Uzumaki Kushina walked into the courtyard as she replied, "I just wanted to come take a look."
Uchiha Yuzuru sighed helplessly and followed Uzumaki Kushina toward the vegetable garden.
And so, Uchiha Yuzuru spent his nights on patrol, researching locations suitable for the clan's relocation, and leaving Kamui marks scattered throughout Konoha. During the day, he tended the vegetable garden with Uzumaki Kushina.
Occasionally he'd have dinner with Uchiha Mikoto or catch a movie. His days passed quite leisurely.
Half a month flew by.
Looking at the tender green shoots in the garden, Uzumaki Kushina's face lit up with delighted surprise.
"Yuzuru, we did it!"
Uchiha Yuzuru didn't understand why Uzumaki Kushina was so excited. He asked casually, "Kushina, it's just growing vegetables. Why are you so obsessed?"
Originally he'd thought Uzumaki Kushina was just curious, but to his surprise, over the past two weeks she had come to find him almost every other day.
This level of enthusiasm was genuinely unexpected.
Hearing Uchiha Yuzuru's question, Uzumaki Kushina lowered her eyelids and replied without looking up, "I don't have anything else to do anyway. I'm a shinobi, but I've got nothing to occupy my time. Might as well grow vegetables here with you to pass the time..."
"A caged canary."
"Huh? What?"
"I'm talking about you—you're like a canary kept in a cage. You look glamorous on the surface, but you have no freedom at all."
Uzumaki Kushina had once personally told him and Mikoto that she'd been chosen as the next Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, so Uchiha Yuzuru didn't need to worry about bringing it up.
Hearing Uchiha Yuzuru's assessment of her, Uzumaki Kushina froze for a moment.
Then her lips pursed and her eyes instantly grew moist.
"You—what do you know? I've already prepared myself to accept this fate."
"I came to Konoha for this in the first place!"
Hearing this, Uchiha Yuzuru replied calmly, "Do you like this fate?"
"What does it matter whether I like it or not?"
"If you don't like it, then resist!"
Uchiha Yuzuru pressed his hand down on Uzumaki Kushina's head and said loudly, "Why should you accept other people's arrangements? Why can't you do what you want to do?"
"Constant compromise will only invite even more oppression."
"Right now, before you've even become a Jinchuriki, you're already barred from leaving the village. What about after you become one?"
"Will you be monitored even while sleeping? Will you have to report to the Hokage just to go out shopping?"
"Some things—Lady Mito should have told you about them, right?"
Hearing Uchiha Yuzuru's words, Uzumaki Kushina couldn't hold back anymore. All the grievances in her heart came flooding out.
Tears streamed down her cheeks as she murmured, "But—but I want to earn everyone's recognition..."
Uchiha Yuzuru snorted lightly. "Why do you care so much what other people think? Does their recognition really matter?"
"Recognition gained through compromise—does that really make you happy?"
Meeting Uchiha Yuzuru's jet-black eyes, Uzumaki Kushina felt all the strength drain from her body.
She sank down onto the ground, buried her face in her arms, and sobbed. "I—I don't know..."
"Yuzuru, I don't want to become a Jinchuriki. I don't want to be monitored every second. I want to go on missions outside with my teammates like everyone else..."
"But—but I really don't know what to do..."
After all, she was still young, and the Land of Whirlpools had been destroyed.
Even though she didn't like the path laid out for her future, Uzumaki Kushina didn't know how to resist—nor did she have the strength to resist.
Seeing Uzumaki Kushina voice what was in her heart, Uchiha Yuzuru's tone softened.
He sighed and sat down beside her.
"Kushina, people who truly recognize you won't force you to do anything."
"Just like us Uchiha—most of the villagers reject us. But so what?"
"Should we change ourselves just to earn their recognition?"
"An Uchiha who's slick and smiling at everyone—would that even still be an Uchiha?"
Hearing Uchiha Yuzuru's words, Uzumaki Kushina couldn't help but lift her head and think. Suddenly she broke into a tearful smile.
Uchiha Yuzuru glanced at her curiously. "What is it?"
"That's exactly it."
Uchiha Yuzuru smiled. "Kushina, what do you really want to do?"
Uzumaki Kushina thought for a moment, then said softly, "I want to make lots and lots of friends. I want to do the things shinobi are really supposed to do. I don't want to be monitored every single day..."
"But if I don't become the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, a lot of people will get hurt—maybe even lose their lives because of it..."
"Yuzuru, what do you think I should do?"
"Kushina, you can't find the answer to that kind of question in someone else's mouth. Only you can figure it out for yourself."
Uchiha Yuzuru gave an ambiguous answer.
From what he could see, Uzumaki Kushina was genuinely resistant to becoming a Jinchuriki.
It was only because she'd been brainwashed by the so-called "Will of Fire" and morally coerced by appeals to duty that she was quietly accepting all of this.
In other words, as long as he could make Kushina completely lose faith in Sarutobi Hiruzen and the Will of Fire, she definitely wouldn't waver like this anymore.
That would make his plan to take Uzumaki Kushina with him much easier to succeed.
That's right.
After so many days of interaction, Uchiha Yuzuru had decided to bring Uzumaki Kushina along when the clan relocated.
He and Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others were destined to be enemies. Naturally, he didn't want to leave Kushina—this Jinchuriki who could perfectly suppress the Nine-Tails—behind as a combat asset for Konoha.
The expressions on Sarutobi Hiruzen's and the others' faces when they discovered that both the Uchiha clan and the future Nine-Tails Jinchuriki had simultaneously vanished—those would be priceless.
Just thinking about it made him look forward to it.
Still, Uchiha Yuzuru didn't rush things.
Kushina had been in Konoha for years. Under Sarutobi Hiruzen's subtle influence, convincing her with just a few words wasn't realistic.
His goal today was simply to crack open a small fissure in Kushina's heart.
When the time came, that tiny crack would be enough to trigger an earthquake that would bring everything crashing down!
Because if he remembered correctly, something particularly outrageous should happen to Kushina before long.
With just a little guidance from him, Kushina would surely lose all faith in the Konoha higher-ups.
"What about you, Yuzuru?"
Seeing Uchiha Yuzuru space out, Uzumaki Kushina nudged him with her shoulder. "What's your dream?"
Uchiha Yuzuru thought for a moment, then said firmly, "I'm going to become very strong and let everyone I care about live freely, following their hearts."
"No longer troubled by money, no longer coerced by force."
"Even if it means standing against the entire world, I won't hesitate!"
As his voice fell, the air itself seemed to freeze.
From Uchiha Yuzuru's mouth, Uzumaki Kushina could hear his resolve.
"Let everyone you care about live freely, following their hearts..."
"Standing against the entire world..."
She repeated the words, and suddenly her heart began to race.
Who were the people Yuzuru cared about?
If she were one of the people Yuzuru cared about, would he have a way to let her do what she wanted to do?
One thought after another flashed through Kushina's mind...
Looking at Uzumaki Kushina's eyes so close to his own, Uchiha Yuzuru couldn't help but reach out and wipe away the tear stains on her face.
Uzumaki Kushina snapped back to her senses instantly.
She immediately retreated two steps, like a startled rabbit, and hurried toward the door.
"Yuzuru, don't tell Mikoto about today."
The moment the words left her mouth, Uzumaki Kushina's face turned as red as fire, and she bolted without looking back.
Uchiha Yuzuru smiled and shook his head.
It really wasn't that he wanted to take advantage—the atmosphere just called for it.
Hokage Building.
Hokage's office.
Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes were fixed on Uzumaki Kushina walking down the street in his crystal ball, his pipe puffing away with a steady "puff, puff."
Just then, the office door was shoved open roughly, and a man in a black-and-gray kimono with long, narrow eyes strode inside.
Sarutobi Hiruzen glanced up lazily. "Danzo, you didn't knock again."
Shimura Danzo gave a cold snort and didn't bother replying. He spoke directly. "Hiruzen, Kushina went to the Uchiha clan compound again."
"Is it really all right to let the Uchiha have this much contact with the future Nine-Tails Jinchuriki?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen exhaled a puff of smoke, folded his hands beneath his chin, and replied calmly, "Kushina doesn't have the Nine-Tails inside her yet. It's fine."
"Making more friends in the village isn't a bad thing."
Hearing this, Shimura Danzo raised his voice. "The Uchiha are inherently evil! We have no way to monitor what happens inside the Uchiha compound. If something happens to the Jinchuriki, you'll be responsible!"
Here we go again with "you'll be responsible"...
"Hand Kushina over to me."
Shimura Danzo pressed on. "My Root will keep her firmly under control."
If he could control the future Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, his chances of becoming Hokage would increase significantly.
Hearing Shimura Danzo's words, Sarutobi Hiruzen snorted softly. "Your methods of controlling subordinates aren't suitable for Kushina. Lady Mito wouldn't agree either."
At the mention of Uzumaki Mito, Shimura Danzo shrank back slightly—but then immediately spoke up again. "Lady Mito is already old. When the Land of Whirlpools was destroyed, we stood by and did nothing, and Lady Mito didn't even—"
"Enough! I told you never to bring that up again!"
Before Shimura Danzo could finish, Sarutobi Hiruzen slammed his palm down on the desk.
Uzumaki Mito might be old, but she had the Nine-Tails sealed inside her.
Combined with her status as the widow of the First Hokage—
If she made a fuss over Kushina's situation, what would the villagers think of him as Hokage?
Did he want to lose face completely?
With that in mind, Sarutobi Hiruzen said coldly, "Danzo, I have my own plans for Kushina. You don't need to interfere."
Seeing that he hadn't achieved his goal, Shimura Danzo bit out, "Hiruzen, you'll regret this!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen stared at Shimura Danzo and replied, word by word, "Danzo, remember—I am the Hokage."
Seeing Sarutobi Hiruzen's gaze grow increasingly sharp, Shimura Danzo snorted coldly.
BANG!
The office door slammed shut with a loud crash as Shimura Danzo stormed out.