"Today, Sasuke even said he has two people he hates the most, and one of them is you. You'd better be careful from now on. I don't like that guy either, but he seems pretty strong," Naruto continued.
"No worries. You'll protect me, right?" Ayato suddenly turned his head, looking at Naruto with a serious expression.
Naruto, touched by this sudden trust, was at a loss for words and could only nod vigorously.
Got him!
The melodramatic flair of this chuunibyou world really hits hard!
...
In the Hokage's office, Danzo stood before Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Hiruzen, now that Ayato is a ninja, I want to recruit him into the Root. That should be fine, right?"
It was phrased as a question, but his tone left no room for negotiation.
"We still need his consent. Tsunade would never agree to you forcing him in," Hiruzen replied casually, puffing on his pipe.
"Tsunade's not in the village anymore. This is for the village's sake. We already have one successful case. If we can get another Senju bloodline, we'll achieve even greater results."
"No. He has to join willingly. The Senju clan is already gone."
"Hmph. I'll just give him a reason to have to get stronger and join," Danzo said dismissively.
Hiruzen glanced at Danzo and said calmly, "You can't harm others in the village."
It was a tacit approval of Danzo's schemes. Ayato hadn't shown any remarkable talent so far, and he held a massive fortune—an entire street. If he joined the Root, with Danzo's methods, it wouldn't take long to brainwash him. His assets could be confiscated for the village. Even if the brainwashing wasn't fully successful, Danzo's tactics would likely break Ayato soon enough. With no heirs, his wealth would inevitably fall to the village.
Danzo nodded, signaling they'd reached an understanding on this matter. Now, onto his real objective.
"Naruto and Sasuke are genin now."
"Don't even think about them," Hiruzen cut him off.
He'd worked hard to build a bond with Naruto. If Naruto fell into Danzo's hands, with his personality, it'd take less than three days for Danzo to mold him into whatever he wanted.
As for Sasuke, he was the key to controlling Itachi. If anything happened to Sasuke, Itachi's prodigious talent could cause incalculable damage to the village. Hiruzen had spared Sasuke largely because he was relatively weak among the Uchiha. As expected, Sasuke hadn't even awakened his Sharingan despite becoming a genin—a far cry from a genius like Itachi.
Sasuke may have graduated as the top of his class academically, but his lack of a Sharingan proved he posed little threat compared to Itachi. Brainwashing was unreliable; leverage was what mattered. Sasuke was Itachi's leverage and weakness.
Shisui and Itachi's talents had once worried Hiruzen, but he hadn't expected them to be so easy to manipulate. Thanks to those two prodigies, the Uchiha were now reduced to a single "failure." The Uchiha were no longer a threat. Next up was the Hyuga clan.
Hiruzen had assigned a powerful jonin teacher, on par with Kakashi, to the Hyuga branch family, while the main family got a special jonin skilled only in genjutsu. When the two Hyuga children grew up, with such a stark gap in strength yet opposite statuses, the Hyuga clan would surely face internal turmoil.
Moreover, Kurenai Yuhi, the special jonin, was dating Hiruzen's son, which gave the Hyuga main family enough face to keep them from complaining. But what did a relationship matter? Did being the Hokage's daughter-in-law somehow improve a special jonin's teaching quality?
Once this generation of children matured and their strengths solidified, Hiruzen's long-term strategy would become clear.
Danzo gave Hiruzen a deep look before turning and leaving the Hokage's office, leaning on his cane.
Joking? You think I won't act just because you say no? You've forbidden plenty of things.
Meanwhile, after eating with Naruto, Ayato returned home and hid in his room to train his chakra.
Training in the yard risked being spied on by the Third Hokage's Telescope Technique, so he only did physical training there.
Looking at the bone protruding from his arm, Ayato muttered to himself, "Both the Senju and Kaguya are descendants of the Otsutsuki. Using Yin chakra makes bones grow, and Yang chakra speeds up physical recovery."
"What happens if I channel Yin and Yang chakra into my eyes? Everyone knows the eyes and body are separate systems."
Ayato rubbed his chin, pondering the possibilities.
Bloodline limits were created by ancestors fusing various chakra natures and passing them down. Nowadays, new bloodlines were rare because the Warring States period had exhausted most combinations. But it wasn't impossible to develop a new one.
"Yin and Yang chakra both have drawbacks. The Kaguya bloodline causes illness, and the Senju bloodline is hard to pass down."
"It's the same with eyes. The Uchiha have mental issues, and the Hyuga lack raw power."
"Whatever. Let's try it."
As a descendant of both the Senju and Kaguya, Ayato had access to all chakra natures—or rather, no specific affinity. He could use any chakra nature, but his jutsu were less potent than those of single-nature specialists.
No big deal. Thanks to years of nurturing his body with Yin-Yang chakra, his chakra reserves were massive. Even at his young age, his chakra rivaled Kakashi's—before Kakashi got the Sharingan. Despite his youth, his chakra capacity ranked among the top in the Leaf Village. If his jutsu efficiency was low, he'd just pour in more chakra.
Gritting his teeth, Ayato channeled Yang chakra into his left eyeball. There was no discomfort, and he could clearly feel his left eye's vision improve slightly.
He pulled out a small mirror to examine his left eye closely.
"The pupil's color seems a bit lighter. If I keep nurturing it with Yang chakra, will it really turn into a Byakugan?"
Next, he channeled Yin chakra into his right eye. After a sharp pain, he checked the mirror again.
"Hmm, no visible change, but it definitely feels different."
"Yin chakra is weird as always. Yang chakra didn't hurt at all."
Encouraged by the results, Ayato tried channeling Yang chakra into his right eye, but it wouldn't go in, as if the path was blocked.
"What's going on? Oh well, whatever. A Byakugan would be cool enough."
He continued channeling Yin chakra into his right eye and Yang chakra into his left.
Unlike those with established bloodline limits, Ayato had no idea how long it would take to transform his eyes into what he wanted.
"Better get some sunglasses before the changes become too obvious."