Hiroki lay sprawled across his bed, staring at the ceiling while mentally counting the ninjutsu he had copied that day.
Awesome.
Wind Release: Vacuum Ball — about 400 calories per shot.Fire Release: Flame Bullet — roughly 750 calories per shot.Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld — nearly 300 calories per square meter. Expanding it to a three-to-five meter range would cost three to four thousand calories in total.
Then there was the Chaos Lion Hair Technique—
Hair hardened and extended two meters long…Only 50 calories!?
That was even cheaper than a basic Transformation Technique!
"…Yunokuni Hot Spring Town…"Heh heh—(☆∀☆)~!
No, no, stop.Frown. Serious face.
He should really criticize Jiraiya properly for sneaking into women's bathhouses. Seriously criticize him.
Ahem.
Hiroki refocused and organized his findings.
Wind Release: Vacuum Ball and Fire Release: Flame Bullet could theoretically be combined into a compound technique—but that would cost over 1,150 calories per use, nearly a third of his total chakra.
Too expensive.
That would have to stay a trump card.
Tsunade's techniques, on the other hand, were on an entirely different level of efficiency.
Chakra Scalpel — only 4 calories per second.Monstrous Strength — 2 calories per kilogram of force per second, with no upper limit.
Now that's a real low-cost, high-output skill.
Unfortunately, Orochimaru still refused to let him freely copy ninjutsu. Instead, he either shoved scrolls in front of Hiroki or told him to find criminals who could use the techniques himself.
Still—
That didn't really matter.
If the goal was simply to avoid getting hurt by Tsunade, Hiroki was confident.
No matter how strong she was, Tsunade was fundamentally a medical ninja. Direct frontal combat wasn't her specialty yet. She didn't have Katsuyu, and she certainly didn't have Creation Rebirth.
Calling her "Kage-level" right now would be an exaggeration.
At this stage, Tsunade was best described as a support-oriented elite jōnin, with partial Kage-tier abilities in medical ninjutsu—someone who truly shined on a high-level battlefield.
As for Hiroki—
He had already analyzed himself thoroughly.
In terms of genjutsu resistance, he could almost completely shrug off Orochimaru's illusions—solid elite jōnin level.
For offense, his Brain Overload attack and forced muscle-growth scripts were outright lethal, capable of causing permanent damage.
For detection, as long as the enemy actively sensed chakra, he could counter-detect. Slightly weaker in raw perception, but still elite jōnin level overall—though copying a dedicated sensing technique would help.
At long range, Vacuum Ball and Flame Bullet gave him sufficient firepower, with room to expand later.
For defense, he still had Kakuzu's Hand—an absurd artifact that trivialized most conventional attacks.
His only real weaknesses were chakra capacity and movement speed.
If he could fix those…
Not only could he survive Tsunade's attacks—defeating her outright wouldn't be impossible.
A speed-related ninjutsu…Body Flicker? Or… Flying Thunder God?
He should ask Minato sometime.
Just as that thought crossed his mind—
Knock. Knock. Knock.
"Hiroki! Hiroki! Are you home!?"
…Kushina?
Why was she here so late?
Surprised, Hiroki sat up and opened the door.
Under the moonlight stood Kushina, barefoot, wearing a thin nightgown, clutching a pillow tightly to her chest. Her bright red hair fluttered softly in the night breeze, and her face was filled with worry and hesitation—like a lost kitten.
"Kushina? What are you doing here at this hour?"
"I… I couldn't sleep…"Her cheeks flushed as she avoided his gaze. "I heard… you made a bet with Tsunade-sama. Are you… are you really okay?"
Her eyes drifted down.
Hiroki was shirtless, his muscles firm and clearly defined under the pale moonlight.
Wasn't he just a skinny bean sprout before…?
Her face turned bright red.
"H-Have you been training really hard for that bet?" she whispered."Your body… it won't be able to take it…"
"Come in," Hiroki said, stepping aside. "It's cold."
They sat by the window, moonlight spilling across the floor and casting two long shadows.
Kushina hugged her pillow, uncharacteristically quiet.
"I went to see Grandma Mito today," she said softly."But… I'm so stupid. I couldn't draw the sealing formulas properly, and my chakra control was always off—too much or too little. She even scolded me."
She looked up at him, eyes trembling.
"Hiroki… am I really useless? You've gotten so strong, but I… I can't keep up. And that bet—are you really sure? Tsunade-sama's strength is terrifying. Grandma Mito said she could shatter a mountain with one punch…"
Hiroki felt something tug gently at his chest.
She was only ten.
A child worrying about life, death, and the future—about whether the people around her would survive.
He couldn't let her keep feeling like this.
He didn't answer the bet directly.
Instead, he gently ruffled her hair, just like before.
"You're not useless. You just haven't found the right method yet. And you don't have to chase after me," he said softly. "We can move forward together."
"Together…?" she murmured.
"Close your eyes. Relax."He took her hand. "I'll teach you how to be lazy."
Before she could question him, he placed his other hand on her arm.
He installed the muscle-growth script into Kushina's body—carefully adjusted to one-third of his own output.
"This is a new technique I developed," he explained."It passively stimulates your body, slowly strengthening you while you sleep or go about your day. I call it Passive Physical Activation."
[Script executing]
Kushina shuddered.
Warmth flowed through her body—gentle, steady, and strange. Not painful, not sore—just a faint, pleasant itch, like soaking in hot water.
"W-What is this!?" she gasped, staring at her hands.
"Hiroki! You're amazing! This—this counts as our promise, right!? You remember our promise, don't you!?"
She suddenly hugged him, eyes sparkling.
"Of course." Hiroki laughed helplessly and pushed her back slightly."In return, you'll teach me Uzumaki sealing techniques someday."
"Yes!"She nodded fiercely. "It's a deal! I'll become the strongest sealing master ever—and then I'll help you seal all the powerful techniques!"
They smiled at each other beneath the moonlight.
After a moment, Hiroki spoke again.
"Kushina… you said before that you wanted to be Hokage, right?"
"Of course!" She puffed out her chest proudly."I'll be Konoha's first female Hokage!"
He studied her quietly.
"And what will you do after becoming Hokage? Is it just about being acknowledged?"
She froze.
She'd never really thought about it.
Hokage was proof. Proof that she was stronger than everyone who mocked her red hair.
But…
Was that enough to change the world?
Images flickered through Hiroki's mind—future tragedies, broken ideals, children dying for wars they didn't start.
If he had remained ordinary, he could have ignored all of it.
But he wasn't ordinary anymore.
So he asked quietly—
"When you become Hokage… will you help me change the world?"
Kushina stared at him.
Then, softly: "What about you? Don't you want to be Hokage?"
Hiroki smiled and shook his head.
"What difference does it make who becomes Hokage?"
Power mattered more than titles.
After all—
He looked back at her.
"All I want is to make this world better."
He extended his hand.
"Will you help me?"
Kushina's face burned red.
She puffed out her cheeks, glared at him, and shouted—
"Fine! I promise! I'll become the first female Hokage in Konoha history—and I'll change the entire ninja world with you! Just wait, you stupid bean sprout!"
She grinned brightly.
"Let's do it together, Hiroki."