Mirai did not respond. He simply crouched down and began drawing his own jutsu formula marker.
Kushina leaned closer curiously. "What are you going to use, Mirai?"
His hands moved neither quickly nor slowly. Under everyone's watchful eyes, a simple tree-shaped design gradually appeared on the ground—
The trunk was straight, and the crown was lush, like a tree swaying in the wind.
"A tree?" Kushina tilted her head. "What does that mean?"
"Konoha," Mirai answered casually. "A tree represents Konoha. Pretty good, right?"
"You sure?"
"Sure."
The Nine-Tails, sprawled nearby with its eyes half-closed in a nap, caught sight of that tree-shaped design from the corner of its eye. Its entire tail instantly bristled!
It jerked its head up and stared wide-eyed at the simple sketch. A low whimper rumbled from its throat as it instinctively shrank back, burying its head in the grass.
That tree... that tree!
It knew that thing all too well.
The God Tree had sucked away its chakra for so long recently. Every time, that tree spread its branches above its head and stabbed them into its body like straws.
Even though it was no longer being drained, the shadow of it still lingered in its mind.
The Nine-Tails gritted its teeth and cursed inwardly, The hell kind of Konoha is this? This is my damn living nightmare!
But it did not say it aloud.
After all, Mirai had treated it pretty well lately. Not only had he stopped charging it rent, but he also let it out from time to time to get some air, bask in the sun, and nap.
It had to give him that much face. Mainly because it had no choice—otherwise, it was afraid of getting drained dry.
"Alright, let's start practicing."
Mirai dusted off his hands and stood