[send power stones please]
Late at night, Minato Namikaze lay quietly on the bed, gazing at Kushina beside him as she slept soundly. A gentle smile appeared on his face.
Kushina was the girl he had loved since childhood. To Minato, the fact that they had ended up together felt nothing short of a blessing from heaven.
He had always believed himself to be lucky—ever since he was young.
The childhood friend he studied alongside had become his wife. One of the Legendary Sannin, Jiraiya, had taken him as a disciple and taught him countless things: ninjutsu, principles of life, and what it truly meant to be a ninja.
Jiraiya was the person Minato respected most in this world. No exceptions.
Beyond that, Minato had always carried a dream in his heart—a dream of becoming Hokage.
And now, that dream had come true.
Not only had he become Hokage of Konoha, he had become the youngest Kage in the history of the village, perhaps even the entire shinobi world.
Such fortune almost felt unreal. It was something he cherished deeply.
"…Hah."
As these thoughts crossed his mind, Minato let out a soft sigh.
Yes, he was lucky—but that luck had begun to crack the moment he became Hokage.
Only now did he realize how naïve his earlier understanding of the world had been. His past success had not come from luck alone, but from the era he lived in—and from the shelter of his teacher.
After ascending to the Hokage's seat, he finally glimpsed another side of reality.
Even though he had only scratched the surface, it was already enough to shatter many of his assumptions.
Some matters could no longer be judged simply as "right" or "wrong."
Instead, decisions had to be made based on interests and positions.
For example—earlier that very day.
After Hikaru left, Minato had drafted a preliminary proposal regarding the Uchiha clan.
He had long been aware of the tension between the Uchiha and the village. From the moment he became Hokage, he had been thinking about how to bring them back into Konoha's embrace.
This proposal was an experiment.
He wanted to see how the Third Hokage would react—and how the Uchiha themselves would respond.
But before the Uchiha could react at all, the proposal had been rejected that very afternoon.
To put it bluntly, the document hadn't even made it past routine circulation within the Administration Department before it was intercepted and sent back.
"The job of Hokage… is far more troublesome than I imagined."
Minato sighed inwardly. Still, he couldn't allow himself to show too much emotion. Many things would have to be handled slowly, step by step.
Just like that child—Deep-see Hikaru.
Minato truly hoped Hikaru could play a role.
Based on Kakashi's reports, Minato couldn't help but think more deeply about certain matters.
Hikaru's position within ANBU was, frankly, ideal from Minato's perspective.
He had solid strength. He was Kakashi's former classmate—and now his captain. He had spent five years in ANBU and currently led a squad.
If someone like that could assist from within ANBU—perhaps even relay internal conditions—that would be far more valuable than relying on Kakashi.
Kakashi was his disciple. Because of that relationship, he could never truly integrate into ANBU in the purest sense.
What Minato needed was someone who belonged to ANBU—someone who had lived there long enough to be shaped by it.
"…Hmm?"
Suddenly, Minato's brows furrowed slightly.
His Flying Thunder God mark had been activated.
That alone was unusual—but what truly surprised him was how it had been activated.
The method was refined, deliberate. Not only did it allow the Flying Thunder God Technique to function normally, it also enabled the mark's creator to precisely determine the activator's location.
"The person who activated this mark understands the Flying Thunder God Technique."
Minato's thoughts sharpened instantly.
He rose from bed, quietly put on his outer robe, and focused on sensing the source of the activation.
A moment later, his expression turned strange.
Because the mark wasn't in any of the usual locations he had prepared over the years.
It was in one of the most remote corners of Konoha.
"Understands Flying Thunder God… activating it late at night… in the most secluded part of the village…"
At that moment, Minato had a guess.
And only one person fit it.
He glanced back at Kushina, still sleeping peacefully, then stepped softly into the living room.
As he walked, his chakra gathered silently.
The moment he reached the center of the room, it surged.
In the next instant, his figure vanished.
When he reappeared, he was standing in a forest.
At his feet lay a sealing scroll.
And in front of him stood a silver-haired youth in full ANBU attire, a mask covering his face.
"Nightingale…" Minato sighed softly.
"…Or perhaps, it's more appropriate to call you Hikaru."
"Actually," Hikaru replied calmly, his voice gentle and respectful,
"it's also fine if you call me Senju Hikaru, Hokage-sama."
Minato looked at him intently.
"I didn't expect you to state your surname so directly," he said slowly.
"It seems you've already inferred quite a lot."
Hikaru didn't answer immediately.
Through the eyeholes of his mask, his gaze was steady and composed.
Indeed, he had figured out many things—some of them long ago.
Konoha could not not know his identity. This was something he had suspected for a long time.
The truth was simply whether the village was willing to tear away that thin layer of pretense.
This meeting with Minato was Hikaru's attempt to gain more—and to do that, he needed to be sufficiently open.
But what did "openness" mean?
He wasn't foolish enough to speak of transmigration, or the existence of some external "cheat."
Those were secrets he would bury for life.
So instead, he chose the best possible alternative:
Something he had hidden—but something Konoha already knew.
His origin.
The Senju clan.
The Senju's decline had forced them into obscurity. By openly acknowledging a surname he had long concealed, Hikaru was already showing more than enough sincerity.
"Being frank," Hikaru said with a slight bow and a polite smile,
"whether toward myself or toward Hokage-sama, is a form of respect."
"From here on, please guide me well."
Minato let out a quiet sigh, then nodded.
"I understand, Hikaru-kun," he said.
"In that case… I'll be counting on you as well."
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