"It is not our abilities that show what we truly are… it is our choices."
— Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
--
Years later…
The quiet of the Hokage's office felt heavier than the battlefield. Dust motes drifted in the sunlight streaming through the wide windows, dancing in the still air.
Otis sat across from the desk—his shoulders squared, his eyes uncertain. He had awoken from his long coma, and now the past, the truth—had unraveled before him.
Hiruzen looked older than Otis remembered. The lines on his face had deepened, his hands trembled faintly, and his pipe lay cold and forgotten beside a stack of unsealed reports.
For a moment, the old man simply studied the boy before him. The child of Hikari. The child of sacrifice.
Finally, Hiruzen spoke, his voice low and heavy.
"Your mother was… one of the strongest kunoichi I ever knew," he began slowly. "Stronger than even most men would ever admit. She mastered earth itself. She stood against monsters most would've run from. And when the end came… she fought until she couldn't breathe."
He drew a slow breath.
"When I found her, she was barely holding on. All I could do was kneel beside her and hold her hand… while she begged me not to let her children grow up without her."
Otis's jaw tightened, his hands curling into fists on his knees, the air around him thick with restrained emotion.
Hiruzen's gaze fell to the floor.
"I did everything I could," he said quietly. "I interrogated the enemy. I scoured the battlefield. I even turned to the Yamanaka for answers."
He paused. The words came harder now.
"But I never found out who killed her… or who took her heart."
His voice cracked, faint but unhidden. "All I could do was make sure you lived. That was her last wish. And yet…" He exhaled, trembling. "…I failed her in so many ways."
The room was silent save for the faint rustle of papers by the window. Otis sat there, the truth pressing against him like a crushing weight. His mother's strength, her desperation, her sacrifice all of it had been buried under the war and the silence of politics.
Otis's hand rested on his chest as he thought of his brother, who had given him his heart so that he could live.
After that, Hiruzen slowly stood up and walked toward the corner of the room. His movements were calm, almost deliberate, as if he'd been waiting for this moment for a long time. From the shadows, he lifted a large, sealed box and brought it before Otis.
When he returned to stand before Otis, his voice was low but steady.
"These… belonged to your mother."
Then, forming a few hand signs, Hiruzen broke the seals that covered the box. A faint glow flickered and faded as the old seals dissolved.
When Otis opened the box, his eyes fell on two objects resting inside — an axe and a shield. Both were pitch black. Not the kind of black that shines, nor the dullness of matte colour. It was a strange, deep black — the kind that seemed to swallow the light itself. Even in sunlight, it felt, it could not touch it.
(Pic)
The axe was large. The axe's blade was smooth, yet sharp, The shield, circular and bore faint engravings on it,
Otis stared at them without breathing. The air around him felt charged, faint traces of energy leaking from the weapons, as if they recognized their new wielder.
Hiruzen continued, his tone carrying the weight of old memories.
"These weapons were forged from the highest quality chakra metal, tuned specifically to your bloodline and chakra type. Your chakra… is not ordinary, Otis. It's volatile — the same as your mother's."
Otis ran his hand slowly along the edge of the shield.
"Your mother," Hiruzen went on, "commissioned these weapons during the last war. She had Kushina inscribe special seals into them—seals that could store chakra and amplify it in battle. You can use them to call the weapons back to you, even from a distance… or to release stored chakra all at once, increasing their destructive power."
There was a long silence. The only sound was the faint creak of the office wood and the rustling of leaves outside the window.
Then, Hiruzen then reached into his robes and pulled out something else — a small, worn-out book. It was tied with a red thread, Its cover was cracked and darkened with age.
"This," he said softly, "is your mother's diary. She wrote many things in it — about her life, her thoughts, and the things she loved. You might even find something hidden within its pages..."
He let out a small sigh, his eyes softening. "I was planning to give it to you once you became a proper jōnin. But after everything you've done, I think you're strong enough to understand what's written inside."
Otis accepted the book with both hands. He untied the red thread, hesitating for a moment before opening it. The first page was written in bold, graceful strokes
"Do Not Try This at Home"
For a long moment, Otis said nothing.
Hiruzen looked at him, and for the first time in years, the old Hokage saw not the boy who once struggled in the academy, nor the child he had promised to protect. What he saw was a shadow of the warrior Hikari had once been, and the echo of her fire awakening again.
***
One month later…
The wind moved softly along the riverbank. Otis sat on a rock, the diary open beside him.
He turned another page and read aloud quietly to himself, the words of his mother echoing in his mind
"For giants, Earth Release is the root of all power. It is our primary nature — the foundation of our strength and stability."
Otis frowned slightly, his reflection rippling on the water.
His eyes scanned the neat handwriting that had once belonged to his mother.
"Mother and Great-Grandpa were much more talented at controlling their chaotic chakra… probably because they were purer giants than me."
He exhaled slowly, resting his elbow on his knee.
"But since I'm only a quarter giant, I'll have to work harder. If I master it, my body will become much stronger — even a simple chakra reinforcement could make me at least five times stronger than I am now, according to this diary"
His fingers brushed the next page, where old sketches of chakra flow diagrams were drawn with precise strokes.
"So this is why my chakra control's always been so unstable," he said quietly, almost smiling. "My chakra isn't weak… it's just wild."
Further down the page, a line caught his eye — a note about alternative hand seals. His expression sharpened as he read.
"She even created a set of seals… customized for our kind. These are more in sync with our chakra flow."
Otis closed the book slowly. He leaned back, gazing at the sky.
"Guess you left me more than just words, Mom," he murmured.
But anyway… it wasn't the chakra that really caught my attention
It was Earth Release.
My mother's diary mentioned something her grandfather once told her, that when a giant reached the ultimate level of Earth Release mastery, some could "become one with the earth itself… and become one with nature."
At first, I thought it was just some old myth… but now that I think about it, isn't that basically the same thing as Senjutsu? merging with nature — it all sounds connected.
I mean, maybe they just called it chaotic chakra, or maybe giants had different names for it. So it was natural energy all along.
So it all came down to that, huh…
It actually makes sense. Most giants were said to be one with nature, their bodies and chakra blending with the land itself. Maybe that's why our chakra feels so wild — it's not meant to be contained, it's meant to flow with the world.
Okay… that solves the mystery of why my chakra is hard to control.
"Does that mean…" Otis muttered under his breath, closing the diary halfway, "…I might have talent in Senjutsu? Just like Naruto?"
He then sat up, staring at the sky reflected in the water. The diary was mostly filled with vague stories — fragments of her life, her thoughts, some notes. There weren't any direct techniques written inside, but it was enough.
Enough to give him a direction.
He didn't want to stay as weak as he had been in that last fight. Not again.
"So first," he said, a faint determination building in his voice, "I'll master Earth Release. Fully. Down to its roots."
He glanced at the axe and shield resting beside him, their black surfaces absorbing the light of the setting sun.
"Then," he whispered, "I'll find a way to connect it with nature itself."
--
Author's Note:
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