Kushina Uzumaki's smug smile froze in an instant.
Her delicately sculpted little face looked a little stunned.
"Wait, shouldn't I be older than you? I'm ten. How old are you?"
"Nine."
"Just as I thought. I'm older, so I'm your big sister. You should be my little brother."
The thought of being the underling of a kid younger than her made Kushina Uzumaki feel a little embarrassed. Deep down, she was a hundred thousand percent against it.
As a man, Uchiha Kurohane was even more displeased with being called a little brother. He said in a tone that brooked no argument,
"It has nothing to do with age. Whoever's stronger is the big brother. I saved you, so of course you should be my underling."
Kushina Uzumaki felt like he was looking down on her. She puffed out her cheeks and said unhappily,
"Don't get the wrong idea. I was about to fight them too. I'm not a weak woman."
"Who cares? I'm the one who saved you, so you're my underling now."
"Don't be upset. There are benefits to being my underling. If you're ever in danger, I'll come protect you."
"What? You're so unreasonable..."
Though Kushina Uzumaki complained, his promise to protect her stirred something deep inside her.
Kushina Uzumaki had come to Konoha alone, to a place completely unfamiliar to her. She didn't feel safe at all.
Her heart was full of loneliness. She wanted to make friends and fit in at Konoha. More than anything, she wanted someone to protect her.
Uchiha Kurohane's words had struck just the right chord.
"You don't want to? Then forget it. Goodbye."
Uchiha Kurohane knew how lonely Kushina felt, so he continued with his calculated retreat and turned to leave again.
Kushina Uzumaki immediately grew anxious.
"All right, I'll be your underling. But you have to keep your promise. When I'm in danger, you have to come save me, okay?"
In Kushina Uzumaki's heart, Uchiha Kurohane was a prince who had appeared on a white horse.
She sincerely hoped that if she ever faced danger again, Uchiha Kurohane would save her once more.
By comparison, being Uchiha Kurohane's underling didn't really matter.
No—in Kushina Uzumaki's mind, "underling" was what it sounded like, but "princess" was what it meant.
She and Uchiha Kurohane weren't an underling and a big brother. They were a princess and her knight!
Once she came up with that interpretation, she no longer felt embarrassed. Instead, she even found it a little romantic.
But Kushina Uzumaki was insecure deep down. Worried Uchiha Kurohane might go back on his word, she wanted to bind him with a promise.
"Let's seal it with a pinky swear."
Uchiha Kurohane had only meant to tease her. He hadn't expected it to work, and was surprised that it had.
So Kushina had become his underling just like that? Was she really this easy to win over?
Was it because she was so young and innocent?
Girls really were easy to fool when they were little.
Now, back to the question Uchiha Kurohane had raised at the start.
If Kushina hadn't married Minato and hadn't died, would she have become Hokage?
(The manga says Kushina was a kunoichi renowned alongside Tsunade, and fought the same way Naruto did.)
Uchiha Kurohane believed the answer was yes.
She possessed the power of the Nine-Tails and the Uzumaki Clan's powerful sealing techniques. Her strength would surely have far surpassed Kakashi's.
She should have become the Sixth Hokage after Tsunade.
Tsunade might not even have needed to return. Kushina Uzumaki could have become the Fifth Hokage herself.
Now that Kushina Uzumaki had become Uchiha Kurohane's underling, he had taken a big step toward his goal of becoming the man behind the Five Kage!
[Ji~ Kushina Uzumaki has become the host's underling, achieving the entry "Kushina the Underling." Received the entry "Kushina Uzumaki's Chakra A."]
(Kushina Uzumaki's Chakra A: The host gains Kushina's Earth, Water, Yin, and Yang chakra.)
Kushina Uzumaki had the Uzumaki Clan's bloodline and was born with enormous chakra reserves.
Take her son, Naruto, for example.
Kakashi had once said that, excluding the Nine-Tails Chakra, Naruto had four times as much chakra as he did.
And Kakashi didn't have a small amount of chakra. He simply couldn't turn off his Sharingan, so it was constantly draining his reserves.
Naruto's own chakra reserves were immense.
Kushina Uzumaki could easily suppress the Nine-Tails, so she had many times more chakra than Naruto.
After obtaining her chakra entry, Uchiha Kurohane no longer had to worry about running out of chakra.
Uchiha Kurohane smiled and held out his pinky for Kushina Uzumaki to hook.
A pinky swear with her!
A short while later, Uchiha Kurohane came out of the bathroom, looking utterly shocked.
So Yang Release chakra strengthened the body.
He'd been exercising since he was little, and his body was already as strong as an athlete's. Now it had become even stronger.
Even the parts he couldn't exercise had been strengthened considerably by Yang Release chakra.
He was no longer a little brother. He was a big brother!
At dusk, Kushina Uzumaki sat obediently at the dining table, smiling as she waited for dinner.
Seeing how happy Kushina Uzumaki looked, Uzumaki Mito smiled and asked,
"Kushina, did something good happen at school today?"
"Hm? Why do you ask, Grandma?"
Kushina Uzumaki tilted her head and asked in confusion.
"It's your first time smiling since you came to Konoha. Something good must have happened, right?"
Kushina Uzumaki hurriedly covered her mouth with her little hands.
"I'm not smiling. I was just thinking about dinner."
Seeing Kushina Uzumaki's shy expression, Uzumaki Mito smiled even more.
"You made a friend, didn't you? Don't be shy. Tell Grandma what happened at school."
Uzumaki Mito was the beloved wife of Senju Hashirama, the First Hokage, and the current Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails.
Senju Hashirama had died very young, and she had lived alone ever since.
She had spent thirty years living in solitude!
And because she was a Jinchuriki and couldn't leave the barrier, she spent every day in an old mansion in the suburbs. Her days were dull and uneventful.
Uzumaki Mito was terribly lonely!
After Kushina came to Konoha, she hoped to learn about life at the Ninja Academy through her.
Kushina Uzumaki pressed her lips together, thought for a moment, then shyly said in a soft voice,
"Not just a friend. I took on an underling."
Kushina Uzumaki thought it would be embarrassing to tell the truth, so she changed it a little.
Besides, she believed she could beat those three delinquent kids, so she didn't think she was really Uchiha Kurohane's underling.
"Oh~ You got yourself an underling on your very first day at school? That's impressive!"
"See? I was right. You're so strong-willed. The Konoha Ninja will surely accept you, and one day, you'll become Hokage!"
Hearing Uzumaki Mito's praise, Kushina Uzumaki became even more pleased with herself.
She puffed out her flat chest and thought,
I only humored him and agreed to be his underling because he's younger than me and acts like such a child.
I'm going to be the woman who becomes Hokage. How could I be his underling?
Actually, he's my underling!
I'm his big sister!
While Kushina Uzumaki dreamed of being the big sister, Uchiha Kurohane was eating ramen alone at the Ichiraku Ramen Shop.
As he slurped his noodles, he thought about his plans for the future.
After saving Kushina Uzumaki, he had gained the Uzumaki bloodline and a vast supply of chakra.
He was no longer an ordinary ninja. He could start making his move.
On the other hand, he'd realized that kunoichi weren't as hard to approach as he'd imagined.
On the contrary, he knew their personalities and futures, and could use that information to build good relationships with them.
Once he'd forged deep bonds with the kunoichi, he could imitate the daimyo of the Land of Fire and build a private ninja force—the Twelve Guardian Ninja Maidens.
With their help, he could secretly manipulate the Five Kage—and become the man behind them.
Uchiha Kurohane had traveled back to an early point in time, so many of the kunoichi who appeared in the original story hadn't been born yet, or were still nursing.
The Mizukage, Terumi Mei, and the Tsuchikage, Kurotsuchi, were two such examples.
Uchiha Kurohane could win them over when they were little, making them his underlings just like Kushina Uzumaki.
Tsunade was only in her twenties now, still an inexperienced young woman. She shouldn't be hard to win over either.
The real problem was the Raikage and the Kazekage. They were both men.
Uchiha Kurohane needed to help the kunoichi in their villages rise to power.
Kumogakure had quite a few kunoichi. For now, he'd tentatively chosen to back either Samui or Yugito.
Sunagakure had far fewer beautiful kunoichi. There was only Temari, and Pakura, who had already been killed. (That was in the original story's timeline.)
Wait, he'd almost forgotten one more...
Before you continue