Another Stack of Love Letters

Iwagakure, Tsuchikage's office.

"What a headache. A real headache."

After reading the Intelligence Scroll, Ōnoki set it down and shook his head.

"Why are such brilliant geniuses always born in Konoha?"

Ōnoki's son Kitsuchi was a sturdy boy despite the childishness still in his face. He had read the scroll too, and shock spread across his features.

He scratched his head and asked in disbelief, "Dad, could this report be fake?"

"Hmph! I wish it were! But if—if it's true... in thirty years, Konoha will have a terrifying force of bloodline users!"

"Then what should we do? Try sneaking into Konoha and taking Ryuuzaki Eiji?"

"Don't suggest the kind of shameless thing those Kumogakure barbarians would do!"

Ōnoki's anger flared. Just thinking about it made him furious!

The Third Raikage had no shame. Lately, he kept sending people to cause trouble near Iwagakure, trying to abduct its promising children. If Ōnoki hadn't been on guard, the man would have succeeded once already!

Iwagakure was short on talent as it was, and he still wanted to steal what little they had. What was that if not kicking them while they were down?!

The thought pained Ōnoki. Then he looked at his disappointing son and grew angrier still.

It was his own fault for not thinking about raising an heir when he was younger. Now he was nearly fifty, and this brat was all he had.

Kitsuchi was only about eight. Ōnoki had planned to take him to the battlefield to see the world, but knowing there was a genius his age in faraway Konoha made him feel stifled whenever he looked at his son.

"I told you to learn Dust Release, but you wouldn't! Ryuuzaki Eiji is bound to become a great enemy of Iwagakure. When that happens, how are you supposed to lead Iwagakure and hold our place in the Shinobi World?!"

Ōnoki suddenly pointed at Kitsuchi's face and let him have it, leaving the boy bewildered.

"Uh, Dad, didn't you say I don't have the aptitude for that Kekkei Tōta thing? No matter how hard I try, I can't do anything about that, can I?"

Ōnoki was left speechless. That only made him feel worse.

Kitsuchi was right. His Kekkei Tōta was a precious power possessed by one person in ten thousand. It wasn't something anyone could learn just by wanting to.

Ryuuzaki Eiji was different. His Kekkei Genkai could easily be passed down to the next generation. At this rate, sooner or later Konoha would stand alone above the rest of the Shinobi World.

Seeing that his father had fallen silent, Kitsuchi pressed on. "Dad, aren't we going to do something?"

The corners of Ōnoki's mouth lifted slightly. "No need to rush. This intelligence is public. I'm sure that barbaric bastard in Kumogakure has received it too. Rather than give ourselves a headache, let's leave the problem to him."

Given the Third Raikage's fondness for snatching up talented people, he was surely frantic by now. With a major war looming, Ōnoki had no time to go looking for trouble with Hiruzen Sarutobi.

◇

Three months passed in a flash. The outrageous news that Hanzo of the Salamander, the Amegakure Leader, had declared war on the surrounding great powers swept through the Shinobi World like a gale.

Konoha was no exception. When its villagers learned that Konoha intended to send troops into the Land of Rain, they supported it wholeheartedly. After all, Hiruzen Sarutobi and the other leaders had declared that this campaign was a fight for peace in the Shinobi World. They had given it a righteous cause.

Eiji had long known that Hanzō had little choice. As a "buffer zone" caught between great powers, the Land of Rain desperately wanted change so it could survive.

What was more, Hanzō was at the peak of his strength. He had even earned the name "Demigod," which gave him still more confidence to challenge the Five Great Nations.

But he had overestimated himself. No matter how strong he was, he could not withstand the Five Great Nations joining forces against him. Defeat was inevitable.

In the end, he hadn't even dared to deal a killing blow to Jiraiya and the other two. Instead, he had bestowed the name "Sannin" on them and gone back to developing Amegakure.

Over those months, Eiji became a celebrity in Konoha. Wherever he went, eyes followed him. The fight at his Ninja Academy graduation had made his name known throughout the village.

The Six Eyes dojutsu bloodline had risen to stand alongside the Sharingan and Byakugan, perhaps even edging ahead of them. Those who paid attention could already tell that the two great dojutsu bloodlines would soon become three.

Plenty of opportunists tried to get close to Eiji, and gifts arrived in no small number.

The Shinobi World respected strength above all else. And though it might sound a little full of himself, Eiji thought his looks could put even the Uchiha to shame.

So in this place where crushes ran rampant, he found piles of love letters in his desk almost every day when he went to the Ninja Academy.

Today was another day with a bumper haul.

Eiji walked back toward the Senju Ancestral Home carrying a huge stack of love letters, with Kushina beside him. She had cheerfully dragged him to school that morning, but now she trailed behind him, clutching her head with a sour look.

"Seriously! I'm so mad! Just looking at those girls ticks me off!"

Kushina clicked her tongue. She sounded like a delinquent girl boss straight out of a high-school brawler story.

She was making less and less effort to hide it. She had held back at first, but once she got used to life at Konoha Academy, she quickly started acting like the leader of a gang.

Lately, she had even recruited a bunch of first-years to run errands for her. Eiji figured that by the time Kushina reached sixth year, Konoha Academy might as well change its name to Delinquent High.

Eiji let his imagination run for a moment.

He pictured Kushina with a white cloth tied around her head, bandages wrapped around her arms, a chest wrap beneath a black trench coat. She sat on a Ninja Academy desk with one leg crossed over the other, looking thoroughly displeased.

A Wooden Taijutsu Sword rested against her shoulder. Around her stood a crowd of delinquent girls in masks and long skirts.

Footsteps sounded outside the classroom. A girl hurried through the door, holding aloft a bread roll wrapped in wax paper as she shouted.

"Boss! I got the yakisoba bread! And it's the new version with extra toppings!"

Eiji quickly shook his head to dispel the image. He had no desire to dream about that tonight.

"I can't take it anymore. Maybe I should just beat them up!" Kushina said, punching her fist into her palm.

"Don't say something so scary. Keep this up and the villagers will start filing complaints."

Eiji sounded helpless.

Actually, they've probably complained already. The Homeroom Teacher has just kept burying it because of Tsunade and Grandma Mito.

"Eiji, what's wrong with you? Those girls obviously have ulterior motives! Nobody sent you love letters before, but the moment you came in first, all these secret admirers suddenly appeared. It makes no sense!"