Mornings at the Senju estate always carried a quiet stripped of worldly bustle. Sunlight filtered through the old wooden lattice windows, casting dappled light and shadows across the tatami, while the fragrance of the courtyard's plants filled the air.
Over the past two days, a soft little voice had utterly shattered that peace.
"Big Sis, Big Sis, please teach me! I want to become a ninja as strong as you!"
Like a clingy kitten, Senju Chen hugged Tsunade's arm and gazed up at her with eyes so clear they held not a trace of impurity. He rubbed his little face against her, his mastery of acting cute already perfected.
Tsunade leaned against a veranda pillar, a flask of sake in hand, her expression both helpless and doting. She had wanted Chen to enjoy a carefree childhood, as far from the bloodshed of the ninja world as possible. But over the past two days, the little fellow had wheedled relentlessly and tried every trick he knew. Her heart, softened beyond measure by her little brother's return, simply could not harden against him.
"You're only four. It's too early to refine chakra. It would strain your body." She tried to reason with him.
"But... but I want to protect you, Big Sis." Chen's voice grew quiet. His long lashes lowered, concealing the sharp gleam that flashed through his eyes. "Everyone says you're really strong, one of the legendary Sannin. But even the strongest people need protecting sometimes. Just like you protect me, I want to protect you too."
Those words struck like a heavy hammer, landing squarely on the softest part of Tsunade's heart.
Protect...
She had failed to protect Nawaki, and she had failed to protect Dan. It was a pain she could never let go of. Yet now, this little brother she had lost and regained, this child who carried all her hopes, was telling her in the most childish of voices that he wanted to protect her.
"Ah..." Tsunade let out a long sigh and put down her flask. She drew Chen into her arms and rubbed her chin against his soft hair, her voice steeped in tenderness. "I really don't know what to do with you. All right, I'll teach you. But we have an agreement. You can only practice for a little while each day, and you mustn't push yourself, understand? And you have to promise me you'll never go into battle, understand?"
"Okay! I'll listen to you, Big Sis!" Chen nodded vigorously against Tsunade's chest, a brilliant smile blooming across his face.
Deep down, however, he assessed the situation calmly. It worked. Wanting to protect my sister is a perfectly reasonable excuse. It meets my need to learn while strengthening our emotional bond. Two birds with one stone.
Tsunade taught him carefully, breaking the theory down into easily understood terms and personally demonstrating how to extract energy from the body and mind.
For Senju Chen, the process posed no difficulty whatsoever. With his perfect Wood Release bloodline awakened by the system, his body had an innate affinity for chakra. But he could not show it.
He squeezed his eyes shut, his little face flushed bright red. Fine beads of sweat seeped from his forehead, and his brows knitted tightly together, perfectly portraying all the clumsiness and difficulty of a beginner.
"No... I can't feel it..."
"Big Sis, I'm so tired..."
He "failed" again and again, then "stubbornly" tried once more under Tsunade's encouraging gaze.
Finally, after an entire morning, just as Tsunade began to worry whether his body could bear it, a strand of blue energy thinner than a hair and so faint it was almost invisible trembled out of Chen's fingertip.
"I did it! Look, Big Sis! I did it!" As though he had exhausted every last bit of strength, Chen toppled into Tsunade's arms, his face overflowing with pure, immense joy.
"Good boy! My Chen is the best!" Tsunade hugged him tightly, pride and happiness nearly spilling out of her heart.
Mm, that familiar suffocating feeling.
A few days later, a white-haired, boisterous figure returned to Konoha, travel-worn and dusty.
The Hokage's office.
Jiraiya's expression lacked its usual flightiness and held a measure of gravity. "Teacher Sarutobi, I followed the direction that child gave us and searched that forest inside and out three times. There were no signs of fighting, no blood, not even a trace of chakra residue belonging to an adult."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's brows furrowed even deeper. "Nothing at all?"
"No, there was something," Jiraiya said. "I found a small, cleverly built shelter, along with some traps for catching small animals. All the traces pointed to one conclusion-that child, Senju Chen, seemed to have lived alone in the forest for several days."
The atmosphere in the office abruptly grew heavy.
A four-year-old surviving alone in a forest filled with danger? That alone was a fantasy.
"The other party is highly skilled." Hiruzen Sarutobi exhaled a smoke ring, his voice low. "To abduct or kill a pair of Senju clanspeople without a sound, erase every trace, and leave only a child as a 'smokescreen'... this enemy lurking in the shadows has considerable ambitions."
A harsh glint flashed through his eyes. The Senju Clan was Konoha's foundation. Any plot against the Senju was a provocation against the entire village.
"I'll go see Tsunade and... take a look at that child while I'm there," Jiraiya said. "Perhaps I can get something out of him."
When Jiraiya sauntered into the Senju estate, he was greeted by the heartwarming sight of Tsunade gently wiping Senju Chen's face. He whistled and teased, "Well, Tsunade, who would've guessed? Even a violent woman like you has such a nurturing side."
"Get lost!" Tsunade snapped without turning her head, though there was little anger in her tone.
Jiraiya chuckled and approached, crouching down to look at Senju Chen with what he considered a kindly smile. "You must be Little Chen, right? I'm Jiraiya, your sister's... well, good friend."
Senju Chen blinked, looking a little shy but also curious, and said quietly, "Uncle, I remember you. Did you find my mommy and daddy?"
"We haven't found your parents yet, but I'll keep trying. I'm sure you'll see them soon," Jiraiya said comfortingly.
"Okay. Thank you, Uncle." Hearing that his mommy and daddy had not been found, Senju Chen's eyes dimmed again.
"You didn't find them?" Tsunade asked.
"No. There wasn't a single trace. Whoever did it was highly skilled," Jiraiya said gravely.
Then Jiraiya cleared his throat and got to the point. "Little Chen, I'd like to ask you a few questions. About your mommy and daddy. Do you still remember them?"
Tsunade immediately sheltered Chen in her arms and eyed Jiraiya warily. "Jiraiya! Don't scare him!"
"I'm just trying to find some clues, Tsunade," Jiraiya said helplessly. "No news is good news. Maybe your parents were just held up by something and are still alive." He spoke to Chen as gently as he could.
Senju Chen poked his little head out of Tsunade's arms, seemingly drawn by the words "still alive."
Jiraiya continued questioning Senju Chen. "Then do you remember what your daddy's name was?"
Senju Chen tilted his head and thought earnestly for a long while before shaking it blankly. "Daddy... is just called Daddy."
Jiraiya choked, feeling as though his punch had landed in cotton. That answer was utterly watertight.
"Then... was there anything special about them? Their appearance, for example, or what color clothes they liked wearing?"
This time, Senju Chen's eyes brightened, as though he had slipped into some sweet memory. In a voice filled with a child's affection, he said softly, "Mommy... Mommy had really pretty eyes. They were as bright as the stars in the sky. They were red, and there were strange little black tomoe spinning inside..."
Senju Chen had planned this long ago. If an opportunity arose in the future, he would definitely steal the Sharingan, but those eyes were far too conspicuous to hide. Inheriting them through his bloodline would undoubtedly be the most acceptable explanation. A union of Senju and Uchiha-wouldn't that scare them? Heh heh heh.
Before he had even finished, both Tsunade's and Jiraiya's expressions changed.
Jiraiya abruptly rose to his feet, his face full of shock!
Red eyes? Little black tomoe?
Wasn't that... the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan?!
The thought exploded like thunder in Jiraiya's mind, only for him to reject it himself a moment later. A marriage between Senju and Uchiha? How was that possible?! So many years had passed since the Warring States era ended, and the two clans had long since become virtual strangers, to say nothing of the Uchiha's current ostracism.
Watching their shocked expressions, Chen showed a perfectly timed look of alarm at having "said something wrong." He lowered his head and began sniffling softly. "Did... did I say something wrong...? Big Sis, I miss Mommy so much..."
"No, Chen, you didn't say anything wrong." Tsunade's heart clenched instantly. She stopped thinking about the Sharingan, feeling only that the little brother in her arms was heartbroken from missing his parents. She held him tightly, so tightly, soothing him with her body heat. Resting her chin on his head, she comforted him gently. "It's all right. Don't cry, Chen. From now on, I'm your family. I'll always stay with you."
Because of the way she hugged him, Tsunade's ample bust was squeezed out of shape, its breathtaking curves displayed directly before Jiraiya's eyes.
"Pfft-"
Blood spurted uncontrollably from Jiraiya's nostrils. His entire body froze, the shock and confusion about the Uchiha in his mind instantly replaced by another, more primal, more heated emotion.
At that very moment, an icy system notification sounded in Senju Chen's mind.
[Ding! Intense emotional fluctuations detected in target "Jiraiya." Theft conditions met.] [Available abilities to steal:] [A: Summoning Technique: Toad (contract summoning)] [B: Advanced Chakra Refinement Technique (talent)] [C: Ninja Art: Needle Jizo (A-rank defensive ninjutsu)]
Senju Chen rested in Tsunade's warm, fragrant embrace, feeling his sister's body heat and heartbeat, when he suddenly heard the system notification. Holy crap, this is Jiraiya's skill list.
It was too early for the Summoning Technique, and Needle Jizo was too conspicuous. Only option B was what he needed most right now. It was the basis, the foundation, the key that would let him fully turn the mountain of gold that was his "Wood Release bloodline" to his own use!
Select B. He issued the command in his mind without hesitation.
[Theft successful! Congratulations, host, on obtaining the talent: Advanced Chakra Refinement Technique!]
A warm current instantly spread throughout his body, as though every cell had been reactivated. Senju Chen could clearly feel that his perception and control of chakra had instantly risen by more than one level. If he had previously been an infant learning to walk, he was now a youth who could run and jump.
However, a new problem followed.
I have the talent now, but how do I explain it? he thought calmly. A four-year-old whose chakra refinement efficiency exceeds a jonin's? That isn't a genius anymore. That's an outright monster. Tsunade might choose to believe in me because we're family, but what about Hiruzen Sarutobi? And especially that old dog Danzo. He'd definitely make me a lab rat and slice me up for research...
He needed an opportunity. An opportunity that would let him "reasonably" display an astonishing rate of growth in a short time.
An opportunity to let everyone know he was a "genius."
Deep beneath Konoha, in its darkest, coldest underground depths.
Shimura Danzō stood and paced over to a row of containers filled with green nutrient solution. Looking at the twisted, failed test subjects inside, he spoke in a voice that seemed to come from hell.
"Flowers raised in a greenhouse can never bloom with the greatest power. A true treasure must be tempered with blood and fire."
He turned and gave an order to the Root ninja kneeling on the ground.
"Activate the 'Cleanup' plan. Create a disturbance outside the village, neither too large nor too small, and draw away some attention."
"Then arrange an 'accident.'"
A cruel smile curled Danzo's lips.
"I want to see for myself just how brightly the First Hokage's bloodline can shine when faced with true despair."
"Go. Invite our 'crown prince'... back as our guest."
A plot against Konoha's "crown prince" quietly spread like a spiderweb. Senju Chen, at the center of that web, had only just been worrying about how to reveal his strength. Little did he know that the "opportunity" he awaited was hurtling toward him in the deadliest possible fashion.