Uchiha Hayato administered a Potion to Chimchar and watched as its breathing gradually steadied. He let out a quiet sigh of relief.
Pokémon were resilient creatures. As long as it wasn't some bizarre illness or instant death, they'd recover over time. Taking a serious hit from Uchiha Setsuna had only left Chimchar temporarily weakened.
A chill of retrospective fear crept through him. The moment the old man got serious, a sliver of killing intent had rolled off him like a cold wave, locking Hayato's spine rigid and rooting him to the spot. That's exactly why Koen had to take the blow for him.
The streets outside were peaceful and quiet. No Military Police in sight. Hayato exhaled long and slow, then finally turned his attention to the system.
[Mission complete: The Pokémon Hunter's Demand]
[Items obtained: Soothe Bell x1, Fire-type Low-Grade Pokéblock x1]
Hayato thought about it for a second. Trying to take Chimchar against his will... that was textbook Pokémon Hunter behavior, wasn't it?
The Soothe Bell increased friendship with Pokémon. Given his bond with Chimchar, he didn't need it right now. But down the line, if he ever got his hands on something like a Togepi, it would come in handy.
The Pokéblock, though, was a pleasant surprise. Its effect was similar to a Military Ration Pill: one serving provided a solid boost of energy. And if the quality was high enough, there'd be additional effects on top of that.
He glanced at his stats panel and noticed changes.
[Name: Uchiha Hayato]
[Egg Group: Human-Like, Field]
[Ability: Blaze]
[Type: Fire, Electric, Water, Yin]
[Moves: Substitution Technique, Transformation Technique, Clone Technique, Sharingan]
With the awakening of his Kekkei Genkai, Hayato's chakra reserves had grown noticeably. He took a deep breath and felt a cold current flow through his brain and settle behind both eyes.
Everything in front of him became impossibly sharp. Every individual strand of fur on Chimchar's body, every tiny movement, all of it crystal clear.
No wonder the Uchiha walked around with their chins held high. The Sharingan was the foundation of that pride.
And yet, he couldn't shake the feeling that the cold clarity was suppressing something else inside him. Dampening his other emotions. As if the eyes existed for one purpose only: combat.
He deactivated the Sharingan and heard a voice calling from outside the door.
"Hello? Is Uchiha Hayato home?"
A few minutes earlier, Namikaze Minato had been staring at the red-haired girl in front of him with a helpless expression.
"Kushina, why are you staring at me like that?"
Most of the swelling on Minato's face had gone down by now, though faint traces remained, giving him a slightly goofy look.
"Minato, could you tell me where Uchiha Hayato lives?" Kushina grinned wide.
"Sure, but what do you need him for?" Minato tilted his head, confused.
"I want to thank him. He was the first person to speak up for me today." Kushina's smile turned a little shy, then her expression twisted into something fierce. "Of course, even without him, I wouldn't have let those boys off the hook. They called me a rotten tomato!"
Minato's smile went stiff. He watched Kushina's red hair begin to float and drift upward, lifted by sheer fury, and he quietly swallowed.
Women are terrifying. Better keep my distance.
He nodded rapidly, worried she'd redirect that anger at him any second. "I know where he lives. I'll take you there right now."
The whole way, Kushina peppered him with questions.
"Minato, what's your relationship with Hayato?"
"How long have you known him? What kind of person was he before?"
Minato had always been the warm, easygoing type. Hearing Kushina's questions, a look of fond memory crossed his face.
"Hayato? I guess you'd call us friends..."
"When I first started at the Academy, nobody believed I'd become Hokage someday. He was the only one who came up to me after class and told me to believe in myself."
A gentle smile settled on Minato's face. "He's an interesting guy. Sometimes he feels more like a regular person than a shinobi. He talks about wanting to become Hokage now and then, but I can tell... deep down, all he really wants is to live a normal, peaceful life."
"A strange Uchiha, huh..." Seeing they were about to reach Uchiha territory, Minato caught himself and softened the phrasing. "I guess that's exactly why I became friends with him. Because I thought he was a little different."
Kushina nodded thoughtfully. A strange person, huh? Perfect. People treated her red hair like it was something alien too. Misfits should stick together.
She stole a glance at Minato's face and mentally compared him to Hayato. This one wasn't bad-looking either, she admitted, but there was something a little too pretty about him. Almost feminine. Hayato was easier on the eyes.
"Is this the place, Minato?"
The two of them stopped in front of Hayato's door. Minato nodded, and Kushina marched straight up and called out.
"Hello? Is Uchiha Hayato home?"
Back in the present, Minato explained Kushina's reason for showing up and spread his hands in a helpless gesture.
"Kushina, you don't need to thank me. I'd been itching to put those guys in their place for a while now. And I'm sure you wouldn't have been scared of them even without me." Hayato kept his expression straightforward.
He meant it. The desire to help Kushina had only been part of it. The bigger motivations were completing the mission and testing his own strength.
"Well obviously! Anyone who underestimates me just because I'm a girl is in for a rude awakening." Kushina balled her small fists, then seemed to realize how aggressive she was being and blushed. "But I still want to thank you for standing up for me. You made me feel like I'm not alone anymore."
Hayato noticed the pink on Kushina's cheeks, then glanced at Minato standing beside them with the expression of a man happily watching someone else's drama unfold. Something clicked inside Hayato's head.
This world had already become completely different because of his arrival. From here on out, he couldn't keep relying on the original storyline to guide his actions. If he kept that smug spectator mindset, thinking he knew how everything would play out, it would come back to bite him sooner or later.
As for Kushina, he wasn't going to turn away a girl's goodwill. But making any kind of real commitment would have to wait until he'd grown strong enough to back it up.
Setsuna wanted Chimchar? The problem was simple: Hayato was too weak, and the stakes around him were far bigger than he was. But if he could pull others into his orbit, the old man wouldn't be able to touch him so easily. Konoha belonged to everyone in the end. The fact that the Uchiha had never actually gone through with a coup was proof enough of that.
The Nara clan had raised deer for generations. But what if they were raising Deerling or Wyrdeer instead? Following that logic, the Akimichi clan specialized in their Expansion Jutsu. Pair that with a Totem Pokémon or a Dynamaxed Pokémon, and the impact would be beyond anything anyone could calculate.
[Ding! Main Quest issued: Make Pokémon Great Again]