Five days later.
"So this is the Flying Thunder God?"
Uchiha Dan kept zipping between the office and his bedroom at home, savoring the feeling of freely traversing space. He had to admit, it was insanely exhilarating.
Next, he could lay the groundwork for Namikaze Minato and try to get the kid to master the Flying Thunder God Technique before he turned ten.
When he returned to the office, Tsunade was speechless.
Dan had gotten so carried away that he had vanished right in front of her a full twelve times in just a little while.
But from now on, Dan would be completely safe. No one could threaten him anymore.
Tsunade had also decided she needed to act quickly.
Over the past few days, she had often spoken with her grandmother, Uzumaki Mito, and her resolve had gradually grown stronger.
Dan was right. Uzumaki Mito really did see things clearly. The moment she said Hiruzen Sarutobi had changed, Tsunade understood where she stood.
"Dan, can you come with me to the village entrance tomorrow to meet someone?" Tsunade asked when she saw he had finally settled down.
"Me? To the village entrance?" Dan thought he must have misheard. "Am I even allowed to go there?"
"Why are you worried with me around?" Tsunade declared confidently.
"I don't mind. I'm just worried I'll cause trouble for you," Dan explained with a shake of his head.
"If I'm bound to clash with those people, I can't care too much about what they think," Tsunade said coldly. "I've made up my mind!"
"That quickly?" Dan was surprised. He knew Tsunade had never had any interest in the Hokage Position.
Now she had made up her mind in just five days.
Tsunade was a woman of firm convictions. Once she made a decision, that was that. She wouldn't go back on it.
"All right, then. Who are you going to meet?"
"My little sister!"
"Huh?" Dan looked completely confused. "Since when did you have a little sister?"
"She's not my actual sister. She's a distant cousin on my grandmother's side. She's going to come live with me from now on."
Uzumaki Kushina.
The name popped into Dan's mind.
His little brother's future wife was here!
He absolutely had to go and welcome her.
"All right. Just let me know when we're going."
Early the next morning, Hiruzen Sarutobi received a report that Tsunade had brought Dan to the village entrance. They seemed to be waiting for someone.
"Hmph!" Utatane Koharu, who happened to be there, snorted at the news. "Tsunade is getting more and more brazen. What if that wicked little brat runs away?"
"With Tsunade there, I'm not worried he'll run," Hiruzen said, his expression dark. "But Tsunade is overstepping."
"What are we supposed to do, then?" Utatane Koharu asked. "That girl is going to become the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. Are we just going to let Uchiha Dan get close to her?"
"Lady Mito is still alive, and Tsunade and the boy are in the throes of young love. We can't do anything openly."
"But once Lady Mito passes away and Kushina becomes the Jinchuriki, we should deal with a few things at the same time." Hiruzen finally made the call.
After all, as far as anyone knew, Dan was a civilian of the village. He was free to do as he pleased and had never committed a crime.
He had also cured many people's illnesses and enjoyed considerable standing in Konoha.
Most importantly, Tobirama Senju's order back then had been for him to live out his life as an ordinary person.
But Hiruzen couldn't make public the reason he was targeting Dan. Otherwise, the Konoha High-Ranking Officials' credibility would take a serious hit.
A Hokage had ruined a child's life just because he saw him smile.
It would be humiliating if that got out!
So Hiruzen couldn't just deal with Dan however he pleased. He had to work in secret.
Looking back over Hiruzen Sarutobi's life, he had never openly harmed any of the village's civilians. He was humble and gentle toward everyone, practically a paragon of virtue.
As Hokage, he had worked tirelessly for the village all these years. So why were there always so many problems that, if mishandled, would leave stains on his record as Hokage?
Thinking of that, Hiruzen became even more uncertain about Shimura Danzō's plan to establish Root.
"Hmph. Then let the brat run wild for a little longer. Once he coughs up those Medical Ninjutsu, I'll deal with him myself," Utatane Koharu said coldly.
Unlike Hiruzen and Utatane Koharu, Dan had no such worries.
He was even planning to find an opportunity soon to show off his strength and demonstrate the Flying Thunder God.
What if Hiruzen objected then?
Could Dan simply tell him the whole story of how he had figured out the Flying Thunder God Technique?
If Hiruzen asked when he had trained, Dan could just say he hadn't. It had suddenly clicked, and now he could do it. What could Hiruzen do about it?
And as for his strength?
He was naturally strong!
Dan really wanted to see Hiruzen's expression when he showed off Taijutsu that rivaled Tsunade's, along with the Flying Thunder God, which let him soar through the skies and dive beneath the earth.
Most likely, Hiruzen wouldn't attack him outright.
Not because he didn't want to, but because there was damn well nothing he could do to Dan anymore.
After all, this was the Flying Thunder God Technique—the only user of the Flying Thunder God in the Shinobi World since Tobirama Senju's death.
If Dan encountered danger and ran, who could stop him?
Unless Hiruzen could take him out in a single strike, the two of them would have torn away all pretense by then.
If Dan revealed his overwhelming strength and escaped Konoha, slipping completely out of Hiruzen's control, that was the last thing Hiruzen Sarutobi wanted.
After all, with the Flying Thunder God, Dan could return to Konoha whenever he wanted and cause trouble.
If he kept killing members of the Sarutobi Clan, Shimura Clan, and Utatane Clan every so often, Hiruzen Sarutobi would be the one suffering.
Hiruzen wouldn't fail to think of that, so he would surely try something else first, showing his true colors as a crafty old schemer.
For example, he might set an ambush and lure Dan into it, then seal him away.
But Dan had peerless sensory abilities in the Shinobi World and absolutely no trust in Konoha's leadership. There was no way he would fall for it.
If Hiruzen couldn't kill him by either overt or covert means, then all he could do in the end was try a softer approach.
But that was Dan's area of expertise. They'd just have to see who could outplay whom.
Dan was doing this so he could have as much freedom as possible in Konoha.
Besides, he had nothing to lose.
Dan genuinely didn't mind falling out with Hiruzen Sarutobi completely. He wasn't afraid of guessing wrong; he could always leave.
He had promised Tsunade he wouldn't leave, but he only said that because he didn't want her to be sad. It wasn't that he really didn't want to go.
Being forced out didn't count as breaking his promise, right?
After seven years of holding back, Dan's thirst for research was overflowing. His mind was full of ideas he couldn't wait to test and bring to life.
He felt the fire inside him was about to explode!
As for Namikaze Minato's family, with Dan keeping them in check from outside and Tsunade smoothing things over within the village, along with Hiruzen Sarutobi's love of maintaining appearances, nothing would happen to them.
As Dan was thinking, a group of people came into view.
Tsunade immediately grabbed Dan by the arm and headed over to meet them.
Dan was somewhat resistant to Tsunade unconsciously taking his hand all the time, and she knew it.
She had realized Dan hadn't completely given up on leaving Konoha.
So although it pained her that Dan was deliberately keeping his distance, she could only take things slowly.
Dan was actually troubled, too.
He was afraid.
When he had said he was afraid of dying and only wanted to survive, he had said it for Tsunade's sake.
He didn't want to die, but he had never actually feared death. He had long been prepared to fight to the death if he had no other choice.
He just didn't want to die like a coward.
But now, this fear was real.
Ever since Tsunade had poured her heart out to him and treated him so well that she seemed to have no limits—
He had found it increasingly difficult to refuse any of her requests, and he cared more and more about how she felt.
If this went on, he would become a second Tsunade.
Love could make a person waver in their convictions.
Guilt could also make a person waver in their convictions.
Love combined with guilt could make a person lose their convictions entirely.
Dan had thought he was made of stone, and that he was only using Tsunade.
But in the end, he had overestimated himself.
After all, people weren't grass or trees. How could they be without feelings?
Before you continue