"Monster"

"Waaaaah—"

A baby's cry rang out. At the same time, a bolt of silver-white lightning suddenly slashed across the night sky, followed by a thunderous roar as a torrential downpour began.

Within the Senju clan grounds, a tall man sprinted through the heavy rain toward the delivery room. The moment he heard the infant's cry, he froze, then rushed inside with even greater speed.

"Ah! Fire! Monster! Monster! Ahhh—it burns!"

A woman scrambled out the door, her entire body engulfed in flames, stumbling as she charged into the rain.

In an instant, everyone inside the delivery room swarmed out, screaming "monster" as they fled in a panic.

Senju Butsuma charged against the flow of people, fearing an infiltration by enemy ninja, his heart pounding uncontrollably.

Inside the delivery room, Senju Butsuma stood by the bed with a stern gaze, holding the infant by the scruff of its neck.

Looking closely, the baby's hands were actually emitting red flames, crackling and burning.

"My little brother can use ninjutsu right after being born, how amazing," Senju Hashirama said, scratching his head naively as he leaned over his mother's bedside, breaking the silence of the room.

Senju Kawarama and Senju Itama were still young and didn't understand the weight of the silence, so they subconsciously echoed their big brother's praise.

"Big Brother!" Senju Tobirama tugged at Senju Hashirama's sleeve in fear. Though young, he possessed a keen sense of perception and instinctively felt that speaking up at this moment was a poor decision.

Senju Butsuma remained silent, and the atmosphere in the room slowly turned frigid.

"My dear, where is my child? Let me see him."

A weak female voice broke the silence. Senju Butsuma's stern expression softened instantly, as if an iceberg were melting. However, his tone remained firm and brooked no refusal:

"I'm sorry, Haruko. I will bring him to see you once you have recovered."

The frail woman on the bed looked at Senju Butsuma with despair in her eyes. She feared she would never be able to see this child again—the child she had carried for ten arduous months.

She pleaded cautiously, "Butsuma, please spare him. He is our child." He is not a monster.

Seeing his wife, who had been by his side for years and borne his children, look at him with such eyes, Senju Butsuma felt his heart waver. Yet, he merely told Senju Haruko to rest well before turning to leave, carrying the strange, flame-wreathed child in his hand.

Senju Haruko closed her eyes in despair, a single tear sliding from the corner of her eye.

"Clan... Clan Leader, we lost the battle against the Uchiha!"

"Strange red flames suddenly appeared on the battlefield, burning many of our Senju warriors to death. Even the heavy rain couldn't extinguish them!"

"That child! That child is a demon!"

"Clan Leader! That is a monster!"

"Kill him! Kill him!"

"Kill him!"

After pacifying the Senju clansmen, Senju Butsuma brought the infant to a secluded room.

The baby was very well-behaved, even letting out a "giggle" at Senju Butsuma when he was set down.

Senju Butsuma couldn't bring himself to do it. He thought of how much Senju Haruko had looked forward to this child's birth, even having chosen a name for him in advance—Kyogawa—saying she was afraid Senju Butsuma would give their youngest son another dreadfully old-fashioned name.

Perhaps sensing Senju Butsuma's hesitation, the flames in the infant's hands gradually dimmed and extinguished.

Senju Butsuma could not bring himself to kill the child, but he still had to provide an answer to the Senju clansmen.

Ever since Kyogawa was born, he had been bound to a "Cuddle System," and he had awakened the memories of his past life while still an infant.

To survive in this world, Kyogawa had to earn Cuddle Points to exchange for Life Points.

There were two ways to obtain Cuddle Points:

First, by making physical contact with living organisms; different creatures yielded different amounts of Cuddle Points.

Second, by coming into contact with different types of blood, though this method only provided a one-time injection of Cuddle Points.

Kyogawa had originally thought that as a baby, making contact with others would be the easiest thing in the world. But to his surprise, since he had gained consciousness, the only living person he had ever seen was his mother.

And so, Kyogawa had barely managed to survive to the age of three by cuddling with his mother every day.

However, the Cuddle Points gained from contact with Senju Haruko had been decreasing, slowly dropping from the initial [Cuddle Points +4] to [Cuddle Points +1].

During this time, Senju Kyogawa had tried to get his mother to take him outside instead of staying in this tiny room, never seeing the sun.

But every time, Senju Haruko would show a sorrowful expression and refuse his request. After being rejected enough times, Kyogawa gradually understood: it wasn't that Senju Haruko didn't want to take him out, but that she simply couldn't.

Ever since Kyogawa had expressed the desire to leave the room, his ankle had been locked tightly with an iron chain, making it impossible for him to step out the door.

Kyogawa had never seen his biological father; their three daily meals and necessities were always delivered to the door.

Combined with the harsh conditions here (in winter, Senju Kyogawa often went without food), Senju Kyogawa began to develop conspiracy theories.

He suspected that his mother in this life had been kidnapped, but upon verification, he found that the people here clearly treated Senju Haruko with great respect and did not restrict her from leaving. Even if Kyogawa only caught glimpses through the door crack of people speaking with Senju Haruko.

But those people's attitude toward him was clearly one of extreme disgust.

Perhaps it was because he possessed a strange fire ability that he was viewed as a monster.

That's right, a fire ability. Kyogawa discovered he could manipulate flames while still an infant. At first, due to a lack of proficiency, he couldn't control them well and often ended up burning the furniture.

Later, he didn't know where his mother, Senju Haruko, had found a pair of gloves, but ever since then, Senju Kyogawa had never been able to manifest fire again while wearing them.

It wasn't that Senju Kyogawa hadn't thought about taking off the gloves to use his flames to melt the chains, but whenever he saw the sorrow in Senju Haruko's eyes, he couldn't bring himself to do it.

However, Senju Haruko's health had been deteriorating recently; the time she spent awake each day grew shorter, and the Cuddle Points Kyogawa earned grew fewer and fewer.

Having just turned three, Kyogawa decided to sneak out while Senju Haruko was fast asleep. As an ordinary person who needed sunlight and fresh air, he didn't want to be locked up here for the rest of his life.

That night, Senju Kyogawa secretly took off his gloves, attempting to melt the chains with his flames.

To his shock, even without the gloves, he couldn't use his fire ability.

When Kyogawa tried to summon the flames, he only felt as if the pathways for his power were blocked by something, and his internal meridians felt nothing but a sense of stagnation.

How could this be?!

Kyogawa's confusion deepened. He asked the system, "System, why can't I use my fire skill?"

[System scanning...]

[Beep! Subjected to an unknown power constraint! Beep! System error!]

Kyogawa was horrified. He looked at the chains on his feet and suddenly understood where the sense of wrongness came from.

It's over! Kyogawa thought. He probably wouldn't be able to escape while Senju Haruko wasn't paying attention.

Just then, Senju Haruko let out a pained moan from the bed, furrowed her brows, and slowly opened her beautiful red eyes.

She saw Kyogawa at a glance, along with the two gloves scattered beside him.

Kyogawa froze instantly.