Where's the Promised Divine Beast?

"You must be Azure Luan!" Hokage Duke said excitedly. This was a lifeform unique to mythological worlds. What was mythology? Humanity's fantasies about the supernatural; the ultimate existence, something that represented everything—a higher world where immortals and demons existed. This meant that from now on, the Dukes could come into contact with lofty immortal arts, infinitely powerful magical treasures, and the ultimate goal pursued by all life—transcending all things, eternal life without death!

"Sorry to disappoint you! I'm not Azure Luan. Although I thought I was when I first hatched, I'm Duke. I reincarnated as... Articuno. Articuno from the Pokémon world!" Articuno Duke rolled his eyes. As expected of me, we really did think alike.

Hokage Duke inwardly sighed in disappointment. So it was a fake. Articuno couldn't compare to Azure Luan at all! He turned to the little dinosaur expectantly. "What about you? Are you from a magical world? Did you reincarnate as a Warcraft creature? Do you have dragon blood? Are there gods and demons in that world?"

"No, I reincarnated as Gabumon, in the Digimon world."

"..." Reality was truly cruel. Where were the promised immortals and gods? My Heavenly Court, underworld, divine mountains, and Underworld were all gone... Pokémon and Digimon? The style changed way too fast; even the prestige had dropped! At least the Three Great Manga could be considered all-ages anime. But these two... I hadn't watched them since elementary school! Would some leather-clad Ultraman show up next? The kind with a zipper down the back. How embarrassing!

"What about you? Why did you reincarnate as a girl?" Articuno Duke asked. He had only just arrived and had yet to sort out his thoughts.

"I'm a boy. If you find it strange, I can change back into the way I looked before reincarnating. Actually, all of you can too. It's just that talking face-to-face with identical faces would be too awkward, so we all maintain our current appearances," Hokage Duke explained.

"I'm a little confused..." Gabumon Duke looked dazed. That was hardly surprising; he was still in his growth stage, and his intelligence needed improvement.

Hokage Duke had no idea how to explain it either. The few of them reached out... paws included, placed them together, and began merging their memories.

Midnight!

In the depths of the night, Duke pushed Hades off his body, stepped out of the guest room, and walked barefoot into the courtyard. The full moon stretched his shadow long. A power both familiar and unfamiliar brewed within his heart. It was like a bone lodged in his throat—he had to let it out—and it kept him from sleeping.

"This feeling... is it the new power brought by Articuno and Gabumon?"

Chakra surged violently through his meridians, like swarms of ants crawling over him. His body tingled, ached, and swelled. Duke found it impossible to think calmly, so he simply stopped suppressing it. Following the power pouring from his body, he began swinging his fists. His fist winds tore through the air, rolling up waves of heat from rapid friction and producing dull bursts of air-rending sound. It was Gabumon's close-combat technique: Machine Gun Combo Punch.

"No, it's not this feeling..."

A chain of forceful punches and kicks swept over the ground. Duke moved faster and faster, his attacks becoming increasingly ferocious. The courtyard soil was ravaged by the gale, and the lawn had long since vanished. From afar, only a blurred figure could be seen dancing amid the storm. The wind grew sharper and sharper, as though it would never end.

On the roof, Mitarashi Shixiao and Natsuki stood side by side. Awakened from their sleep, the two were still in their pajamas.

"Zixiao, what's wrong with him?" Natsuki asked worriedly.

Mitarashi Shixiao did not answer. He focused intently on Duke below. Tonight's wind was exceptionally cold.

"It hurts so much. I'm going to explode. What exactly is this feeling..." Duke stopped his futile venting, panting heavily. His limbs were exhausted, but his mind was extraordinarily clear. Power continued to surge from his body, yet he could not find the key or figure out how to command it.

"Ha... ha... ha..." Duke bent over with his hands braced on his knees. Each rough breath carried waves of chill that condensed into ice crystals in the air.

"What is this?"

Could it be Articuno's power? No, it felt different. It was more like something within me was awakening. What is it... This hurts so much!

The accumulated power made Duke feel like a furnace. He wanted to vent it, yet could find no breakthrough, leaving him unbearably frustrated. Unable to endure the agony any longer, Duke threw back his head and let out a long howl. Endless cold erupted from within him, sweeping through like a blizzard and covering the entire courtyard, freezing it solid. Under the moonlight, the grounds were clad in silver. With Duke at the center, the entire courtyard became isolated from the world, as though winter had arrived.

"This is?" Natsuki covered her mouth in shock, unable to believe it.

"It has finally awakened... the Hozuki Clan's Kekkei Genkai!" Mitarashi Shixiao muttered. He had completed the S-rank Mission assigned by the Third Hokage, yet he was not happy at all. His heart felt strangely empty.

After sending Natsuki back inside, Mitarashi Shixiao leaped down from above and landed beside Duke. Ignoring the bone-piercing cold emanating from him, he supported Duke and asked with concern, "Are you all right?"

"Uncle Zixiao, I feel... better than ever!" Duke exhaled icy breath. Every bone and limb in his body felt as cold as ice. Such a temperature should not have appeared in a normal person, yet he was full of energy, as though nothing had happened.

"Don't worry. You've merely awakened your own Kekkei Genkai." Mitarashi Shixiao helped Duke back to the guest room, kicked Hades off the bedding, placed Duke on the bed, tucked him in, and carefully adjusted the corners of the blanket. A certain thick-nerved idiot turned over in his sweet dreams and let out a dissatisfied grunt.

"I have a Kekkei Genkai?" Duke asked from the bed after a long while. At the moment his Kekkei Genkai awakened, all his doubts had been dispelled. Why had the entire village been slaughtered while he alone survived... Why was a child from the Land of Water being raised by Konoha ninjas...

"The Kekkei Genkai unique to Kirigakure—the Yuki Clan's Ice Release!" Mitarashi Shixiao did not try to hide it. Before Duke could ask, he continued, "An Anbu squad found you while carrying out a mission. Two groups of ninja were fighting over you. One was Hidden Mist Ninja, and the other was... Konoha ninja. After rescuing you, we learned that you possessed the Yuki Clan's bloodline. That group of Konoha ninja had come for the same reason. So Lord Hokage detained you and entrusted you to me, hoping that I would raise you into an outstanding Konoha ninja. That was also my mission... an S-rank Mission!" Mitarashi Shixiao lowered his head. In the darkness, his face could not be seen, only a vague outline.

"Why are you telling me so much? Wouldn't it have been enough to make up some excuse? Kids are easy to fool!" Duke stared at the ceiling as though his gaze had pierced through the walls and reached the night sky.

"If I didn't say it... it felt like I would lose something very important!" Mitarashi Shixiao fell silent for a moment before speaking softly.

At those words, the hatred filling Duke's heart instantly cooled. He turned to look at the purple-haired freak beside him, who seemed to have aged ten years, then pulled the blanket over his head and muttered, "Your integrity? You lost that the moment you put on that bodysuit... If there's nothing else, please leave. Tomorrow is my first day meeting my Jonin Instructor. I can't leave a bad impression by being late."

"You..." Mitarashi Shixiao froze. Where was the promised hatred? Where was the promised love-and-kill relationship?

"What do you mean, 'you'? Do you expect me to stage a revenge story? After fighting you to the death, I get spared by you, narrowly escape Konoha, live a miserable life on the run with bounties on my head and no guarantee of my next meal, then join some illegal organization trying to unite the world, and finally return to the village with my hatred to kill everyone..." Duke poked his head out from under the blanket, his face full of disdain. "You didn't really think that, did you? I have to say, your imagination is way too lame!"

"..." Mitarashi Shixiao scratched his head. That really was what he had been thinking.

"Close the door. I won't see you out!" Duke snorted, buried his head under the blanket again, and began snoring, pretending to be asleep.

Having been shown the door, Mitarashi Shixiao was not angered. He quietly said good night and left the guest room in high spirits. Outside, Natsuki had been silently waiting for some time.

"That child is unexpectedly... mature!" Natsuki smiled warmly.

"Not mature... It should be a bond!" Mitarashi Shixiao embraced his wife, a smile at the corner of his lips. "As a ninja, I'm swayed by emotions. I really am useless!"

"No, in my heart, you're a hero. The hero who saved this family." Natsuki leaned against Mitarashi Shixiao's chest and gently stroked his face with one hand.

The two embraced, enjoying each other's deep affection. Looking at his wife's flower-like beauty, Mitarashi Shixiao could not help feeling restless. Natsuki sensed something as well and shot Zixiao a reproachful glance. The charm in that single look nearly turned him into a silver wolf beneath the moon.

"Keep it down. Let's go back to the room," Natsuki said coyly, her eyes shining and her cheeks faintly pink like peach blossoms.

"As you command, dear wife!" Mitarashi Shixiao immediately hoisted Natsuki over his shoulder and carried her back to their room. Life's ups and downs were too exciting; happiness had come too suddenly.

"But have you figured out how to explain this to Lord Hokage?" Natsuki asked anxiously. It was an S-rank Mission, and now it could basically be considered a failure.

"Don't say such disappointing things right now. Tomorrow's problems can wait until tomorrow. We have something more important to do now. Duke and Anko have grown up; they need a little brother or sister!"

"You pervert!"

The next day!

After a sleepless night, Duke got up early in the morning. He threw together something simple for Anko to eat, then hurried to the Ninja Academy.

Postwar Konoha desperately needed to replenish its Power Level, so its number of ninja had to be restored as quickly as possible. Aside from shortening the six-year school term to three years, the class assignment system was also different. In order to train newly graduated Genin into reliable fighting power as efficiently as possible, graduates were split apart and individually assigned to different squads, led by experienced seniors. Compared to the peacetime class assignment system, squads made up of three veterans and one Newbie had a better chance of surviving on the battlefield, and newly graduated Genin could quickly find their place. Might Guy, for example, had been assigned to a squad from the previous graduating class.

Obito got his wish and was assigned to a Jonin squad with Rin. That Jonin had dazzling blond hair and a sunny smile, and he was a dependable young man. The only question was what expression Obito would wear when he saw that his teammate was Dead Fish Eye Duke, Kakashi. Before Kakashi graduated, many girls in their class liked him, including Rin. Rather than being Obito's victory, this squad assignment was more Rin's victory.

"Obito is so lucky!" Asuma said enviously.

"Yeah!" Duke wholeheartedly agreed. Their squad leader was the Yellow Flash. Not only was he upright in character, but his strength was first-rate. In a few years, he would become the undisputed king of one-on-one combat. With both character and strength guaranteed, meeting such an outstanding squad leader was more than just ordinary luck.

"I really want to be assigned to the same team as Kurenai."

"..."

Duke decided to stop paying attention to this fool. At such a young age, he was already thinking about girls all day instead of learning properly. Even if you managed to get her, so what? Would you be able to make the Third Hokage your grandfather? At most, you could kiss... Such a boring thing... Actually, I'm kind of jealous too... I want to kiss someone too!