"Ahhh… that's the spot."
Naruto soaked in the steaming hot spring, letting his skin loosen up inch by inch. He closed his eyes and let out a low groan of comfort as the mist wrapped around him.
Outside, the storm poured on. Since his reckless stunt yesterday, ANBU had resumed their surveillance of the jinchūriki. Naruto, however, couldn't care less and simply slipped into the bathhouse.
All that fuss just because he knocked over a mask stand? Seriously?It wasn't like he hadn't paid!Didn't scattering money into the air still count as paying? That boss even caught it with his face in the end!
On the rooftop across from the bathhouse, an ANBU operative stood drenched, his mask nearly slipping off as the rain plastered his clothes to his skin.
His spirit felt as cold as his soaked underwear.
Being ANBU meant enduring hardships—fine. But watching his surveillance target lounging in a hot spring, blowing bubbles, gargling with fresh water, and even eating in the pool? That was pushing it.
As the ANBU agent contemplated the bleakness of life, wondering if his beliefs had been wrong all along, there was a bang in the rain. Another ANBU appeared.
"Shift change, Yama."
Yama turned, his dead fish eyes startling his partner.
"Yama! Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Yama muttered, sighing into the rain. "Maybe I should try soaking in a hot spring too… but our captain never gives us days off."
"Must be nice, sitting in boiling water… warm, soothing… damn it, why did I even become ANBU? I knew this was a job with endless overtime. If I quit and went into nightlife instead, being a host in a pleasure district might not be so bad… maybe I'll try resigning tomorrow…"
The new ANBU swallowed hard, staring at his partner's broken silhouette.
"Yama… his soul's already been corrupted by the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki!"
Such was the awkward midlife crisis—even ANBU couldn't escape it. Konoha had no room for freeloaders; past thirty, a ninja had to either retire from the frontlines or… "go to sea," as the joke went—meaning a career shift.
Clansmen usually transitioned around twenty-seven or twenty-eight, from fighting shinobi to civil officials—steady, loyal bureaucrats carrying the Will of Fire.
There were plenty of examples: Hyūga Hizashi, Neji's late father… or the older generation of Ino–Shika–Chō.
They say: dragons beget dragons, phoenixes beget phoenixes; a strategist's son becomes a strategist, a Hokage's student becomes Hokage.
The true essence of the Will of Fire wasn't "hard work over talent." No—
"The Will of Fire itself is the divine scripture," Naruto mused, smiling in the bath. "No wonder they say the Third Hokage was the greatest Hokage. That's spot-on."
"Capitalism, divine prophecy, child of destiny… compared to the Will of Fire's bloodline theory, they're all small fry."
With a splash, Naruto stood up, water streaming down his frame. A grin tugged at his lips.
The Will of Fire.
Summer storms raged, the sky heavy like an overturned bowl pressing over Konoha.
Afternoon shadows stretched long as Naruto walked home through the flooded streets, not wearing his forehead protector, just a loose black cloak flapping around him.
Kids without umbrellas can only run harder. Naruto agreed wholeheartedly with that saying.
Just now, he'd watched one such kid sprint past him—pants rolled up, every step sending half a meter of water splashing.
"Hashira! Forgot your umbrella again?" an old man shouted from a shopfront.
"Don't worry about me, Gramps!" the boy yelled, fire in his voice. "I'm gonna be Hokage someday!"
Naruto twitched at that. Was this kid saying he wanted to be Tsunade's man? Or the Third's man?
Before he could decide, the boy slipped in a puddle and face-planted, splattering mud all over his body.
A system prompt rang in Naruto's head:
[Option 1: Offer your umbrella to the boy, let him feel human warmth. Reward: Sealing Technique—Four Symbols Seal (Max Level).][Option 2: Walk away coldly, but before leaving, spit on him—let him feel human malice. Reward: Shukaku's Favor.]
Naruto froze. What kind of psychotic option was this?!
Did the system realize how much psychological damage a "heitui" would cause a boy that age? Cruel!
With a sigh, Naruto softened. Holding his big black umbrella, he walked up to the boy lying in the puddle.
Here comes the flying staff… no, here comes the Great Buddha of Leshan.
The boy sucked in a sharp breath, struggling to rise as blood seeped from his leg. Yet his smile remained stubbornly sunny.
He was just about to crack a self-deprecating joke when a shadow fell over him. Looking up, he saw a blond in a black cloak, standing there with a calm gaze.
Was this… the fated encounter of friendship he'd read about in stories?
The boy prepared to greet him warmly, only for Naruto to suddenly hand him the umbrella.
"Take it."
The boy instinctively wanted to refuse, then thought better of it—after all, this was the perfect opening to spark a new friendship.
"Thank you. My name's Hashira, and you—"
Before he could finish, Naruto snatched the umbrella back and walked off without looking back.
"…Huh???"
The dreamlike scene of two boys chasing their goals shattered instantly. The boy's face turned beet red. Watching Naruto's retreating back, he shouted:
"You lunatic!!!"
[Ding! Four Symbols Seal acquired. Automatically mastered at max level.]
Naruto was already far away, umbrella handle still warm from Hashira's hand. Having an umbrella in the rain really did feel nice.
As for why he chose the Four Symbols Seal? Easy: to physically control the Nine-Tails.
Carrying a ticking time bomb in his gut was never pleasant. First, try to negotiate. If not? Flip the whole table.
Shrink the Nine-Tails' cage with the Four Symbols Seal—time for a crash course in bondage training.