Sen said goodbye to the two of them and hurried straight home.
He shut all the doors and windows tight, then excitedly redeemed the [Mental Power +2] reward in the system.
The moment the exchange was complete, Sen felt a cool current surge into his eyes. The whole world seemed to grow startlingly clear, and even the dust motes in the air stood out in perfect detail.
He hurried to the mirror. In his pitch-black pupils, two tiny tomoe were slowly turning.
Sen nodded with satisfaction. It seemed the Uzumaki Clan's physique really was something else; his starting point for awakening the Sharingan was already higher than most people's.
After a moment, he adjusted to it and deactivated his Sharingan.
He had no intention of showing it off. A six-year-old with the Sharingan would be like a child carrying gold through a crowded market if the Konoha High Command found out.
After eating a quick lunch and packing some snacks and fruit, Sen changed into casual clothes and headed for the place he'd agreed to meet Kushina.
It was late spring, cherry blossom season, and the groves on the outskirts of Konoha were crowded with visitors.
When he reached their meeting spot, Sen didn't see Kushina right away.
He was about to sit down and wait when he heard an argument nearby.
"Hey, big brother, it's her! Tenten beats me up at school all the time! You have to avenge me today!"
"Of course I will. I'm your big brother, after all. Her bright red hair is so annoying—it doesn't have any of the subtle elegance of cherry blossoms!"
Then Kushina's angry voice rang out. "Get lost! I have something important to do today. If you want to fight, do it tomorrow!"
That was Kushina!
Sen's expression darkened, and he immediately ran toward the voices.
He found Kushina cornered by two people. One was a classmate; the other was a tall Genin wearing a Konoha Forehead Protector.
The Genin looked impatient, his brows knitted into a scowl.
"I'm a ninja. I don't have time to play house with some brat! But you ruined my cherry-blossom viewing, and that's your fault! I'll teach you a lesson, you ugly redhead!"
As he spoke, he reached out to grab Kushina by the hair.
Just as his hand was about to touch her red hair, a size-37 ninja sandal came flying through the air, followed close behind by Sen himself.
Thud!
Usually, a kick was enough to send someone flying. But Sen had something else in mind.
He drove his foot hard into the Genin's chest, but didn't send him flying.
Instead, he stepped down and used the man like a brake, dragging him across the ground and carving a blood-red streak more than half a meter long into the dirt!
Kushina covered her mouth at the gruesome sight. Sen, however, admired it.
What a beautiful streak.
After admiring the trail behind him, Sen gripped a Kunai and spoke to the man beneath his foot.
"You should be glad you only ruined my cherry-blossom viewing. If you'd hurt Kushina, the blossoms here would be even more beautiful next year. After all—"
"Flesh and blood make the best fertilizer."
He'd expected the man to beg for mercy or fight back. Instead, the Genin beneath his foot let out a muffled groan and fainted on the spot.
Sen pursed his lips and told the classmate, who was still frozen in shock, to take the man away. He'd only been kicked once; he wasn't going to die so easily.
With that little interruption dealt with, Sen took Kushina somewhere else.
Out of sight, out of mind.
He noticed Kushina was wearing a white sleeveless dress, with a delicate cherry-blossom hairpin tucked into the ends of her hair. She looked especially cute.
But after what had just happened, her mood was clearly low.
The two of them strolled along the riverbank. After a long while, Kushina murmured sadly to herself,
"Cherry blossoms... Why are they all pale red? It's like this world really can't bear even a single shade of deep red."
Sen noticed the sadness in her eyes and said, "It's just a different variety. In other places..."
The more he said, the more wrong it felt. He was trying to flirt, so why was he giving a lecture?
"Um... pale red isn't pretty anyway. I like deep red."
Kushina managed a faint smile at that, but the next second, all the hurt, resentment, and sorrow came flooding across the six-year-old girl's face.
"Then why... why did the Land of Whirlpools have to fall? And my parents..." Her tears spilled over.
Sen didn't let her continue.
He stepped forward and pulled her into a tight embrace, letting her bury her face against his chest.
"If you want to cry, then cry. I can't change what happened in the past. But I won't let you go through this again. I'll be here from now on."
It was the first time he'd truly reached Kushina's heart.
She was usually so lively and cheerful, as if she'd long since forgotten the pain of losing her homeland and family.
But in truth, that wound had never healed. Perhaps her fiery temper was just a mask to protect herself.
After a while, Kushina's sobs gradually subsided.
She wiped away her tears and stood up from Sen's arms. Her eyes were red, and her voice was stuffy as she said,
"I... I'm kind of hungry. Do you have anything to eat?"
Sen smiled. That girl's moods came and went in a flash.
He pointed to a grassy patch up ahead and took snacks and fruit from his bag. "Let's go sit over there."
They sat on the grass, eating snacks and watching the sunset dye the sky the same deep red as Kushina's hair.
As evening fell, Sen stood and held out a hand to Kushina. "Come on. I'll walk you home."
They reached the entrance to the Senju Compound. Just as they were about to part, Kushina turned around, her eyes sparkling as she asked with a smile,
"Sen, did you mean what you said this afternoon?"
Sen paused. He'd said a lot of things that afternoon. Which one did she mean?
But when he saw that Kushina's red hair seemed ready to fly up again, he understood. He smiled too.
"Of course I meant it. I'll be here from now on."
As soon as he finished speaking, Kushina dashed over like a little rabbit, planted a quick kiss on his cheek, then blushed and ran home without looking back.
Sen touched the spot she'd kissed and watched the girl flee, murmuring with a smile,
"She turned the tables on me... In all of the vast Naruto world, you're probably the only girl bold enough to make the first move like that, Kushina."
After making sure Kushina had gotten home safely, Sen didn't leave.
He watched the rooftops. Ever since awakening his Sharingan, his senses had grown sharper. He'd known all along that Anbu ninja had been watching them both from the moment he met Kushina.
But why hadn't they stepped in when Kushina was attacked?
At the same time, in the Hokage's office.
A ninja around forty years old, with a crossed scar on his chin, shoved the door open and snapped,
"Monkey, are you really going to sit there and do nothing while that Uchiha kid gets so close to the Jinchuriki?"
The newcomer was Shimura Danzō.
Sarutobi Hiruzen glanced at him and leisurely wiped his crystal ball. "Danzō, Madara was the only person in the history of the Uchiha Clan who could control the Nine-Tails. There's no need to take it out on the whole clan. I'd say your useless nephew went running to you to complain again, didn't he?"
"Lies! That never happened!" Danzō denied at once. "Don't change the subject!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen gestured impatiently for him to come look at the crystal ball.
The crystal ball showed Sen walking home alone.
Seeing the undisguised anger in Danzō's eyes, Sarutobi Hiruzen knew he'd guessed right.
He took a puff of his pipe and said casually,
"Don't be so prejudiced against the Uchiha Clan. He's barely six. He's still just a child."
Before you continue