"Then I'll shamelessly accept your thanks, Kushina-San." Uchiha Hayato smiled, eyes narrowing warmly.
"Just call me Kushina, drop the formalities." Kushina grinned. "Where's your summoning beast? I want to thank it too."
Her curious gaze drifted past him toward the inside of the house, which reminded Minato of the question rattling around his own head.
"Hayato, when did you get a summoning beast?" Minato asked, genuinely puzzled.
"Koen? It's resting right now." Hayato replied. "Cute, right? When it evolves, it'll get even stronger."
Minato caught the word "evolves." As far as he knew, summoning beasts didn't really have such a thing. Unless it was like the rumors about Lord Jiraiya's toads, going from tadpole to full-grown toad?
Hayato led the two of them inside. Chimchar was crouched on the coffee table, clutching a bottle of Moomoo Milk, and when it saw three people walk in, its big eyes blinked slowly.
"It's so cute!" Kushina rushed over to get a closer look, startling the poor thing.
Chimchar leaped onto Hayato's shoulder and ducked behind his back. Kushina stuck out her tongue, embarrassed.
The three of them sat down on the tatami. Since awakening the Sharingan, Hayato's baseline perception had sharpened even in its dormant state. He could sense it clearly: forty meters from his house, perched in a tree, an ANBU operative was watching them.
Probably there for Kushina. She wasn't the Nine-Tails Jinchuuriki yet, but the Uzumaki clan's massive chakra reserves and powerful sealing techniques made her the top candidate for the next host. Having someone keeping tabs on her was only natural.
None of that mattered. Hayato had no intention of hiding what he was about to do.
He closed his eyes briefly. When they opened again, what Minato and Kushina saw reflected back at them were vivid crimson irises marked with spinning tomoe.
"The Sharingan!" Both of them gasped. The Uchiha clan's Kekkei Genkai was famous throughout the ninja world. Those unmistakable eyes were impossible to miss.
Outside the window, the ANBU in the tree felt his pulse spike. His breathing stuttered. He hadn't expected Uchiha Hayato to have awakened the Sharingan at seven years old. The boy already possessed strength on par with a genin. He needed to report this to Lord Third immediately.
"That's right. What I'm about to tell you, I plan to make public eventually. But for now, I need you both to keep it between us." Hayato's tone was grave.
Even Minato, who had nerves of steel for his age, found his expression going serious. If Hayato was being this formal, it had to be something major.
It's not about the Uchiha clan, is it? The blond boy's mind raced.
"Got it. I absolutely won't tell anyone." Kushina felt a thrill run through her. They'd barely just met, and Hayato was already trusting her with a secret. Something warm and sweet stirred in the back of her mind.
"What I want to talk about is Pokémon." Hayato spoke plainly. Through the Sharingan's vision, it was obvious that the energy flowing through Chimchar wasn't chakra. A difference that blatant wouldn't stay hidden for long. Better to lay his cards on the table early and earn their trust.
"A few days ago, while I was studying the Summoning Jutsu, I discovered that my version of it had mutated. I can summon creatures from another world. They're called Pokémon." Hayato did his best to explain in terms they could follow.
"In that world, there are no large-scale wars. People and Pokémon live together in peace and friendship. There aren't shinobi like us over there. Instead, they have Pokémon Trainers who love battling alongside their Pokémon."
"According to legend, before the world was born, a Pokémon called Arceus emerged from an egg and created the entire universe..."
"Hold on. The god that created the world is a summoning beast?" Kushina's brain was short-circuiting. Everything she'd been taught growing up said the Sage of Six Paths was the one who established order and founded the ninja way. And now, out of nowhere, there was a god from another dimension?
Hayato shook his head. "Kushina, that's a bit rude. Arceus is everywhere and nowhere at once. All of this knowledge appeared in my mind the moment I summoned Chimchar."
Minato's jaw hung slightly open. It wasn't that he didn't want to believe Hayato. It was that what Hayato was saying was beyond anything he could have imagined.
"Here's my proof." Hayato pulled out the Cherish Ball and pressed the button. Chimchar had barely gotten a few sips of its milk before it dissolved into a beam of light and vanished into the ball.
"Chi...!"
Kushina rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand, confirming she hadn't seen things. Her mouth fell open wider and wider.
"Alright, don't look so shocked." Hayato laughed. "Pokémon are friends of humanity. So I've been thinking, what if I could use the Summoning Jutsu to bring more of them here and make them our partners?"
"Kushina, with that gorgeous red hair of yours, you'd be a perfect match for a Fire-type Pokémon. With one by your side, you'd never have to feel lonely again."
"And Minato, I think Electric-type Pokémon would suit you. You're fast."
Hayato grinned. He was thinking of a certain Pokémon Gym Leader named Volkner, whose appearance bore a passing resemblance to Minato.
Electric-type? As in Lightning Release? Minato turned the idea over in his head, feeling a swell of something bittersweet. If all of this was real, then his friend was going to be something truly extraordinary.
Thud!
Minato heard something hit the ground outside the window and instinctively looked. But there was nothing there. Just a tree branch that looked like someone had snapped it underfoot.
"Who's there?"
Hayato patted Minato on the shoulder. "Who's where? Probably just a squirrel. Konoha's got trees everywhere. One probably just fell off a branch."
"You think so?" Minato was skeptical, but Hayato already had the Sharingan active and was clearly stronger than him. If Hayato said it was nothing, maybe he was just overthinking it.
The "squirrel" in question was currently sprinting toward the Hokage's office without stopping. This was information that could reshape the entire ninja world. He couldn't afford to stay calm. That's exactly why he'd slipped and fallen out of the tree in the first place.
"The Sharingan isn't even the important part anymore. Uchiha Hayato himself is the biggest concern Konoha has right now."
If he and Uchiha Setsuna were working together, then Lord Third...
The ANBU didn't dare follow that thought to its conclusion. A bone-deep chill crawled up his spine.
Setting the ANBU's panic aside, Hayato continued laying out his plan. "In that world, almost everyone can have a Pokémon. Think of them as our version of summoning beasts. If Konoha could do the same thing, we'd never have to fear war again."
"We could even build friendships between villages through Pokémon. Put an end to war for good."
In that moment, Namikaze Minato felt a sharp sting of defeat. If things played out that way, how was he ever supposed to surpass Hayato and become the Fourth Hokage?
Sensing Minato's deflation, Hayato turned to him. "Minato, are you giving up on becoming Hokage already? Don't tell me you've already decided I'm going to be stronger than you."
Minato was still just a boy. A simple taunt was all it took to reignite the fire. His eyes burned with fierce determination.
"I'm not giving up that easily!"
[Ding! Mission issued: Birth of a Rival]
[As a Pokémon Trainer, how can you not have a rival to compete and grow with? Defeat your opponent as a shinobi.]
[Reward: Rival obtains a Pokémon. Host learns a random move.]