Nawaki, surrounded

Early that morning, Amamiya Maki and Yakushi Nonō headed to Konoha Academy together.

When they arrived, two people stood at the school gates.

Tsunade was bent over, both hands gripping Nawaki's shoulders as she talked nonstop.

Trapped within her arms, Nawaki leaned backward, his face practically screaming, "Help!"

"I'm heading out on a mission soon. Be good these next few days, and don't upset Grandma Mito, understand?"

"I know! Now hurry up and go!

"It's just a mission. If you spent less time saying goodbye and got straight to business like Master Orochimaru, you'd be done already."

As he spoke, Nawaki tried to pry his sister's hands off his shoulders.

Tsunade didn't disagree, but she still refused to let go.

When Orochimaru wasn't doing research, he was out on missions. Apparently, he had almost completed a hundred S-rank missions.

Nawaki had once asked his master why he worked so hard. Orochimaru had merely licked his lips and said money was a wonderful thing.

Without money, his research became rather inconvenient.

Tsunade's embrace left Nawaki struggling for breath.

And she kept stroking his head.

He had screamed it countless times in his mind.

Patting my head will stunt my growth!

"If you can't get the hang of things, just eat more. Don't go hungry, and definitely don't copy your grandfather's fighting techniques."

"Okay, okay, I know."

After his repeated protests, Tsunade finally released him.

She straightened up, ruffled Nawaki's hair, and took a few steps away from the gates. Then she glanced back once more before disappearing around the street corner.

Morning sunlight fell on Nawaki's short, dark brown hair. He raised a hand to straighten the mess she had made and took a deep breath.

A crowd immediately swarmed around him.

Among the entire third year, the students hoping to get acquainted with this Konoha Heir could have formed a line all the way to the school gates.

Most of their questions were utterly pointless.

Had he eaten?

How was he feeling?

Where was Lady Tsunade going?

Surrounded by the crowd, Nawaki wore a smile he had practiced countless times and answered them one by one.

A boy in glasses squeezed to the front with a little notebook in his hand and asked whether Nawaki could get Lady Tsunade's autograph for him.

At that moment, Nawaki's smile turned distinctly awkward.

He remembered the last time he had requested an autograph for a classmate. Tsunade had assumed he wanted it himself and had been so delighted that she nearly lifted him up and spun him around.

But refusing outright didn't seem right, either.

The clans and villagers were all one big family. As the inheritor of the First Hokage's will, he naturally had to set a good example.

Amamiya Maki stood outside the crowd, watching Nawaki's increasingly stiff smile.

Poor kid.

Having an overly famous grandfather was a burden, too.

Then Nawaki spotted him and Nonō through the crowd.

As though he had found a lifeline, he immediately squeezed out of the encirclement and hurried over to them.

"You two look unfamiliar. Are you new?"

He approached them on his own initiative, genuine curiosity in his voice.

Those people were driving him crazy.

Nawaki desperately needed an excuse to escape the crowd.

Meanwhile, Amamiya Maki mentally pulled up this Konoha Heir's profile.

Senju Nawaki: Tsunade's younger brother, the First Hokage's grandson, and Orochimaru's student.

Also, cannon fodder who stepped on an Explosive Tag during the Second Shinobi World War.

In the original story, his death had torn a wound in Tsunade's heart that had never healed.

It was probably also the direct reason she later proposed assigning a medical ninja to every squad.

He had died on the battlefield, and they hadn't even been able to bring his body back intact.

Now that future cannon fodder stood before him, his short, dark brown hair a complete mess from Tsunade's hands, his smile as sincere as a little sun that had never been battered by the world.

Looking at him, Amamiya Maki suddenly smiled.

Here was a kindhearted Pure Yellow Konoha Person.

And as an ordinary Konoha villager, I ought to apply a little well-intentioned pressure.

After all, we Konoha villagers are such refined, easygoing people.

"Hello, Nawaki."

He said warmly, "I'm Amamiya Maki, and this is my friend, Yakushi Nonō. You look really strong. You must be a genius, right?"

A little embarrassed by the praise, Nawaki scratched the back of his head. A tuft of the dark brown hair Tsunade had just ruffled still stuck up.

"Not really..."

"How could you not be?"

Amamiya Maki's tone was even more sincere than his expression.

"You're a direct descendant of the Senju Clan and Lady Tsunade's own little brother. How could you not be a genius?

"I've heard the Senju Clan naturally has more chakra than other people, along with stronger vitality. I'm honestly envious.

"Commoner orphans like us could work our whole lives and still never reach the starting line of geniuses like you."

The smile froze on Nawaki's face.

He didn't seem to have ever faced that kind of problem...

Even when he didn't want to study anymore, his sister would say, "That's a good thing!"

Amamiya Maki caught the precise instant his smile froze.

It wasn't an insult that had wiped the smile from Nawaki's face. It was the weight of the word "genius."

When people called him a genius, he couldn't deny it.

Doing so would embarrass the Senju Clan.

But he couldn't accept it comfortably, either, because he knew better than anyone how far he was from deserving that word.

His sister was a genius, his grandfather was a genius, and his great-uncle was a genius, too.

He was just a third-year student still learning how to form hand seals.

[Detected: Host has caused psychological pressure to "Senju Nawaki"]

[Pressure +30]

[Obtained: vitality fragment ×5, chakra capacity fragment ×3]

A warm current flowed into his body.

Amamiya Maki felt as though he had swallowed a mouthful of freshly boiled water. Warmth spread from his throat to his stomach, then traveled through his blood vessels into his limbs.

Though they were only fragments, the Senju Clan's vitality continually nourished his body.

"I... that's not what I meant..."

A little flustered, Nawaki waved both hands in front of himself, as though trying to snatch his earlier words out of the air and repackage them.

"Commoners can become powerful ninja, too.

"The Third Hokage, for example, really appreciates talented commoner ninja.

"There's that... senior named Maruboshi Kosuke. He's a commoner, but he can defend a bridge all by himself.

"And there's Master Orochimaru and Uncle Jiraiya, too."

He spoke noticeably faster now, as though a speech he had rehearsed countless times had finally found its purpose.

Yet once he finished reciting it, something still felt wrong.

He sounded as though he was speaking up for commoners, but he himself was a direct descendant of the Senju Clan.

His position was a little strange.

He scratched his head and decided not to add anything else.

"Really?"

Amamiya Maki's smile grew even more sincere. "Then when you become a powerful ninja, don't forget to give us commoners a helping hand."

You little punk. Think I can't handle you?

[Detected: Host has caused psychological pressure to "Senju Nawaki"]

[Pressure +10]

[Obtained: vitality fragment ×2]

Nawaki scratched his head, unsure what to say.

He vaguely felt that this younger student spoke differently from the others who wanted to get close to him.

He couldn't pinpoint the difference. He simply felt as though he had been placed in a very delicate position.

The other boy had done nothing but praise him, yet his shoulders felt heavier and heavier.

It also felt as though several labels had suddenly been slapped onto him...

Nonō tugged Amamiya Maki's sleeve.

Amamiya Maki took the hint and stopped while he was ahead.

Too much pressure at once would put the other person on guard. This Konoha Heir might be innocent, but he wasn't stupid.

A steady trickle was the way to go.

Yakushi Nonō: That's not what I meant at all!

"We should go register now. Please look out for us from here on."

"Oh... sure."

Relieved, Nawaki turned and took a few steps toward the third-year classrooms, then glanced back at Amamiya Maki.

He seemed to be trying to work out exactly where their conversation had gone wrong.

A few steps later, he nearly bumped into a classmate coming the other way. The boy steadied him and asked what was wrong.

Nawaki shook his head and said it was nothing. He just seemed to have been praised a lot that morning, but he wasn't sure whether he had actually been praised.

The classmate patted his shoulder and said, "You are a genius. Don't overthink it."

Nawaki murmured an acknowledgment, but Amamiya Maki noticed that his steps grew no lighter.

Amamiya Maki stood where he was and watched Nawaki disappear around a corridor corner in the third-year building.

He had already added this cannon fodder to his long-term observation list.

The Senju Clan's vitality fragments could strengthen his physique and ability to heal.

Chakra capacity fragments could expand his chakra reserves. Neither had the flashy effects of Flying Thunder God, but on a battlefield, they were often more practical than an S-rank ninjutsu.

Running fast was less important than taking a hit, and taking a hit was less important than surviving.

Flying Thunder God and Hashirama were exceptions, of course. Weren't those two basically cheats?

He planned to set aside a portion of his pressure points specifically for Nawaki.

First, he would push his vitality to C rank. At least then he could take a punch, get back up, and run a few more steps.

Once Nawaki was far away, Nonō asked softly, "Why did you talk like that just now?"

"Like what?"

"Like... you were making him uncomfortable."

Amamiya Maki thought for a moment, then said earnestly, "I was helping him, you know! If he can't handle this little bit of pressure, what's he going to do on the battlefield?"

[Detected: Host has caused psychological pressure to "Yakushi Nonō"]

[Pressure +2]

Nonō looked at him. Her lips moved, but in the end, she said nothing.

She felt Amamiya Maki was talking nonsense, but she had no proof.

She simply sighed softly and followed him toward the first-year classrooms.

The blond girl made a mental note: Amamiya Maki had said he was helping Nawaki.

Probably...

Although his tone sounded no different from his usual trash talk.

But she had known him for six years. She knew that when he said, "I was helping him," he meant at least half of it.

The other half was probably an excuse for being a smart-mouth.

As they crossed the schoolyard, Minato Namikaze approached from the Training Ground, carrying a lunch box covered in beads of water.

Spotting Amamiya Maki, Minato waved from a distance and quickened his pace.

Amamiya Maki turned to Nonō and said, "Go on ahead," then stood waiting for Minato to run over.

He pulled a crumpled towel from his pocket and tossed it to Minato.

Amamiya Maki hadn't deliberately chosen it.

Last time, he had given Minato a good towel and used the crumpled one himself. Minato had insisted on sharing his towel instead.

Amamiya Maki had been helpless. If he refused, Minato would think he didn't consider him a friend.

Minato caught the towel naturally and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Then he casually shoved the lunch box into Amamiya Maki's hands. "I made the one you said tasted good last time."

Amamiya Maki looked down at the lunch box in his hands. Water droplets still clung to the lid.

Minato had probably put it in the well to chill before training.

He tucked the lunch box against his chest, thinking that this perpetual-motion machine cost far less to maintain than he had expected.

All it took was an occasional "Not bad."

Minato would wind himself up as tightly as possible, then thank him for it.

Amamiya Maki: See? He even has to thank me!