"Yoru, does this kunai have some special ability?"
At the dining table, Kushina set breakfast in front of Gojo Yoru and poured him a glass of milk. Only then did she sit across from him, fiddling with the Flying Thunder God kunai in her hand as she asked in confusion.
"Yeah. This is a Flying Thunder God kunai."
"Flying Thunder God kunai? Then what does it do?"
Having grown up overseas, Kushina clearly had never heard the name.
After all, after Senju Tobirama died, Flying Thunder God—like Hashirama's Wood Release—had already become a legendary, almost mythical ability.
Yoru swallowed the fried egg Kushina made in one bite, licked the yolk from the corner of his mouth, and smiled as he explained, "Its ability is simple—just like I said earlier. As long as you carry this kunai, I can appear by your side instantly. It's a space–time ability."
"Space–time… the legendary space–time?!" Kushina finally widened her eyes, staring at the kunai in disbelief. "So besides storage scrolls and Summoning Jutsu, there are ninjutsu that can invoke space–time power too? That's unbelievable."
After examining the kunai closely, Kushina spotted the key and looked at Yoru. "Yoru, the special part isn't the kunai—it's the formula on it, right?"
"Mm. That formula is called the Flying Thunder God formula," Yoru nodded. "Like storage scrolls, it's a product of sealing arts fused with space–time. It's also somewhat similar to Summoning Jutsu in principle—except instead of summoning a creature, it summons me."
"So strong… whoever invented this must be a genius," Kushina sighed.
Yoru smiled. "The inventor was Konoha's Second Hokage."
"The Second Hokage? I remember that person… I think he's connected to Lady Mito too…" Kushina pressed a finger to her temple, thinking hard.
Yoru wasn't surprised she didn't know who the Second Hokage was.
Even in the Minato one-shot, Kushina only vaguely remembered that Senju Hashirama was Uzumaki Mito's "other half."
She even called him "that person," not "Lord Hashirama."
Clearly, she'd never really heard the stories of the God of Shinobi.
Seeing her thinking so seriously yet still unable to recall, Yoru couldn't resist mocking her. "You don't even know the God of Shinobi's younger brother—the founder of the Ninja Academy? Do you just sleep at school all day, you idiot Tomato-na?!"
"Who says I don't know! I just couldn't remember for a second!" Kushina snapped angrily, raising her small fist in threat. "Breakfast can't shut your mouth, huh? Believe it or not, I'll punch you to death!"
Smack!
Yoru blinked over and casually slapped Kushina's head, nearly making her knock into the table.
Kushina reacted and swung a punch back—only to hit air.
Yoru had already vanished without warning, and a little humming sounded somewhere in the room.
"Fine! So that's what you meant when you gave me the kunai!"
Kushina gritted her teeth. She couldn't bear to throw away the Flying Thunder God kunai, so she charged into Yoru's room, determined to "get even."
After some roughhousing, the two ended up sitting on the sofa. Kushina took the initiative and suggested, "Since your formula doesn't actually need to be on a kunai to work, why not leave one on me? That would be safer."
"No." Yoru shook his head. "A Flying Thunder God formula can't be erased by normal methods, and I can't erase it right now either. Putting it on skin would look ugly."
As he spoke, Yoru's eyes suddenly flickered—as if he'd thought of something.
Kushina didn't notice.
She actually liked Yoru's formula: the tomato pattern and the character "Yoru" were symbols of the two of them.
If it were placed on her body, she'd only be happy.
But since Yoru was so resistant, she didn't push. Instead, she prepared to put extra protection on the kunai and carry it with her at all times.
Then Kushina changed the topic. "By the way, aren't you training today?"
"Orochimaru-sensei gave me a week off. I'm going to rest properly these days."
"Really? That's great!" Kushina's eyes lit up. "I've been improving my photography skills lately—how about we go take pictures?"
"Sure. I didn't have time to take photos during this mission. When we get the chance later, I'll take you traveling to shoot photos," Yoru said with a smile.
"Yes! Then let's go right now!"
Kushina was practically glowing with anticipation, already tugging Yoru toward the door.
Over the following week, Yoru and Kushina explored the entire central district of Konoha, taking photos at every pretty spot.
But whenever they tried to leave the central district and go take pictures elsewhere, two masked Anbu would always Body Flicker in to stop them.
Yoru also never tried to secretly slip out of Konoha, leave Flying Thunder God formulas outside, and then use Flying Thunder God to take Kushina out of the village.
Even though that would shock Hiruzen and force him to take Yoru more seriously, it would be pointless.
Hiruzen would still call Yoru in for a talk and demand he not take Kushina out of Konoha.
Whether out of respect for being Hiruzen's "grand-student," or out of gratitude for the Flying Thunder God scroll, Yoru still had to give the Third Hokage some face.
Until he built a reputation so strong that no one dared ignore his will, he could only let Kushina be wronged for now.
Meanwhile, the shinobi world's situation grew tense.
News that Hanzō of the Salamander had gone to the Land of Iron finally spread throughout the entire shinobi world. Rumor had it he'd fought the samurai there.
Everyone worried that Hanzō would subdue the Land of Iron by force, gain the samurai legion's allegiance, and create an alliance between Rain ninja—masters of assassination—and samurai—masters of nintaijutsu.
If that truly happened, that small region at the junction of three great nations would give birth to a massive force comparable to the Five Great Villages.
With Hanzō's ambition, he wouldn't stop there. Surrounding nations would become his targets—including great nations.
So the Lands of Fire, Wind, and Earth all tacitly strengthened their border defenses.
Fortunately, in October, the Land of Iron issued a public statement: no matter what hardship they faced, they would continue to maintain neutrality according to historical agreements.
And Hanzō didn't seem to fly into a rage or launch an attack on the Land of Iron, either alone or with a Rain army.
There was clearly a story behind the scenes.
With Hanzō's return to Amegakure, the situation seemed to return to normal.
Only Gojo Yoru knew—
This was merely the calm before the storm.
~~~
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