A Change of Heart

"Hiroki, Hiroki! I know how I can get stronger! I'm going to become the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki!!!"

Kushina's voice came from the doorway, loud and excited. It instantly shattered the room's strange, eerie atmosphere.

Hiroki was facing Orochimaru. At the sound of her words, his heart gave a jolt. He looked at Orochimaru, wanting to know what expression he wore, how he would react.

That girl, Kushina... She was even more careless than he was.

Hiroki's first instinct was to turn around and tell her to stop shouting. There was someone else in the room, after all.

But Kushina had already run inside, her face alight with excitement. She hadn't even noticed the person standing in the corner.

Orochimaru slowly turned his head to look at Kushina. His expression didn't change. He wasn't curious or surprised; he simply watched her calmly.

To the Konoha High Command, Kushina was a candidate to become the next Jinchuriki. It wasn't a secret, especially not to him, the second-in-command of Konoha's Root.

Perhaps only someone like Jiraiya, who was carefree and had no interest in dealing with the village's assorted messes, didn't know about it.

He was more interested in Hiroki's reaction.

He saw the expression on Hiroki's face shift from astonishment to nervousness. It was obvious that he wanted to protect the red-haired girl.

That was good news for Konoha. As long as Hiroki had someone he cared about in the village, he would care about Konoha, too.

That was an invisible shackle, the so-called bonds that kept a person tied to one place.

"I won't interrupt your conversation." Orochimaru suddenly spoke, his tone flat. "Making more friends is a good thing in Konoha."

He offered that brief reminder and said no more, then glanced at Hiroki.

Hiroki had no idea what Orochimaru was trying to say. He only saw Orochimaru disappear from where he stood, apparently using the Body Flicker Technique to leave. A moment later, his voice came from outside.

"Don't be late tomorrow."

The room fell quiet. Only then did Kushina sense that something was off.

"Hiroki? Was that Teacher Orochimaru just now? What was he doing at your house?"

Hiroki didn't answer.

He simply went over and closed the door, then turned around to face Kushina. With a serious expression, he asked, "Kushina, what were you just saying? Who told you about the Jinchuriki?"

Jinchuriki was the nicer term used in the manga translation. The less pleasant term was the living sacrifice for the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox.

Living sacrifice—it sounded ominous and terrifying enough all on its own.

Though Uzumaki Kushina had become the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki in the original story, Hiroki still didn't want a child to become one so young.

At least when she was a little older!

He couldn't have crossed into this world, graduated early, and even attracted Orochimaru's attention and entered into a partnership with him, yet still be unable to change something this small, could he?

"It was Grandma Mito," Kushina replied. His expression had left her a little confused, but she answered honestly. "I went to see her and asked how I could get stronger. That's when she told me."

Uzumaki Mito? Hiroki was slightly surprised. As he remembered her, the old woman seemed like a kind, gentle lady.

"What exactly did she tell you?" Hiroki pressed.

The excitement faded from Kushina's face. She thought back to her conversation with Mito, and her expression grew more serious.

"I went to see Grandma Mito and asked how I could get stronger. She told me not to rush... But ever since you awakened your Kekkei Genkai, you've gotten so much stronger so quickly, Hiroki... I thought... I thought I wanted to get stronger alongside you, too..."

"Then I asked Grandma Mito if there was a faster way. She sighed and said there was. Then she told me about becoming the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki."

"But Grandma Mito advised me against rushing into it. She also said I should learn Fuinjutsu first, and told me to think it over. I don't have to decide right away." Kushina lowered her voice and her head, sneaking a glance at Hiroki. Somewhat guiltily, she asked, "Um, did I do something wrong?"

Hiroki fell silent after hearing her out.

The whole thing... seemed pretty normal?

A child yearned for strength, and an old woman couldn't resist her pleas, so she told her one way to get stronger.

But... could Uzumaki Kushina truly understand what it meant to become the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki?

Hiroki had been about to ask her, but then he remembered how helpless he'd felt when Orochimaru suddenly appeared earlier. He closed his mouth again.

Asking questions aloud made it hard to keep a secret.

He already had a safer way to communicate, and he was a ninja now, not a programmer. He should use a safer method.

With that in mind, Hiroki took Uzumaki Kushina's small hand.

It was cool and soft, a little like a rice cake.

Little Kushina blushed at what he'd done. Then, as if she'd thought of something, she quickly shook her head to drive the strange idea from her mind, hoping Hiroki hadn't noticed.

The next moment, a message from Hiroki appeared.

|Hiroki.log|: "Do you know what it means to become the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki? Do you understand what it means to become the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki? Do you know what it will cost you?"

Hiroki gazed at Kushina.

She was different from him. He wanted to get stronger because he knew the Shinobi World was dangerous. He'd just experienced firsthand what it was like to be powerless, threatened by Orochimaru and forced to work with him.

But Kushina... She was still just a child. She might not have thought about what would happen after she became the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki: the troubles she would face, the hardships she would endure, the experiences she would have.

Perhaps she only wanted to get stronger out of envy, jealousy, a child's competitive spirit, or simple unwillingness to lose.

Just as Grandma Mito had said, she should wait.

|Kushina_excited_admiring_trusting_calm.log|: "I know, I know! Grandma Mito told me! She said people might be afraid of me if I became the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, and that I might not be allowed to leave a certain area!"

|Kushina_trusting_calm_unwilling_to_give_up.log|: "But, but... If I don't become the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, then with my talent, I'm afraid I'll never catch up to you, Hiroki! I still want to become Konoha's first Hokage!"

Hiroki fell silent.

For a moment, he didn't know what to say. Kushina's log actually had a "calm" tag?

So had she truly thought it through, or had she only imagined that she had?

Hiroki thought for a moment, then continued asking.

|Hiroki.log|: "Then do you know what it feels like to lose your freedom? To spend every day cooped up in a cramped room studying, while everyone looks down on you and discriminates against you?"

|Kushina_trusting_calm_unwilling_to_give_up.log|: "But I can't go many places as it is, and everyone already looks down on me because of my red hair and accent!!"

|Kushina_trusting_calm_unwilling_to_give_up.log|: "I don't want power so I can bully them. I just want to prove myself, to tell them I'm not some outsider from another village! I want to become Konoha's first female Hokage! I want to stand by Hiroki's side!"

|Kushina_admiring_trusting_hopeful_unwilling_to_give_up.log|: "Hey, hey, hey~ Hiroki~ You'll support me, right...?"

Hiroki fell silent again.

What could he say to that? He suddenly remembered that in the original story, Kushina had decided to become a Jinchuriki largely because of Minato. But now, Minato and Kushina barely knew each other. Instead, Hiroki had become the one she wanted to catch up to.

She wanted to get stronger because of him.

But... was he really someone worth striving to catch up to?

The moment that thought crossed his mind, an indescribable sense of responsibility settled over Hiroki.

It seemed he could no longer live the quiet, ordinary life of a programmer, smooth and peaceful as a plant's. The ideal life of basking in the sun and daydreaming, never getting involved, never taking initiative, never accepting responsibility, quietly carrying out photosynthesis until the end of his life, seemed to be slipping farther and farther away.

Why...?

Because this damned Shinobi World was rotten to the core, sending children barely in their teens to the battlefield.

This fucked-up Shinobi World let crazy bastards start a world war all by themselves.

He had no strength, and just because he'd shown a little of his Golden Finger, just because he'd revealed a little knowledge that didn't belong to this era, he had to worry about Orochimaru and Danzo—and had ended up being threatened by Orochimaru.

This godforsaken Shinobi World was rotten to the core.

Hiroki answered his own question at once, and suddenly felt his thoughts clear.

Since he'd already come to this godforsaken Shinobi World and couldn't go back, and since he had a Golden Finger based on the Windows system he knew best, why not try to get stronger? Strong enough that nobody could stop him, and then he could change this godforsaken era.

Change this godforsaken Shinobi World.

Hiroki took a breath and reached out to ruffle Kushina's hair.

|Hiroki.log|: "Yes, I'll support you, but not right now. For now, you need to study Fuinjutsu, just like Lady Mito said. And then... I'll look for ways to get stronger, ways to make people accept you, and a way for you to avoid being confined within a barrier."

|Hiroki.log|: "We'll get stronger together... and then..." Change this godforsaken era.

Hiroki thought about it, but decided not to send the last few words. They still had a curse in them, and it wasn't good for a child to hear.

He changed the wording.

|Hiroki.log|: "Then we'll become Hokage! We'll change Konoha!"

|Kushina_admiring_trusting_delighted.log|: "Yes!!!!!!"

"So, have you decided?" Orochimaru asked, smiling as he watched Sawada Hiroki.

Behind him stood a row of criminals wearing hoods, their bodies marked with Fuinjutsu formulas. Instruments for measuring various vital signs were inserted into them, and several researchers stood nearby.

"Yeah. Let's begin with the Muscle Automation Growth Technique experiment. I can't wait to get stronger," Hiroki replied quietly.

"Muscle experiments, ninjutsu copying, Genjutsu resistance, and the analysis of Lightning Style: False Darkness. You've really packed your schedule full... Even I, a jonin, couldn't work as hard as you." Orochimaru murmured a sigh of admiration.

"Not at all. It's just the only thing someone as mediocre as me can do." Hiroki's voice was quiet. He watched the criminals with a cold gaze.

In his previous life, as a programmer worked like a beast of burden, being squeezed for overtime was the norm.

In this life, squeezing himself to get stronger was only natural.

"By the way, they're all people who deserve to die, right?" Hiroki held out a hand and asked one last time, his expression cold.

"Of course. Every year, countless people in the Hidden Leaf Village spend money to find ninjas or wandering fighters to teach them chakra and ninjutsu. Then who knows how many of them start doing filthy things once they've learned ninjutsu." Orochimaru sneered as he swept his gaze over the criminals.

There were countless incidents throughout the Land of Fire, in every street and alley, and missions arose because of them.

It had to be said: without those people, Konoha's missions might be cut in half.

"Good."

A small, pale hand pressed against the first criminal.

A wail rang out. The man's body immediately began to tremble uncontrollably, then curled up. Before long, he had spasmed into the shape of a giant shrimp.

Then, after just a couple more moments, he stopped breathing.

No one gave an order, but the next moment, one of the researchers watching the readings quietly offered an analysis. "Calcium ion levels are too low. We suspect acute catastrophic hypocalcemia."

"Ventricular fibrillation, too! The calcium imbalance has stopped the subject's heart from maintaining a normal electrical rhythm!" another researcher added.

"Lactate levels are also too high! The blood has become acidic! The kidneys can't process it!"

"Blood circulation stopped or became abnormal at around the thirty-seventh second! The subject died from cerebral hypoxia. At present, medical ninjutsu would be unable to reverse almost any stage of the process," the last researcher concluded.

"Continue?" Orochimaru raised an eyebrow and looked at Hiroki.

Hiroki took a deep breath. He didn't look at the body on the ground, but walked straight toward the second criminal.

"Continue," he said.