Emotions are truly a wondrous thing. This thing, which is derived from a series of chemical reactions in the brain, is something that has not been deciphered even in Qi's previous life on Earth, let alone controlled.
Although many people can control their emotions, that's pure nonsense. Being able to suppress them doesn't mean you can control them. What you hate or like won't change just because you don't want to think that way.
Knowing the fate of the Yuki Kaguya long ago, Qi, despite twelve years of being influenced by them, subconsciously resisted developing feelings for either clan.
The reason is simple: he lacked the confidence. That year made him truly realize that in reality, not everyone has the luck to be the protagonist, and he really didn't want to die again. The enemies of those two clans were the Feudal Lord of Water, who held the pinnacle of power in the Land of Water, and the Kirigakure Ninja Village, the strongest ninja organization in the Land of Water. The alliance formed by these two represented the entire Land of Water...
This is also the biggest reason why he deliberately wanted to forget his memories of life in the Land of Water. Ever since he learned that he had transmigrated to the Hokage world and belonged to the Yuki Kaguya, for twelve long years, knowing the future of the two clans made his life more tiring than anyone else's. At that time, he had no confidence at all in surviving such a catastrophe alone. He had the same nightmare almost every night - being killed by a suddenly attacking enemy!
After leaving the Land of Water, he never again actively recalled those twelve years of painful memories, not even once, because he wanted to forget everything. He wanted to forget not only the despair and fear, but also the guilt he felt towards both races. He was even unwilling to do anything to revive the two races; his attitude towards it was completely pessimistic, and ultimately, it turned into escapism.
This escapist attitude naturally leads to no good results, making him an overly self-protective person and causing his biggest problem now—although his strength is rapidly increasing, his mentality is stuck in place. Even though he is already a monster among his peers in the eyes of others, he still cannot find even the slightest sense of security. Subconsciously, he values his own safety more than anything else. Even though he has moments of madness, all of this has only one reason—he is terrified of death, terrified to death. For this reason, he can abandon all the principles and morals of his past life, coldly viewing everything around him. He even regards everyone except Ogata as someone who could potentially harm him.
The most typical manifestation of this is that he can treat others with clear distinction between gratitude and resentment, but he will never trust those who are friendly to him because of this. Once the other party does anything that is detrimental to him, he will not hesitate to regard the other party as an enemy and do everything in his power to kill them.
But this is just self-deception. Emotions are something that cannot be controlled. No matter how he deceives himself, deep in his soul, as time goes by, a mark called bondage has long been deeply imprinted. His heart has always been firmly bound by the Land of Water. He can never become a strong person if he cannot break free, because he cannot even truly start a new life.
The sense of identity built on blood ties is irresistible to anyone. Even if you don't admit it, it's useless; it will erupt sooner or later. And unfortunately, his special feelings for the two races have been suppressed for too long due to the accumulation of time.
Terumi Mei's words, which were almost directed at him in anger, finally touched upon the emotions he had been forcibly suppressing, opening a crack in his heart...
The hatred he had been forcibly suppressing towards the Feudal Lord of Water and the Kirigakure transformed into the most direct killing intent in a very short time and erupted instantly.
Terumi Mei and the others were unlucky enough to become the targets of his murderous intent...
"Such intense killing intent..."
Standing beside Terumi Mei were two young Mist Ninja, Kisame Hoshigaki and Zabuza Momochi, two of the future renowned Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist Kirigakure. They were the same two who had been Terumi Mei's teammate during the Shinobi World Tournament. Now, like Terumi Mei, they were looking at Qi with surprise.
Although they didn't quite agree with Terumi Mei's words either, her reaction seemed... to be more than just anger...
"However, this kid's killing intent doesn't seem to be directed at us."
The killing intent came and went quickly, in just a split second. Zabuza, who originally had the strongest killing intent among the three of them, keenly sensed this anomaly.
"Am I just imagining things...?"
"This doesn't match the intelligence... He doesn't seem to be completely indifferent to Yuki."
Ghost Dragon chimed in,
"It seems he'll become a problem for the village because of Kaguya in the future."
Kaguya hasn't had her clan wiped out yet, but Kisame, being a member of Kirigakure, knows perfectly well how his village treats Kaguya. Within a few years, he'll surely suffer an even more gruesome death than Yuki. Compared to the Daimyo's Residence, Kirigakure is the real expert in this regard...
"What's wrong with Qi?"
The sudden burst of intense killing intent surprised not only Terumi Mei and the others, but also Kakashi and Obito. The Qi they knew had never lost her composure like this before. However, they quickly came to terms with it. After all, in this world where family consciousness was strong, such a reaction, though a bit intense, was not surprising.
Therefore, they each chose their opponents. Whether by coincidence or not, Obito chose Kisame, while Kakashi chose Zabuza...
Even after the selection, Kakashi said to Qi:
"Qi, that woman is yours now."
"..."
Having calmed down, Qi pursed his lips upon seeing this scene. Was Zabuza and Kakashi destined to be together...?
But being calm doesn't mean he's truly at peace inside.
He finally understood why, despite his rapidly improving strength, his sense of security had never increased. It was because he had always harbored resentment towards the Feudal Lord of Water and Kirigakure. Unconsciously, he had long considered himself one of Yuki and Kaguya, though he had only pretended not to.
So when he heard Terumi Mei say that, he was furious. He could tolerate the destruction of two races because they were weaker, but he could not tolerate such slander that turned black into white! Even if it was just a casual and insignificant act of displaced anger!
Now, he has broken free from the constraints imposed on him by the Land of Water. He will no longer run away. Although he is not strong enough yet, one day he will make the Feudal Lord of Water and Kirigakure regret killing Yuki and Kaguya! He will definitely settle this score with them! He is not in a hurry. His life is still long. In the future, many people will pay the price for this debt, or even lose their lives!
You really shouldn't have treated them that way.
His face seemed to have lost all expression at this moment; it didn't look like a living person's face, but rather a wax figure, exuding an incredibly eerie aura...
If his expression was merely strange, then his pupils were now terrifying. His originally black pupils had turned silvery-white, like ice crystals! And the whites of his eyes, outside the pupils, had become completely black, a truly horrifying sight!
The visible chill emanating from his body churned and rolled like boiling steam, and the crackling sound of water vapor freezing echoed through the air, telling everyone that this chill was not just for show!
Even Qi himself didn't expect that his emotions, which had been forcibly suppressed for more than ten years, would suddenly erupt, not only allowing him to see his own heart clearly, but also causing his Ice Release to break through a level and rise to the third level!
The third-tier Ice Release means that from now on he can truly unleash the power of the Yuki secret technique, much like the Three-Tomoe Sharingan is to Uchiha combat techniques...