Chapter 200: The Hokage's Legacy
The explosion from the kitchen had barely settled. The air, thick with a toxic, acrid smoke, still hung over the garden.
Tsunade and Shizune, covered in soot and... things... stood in stunned silence.
Then, Akira had simply sighed and raised a hand.
What happened next defied all of Tsunade's logic.
Thick, wooden pillars, alive and smelling of fresh sap, rose from the ground. Solid walls, intricately planked, quickly came together. Delicate, traditional eaves extended outwards.
A brand new, perfect house, even more magnificent and sturdy than the original one Tsunade had just destroyed, rose from the ground at a speed visible to the naked eye.
[Inorin's Note: This is an application of Wood Release (木遁, Mokuton), the signature ability of the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama. It allows the user to create and control living wood, even creating entire buildings in an instant.]
In the bathroom, the sound of the magically-recreated shower stopped.
Tsunade and Shizune, having washed off the soot and unspeakable cooking residue, changed into clean clothes Akira had provided.
They walked out, their hair still damp.
They looked at the brand new house, which still exuded a fresh, woody, forest scent.
For a long, long moment, they were completely speechless.
Tsunade, her mind reeling, walked to one of the main support pillars. She stretched out her hand, her fingers trembling slightly, and touched its solid, living texture.
"Wood Release..."
Tsunade's voice trembled slightly, a mix of awe and a deep, profound confusion.
She suddenly spun around, her eyes wide and sharp, and stared at Uchiha Akira.
"Why...?"
"Why do you know my grandfather's jutsu?"
Tsunade asked this question with an extreme, deadly seriousness, without a hint of jest. This was no longer about cooking, or bickering. This was about something sacred.
Shizune also looked at Uchiha Akira nervously, her hands clasped, Tonton squealing softly in her arms.
Wood Release.
In Konohagakure (Konoha, Village Hidden in the Leaves), and even in the entire Ninja World, that jutsu held an extraordinary, divine significance.
It was the symbol of the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama. It was the supreme, unrivaled power that had pacified the chaotic, warring world and established Konoha Village.
It was the power that had defeated Uchiha Madara.
No one else could use it besides the First Hokage himself.
Oh, there was that Anbu captain, Yamato. But his was a fragmented, pale imitation, a version obtained through Orochimaru's grotesque cell transplant experiments. It was a pale shadow, incomparable to the legendary, living Wood Release of the First Hokage.
However, what Uchiha Akira had just displayed...
The scale. The speed. The sheer, vibrant life energy contained within the wood...
It was indistinguishable from the legendary power of the "God of Shinobi."
An Uchiha, mastering the Wood Release that only the Senju Clan... that only her grandfather... was supposed to possess.
This matter was too unbelievable. It was a violation of the natural order of the world as she knew it.
"Oh, that."
Uchiha Akira's expression showed no change. He looked at the house he had just built as if it were a simple birdhouse.
"Perhaps it's because I'm exceptionally gifted."
He gave a slight, unconcerned shrug.
"One day, I woke up and suddenly felt like I could... communicate with the trees."
"Then, I tried it a little, and it just worked."
Uchiha Akira spread his hands, his face holding a helpless, 'what-can-you-do' expression.
Tsunade's eye twitched.
"Do you... think I'll believe that?"
Her eyes immediately became dangerous. The air around her crackled, and she showed a very clear tendency to transform into a raging beast if she disagreed.
"Exceptionally gifted?! Uchiha Akira, are you treating me like a three-year-old?!"
Her voice began to rise, echoing in the new, empty house.
"Wood Release is the Bloodline Limit (Kekkei Genkai) of the Senju Clan! It is the opposite of your Uchiha's Sharingan! It is life versus chakra!"
"Don't talk to me about 'talent'! Give me a reasonable explanation! Now!"
Tsunade's voice grew louder and louder, and the anger contained within it intensified.
This was not just about the jutsu. This was personal.
This power... it stirred the softest, most painful memories deep within Tsunade's heart. Memories concerning her grandfather, her clan, her lost family.
"A reasonable explanation?"
Uchiha Akira looked at Tsunade, his playful demeanor vanishing.
"What I said is the most reasonable explanation."
"Tsunade. Some people are born able to control fire. Some are born able to manipulate sand and earth."
"So what's strange about me being born able to make trees grow?"
"You—!"
Tsunade's chest heaved violently. She was angered by his impossible, twisted, maddeningly calm logic.
"Uchiha Akira, I am not in the mood for your jokes!"
"I'm not joking either."
Uchiha Akira put away the smile on his face. His Rinnegan eyes, ancient and powerful, seemed to look straight through her.
He looked at Tsunade and slowly said:
"Tsunade, times have changed."
"The barrier of Bloodline Limit... it is not as unbreakable as you believe."
"If I can possess Wood Release, why can't you think from a different perspective?"
He took a step closer.
"Perhaps this is a symbol. A symbol of Konoha moving towards true unity?"
His voice was quiet, but it filled the room.
"The Uchiha's eyes... and the Senju's power... coexist within me, your Hokage."
"Isn't this the future your grandfather, the First Hokage, most wanted to see back then? The two clans casting aside their past grievances, and completely, truly merging?"
Tsunade's body suddenly trembled.
Her grandfather's dream...
Her earliest memories... sitting on his lap, listening to his stories... his one, great wish...
To have the Senju and Uchiha live in peace, forever, and protect this Village together.
But...
"This... this is different!"
Tsunade shook her head, trying to clear the sudden, powerful wave of emotion.
"These are two separate matters! You can't just...!"
"What's different about it?" Uchiha Akira retorted, his voice sharp, cutting through her confusion.
"Power itself has no good or evil. It simply is."
"What matters is what the person who wields the power intends to do with it."
He looked her directly in the eye, his gaze unwavering.
"I am using it to protect Konoha. I am using it to rebuild your home, which you just destroyed."
He paused, and his voice dropped, becoming softer, more personal.
"I am using it to protect you. Isn't that enough?"
That last sentence...
I am using it to protect you.
It hit Tsunade like a physical blow, disarming her anger in a way no argument could.
Instantly, Tsunade's cheeks flushed a deep, uncontrollable crimson.
"Who... who wants your protection! Y-you... smooth talker!"
Although Tsunade was still putting on a brave front, her aura, which had been that of a raging beast, completely deflated.
Uchiha Akira looked at her contradictory, flustered expression, and the smallest hint of a smile returned to his face.
He did not continue the topic.
Some things are best left at that. The seed had been planted.
Akira looked at the sky through the new window; the sun had already risen high overhead. It was past noon.
"I'm hungry."
Uchiha Akira rubbed his stomach, then turned his gaze back to Tsunade, a playful, mischievous smile returning to his face.
"Coincidentally, today I witnessed Lady Tsunade's legendary cooking skills. It... truly opened my eyes."
"To show my respect for your... effort... I'll treat you and Shizune to a simple meal at my house for lunch."
Uchiha Akira deliberately, heavily, emphasized the words "legendary" and "effort."
Tsunade's face, which had just calmed down, instantly turned a furious shade of crimson.
The hellish kitchen from earlier...
The explosion...
That pot of ultimate, toxic, dark cuisine...
It all resurfaced in her mind.
Shame, pure and absolute, like a tidal wave, engulfed her.
"I... That was a mistake! A-a purely... purely a mistake!"
Tsunade stiffened her neck and loudly argued, her voice a little too high.
"Everyone has off days! My... my true skill is not like that at all! I was... distracted!"
"Oh? Is that so?"
Uchiha Akira feigned a look of profound, dramatic surprise.
"That's truly a pity. A tragedy, even. That I couldn't personally taste Lady Tsunade's true cooking skills."
"I..."
Tsunade instantly got stuck.
Make her enter the kitchen again? After that?
Kill her instead.
Just looking at pots, pans, and bowls now made her scalp tingle with phantom shame.
"Hmph! Is my cooking something just anyone can see?"
Tsunade desperately tried to save face, grasping at the last straws of her pride.
"I'm not in a good mood today. I don't feel like cooking!"
"Then there's nothing to be done."
Uchiha Akira spread his hands in a gesture of 'alas'.
"It seems today, Lady Tsunade, you will just have to make do with tasting my personal chef's cooking."
He said this with a faint, infuriatingly smug tone.
"As the Hokage and the head of the Uchiha Clan, my house must have a few... presentable... chefs. Otherwise, entertaining guests would be a problem."
After speaking, he didn't wait for Tsunade's reply and turned to walk towards his own house, just down the newly-built path.
"Let's go. Shizune, you come along too. You look starved."
"Ah... Yes! Lord Hokage! Thank you!"
Shizune quickly responded, bowing, her face a mask of pure, unadulterated relief.
She then cautiously glanced at Tsunade, who was still standing, frozen, in the doorway of her new house.
"Lady Tsunade, we..."
Tsunade gritted her teeth.
To go, or not to go?
[If I go, doesn't that mean I'm admitting my cooking was bad? That I'm freeloading at his place?!]
[But... if I don't go...]
Her stomach let out a loud, pathetic, rumble.
[And... for some reason... I... I actually want to go.]
Ultimately, appetite—and perhaps something else—triumphed over that pitiful, shattered bit of pride.
"Go then! I'd like to see what 'delicious' things your chef can make!"
Tsunade spoke the words fiercely, as if it were a challenge.
But her feet, very honestly, followed along behind him.
Shizune followed behind them both, looking at the two bickering, walking figures in front, and finally, finally, let out a sigh of relief.
She touched her own protesting, empty stomach.
[This is great...]
[Finally... I can eat a normal, non-toxic, non-explosive meal for lunch today.]
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