Early the next morning, Yuki Seisui opened his eyes, looking utterly exhausted.
Jiraiya had given them a day off, but there was no way Seisui could sit still after just receiving the Tobirama Wanderer template.
He'd spent hours alone at the training ground.
The result? Two massive dark circles under his eyes.
"Flying Raijin is seriously amazing…" Seisui mumbled as he got out of bed and stretched.
He slipped the five remaining Prismatic Stones from his desk into his pocket before heading toward the meeting spot.
He hadn't cared much about them before, but now that he understood how important those stones were, leaving them at home just felt unsafe.
By the time he arrived, Minato and Uchiha Haru were already waiting.
Minato raised a brow at the sight of Seisui's eye bags, clearly used to it by now. He sighed and said helplessly, "What were you doing yesterday? You look like a giant panda again."
Seisui yawned and replied lazily, "Practicing ninjutsu. Just making sure I can beat you down even harder next time."
"What kind of thing is that to say?!"
Minato reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. "There's no way you're beating me again!"
"No one understands your techniques better than I do!"
"And besides, I've started to get the hang of the Flying Raijin myself. Just give me a bit more time!"
Minato puffed out his chest proudly. "Once I master it, the tables will turn!"
Seisui just chuckled silently.
Mastering Flying Raijin? Even if you're Namikaze Minato, that's going to take years.
And in those years... the gap between us will only grow wider.
"Give it up, Minato."
"Never, Seisui!"
Uchiha Haru rolled her eyes watching the two. "Here we go again…"
Despite her words, she still glanced warily at Minato.
He's not trying to steal my man, is he?
Better keep an eye on that one…
With that thought, she pulled out a cute pink bento box she'd prepared the night before and handed it to Seisui.
"Here. I made these rice balls last night."
Seisui looked at the girly bento box and gave Haru a warm smile.
"Thanks, Haru. That's really sweet of you."
Haru simply shook her head. "As long as you like them."
She smiled back, soft and sweet.
Minato watched the whole scene quietly, deep in thought.
So Haichi was right after all…
The cold, untouchable ice queen turns into a soft kitten in front of him.
Seisui sat down casually and shot a glance at Minato, who still hadn't made any progress with Kushina.
His arrival had definitely shifted Minato's personality away from what it was in the original story.
The "little sun" who used to be so straight-laced had become kind of... well, goofy.
Before Seisui could finish his breakfast, Jiraiya strolled over with a piece of bread in his mouth.
He waved lazily. "Morning, my dear students!"
"Time to seize the day with, uh…"
He cut himself off mid-sentence when he noticed Seisui's massive eye bags, words catching in his throat.
"Young man… you've got to take care of your health," Jiraiya said, casting a meaningful glance at Haru. "Or you'll regret it later."
"I was just staying up working on some new jutsu," Seisui replied weakly.
"Developing new jutsu?" Jiraiya paused, scratching his wild hair. "Still, don't overdo it."
Then his tone shifted as he pulled out a small scroll.
"This is your mission today, find the pet cat from Aunt Fukuda's house."
"Huh?" Minato blinked. "Find a cat?"
"That's right." Jiraiya tore open the bread wrapper and took a bite.
"Finding your target, tracking their traces, then eliminating them, that's the way of the ninja!"
"A shinobi is a tool. Everything is for the mission," Jiraiya declared solemnly, as if he were the very embodiment of a traditional, disciplined ninja.
"…Come on, Sensei. Cut the act," Seisui said with a deadpan stare. "Everyone in Konoha knows you're the least serious person around."
"And acting all high and mighty like that, it's really not a good look."
The word "ugly" hit Jiraiya like a million-ton hammer straight to the heart.
"You brat!!"
"Don't interrupt your elders when they're giving life lessons!"
Jiraiya raised a fist, intending to knock some sense into him, until he saw those deep eye bags again.
He hesitated... and gave up.
"Anyway, your task today is to find that stray cat and bring it back unharmed."
With that, he vanished instantly.
Seisui looked down at the bento in his hand and sighed.
"No idea how long this kind of stuff is going to go on."
"Probably a few months," Haru replied calmly. "I asked around the clan yesterday. These kinds of missions are meant to help us get familiar with team dynamics and develop ninja skills like reconnaissance, endurance, and coordination."
Seisui quickly finished eating and stretched. "Alright then. Let's get moving, we've got a long day ahead."
He unrolled the scroll Jiraiya left behind and scanned for useful clues.
"White and yellow fur, white legs, wearing a little blue vest…"
He repeated the cat's description aloud. Minato then suggested, "Why don't we split up? Meet back here every hour, sounds good?"
"Works for me," Haru nodded.
Seisui agreed too, it made the most sense.
Konoha was huge, surrounded by a dense forest of wood-style trees. Finding one cat in all that? No easy task.
Seisui dashed through the village, searching for any sign of the cat.
But there were no signs. Nothing.
They hadn't covered this in ninja school yet, and both he and Minato came from civilian backgrounds.
They wandered around all day with zero progress. Just before dusk, Haru finally appeared at the training grounds with a dirty little cat in her arms.
Seisui breathed a sigh of relief.
"Man, I'm wiped. We've been looking all day." He leaned back, hands behind his head.
Minato walked beside him, holding the cat with a sheepish smile. "Honestly, we didn't help at all."
"If it weren't for Haru, we probably would've failed this mission."
He turned to her with a big grin and a thumbs-up. "You really are the genius girl of the Uchiha clan!"
"You're amazing."
Haru gave him a sideways glance, then casually formed a hand seal and summoned a sleek black cat.
She handed the black cat a bag of dried fish she'd bought earlier, gently patting its head.
"Thanks for today. I'll buy you more snacks in a few days."
"Meow~" the black cat purred, grabbed the treat bag, and vanished in a puff of smoke.