9 Chapter 9: Meeting with Sarutobi Hiruzen

Chapter 9: Meeting with Sarutobi Hiruzen

"Um... It was probably a spur of the moment thing."

Uchiha Hikari gave a noncommittal answer.

"But I'm a monster that everyone hates. Back in the village, no one ever wanted to speak up for me, nor did anyone want to touch my hand..."

As he spoke, Naruto hung his head as if he had suddenly seen something, and began to pull away from the hand that Uchiha Hikari was holding: "Sister, my hands are very dirty... covered in blood and dust, it will get on you."

Uchiha Hikari was taken aback by Naruto's sudden action, then she couldn't help but laugh softly. She hadn't expected Naruto at his age to be so self-conscious and sensitive that even such a small act of kindness could overwhelm him.

"It's okay."

Uchiha Hikari pulled Naruto along and took a few more steps forward, stopping in front of a two-story apartment building at the end of the street: "Your home should be up there, right? Would you mind inviting me up to take a look?"

"Eh? Sister, how do you know my home is here..."

"You guess."

—This apartment building was not the same one that Minato Namikaze had mentioned in the chat group, probably because the Third Hokage had rearranged Naruto's living situation after the Nine-Tails incident. However, it wasn't difficult to find, as it wasn't far from the shopping street they had just been on, and its appearance was very noticeable. Uchiha Hikari had seen it countless times in the anime.

Four-year-old Naruto wasn't too suspicious, although he was puzzled about Uchiha Hikari's source of information one second, he was grinning the next: "Of course I don't mind! Apart from Grandpa, no one else has ever visited my home! Sister, I'll take you up..."

Upstairs.

Open the door, enter the house.

What met their eyes was a scene of simplicity and disarray. The slightly yellowed walls, the peeling paint on the coffee table and chairs, and a pile of assorted cup noodles, water bottles, and milk cartons on the dining table... Probably because the soup from the noodles had been thoroughly consumed, there wasn't much of an odd smell in the air.

"Ah, I forgot to clean up the house today..."

Naruto looked embarrassed as he glanced at Uchiha Hikari, then ran over to tidy up the table: "Sister, please wait a moment, the room is too messy, I'll clean it up right away!"

The sound of the table legs and floor rubbing against each other echoed.

Uchiha Hikari watched Naruto's frantic movements, casually walked a few steps forward, picked up a half carton of milk and shook it, then glanced at the date.

Hmm, as expected.

"Did you buy this milk already expired?"

"Ah?"

Naruto paused, then came over to take the milk, imitating Uchiha Hikari's earlier action to check the label, and directly poured the remaining half into his mouth: "Expired or not, I don't really understand... I picked up these milk cartons from the bins behind those stores. If I went inside, they would chase me out..."

As he spoke, Naruto brought over a stool: "Sister, I've cleaned this chair for you, please sit! I'm going to boil water, Grandpa taught me how to use the kettle..."

"Thank you."

Uchiha Hikari thanked him and sat down as instructed, turning her attention to the chat group.

[Nameless: Fourth Hokage, have you decided what you want to say to him? I can convey it for you.]

A brief silence.

[Eternal Sister: Miss Hikari, could you please not reveal my existence to Naruto for now?]

[Nameless: ?]

[Eternal Sister: I might... not be a qualified father.]

"Indeed."

From Uchiha Hikari's perspective, Minato Namikaze indeed did not qualify as a competent father, far from his roles as a ninja and husband.

[Eternal Sister: To this day, I do not regret sealing the Nine-Tails inside Naruto, as it was the best choice at the time. I only regret not being able to be there for Naruto as a father, to watch him grow up... The Nine-Tails incident cost many villagers their lives, and everyone needed an outlet for their emotions. But the one who should have borne those burdens was me, not Naruto, who knew nothing.]

[Eternal Sister: Miss Hikari, could I ask another favor of you? In return, I can teach you the ninja techniques I'm known for, including several famous jutsu.]

[Nameless: ...To correct you, the best choice would have been to seal the Nine-Tails back into Kushina Uzumaki. Jinchuriki losing their Tailed Beasts indeed face death, but if the Tailed Beast could be sealed back immediately, they would have a chance to survive. Especially for clans like the Senju and Uzumaki, known for their strong vitality.]

[Eternal Sister: ?!]

Could it... really be like that?

Uchiha Hikari didn't dwell on this topic, continuing to type with her thoughts:

[Nameless: Back to the main topic, what do you want me to do?]

[Nameless: Just to be clear, I can take care of Naruto for a short while, but I can't stay by his side forever.]

Uchiha Hikari was indeed interested in Minato Namikaze's ninjutsu.

As the renowned "Yellow Flash" of the ninja world, Minato's signature "Flying Thunder God" technique was considered a bug-level space-time ninjutsu, not inferior even to Obito Uchiha's "Kamui".

However, she wasn't interested in learning "Flying Thunder God".

Space-time ninjutsu is arguably the most talent-demanding among all ninjutsu, requiring exceptional chakra control and neural response capabilities to learn "Flying Thunder God". The former could be improved with practice, but the latter is largely innate, with individuals like Tobirama Senju and Minato Namikaze being one in a million. Uchiha Hikari didn't believe she had such talent.

But another technique was different—

Sealing techniques!

As Kushina Uzumaki's husband, Minato Namikaze was arguably the most knowledgeable person about sealing techniques in the current ninja world. Aside from techniques like "Adamantine Sealing Chains" that required a bloodline limit to perform, he should have knowledge of all other sealing techniques. Uchiha Hikari was very interested in this knowledge!

Of course, the importance of sealing techniques cannot be compared to the former, and Minato might be willing to teach her the Flying Thunder God and Rasengan, but not necessarily sealing techniques.

But Uchiha Hikari could offer more.

—Minato, trapped within the Shinigami, needed her help to accomplish anything. So, by doing a bit more than the terms of the deal, she could make Minato owe her a favor, thus finding a way to repay her.

In a sense, this was also a form of "moral blackmail". Given the Fourth Hokage's character, he wouldn't feel comfortable letting himself benefit without giving something in return.

Even if she couldn't learn sealing techniques, Uchiha Hikari could at least use this opportunity to place the "Eight Thousand Spears" seal on Naruto, allowing her to borrow some of his chakra if necessary.

And even...

She wanted to place a seal on another person who might appear today.

In the chat group.

Minato snapped out of his fantasy about the "best choice", feeling complicated as he picked up the conversation.

[Eternal Sister: I know, I won't make such an unreasonable request. I just want to ask Miss Hikari... to talk to the Third Hokage.]

...

Gurgle gurgle—

The kettle in the kitchen began to whistle.

Uchiha Hikari turned off the electricity for Naruto, ready to pour herself a cup of water, when she heard hurried footsteps coming from the corridor outside the door.

Then, a knock on the door.

"Naruto, are you home? Grandpa has come to see you, hurry up and open the door for Grandpa."

(End of Chapter)