led a team there that day, while the legendary Sannin were responsible for driving away shinobi from the other hidden villages...
And there were so many Konoha shinobi whose names she didn't even know, yet who had taken part in the rescue operation.
"I shouldn't place my entire life in someone else's hands. And how can I think only about myself..."
"I should be like Seisui. The first thing I should love is this village!"
Shio murmured to herself before suddenly opening her eyes and declaring with utmost seriousness: "Mito-sama, I still want power. I still want to learn. I still want to become stronger..."
"But not for Seisui. Or rather, he only accounts for a very small part of it."
"I want the power to protect Konoha too!"
"I always thought Seisui alone was the one who pulled me out of hell, but I forgot that what truly gave me a new life was Konoha—the Will of Fire."
"If true peace ever comes to Konoha, and fate still ties us together, then that's wonderful..."
"And if it doesn't, I'll accept that too."
"The Will of Fire will find companions for me."
At that moment, Mito finally smiled.
She could sense the pure emotions surging within Shio's heart...
Even the Nine-Tails was slightly moved.
With its ability to sense malice, it had clearly felt that a considerable amount of chaotic hatred and negative emotion had been swirling within Shio at first...
Yet Mito had only spoken a few words—nothing particularly earth-shattering—and somehow Shio had entered a state of complete enlightenment.
Especially after the words "Will of Fire" were spoken.
If the malice in Shio's heart had been a greasy stain, then in that instant it was as though a kettle of boiling water had been poured over it, melting it away without a trace...
Wasn't this even more effective than the Sharingan?
The Nine-Tails instinctively wanted to say something, but ultimately remained silent.
'The Will of Fire, huh?'
'I'll watch and see just how far it can take you.'
'You may be able to suppress the malice in your heart, but that doesn't necessarily mean you can control the ferocity of my chakra...'
The Nine-Tails spoke solemnly to Mito: "Mito, I want to give this little girl my chakra."
"And I want to give her a lot of it!"
"I want to see just how far her potential can go..."
"I want to see whether this Will of Fire can turn a timid little girl into a jinchūriki capable of wielding my power..."
Mito was somewhat surprised.
Had the sun risen in the west today?
Not only was the fox willing to give away chakra voluntarily, it wanted to give away a large amount of it, all for the sake of testing the Will of Fire?
"Fox, you're in trouble..."
"You're starting to catch the Will of Fire yourself. Not even Hashirama's original version, either—the version Hiruzen refined afterward."
Mito coughed lightly.
"Shio, the Nine-Tails says it wants to give you a large amount of chakra..."
"But let me warn you first. Once this Tailed Beast chakra leaves its control, it becomes extremely violent. It's also filled with powerful emotions. If you can't control it properly, it will backlash against you..."
"That said, the power contained within it is immense."
"You've already awakened the Adamantine Sealing Chains. If you've truly made up your mind, I'll help you master this power."
Shio took a deep breath and bowed deeply.
"Thank you, Mito-sama..."
"And thank you too, Nine-Tails-sama!"
The Nine-Tails visibly froze for a moment before snorting and leaping from Mito's shoulder in the form of a small fox.
"Don't thank me, brat!"
"I just want to see you lose yourself to power and forget all about the Will of Fire!"
Shio smiled brightly, even more radiant than a flower blooming after the rain.
"Don't worry. I won't."
"The fact that you're willing to lend me Tailed Beast chakra means that Nine-Tails-sama also possesses the Will of Fire."
"I have the Will of Fire too?"
This time, the Nine-Tails didn't immediately refute her. Instead, it clicked its tongue and muttered to Mito: "Hey, hey, this counts as fulfilling our agreement, right?"
"You'd better use the Adamantine Sealing Chains to help me control my chakra and teach me the Shadow Clone Technique. I want to get some fresh air!"
"I'm going to suffocate inside you at this rate!"
Mito smiled and nodded.
"Alright, alright..."
A short while later, Mito's Adamantine Sealing Chains pierced into Shio's back.
With the Nine-Tails willingly providing it, an enormous quantity of Tailed Beast chakra poured into Shio's body!
As Mito watched Shio endure the erosion of the Tailed Beast chakra while learning to control that power, she couldn't help feeling deeply moved.
She had always assumed that the one who would inherit her entire legacy and become the next Nine-Tails jinchūriki would be Kushina.
But now, Shio seemed to have even greater potential...
Mito keenly noticed that the corrosive effects of Tailed Beast chakra were little more than an annoyance to someone with Shio's extraordinary life force.
After all, Shio's vitality was so abundant that it practically overflowed from her body. She could even replenish it through biting.
After repeatedly undergoing cycles of erosion and self-repair, her resistance would grow tremendously, eventually eliminating the damage Tailed Beast chakra caused to her body.
Nor had Mito expected Seisui to appear out of nowhere and multiply Shio's determination and willpower exponentially, to the point where she willingly accepted the Nine-Tails' chakra...
He had even helped awaken her Adamantine Sealing Chains!
'Forget it. Kushina can focus on having children with Minato instead...'
'The Uzumaki Clan is already so small. Having more children for Konoha is the proper thing to do.'
'The two of them both have excellent qualities. Maybe they'll even produce a little genius.'
That was what Mito thought.