Senju Hikaru did not actually have any particularly firm idea about what to call the new identity he had created—one that relied solely on the power of the Nine-Tails' chakra.
Whether it was called Shigin, Aizen, Itō Makoto, or Hirasaka Ryūji, the real purpose was the same:
to conceal the fact that he was Senju Hikaru.
So he did not dwell on it for long.
After escorting Sara and the people of Rōran safely into the Land of Tea, he turned around without hesitation and raced toward the Land of Grass.
Just settling the matter of the Rōran refugees had already cost him more than a week.
Hikaru had to admit the harvest had been extraordinary—even his strength had risen dramatically—but he still had many things left to do.
"Good thing my chakra reserves are overflowing right now, and with Nine-Tails Chakra Mode my sensory ability has strengthened too. That saves me a lot of time."
The boost to his sensory perception meant he could detect the Flying Thunder God marks he had left behind from an absurd distance away.
And once he located those marks, he could use his enormous chakra reserves to perform ultra-long-range teleportation!
Back during the Fourth Great Ninja War, the reason Minato and Tobirama had been able to arrive from such distant locations so quickly was thanks largely to Edo Tensei granting them effectively infinite chakra.
Otherwise, no matter how outrageous their sensory abilities were, they still would not have been able to casually jump all the way to where they needed to be.
Using Flying Thunder God in combination with rapid travel on foot, Hikaru reached the Land of Grass in only about two days.
To be honest, even he found that speed a little unbelievable.
He was tired, yes, but with his current physical condition, all he needed was proper rest and he would recover without any lingering damage.
So he rested one night in the Land of Grass and only set out again the next morning.
The Land of Grass lay wedged between the Lands of Wind, Earth, and Fire. Geographically, its situation was as miserable as the Land of Rain's.
But the Land of Rain had produced one terrifying figure—Hanzo of the Salamander.
It was Hanzo's overwhelming strength in the Second Great Ninja War that had barely allowed that country to keep its footing among the three great powers around it.
And because of Hanzo's deterrent power, combined with the endless rain that cloaked the Land of Rain year-round, very few people were willing to go there looking for trouble.
That had also led to terrible events unfolding inside the Land of Rain while the outside world remained completely unaware.
The Land of Grass, by contrast, also had its own hidden village, but it lacked truly powerful shinobi.
And since the village's own ninja were not especially capable either, the Land of Grass had ultimately become little more than a battleground between Konoha and Iwagakure.
The reason it still existed at all was probably because it served as a buffer zone and a convenient source of mission assignments.
As he moved swiftly through the Land of Grass, Hikaru found the place far from unfamiliar.
Even though he had never participated in the main frontlines of the Third Great Ninja War, he had still carried out plenty of war-related missions as an ANBU operative.
So it did not take him long to slip quietly to the outskirts of Kusagakure.
Looking at the village's laughably weak defenses, he could not help smiling.
"So it's still like this. Back when I first came here, I thought it was just because of wartime strain. But now it looks like they're simply rotting by choice."
Kusagakure's apathy really did surprise him a little.
Then again, maybe it shouldn't have.
The Land of Grass itself was rotten to the core. Why would its hidden village be any better?
And Kusagakure's whole specialty was researching the jutsu of other countries.
It was also extremely good at gathering intelligence and selling it off.
In fact, Hikaru vaguely remembered that the village had nearly been wiped out at one point because of that.
More importantly, Kusagakure's greatest purpose was not really protecting the Land of Grass.
Its real value was providing personnel and security for Hōzuki Castle.
There was a massive prison within the Land of Grass—the so-called Hōzuki Castle—and in the future, even its warden would be a Kusagakure jōnin.
The reason Hikaru remembered that so clearly was, of course, because of the Box of Ultimate Bliss.
It was supposedly one of the Sage of Six Paths' treasures, and over time the stories surrounding it had only grown more exaggerated, until people claimed it could grant any wish.
But Hikaru knew that was nonsense.
Inside that box was not some miraculous blessing.
It held a monster—a creature made of chakra with terrifying destructive power.
"A monster, huh…"
As Hikaru walked through Kusagakure's streets, blending in without issue, that thought suddenly made something click in his mind.
"That thing is made purely of chakra too. So… could it become food for Kurama as well?"
He turned the thought over and immediately asked the little Nine-Tails inside him.
The little fox sounded just as uncertain.
"I don't know. And the big guy doesn't seem to have any memory of that box either."
"I see."
Hikaru nodded, then asked another question with a faint smile.
"Then what about this—can you fuse with the chakra of other tailed beasts?"
"You don't even need to finish asking. I already know what you're thinking."
The little Nine-Tails immediately understood his meaning and answered in a casual tone.
"The Ten-Tails, right? I can feel that I don't like that kind of form very much… but it doesn't seem impossible. As long as the others aren't too annoying."
Hikaru chuckled softly.
"I understand."
He let the subject drop after that.
The tailed beasts had already become distinct individuals, so naturally they would dislike the idea of becoming the Ten-Tails again.
Still, Hikaru did not mind.
He had grown used to the little Nine-Tails' existence by now.
If he managed to obtain and successfully cultivate the chakra of the other tailed beasts in the future, then he would definitely look for a way to fuse those energies directly into the little Nine-Tails instead.
That way, the fox could maintain his own independent will, which would be far easier and more convenient for Hikaru.
With that thought, Hikaru raised his head slightly.
His gaze settled on an unremarkable little shop in front of him.
The last time he had come to the Land of Grass, this was where he had met with the local ANBU contact.
Later, however, he had learned that this had never been ANBU territory at all.
It had been established by Root.
Still, Hikaru could not care less.
Getting useful intelligence from Root was hardly a bad thing.
"At worst, I just beat them up when necessary. Those people have always needed discipline…"
Bang!
Inside the basement beneath the shop, the last Root shinobi slammed hard into the wall before sliding to the floor.
Hikaru shook out his hand and let out a faint sigh.
Just as he had expected, these Root operatives had shown absolutely no intention of cooperating with him.
When he first entered the place, they had actually been fairly polite.
But the moment he stated his name and rank, and demanded they assist in his work, they flatly refused.
Hikaru was not the sort to indulge them.
Strictly speaking, he and Danzō were on the same level in certain respects.
He was ANBU Minister.
That theoretically did not give him direct command over Root—but they were all still Konoha shinobi.
As ANBU Minister, his position outranked theirs by a wide margin.
No matter what excuse they had, they were not permitted to defy him outright.
If they had objections, they could have reported them to Konoha instead of opposing him face-to-face.
And so Hikaru had acted.
He had not given them even the slightest chance to retaliate.
Besides, he had already wanted an excuse to use "Senju Hikaru's" own power openly.
"Now tell me," Hikaru said with a gentle smile as he sat down casually, ignoring the Root members sprawled across the floor, "what is the punishment for disobeying a superior's orders?"
Even while he smiled, his expression made the two surviving Root shinobi feel a chill run through their bones.
"We… we know," one of them answered with difficulty, his injuries lighter than the others'. "But we're Root ninja. Without Lord Danzō's orders, we…"
"I understand."
Hikaru nodded lightly.
"Then I'll kill you all and find the intelligence myself."
He sounded almost regretful.
Even his eyes seemed to carry a trace of pity.
"So unfortunate. You were trained to serve Konoha. But a shinobi who doesn't even know who he truly belongs to is nothing but a waste of Konoha's resources."
As he spoke, Hikaru casually drew a kunai and flicked it forward.
Thwip!
The blade shot through the air and buried itself in one Root shinobi's heart.
Without waiting for the man to even finish dying, Hikaru drew another.
Thwip!
The second kunai flew and slammed into another Root operative's throat.
There had only been four Root shinobi in the basement to begin with.
In the blink of an eye, Hikaru had killed two.
He did not give them time to explain.
He did not give them room to argue.
And the sheer simplicity of it sent fear straight into the hearts of the last two.
Becoming a Root shinobi required conviction.
But because these men were assigned abroad rather than being fully absorbed into Root's internal special structure, their loyalties still leaned more toward Konoha as a whole rather than to Danzō alone.
In that sense, they were more like Kabuto than fanatics.
Even if they followed Danzō's orders, even if they knew Root demanded absolute obedience to one man—
when faced with Hikaru's unflinching brutality, fear still took hold of them.
"Please… please stop."
When Hikaru raised a third kunai and aimed it at another man, that Root operative finally broke.
"I'm sorry. We were wrong. Disobeying a superior's orders deserves death.
But we really do have other important duties here…
We'll cooperate, Minister!"
Hikaru said nothing for a long moment, the kunai still leveled at the man.
Only after several tense seconds did the blade slowly lower and point toward the ground.
Then Hikaru stood again, still smiling.
"Wouldn't it have been better to remember who you are from the start? You are Konoha shinobi—not Danzō's private soldiers."
"Yes, sir! We were wrong!"
The man answered too fast and immediately coughed, clearly pulling at his wounds.
"Take it easy. There's no rush."
Hikaru's voice remained mild.
"I only need one thing. Information."
"Sir… just ask!"
The man endured the pain and replied immediately.
Hikaru was satisfied with his attitude and finally put the kunai away.
There were still two men left alive, and Hikaru had no intention of killing them both.
Killing one or two for insubordination was one thing.
Killing too many would begin to damage his image.
He had no intention of doing that.
After thinking for a moment, he gave his objective with a faintly amused tone.
"According to ANBU intelligence, a surviving Uzumaki bloodline exists somewhere in the Land of Grass.
Red hair, sensory ability. In a country so obsessed with research, there's no way they'd let such a person go unnoticed.
And since Root enjoys prying into everyone's secrets, I doubt you people missed something like that either, did you?"
"Tch… the Land of Grass really is still the same old dump."
On a street in Kusagakure, a white-haired man with a forehead protector marked with the kanji for oil and a massive scroll strapped to his back strolled out of a tavern.
It was Jiraiya.
Ever since leaving Konoha, he had wandered the world almost nonstop—
or rather, ever since the war ended, he had followed Tsunade's example and stayed away from the village.
Officially, he always claimed he was searching for inspiration and gathering material for his next book.
What the truth was, no one really knew.
Still, he seemed to be in a fairly good mood at the moment.
To Jiraiya, the Hokage's office was a giant swamp.
And once someone sank into it, getting out was nearly impossible.
He did not thrive in a swamp like that, and he had no desire to be dragged into it, which was why he had never seriously wanted to become Hokage.
That was not cowardice.
It was simply a very clear understanding of himself.
Especially after meeting with his disciple at Mount Myōboku.
The Nine-Tails incident had shaken the entire shinobi world, so of course Jiraiya had heard about it.
But once he received confirmation that Konoha's losses had not been catastrophic, and that his disciple was still alive, he was able to relax.
Especially after learning that Minato had already gone to Mount Myōboku, Jiraiya had not bothered returning to Konoha at all.
Instead, he had gone straight there as well.
And seeing Minato with his own eyes had finally eased the worry in his heart.
Minato was alive.
Kushina and Naruto were alive.
Their condition was not ideal, but at least they had survived.
What truly shocked Jiraiya, though, was learning how Minato had effectively died and then been brought back.
He knew the Dead Demon Consuming Seal.
But he had never known there was a way to undo it.
And he certainly had not known that the now-famous Konoha Nightingale had done so much in the shadows during the Nine-Tails incident—things cold enough to make anyone shiver.
"Konoha really has become a frightening swamp… For a child that young to possess such terrifying calculation and ambition… Is that still the Konoha I know?"
Once he understood what Hikaru had done, Jiraiya became even less interested in returning.
And now that the stone weighing on his heart had lifted, he intended to resume his travels in search of inspiration.
Minato and the others already had their own goals—learning senjutsu and mastering the Nine-Tails' power.
Jiraiya had no intention of disturbing that life.
But just as he was preparing to leave, the Great Toad Sage, Gamamaru, had summoned him and given him a conversation he would never forget.
"Great Toad Sage, is there something you needed from me?"
When Jiraiya arrived before him, his manner was extremely respectful.
"Little Jiraiya… I believe I dreamed of something new."
The Great Toad Sage was unimaginably ancient.
He spoke without even opening his eyes, as though muttering in his sleep.
"A most unusual boy appeared in my dream.
That boy possessed unimaginable power… and an ambition great enough to change the entire shinobi world."
"Ambition?"
Jiraiya's mouth twitched.
For a moment, he even wondered whether the Great Toad Sage had gotten confused in his sleep and chosen the wrong word.
Changing the shinobi world sounded like a good thing, didn't it?
Wouldn't "resolve" have made more sense than "ambition"?
Still, Jiraiya did not dare interrupt him.
He simply lowered his head and listened carefully.
A strange boy.
Unimaginable power.
The determination—or ambition—to change the entire shinobi world.
Wasn't that exactly what the Child of Prophecy was supposed to be?
Jiraiya was no stranger to such prophecies.
From the moment he arrived at Mount Myōboku, his life had become entangled with them.
He knew one of his disciples would change the world.
He also knew one of his disciples might destroy it.
And in order to understand how to guide that disciple properly, Jiraiya had once asked Gamamaru directly.
The answer he received was to travel the world and write.
That was why he had spent so many years wandering, witnessing the countless faces of human nature throughout the shinobi world.
Perhaps only by seeing everything could he understand how the world should be changed—and how to guide his disciple down the right path.
"Yes," the Great Toad Sage continued, interrupting Jiraiya's thoughts. "Ambition.
A very great ambition.
What he does will surpass anything you or I imagined.
In our eyes, it may even look as though he is destroying the shinobi world.
And yet, strangely enough, it cannot be denied that he is changing it.
He truly is someone capable of bringing transformation to the world.
And this time, in my dream, he is not your disciple.
In fact… if things are handled poorly, he may become your enemy."
This time, Jiraiya's pupils widened.
The prophecy had changed completely.
The Child of Prophecy was no longer his disciple?
And might even become his enemy?
What had changed to produce such a result?
Had the Great Toad Sage really become so old that even his dreams were beginning to go wrong?
"I know you're confused, Little Jiraiya."
The Great Toad Sage spoke again, slowly and steadily, with a tone that somehow carried absolute certainty.
"I am confused as well.
But this dream lasted a very long time, and I saw it more clearly than usual.
So however unfortunate it may be… this is likely the most accurate prophecy I have seen."
"…I see."
Jiraiya lowered his head slightly.
He truly had not expected this kind of answer.
He trusted the Great Toad Sage deeply.
After all, the old toad's prophecies had never failed before.
But why had the Child of Prophecy changed?
What had caused that shift?
What exactly was happening?
"Little Jiraiya."
As Jiraiya kept thinking, the Great Toad Sage spoke once more.
"Even though that boy is no longer your disciple, the two of you will inevitably meet and become involved with one another.
I do not expect you to guide him.
But I do hope you can let him feel the existence of kindness.
There is kindness in that child's heart—but much of it is born through ambition and stained by it.
It is not pure.
And remember this above all else:
that child… is one in whom Indra and Asura are intertwined, and who walks with either nine beasts… or one."
As he walked the streets of the Land of Grass, Jiraiya kept turning that prophecy over in his mind.
It was maddeningly obscure.
Indra and Asura sounded like names—but who exactly were they?
And "nine beasts or one"…
what was that even supposed to mean?
Was the boy literally traveling around with beasts at his side?
"This really is impossible to make sense of."
Jiraiya shook his head helplessly.
But he was an optimist by nature.
If he could not figure it out, then there was no point forcing it.
The Great Toad Sage had already said they would meet eventually.
When that time came, perhaps everything would finally make sense.
"Hm?"
At that moment, Jiraiya suddenly stopped.
His gaze fixed on a certain small shop to the side.
Given who he was—the Third Hokage's disciple, one of the Sannin, and a former wartime commander—he knew perfectly well what that place really was.
But today it was unnaturally quiet.
Worse, he could smell blood from inside.
"Something happened?"
Jiraiya frowned and immediately headed over.
He might be away from Konoha for now, but he had not forgotten that he was still a shinobi of the Leaf.
If something was wrong here, he had to investigate it and deal with it properly.
"So this is the place."
Hikaru stood before the entrance to an underground chamber.
The location had been chosen cleverly.
It was far from Kusagakure's center, but still close enough to receive rapid support from the village's forces if needed.
Root really was terrifyingly competent in this sort of thing.
Still, Root—or more specifically, Danzō—had clearly kept something hidden here.
The Root operatives had long known about the Uzumaki survivor.
According to the one who finally talked, they had already sent the information back to Konoha.
The only response they received was to continue monitoring the target.
That made Hikaru suspect that Danzō had wanted to keep the Uzumaki survivor for himself instead of handing her over to Hiruzen.
Given Konoha's situation at the time, her value had mostly lain in future planning.
After all, Kushina had still been alive then.
There had been no immediate need to worry about the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki problem.
Holding that card back would only have benefited Danzō.
Unfortunately for him, fate had a cruel sense of humor.
Danzō could never have anticipated that Minato and Kushina would both die.
And so the card he had hidden stayed hidden until the day he died.
If he had brought that Uzumaki survivor back earlier, he might really have had the tiniest sliver of a chance.
"What a pity."
Hikaru shook his head.
At that moment, several figures appeared around him in a tight formation.
Their positions were excellent, neatly cutting off his retreat while setting up mutual support angles.
But Hikaru's expression did not change in the slightest.
He had already detected them with his sensory ability.
In fact, he had already sensed the entire layout beneath this underground facility.
For any shinobi, intelligence was critical.
No matter how strong one was, acting without sufficient information was a good way to die.
Only because Hikaru already knew what was here—and had enough power to back it up—could he afford to be this unconcerned.
"Who are you?"
one of the Kusa shinobi demanded.
"I'm here for a woman."
Hikaru's voice was calm.
"I have to admit, your methods for handling a woman and an infant are quite impressive. Clearly, you value them highly."
He paused slightly, chakra already beginning to flow through his body.
"So asking you to hand them over probably won't work.
In that case, I'll just take them myself."
The instant the words left his mouth, Hikaru vanished.
One of the Kusa shinobi had not even processed what happened before a thin line of blood appeared across his throat.
"Move!"
Their leader roared, his voice already cracking with fear.
But he barely got the order out before his own eyes widened.
His throat had been cut too.
Blood flooded his windpipe, leaving him only able to produce wet, choking sounds.
Two dead in an instant.
They had not seen how the enemy attacked.
They did not even know where he was.
That kind of situation was beyond anything these Kusa shinobi had ever faced, and fear spread through them immediately.
"Kusa Style: Wind Palm Wave!"
Still, one of them managed to launch a counterattack.
A young shinobi flared with chakra, unable to locate Hikaru and therefore forced to defend every direction he could.
His reaction inspired the others.
They began forming hand seals or drawing weapons, trying desperately to respond.
But it was useless.
A ninja blade carrying pale blue chakra moved like a ghost, leaving behind streaks so fast they looked half-real, half-illusory.
One after another, the Kusa shinobi collapsed into pools of blood.
Only the young man who had been first to retaliate remained, and Hikaru kicked him flat onto the ground.
Only then did the young shinobi finally get a clear look at his attacker.
And by then—
all of his comrades were dead.
"Well done. At least you knew enough to counterattack."
Hikaru lightly flicked the blood from his blade and smiled at him.
"I'll admit, people like you can inspire courage in others.
Which is why I've always disliked the kind of person who gives people conviction.
They're admirable, yes.
But they're also troublesome."
"And I hate people like you!"
The young shinobi glared at him, fighting visibly to suppress his fear.
"People who act like this should be thrown into prison!"
"Perhaps," Hikaru said with a laugh. "But I doubt there's a prison in this world willing to take me."
He drew a kunai and casually twirled it once.
"Now then. Let's end this."
As he spoke, blue chakra wrapped around the kunai.
But instead of throwing it at the Kusa ninja in front of him, Hikaru suddenly turned and hurled it behind him.
The kunai screamed through the air.
Trees along its path were sliced apart by the pressure of its flight alone, and some were severed outright.
At that exact moment, a figure burst from behind one of those trees.
And when Hikaru saw who it was, his expression turned distinctly strange.
"Why is he here?"
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