"Hiruzen, you must let me interrogate her in ROOT, she is the only witness. If you do not allow me to do it, we will never know if she is telling the truth. You saw how she spoke to me, she clearly has rebellious thoughts".
"Danzō, stop exaggerating. She did not know you, so it makes sense, and her personality was always like that even before the incident four years ago.
More importantly, I examined her. Now that the Nine Tails has been removed, I could not sense any chakra inside her. Even all the chakra she had before becoming a jinchūriki has disappeared.
In such a weakened state, staying here as a traitor would be completely foolish. She cannot resist any kind of surveillance or interrogation.
Besides, you saw the culprit. He seems completely out of place with the environment and even the era. Kushina has never left Konoha, meeting someone like that is almost impossible".
"We did not detect him entering this time. How do we know he has not entered before?" Danzō replied.
"And for what purpose? To convince Kushina to join him only to then take away her greatest strength and leave her in a weakened state inside an enemy village full of suspicion?
Danzō, what you are saying makes no sense".
"Then let me interrogate her myself. I will make sure she tells every last detail".
"Enough, Danzō. Kushina will not be handed over to ROOT", Hiruzen exclaimed, and Danzō left the room angrily.
Meanwhile, both Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane simply watched while sitting and drinking their tea, both accustomed to the exchanges between Danzō and Hiruzen.
Once Danzō withdrew, they finally spoke.
"Hiruzen, the situation with the Nine Tails caused chaos throughout the entire village. It is safe to say that all the other great villages already know the situation through spies. What will we do?" Homura asked.
"There is no need to worry about that. Since the creation of Konoha, the Nine Tails' jinchūriki has never participated in a ninja war.
Because of this, even though we have lost the deterrent effect of the Nine Tails, the other great ninja villages will still not dare to act. They know that Konoha's strength remains the same despite everything", Hiruzen explained.
"That is not true. Have you forgotten that we lost the White Fang of Konoha?"
"It is a loss. However, it is not enough for Konoha's strength to diminish significantly. Moreover, this news can be kept secret. As long as we neither confirm nor deny it, Sakumo's presence will remain a mystery to the other villages.
What we must do now is focus on investigating Tasogare.
Whether it is the mysterious individual, the Nine Tails, or the now rogue ninja Hatake Sakumo, all three possess unparalleled strength. If their organization truly has individuals this powerful, then not only Konoha, but the entire ninja world may be about to face an unprecedented change".
"What about Kushina?"
"Despite no longer having the Nine Tails, she is still an Uzumaki. Most likely, her chakra will recover quickly and she will once again become a valuable asset.
We will take proper care of her and she will continue to be a ninja without any punishment".
Anyone who did not know him might have thought that Hiruzen truly trusted Kushina and considered her valuable to the village. However, for both listeners, even if Hiruzen had said nothing, they would have guessed his next plans.
Even if Kushina was no longer under suspicion, there was no need to tell her that. They had already tried to emotionally anchor Kushina to the village four years ago without success.
Now he would use both her guilt over what happened and the need to dispel suspicion to turn her into a powerful weapon of Konoha.
---
Boom!
With a strike, a tree trembled slightly.
"Incredible", Kushina said in surprise.
[You have reached level 2!]
"Oh, already level 2? How fun".
When Kushina was told that she would no longer be able to use chakra, she felt disappointed for a while. However, as soon as Kaito explained his leveling system to her, her expression opened up as if she had discovered a treasure.
"Incredible. Even though most ninja can achieve an effect like making a tree shake with ninjutsu, that only comes after years of training.
I only trained for half a day and I can already do this.
System, show me my status".
[Name]: Uzumaki Kushina
[Level]: 2 (0/100)
[Base Stats]:
HP: 10
MP: 10
Strength: 12
Agility: 10
Constitution: 11
[Skills]: Wind Manipulation 1 (0/10)
[Stat Points]: 5
[Skill Points]: 1
"Oh, I am already level 2, so training for half a day increased my constitution by 1 point and my strength by two.
What is Wind Manipulation?"
[It is a skill you obtained by leveling up. It allows you to manipulate wind]
"So it is like a wind jutsu then. What exactly can it do?" she asked curiously.
[Anything]
"Anything?"
[As long as it involves wind and you have a sufficient level]
"Incredible, then..." Kushina launched a wind attack toward the tree in front of her, but only a small gust came out, barely moving the branches.
"What is this? How disappointing".
[It is only level 1. Keep practicing to level it up]
Kushina understood and looked at her status again, focusing on two particular values.
MP: 9/10
Wind Manipulation 1 (1/10)
"Each attack consumes 1 mana. Perfect for leveling the skill", she said before continuing to practice.
Thus, the entire day passed. Only when the sun set did Kushina realize she had been practicing all afternoon.
Before leaving, she launched a wind attack shaped like a blade that cleanly cut the tree she had been practicing on.
"Uff, that attack cost 50 mana, but it was worth it", Kushina said.
After a day of training, her status was now:
[Name]: Uzumaki Kushina
[Level]: 4 (15/200)
[Base Stats]:
HP: 10
MP: 100
Strength: 12
Agility: 10
Constitution: 11
[Skills]: Wind Manipulation 4 (10/50)
[Stat Points]: 0
[Skill Points]: 1
Throughout the day, she only repeated the process of launching wind attacks. However, this helped in several ways. First of all, Wind Manipulation obviously leveled up. Using mana all day also increased her mana, and practicing all day also gave her experience to level up, granting her stat points, all of which she placed into mana.
Although she still had not unlocked another skill, she could now use wind in many different ways. Even if the powerful ones consumed a lot of mana, Kushina was not disappointed.
After all, the attack she had just used was equivalent to a B rank jutsu. Even if only being able to launch two B rank attacks before becoming incapacitated seemed low, one had to remember that she achieved all of this after only a single day of training.
Satisfied with what she had accomplished, she left the place, having no idea that she was being watched, or perhaps she simply did not care.
---
Hiruzen read the report brought by Minato regarding Kushina's situation with a frown.
"A B rank ninjutsu, and her chakra feels strange. I will have to go verify this myself".
It did not take long for him to arrive at the house where Uzumaki Mito once lived. After observing the place with nostalgia for a second, he knocked on the door.
"Third Hokage, please come in", Kushina let him enter as soon as she opened the door and saw him there.
Throughout the entire interaction, Hiruzen sensed Kushina's chakra, but noticed nothing unusual, which confused him regarding Minato's report.
With no other option, he decided to be almost direct.
"Kushina, I came to talk about something important.
Several ninjas who passed through the area said they detected a strange energy near Konoha Hospital. After sending several ANBU to investigate, we discovered that you are the source.
I hope you can explain what that energy is".
Kushina looked at him in surprise for a second before answering.
"Uh, I am not sure", Kushina raised her hand and created a small vortex of air above her palm. "I only know that since I woke up, my chakra has felt strange. I can control it without needing hand seals and I can even shape it at will".
"Shape it at will?" the Hokage's eyes widened in shock.
"That is right. I can use it as I imagine it", Kushina replied.
"Impressive. Something like that is probably something only tailed beasts possess in terms of chakra control. I believe that after the Nine Tails was removed, somehow your chakra adapted to its chakra and its way of functioning, transforming into something completely new".
Hiruzen thought his theory made sense from the start and never suspected Kushina.
This was due to several reasons. First of all, despite being called the Professor of Ninjutsu and having seen an incredible number of techniques, he had never felt mana, so in his own pride he assumed it must be something new.
Second, the Uzumaki are known for their peculiarities, from their unfathomable amount of chakra, their special bodies capable of perfectly containing even the most powerful tailed beasts, to their knowledge of sealing techniques that surpassed the entire ninja world.
When the Land of Whirlpools was destroyed, most of this knowledge and legacy of the Uzumaki was lost, so much about them remains unknown.
And if the Uzumaki are strange, the tailed beasts are even more so, with very little information about them. Because of that, combining the peculiarities of both, he believed this strange energy could have been born.
Of course, the main reason was that Kushina survived the extraction of the Nine Tails, something that should have been impossible, so there had to be a special reason. Hiruzen assumed that reason was mana. In addition, Uzumaki Mito, who died the same day the Nine Tails was extracted, had also shown some strange and unknown symptoms.
Thus, the combination of all of this led Hiruzen to be almost completely certain of his own theory.
______________________________________
+15 chapters in advance on Patreon.
p-atreon.com/IAMME26
(just delete the hyphen)
80 power stones = 1 extra chapter (cumulative)