So…My bad I thought today was Sunday and yesterday was Saturday so I didn't upload 😅
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Kushina, listening to Hikaru's words, found some semblance of truth in them, a truth she could relate to.
Similarly to Hikaru, she believed there was no such thing as bad or good; every person could change and be different than how they were the day before.
But where she and Hikaru differed was their interpretation of morality; Kushina believed there was still right and wrong. It just so happens doing wrong didn't make you bad, nor did doing right make you good, because good and bad were simply titles; it's how you change and grow.
'Is this what I would have become without you to pull me from that darkness?' Kushina asked herself, her thoughts shifting to a young man with spiky yellow hair, blue eyes the color of the sky, and a smile reminiscent of the sun.
Kushina wasn't saying this because of their similar viewpoints; no, it's because of how similar he was to her in every other way. An exterior that hid a myriad of thoughts, emotions, and ultimately loneliness behind it.
'The same way I was when I arrived at Konohagakure,' Kushina thought as she reminisced on the past.
A young girl who lived humbly with her clan, one known for expressing their feelings without reserve and as fiery as the sun.
Suddenly taken to Konoha due to the massacre of her people, forced to bear the weight of being the last of her clan and the Jinchuriki of a demon. A place where she was treated as an exotic caged bird whose personality was seen as wrong and undesirable for a woman.
'But you never thought that way, did you, Minato?' Kushina thought with a smile as her thoughts shifted to Hikaru. 'A boy so reminiscent of myself but without a person to save him from drowning in his own mind. If I were like him without a person to lean on, would I be the same woman I am today? Would I be able to bear it?' Kushina couldn't help but ask herself as a realization that shook her to her bones took place.
'I…don't know.' The truth settled on her; she didn't know if she would be able to bear that pressure alone. And that realization made her feel for Hikaru even more.
"What's your dream?" Kushina suddenly asked as the thoughts previously racing through her mind stopped as her full attention remained focused on Hikaru and his answer. Hikaru, seeing this, his previous smiling face morphed into one of skepticism.
"Why?" He asked only to be met with Kushina's flaring temper as a tick appeared on her face. "Just answer, Kid!"
Sighing but not affected by Kushina's outburst. Hikaru simply shrugged as he answered lazily, "To live my life the way I want to—that's the only dream I have." Hikaru said, his gaze unwavering as he said the dream and the ninja way he vowed to live by.
"And if I said I could help you achieve that, would you trust me?" Kushina said, her face completely serious as her piercing eyes met Hikaru's.
"And why would you do that?" Hikaru asked in his voice, a mix of skepticism and laziness, as his eyes attempted to decipher what Kushina attempted to gain by doing this.
Kushina, hearing Hikaru, simply smiled, her face morphing into a mix of genuine care and mischievousness. "Why do I need a reason? If you can live your life doing simply what you want, then why can't I?" Kushina shot back.
Internally, however, Kushina thought with uncharacteristic gentleness, 'I'll help you; I'll be the person you can rely on and guide you with the love you never got to experience until you can say you are happy and can surround yourself with those you can rely on : )'
Hikaru, hearing Kushina's words, frowned slightly as he opened his mouth to respond, only to feel his lungs fill with blood as coughs forced their way through his throat, the color draining from his face as he fell out of his chair, blood staining the floor as he coughed.
Kushina, seeing this, jumped from her chair as she rushed to Hikaru's side. "Hikaru? Let me help." She said as she reached her hands covered in healing chakra toward Hikaru.
Only for her hands to once again be swatted away as she approached. "Don't—t-touch me," Hikaru said, his words slurring as his face grew paler, blood once again forcing itself through his mouth.
"Will you stop swatting my hand every time I try to help you? You're dying for pure land's sake! You're lucky you're a child; if you were Minato, I swear…" Kushina threatened angrily as she pushed his hand away with force as she began healing him.
Hikaru was too weak to fight back, though even at full strength he doubted he could've stopped her and could only think in slight annoyance, 'Since when was she this strong?'
After a few moments of healing, Hikaru Kushina asked, though she was completely sure, "This place is your Kekkei Genkai, right?" she asked, alluding to the mysterious library.
Hikaru, hearing her question, simply nodded, not planning to hide it, not that he could. He was pretty sure all of Konoha's upper echelons, or anyone with basic academy knowledge, knew what this was. But he didn't care.
Not only did he not care to hide unnecessarily since that directly conflicted with his dreams, but they also didn't know about his weird system, Kekkei Genkai. Kushina, hearing his admission, sighed slightly as she said, "You need to release it."
Hikaru, hearing this, furrowed his brows slightly. "And why would I do that?" he asked. Of course, he knew he'd need to eventually turn it off, but he was genuinely curious as to what the Kekkei Genkai had to do with his current situation.
It must be said that aside from basic knowledge, information on Kekkei Genkai and their specifics was limited by the clans; people knew what they were and which type each clan had, but as for their intricacies, weaknesses, and what things they brought with them, that was unknown. So Hikaru took this chance to ask in hopes Kushina would drop some useful information.
And Kushina did not disappoint. "Well, as you probably know, Kekkei Genkai are DNA anomalies that give shinobi an uncopyable supernatural ability or technique.
And these techniques are passed through one's bloodline. Now, all Kekkei Genkai require Chakra, which I may add you're tapped out of. How you're keeping this technique active, I have no idea. But the main problem is you're overusing it and forcing your body to keep it active, and your young growing body, which can't support it, is breaking down.
If you keep this up, you could cause lasting damage that could even lead to death." Kushina said in a lecturing tone.
Hikaru, listening to her warning, decided to be frank with her before making his decision. "I'm not releasing those four—" But before he could finish, Kushina interrupted him, her fist raising in anger as she barely managed to keep herself from punching him.
"You never listen. I never asked you to free them! Just release the civilians; I'll make sure they get what they deserve," she said, her voice taking on a softer tone.
"Fine," Hikaru said lazily. "Also, back up a bit," he added as he rose slowly, though staggering a bit as he used the table to support himself, raising his hand slightly. Thousands of books materialized around him, circling around him like a cyclone.
After a few moments the books returned to the bookcases as Hikaru's expression darkened. Seeing this, Kushina asked tentatively, "What's wrong?" Hikaru, hearing this, simply said with a sigh, "He's not there…let's go."
Kushina, hearing that he somehow scanned thousands and somehow differentiated between them, became curious as to how exactly his Kekkei Genkai worked, but knowing that it wasn't the time, she simply nodded.
Hikaru, not acknowledging her, simply held up his index finger and curled his middle finger around it as he curled his thumb, pinky, and third finger together.
As he mouthed the word "Release," the mental realm crumbled around him as the books simultaneously circled around him once more as they dissipated into particles of light as people replaced them.
Eventually the library reverted back to the hospital as both Hikaru and Kushina were surrounded by confused people of varying ages. "Let's go," Hikaru said loud enough for Kushina to hear as he walked out of the hospital under the confused and fearful gazes of the people.
Kushina, following, noticed Hikaru staggering, albeit with exhaustion evident on his face, as she grabbed his arm, placing it around his neck as she supported him.
"Don't resist!" Kushina said seriously as they walked out the building, only for them to reach the hospital doors and Kushina to stop in her tracks, a mix of an annoyed and angry look appearing on her face.
"Ughh, they're here?" She whispered in annoyance. Hikaru, hearing her, couldn't help but think, 'Looks like things are going left,' as they left the hospital only to be surrounded by a dozen shinobi in animal masks.
"Hand him over, 9-tails. The Hokage wishes to see him," a man in a bear mask said emotionlessly, his hand resting on his sword that was strapped to his back.
"Oh really? That's weird because the Hokage told me to bring him. And don't insult my intelligence; we both know you reek of, well, nothing… Root you robotic weirdos… "No offense, Hikaru," she added with a mix of seriousness and mischievousness as she dodged the man in the elephant mask who lunged at her with a sword aimed at her heart.
The rest of the root shinobi seeing this joined in, each holding either a sword or kunai aimed at a vital spot on Kushina's body, only to be dodged by Kushina, who picked Hikaru up in a princess carry and flickered to a nearby building.
"They'll find us soon. Should I just go to the Hokage building and let him handle it? I doubt they could catch me." Kushina pondered.
Hikaru, however, his mind still focused on the earlier confrontation, asked Kushina a question that, despite his emotionless tone, held an edge that suggested he felt strongly about this. "You called them root; they wouldn't happen to be connected to the insignia on the vial, would they?"
Kushina hearing this looked like a deer caught in headlights as sweat poured down her face. 'Shit, my big mouth went and caused a bigger problem,' she thought as she attempted to explain what Hikaru was already sure of. "Um, well—" Kushina started only to be cut off.
"You said you wanted me to trust you, that you'd help me achieve my goal, right?" Hikaru asked.
"Well, yes—" Kushina started only to be interrupted once again, much to her annoyance. "Then let me fight them, and don't intervene," Hikaru said in all seriousness.
"What are you, crazy? You may not know, but these are the root elites of our village, each a master in the art of killing, trained to kill ruthlessly and efficiently. I might have make it look easy, but they weren't even serious nor using jutsu. For you, who is not even a genin and looks to be on the brink of death…" Kushina trailed off, her point clear: Hikaru wouldn't even last a few minutes against them.
"Just trust me," Hikaru said, his gaze focused on something Kushina couldn't see.
'What do I want to do? I want to figure out if they know who used the vial on my mom, but I also need to make it so the other Twelve can't attack me or harm me. I also wouldn't mind killing them.
So the ability needs to work on multiple people but not outright kill them. It also needs to fit under the constraints of the rules and my 72-hour cooldown, Hikaru thought as he recalled the system's constraints.
'Though I don't know why it's obvious I have a very high affinity with Yin, I also tend to learn faster if Yin is involved. I have pretty low chakra, but making it chakraless will increase the wait time,' Hikaru pondered as his eyes unconsciously shifted to Kushina, who was still wearing the cloak she wore earlier as a loose thread hung from it.
[Ability Inspiration LV1 - Activated]
Suddenly thoughts of a certain trio in his clan appeared in his head as his idea began to go from there.
"Of course!" Hikaru said matronly, though a slight smile appeared on his face as he began mumbling.
Kushina, watching Hikaru, couldn't help but think, "Is he crazy? ' before she remembered, 'Oh wait, he is.'
Suddenly Kushina's gaze perked up as she said, "There's Kid coming." As the Root shinobi once again appeared in front of them, blades ready, some even preparing handsigns, it was obvious this time they had no intention of letting them go.
Hikaru, however, still had his gaze locked on the luminescent screen as he got a new popup that brought a smile to his face.
[Host has created Ability: [Strings of Truth]]
[Time till completion—72 hours and 5 min]
[Ability: Strings of Truth LV.1
Active
Attributes: Yin / Space
Chakra: Yes
Training Plan: Practice forming strings with Yin Chakra repeatedly, increase knowledge on Yin release, increase understanding on the three places of truth, and practice space attributes.
Description: The Strings of Truth are white, intangible strings that move and anchor themselves through space and wrap themselves around a target's throat, shadow, and heart while simultaneously wrapping around a person's arms and legs, causing them to be unable to move.
The user can only ask one question; after that question, the strings are unusable on the same person for the next 24 hours. These strings compel a person to answer the truth, and if they lie, the strings tighten. However, if the person tells the truth, the string untightens.
If a person willingly tells the truth without being compelled or resisting the strings, the person is automatically released. If the person continues to lie or not answer, the strings will tighten until they kill you. If a person manages to cut a string, the others will immediately tighten at once.
Tightens around Heart: Death
Tightens around shadow: Pain and possible death
Tightens around throat: Inability to talk or answer, which automatically makes the other two strings go off.
The string will immediately unravel after a 5-minute time limit.]
Hikaru, looking at this, smirked happily until he saw the cooldown time.
Looking at Kushina with his same monotone tone, he said, "So you remember how I asked you not to intervene…"
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S: phew, one of the harder chapters I had to write. Now I changes the system slightly now he altomatically knows how to use the ability but he has to train them him selves and gain proficiency. Later Ill update the info chapter and also add a aux chap listing skills. I'll try to shorten descriptions so there not as long I just wanted to make sure the ability was explained.
If you have any ability ideas please share they might just be used ;)