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ā° Resets Monday!
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All eyes in the command tent snapped to Tsukimi Heshu.
Tsunade's tirade died in her throat. She froze. Her anger vanished, snuffed out like a candle flame.
She couldn't believe it. She looked back over her shoulder. Heshu stood there, offering her a gentle, reassuring smile.
For a fleeting moment, Heshu's face overlapped with another in her memory. The ghost of a smile she knew all too well.
Tsunade's eyes welled up instantly. She lowered her head, breaking eye contact.
[Ding! Affection level for target Tsunade Senju has reached 80!]
Well, since Snake-sama is dead set on making my life difficult anyway, might as well milk some more affection points out of this.
Heshu stepped forward, taking both of Tsunade's hands in his. He'd grown a bit and only had to tilt his face up slightly to meet her gaze, his eyes full of determined hope. "Tsunade-nee, believe me. I will come back."
For others, raising a flag like that was a death sentence. But he was different. He meant it.
"Right, System?" Heshu called out cheerfully in his mind.
"ā¦"
The System sighed. "Right."
Heshu's smile bloomed.
Tsunade's throat felt clogged with cotton. She couldn't speak.
Heshu turned to Nara Shikaku. "Shikaku-sama, I am the most suitable candidate. I will get the intelligence for Konoha."
Shikaku opened his mouth, then closed it. A sigh, heavy with helplessness, escaped his lips. If there was any other choiceā¦ who would send a child on a mission like this?
[Ding! Affection level for target Nara Shikaku has reached 60!]
[Ding! Affection level for target ChÅza Akimichi has reached 60!]
[Ding! Affection level for target Minato Namikaze has reached 60!]
[Ding! Affection level for target Jiraiya has reached 60!]
[Ding! Affection level for target Kakashi Hatake has reached 60!]
Heshu was basking in the symphony of notifications when one jarring note hit him. Kakashi's affection had dropped.
Everyone else's was rising. Only that old pervert Orochimaru's stayed flat. And Kakashi'sā¦ went down.
"I don't agree."
Tsunade's voice cut through the tent. She had wrestled her emotions back under control. Her gaze on Heshu was iron. "Tsunade-sama, you know the situationā¦" Shikaku began, his voice trailing off, his eyes etched with bitter understanding.
"I don't care about the situation!" Tsunade's eyes swept the room. "All I know is this: Officially, I cannot let a nine-year-old girl walk to her death. Personally, I will not send my own student to be a spy."
Actually, I'm almost twelve, Heshu silently corrected. Malnutrition had stunted this body, made him look scrawny. His real age wasn't far off from Obito's.
"Tsunadeā¦" Jiraiya looked at her, his heart aching. He'd watched her lose so much. Her brother. Her lover. Now, even her student was being sent on a suicide mission.
"How aboutā¦ a change of plans?" Jiraiya turned to Orochimaru. "What if I go?"
Orochimaru stared back, expressionless. "You go as a spy. Who holds the front line?"
Against Iwa and Kumo simultaneously? They needed every pillar of strengthāOrochimaru, Jiraiya, Tsunade, Minato, Shikaku. Not one could be spared.
Jiraiya fell silent.
"Tsunade-nee, let me go." Heshu spoke up again, smiling. "My medical ninjutsu is top-tier. I'll be safer than anyone else."
His words broke the stalemate.
Tsunade looked at him, dead serious. "Do you know what you'll face?"
Heshu nodded. "Of course."
"Constant suspicion. Living every day in fear. Scrounging for scraps of information, sleeping rough." Tsunade paused, her hands beginning to tremble. "Do you know what happens if you're discovered?"
In war, the methods for dealing with spies wereā¦ creative. Brutal. The stories alone were enough to chill the blood.
"I know."
Heshu nodded again. His eyes were calm. Serene. Like the clear surface of an autumn lake, reflecting each person's own image back at them with painful clarity.
"I know everything that could happen to me if I'm caught."
He lowered his gaze, then a smile touched his lips. It was like a sliver of blinding sunlight piercing the tent's gloom.
"But I am a shinobi of Konoha. I bear the duty of protecting it."
"Every one of us is a single screw in Konoha's great machine. We are willing to rust, to corrode, to dedicate ourselves until the very last moment."
"Isn't that what a shinobi is? To endure what ordinary people cannot. To walk paths they dare not tread. To wait in the darknessā¦ and create the dawn?"
His words were clear. Measured.
The tent was so silent you could have heard a pin drop.
His voice, soft yet firm, echoed with a weight that settled in their bones.
Shikaku stared at Heshu. A tidal wave of respect crashed inside him.
How to describe it? In this child, he saw the will of a giant.
[Ding! Affection level for target Nara Shikaku has reached 70!]
"A truly astonishing perspective," Minato said, his gaze soft and full of admiration.
[Ding! Affection level for target Minato Namikaze has reached 70!]
"Maaā¦" Jiraiya rubbed his chin, his eyes glued to Heshu. Inspiration struck.
A protagonist stepping forward in a crisis, delivering a stunning philosophical insightā¦ What a perfect story beat!
The protagonist for my next bookā¦ I'll base them on this kid.
[Ding! Affection level for target Jiraiya has reached 70!]
Orochimaru watched this little beacon of light. A faint, mocking sneer played on his lips.
This selfless, sacrificial ideologyā¦ How utterly nauseating.
[Ding! Affection level for target Orochimaru has reached -10!]
Seriously?
Heshu was exasperated. Why did Snake-sama have to be so contrary? Why was he walking the same narrow, downward path as Kakashi?
There was still plenty of Gender Swap Potion left!
"If Heshu is going as a spy, then I'm going too." Shisui stepped out from behind Hizashi Hyūga, addressing Orochimaru directly.
"Me too!" Ki followed immediately.
Heshu felt a flicker of warmth, then ruthlessly crushed it. "No! Orochimaru-sama, for a spy mission, fewer is better. The front lines need every hand. They should stay."
With those two watching his back, he wouldn't be able to cut loose properly.
To everyone else, it looked like Heshu was giving his comrades the chance to live while taking all the danger for himself.
[Ding! Affection level for target Minato Namikaze has reached 75!]
[Ding! Affection level for target Nara Shikaku has reached 72!]
[Ding! Affection level for target Jiraiya has reached 75!]
Jiraiya quietly scribbled in his little notebook: Protagonist takes on dangerous mission alone to protect comrades.
"Orochimaru-sama!" Shisui and Ki spoke in unison, their resolve unwavering.
Orochimaru raised a hand, silencing them with a look. He turned to Heshu. "The mission to infiltrate Kumogakure is yours, Tsukimi Heshu."
"Yes, sir. I will complete the mission."
Heshu bowed respectfully.
Through it all, Tsunade said nothing more. She just watched Heshu in silence. Then, she turned and left the tent.
Wahhhhā¦ Heshu wept metaphorical rivers in his heart.
His beautiful Tsunade was definitely mad at him.
Night fell.
Stars speckled the sky, their light faint as fireflies. It was summer. The real fireflies drifted from the grass, and the cicadas' song was a constant hum.
Tsunade sat alone on a hilltop.
"You can come out now." She glanced over her shoulder, her tone flat.
Heshu emerged from behind a large boulder. He walked over and sat down quietly beside her.
"Tsunade-neeā¦ are you mad?"
Heshu bit his lip, genuinely unsure how to handle her mood.
I swear, Heshu vowed internally, tonight, I'm getting that max affection from her.
"What do you think?"
Tsunade snorted softly, giving him a sidelong glance.
"ā¦"
How was he supposed to answer that?
His mind raced.
"Tsunade-neeā¦ I'm happy."
After a moment of silence, Heshu said something that seemed completely off-topic.
"You're happy I'm mad?" Tsunade whipped her head around, eyes wide.
Heshu shook his head. "Not because you're mad. Because it means you care about me. That you're worried."
Tsunade huffed. "Who's worried about you?"
Time for the performance of a lifetime.
Heshu looked up at the distant stars. "My parents died in the war. I don't really have any family left. Except for Takeo-ojisanā¦ you've been the best to me."
He tilted his head to look at her, his eyes shimmering with unshed tears.
He smiled. It was a gentle smile, but one tinged with a heartbreaking kind of stubbornness.
Tsunade's anger evaporated. Her heart ached with a dull, heavy pain.
[Ding! Affection level for target Tsunade Senju has reached 95!]
"Well, it's getting late. I have an early start tomorrow." Heshu stood up. His smile was as bright as ever. He waved at her. "See you soon, Tsunade-nee!"
Tsunade stared, dumbstruck, at his smiling face. The night breeze brushed past, softening her heart until it felt like melting wax.
[Ding! Affection level for target Tsunade Senju has reached 98!]
"Tsunade-nee, can I have a gift?"
Heshu stopped mid-step. The hem of his purple yukata fluttered in the wind.
"What?"
Tsunade blinked.
A soft pressure touched the center of her forehead.
She stared at him, startled. "A gift?"
Heshu grinned, sweet and wide. "A lucky kiss from Tsunade-nee!"
Yes! I kissed Tsunade!
"With this, I'll definitely come back safe and sound!"
Heshu gave a final wave and vanished into the darkness.
Left alone, Tsunade raised a hand to her forehead. A helpless, fond smile spread across her face.
Little brat.
A girl brat, at that.
She chuckled softly, her gaze lingering on the path Heshu had taken.
You promised. You'd better come back safe.
[Ding! Affection level for target Tsunade Senju has reached 100!]
Walking back down the path to the camp, a triumphant smile bloomed on Heshu's face.
"System, how's that for skill?"
Not a single move was wasted. Every action served the ultimate goal: max affection.
Today was a good day!
He had to get up at dawn. Suppressing his racing heart and jittery hands, Heshu finally fell asleep.
Dawn broke, a thin mist clinging to the hills.
Heshu followed a winding, secluded path leading towards the Land of Lightning.
"Host, why didn't you say goodbye to the others?" The System was puzzled. A farewell would have fit his 'polite' persona.
"Ha!" Heshu plucked a blade of dogtail grass, twirling it between his fingers as he walked. "You just don't get it, do you? Leaving without a goodbyeā¦ it creates its own atmosphere. They'll think I left early because I couldn't bear to see them sadā¦"
He smirked. "Just wait for the notifications."
Sure enough, they soon began to arrive.
[Ding! Affection level for target Minato Namikaze has reached 80!]
[Ding! Affection level for target Kakashi Hatake has reached 70!]
Huh? Kakashi's shot up ten points? Did he find his conscience?
[Ding! Affection level for target Nara Shikaku has reached 75!]
[Ding! Affection level for target ChÅza Akimichi has reached 75!]
It wasn't until Heshu had left the Land of Grass and was cutting across the Land of Fire that Jiraiya's notification finally came.
[Ding! Affection level for target Jiraiya has reached 80!]
Heshu: "ā¦"
He looked at the now fully-risen sun. "See that?"
"?" The System was lost. "See what?"
"Tch." Heshu shook his head, lamenting the System's IQ. "From the timing of the affection notificationsā¦ you can tell exactly how long Jiraiya slept in."
"ā¦"
The System went silent, refusing to engage.
For the rest of the trek across the Land of Fire, no matter how much Heshu cajoled or teased, the System remained as quiet as a sleeping chicken.
"I'm choosing my skill now! You still not coming out?"
Heshu thought of his bountiful harvest.
The System finally responded. "Congratulations, Host. Target Tsunade Senju's affection has reached maximum. Targets Minato Namikaze, Nara Shikaku, Jiraiya, and ChÅza Akimichi have surpassed 60 affection."
Jackpot.
Heshu rubbed his hands together. This was a feast from the golden finger!
"Quick, quick! I want to draw the skill from Tsunade's max affection!"
The familiar blue roulette wheel appeared in his mind. Heshu didn't mind. That golden wheel from the last multi-max eventā¦ who knew when he'd see it again?
He spun the wheel.
One minute later.
It stopped. A highlighted segment enlarged before his eyes.
The wheel vanished. Two words glowed on the electronic screen.
[Infinity]
Another 'Infinity'? What does this even mean?
Smaller text materialized below.
[Skill Description: The 'Infinity' skill originates from the anime 'The Seven Deadly Sins,' user Merlin. Any magic (ninjutsu or other attack), once cast, will continue indefinitely. Fire will burn eternally; ice will remain frozen; even time-stop magic (skills) can be permanently maintained.]
[Merlin maintained her youth by stopping her own time. While the chakra cost to sustain such a technique is immense, her own magic was 'infinite,' allowing her to maintain it forever. For the Host, it is the same.]
[Note: Magic has been converted to chakra.]
Heshu froze.
The System found his reaction odd. Normally, drawing such an overpowered skill would send him into a frenzy.
"Systemā¦" Heshu's voice was low.
"What's wrong?" The System felt a flicker of concern.
"You're my brother for life!"
"Awoooooo!"
Heshu leaped into the air, spinning. He was about to lose his mind with excitement.
This skill was godly!
If the 60-affection skills were assigned by the System, this draw from the myriad worldsā¦ was pure, unadulterated, divine luck!
"ā¦"
The System stayed silent. That's a bit much.
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