All characters in this book are considered adults by default!!!
Dear readers, if you see ↓↓↓, please take the trouble to open the paragraph comments. I've really had enough of getting censored!
Year 39 of Konoha.
Inside a private room at Konoha Hospital.
"Lady Tsunade, please take care of Nobuhiko!"
Kihara Yusuke tightly clasped the hand of the child beside his bed, casting one last reluctant look at him before turning to the blonde beauty nearby and pleading with her.
Tsunade nodded.
With Tsunade's assurance, Kihara Yusuke let out a long breath and closed his eyes in peace.
His grip on the child's hand loosened at that moment as well.
The child froze for a moment, then his eyes reddened, as though something were brewing within them.
Seeing this, Tsunade stepped forward to comfort him.
But she saw the centers of his eyes suddenly begin to turn red, a single tomoe appearing in each.
Then he toppled straight forward into her warm embrace.
In front of a mirror in the old Senju residence, the boy gazed at his reflection, having just deactivated his Sharingan, and sank into thought.
My name in the Naruto world is Kihara Nobuhiko.
Before I knew it, I'd already spent years in this world.
Mom died just after I was born.
I thought Dad and I could keep living in this Shinobi World with only each other to rely on. I never expected disaster to strike so suddenly.
Somehow, Dad ended up entrusting me to Tsunade.
That should have been a good thing, but looking at myself in the mirror, I seem to have awakened something pretty incredible. I don't know whether Tsunade can accept it.
"Grr, grr."
Just as Kihara Nobuhiko was pondering this, his stomach protested at an inopportune moment.
Feeling hungry, Nobuhiko declared that filling his stomach was what mattered most.
If Tsunade really can't accept my Sharingan...
As a real man who's lived two lives and has nearly thirty years of life experience!
Kihara Nobuhiko maintained that he had his own dignity and integrity.
If Tsunade dared reject him, he would dare to drop to the ground, cling to her leg, and throw a rolling tantrum!
As for dignity and integrity...
↓↓↓
To make Tsunade my long-term meal ticket!
To become the Hokage's man someday!
↓↓↓
In short, it came down to one thing.
For the sake of a wonderful future for me and my future children, a little embarrassment now is fine. What's the big deal about throwing a tantrum and rolling around?
After all, "Without enduring bone-chilling cold, how could plum blossoms fill the air with fragrance?"
I just don't know whether Dad could accept this outcome.
↓↓↓
↓↓↓
Sigh!
I really wonder whether Dad, far away in the Pure Land, would misunderstand Tsunade if he heard about this and think he'd entrusted me to the wrong person.
What a happy problem to have!
While Nobuhiko was still lost in his fantasies, he suddenly heard a creak.
He turned and saw Tsunade push open the door and walk in.
It startled Nobuhiko into a jolt.
Seeing his reaction, Tsunade thought he was still grieving his father's recent death, so she spoke as gently as she could.
"Are you hungry, Nobuhiko? Would you like to come out and have something to eat?"
Although Nobuhiko thought that tone was very unlike Tsunade, he still answered respectfully.
"Yes, Lady Tsunade."
At the dining table, Nobuhiko felt a little touched by the sumptuous dinner.
There's no way Tsunade made this herself!
There's no way Tsunade could eat this much alone!
This is all for me!
While Nobuhiko was busy feeling touched, Tsunade began explaining the full story behind that day's events.
"Your grandfather spent his life fighting alongside my two grandfathers. In his later years, he actively answered the village's call, concealing his name and integrating into Konoha."
Tsunade paused, glanced at Nobuhiko, then continued in a solemn voice.
"So you can also call yourself Senju Nobuhiko!"
Nobuhiko felt as though his brain could no longer keep up.
"Then what about my eyes, Lady Tsunade?"
Nobuhiko probed somewhat hesitantly.
"Your father said that had to do with your mother. Your mother's grandmother was one of the few women of the Uchiha Clan who married outside the clan during the Warring States Period."
"But because neither she nor her descendants ever awakened the Sharingan, the story was only passed down orally through your mother's line. There probably isn't anyone in the Uchiha Clan who knows about it anymore."
"It wasn't until just before your mother died that she told your father."
After hearing Tsunade's explanation, Nobuhiko sank into thought.
↓↓↓
I'd always thought it was because I was a transmigrator. I never imagined it was actually because I had both Senju Clan and Uchiha Clan blood.
Nobuhiko had always thought his father was a genius among civilian shinobi, having risen all the way to Jōnin. Now it seemed he might have overestimated his father a little. It was purely down to having Senju blood as a foundation, with a tiny bit of hard work on top.
Looking at it now, I was able to awaken the Sharingan because I'm a transmigrator, and my spiritual energy was already stronger than an ordinary person's.
And in the Naruto world, strong spiritual energy means strong Yin Release. Add the faint trace of Uchiha blood I already have, and awakening a Sharingan seems perfectly reasonable.
Having figured it out, Nobuhiko mustered his courage and resolved to ask the question that concerned his happiness for the rest of his life.
"Lady Tsunade, do you really not mind letting me live in your house when I have the Sharingan?"
At this, Tsunade thought for a moment, then asked in return, "Are you a member of the Uchiha Clan?"
"No."
After hearing that answer, Tsunade asked another weighty question.
"Do you think the Senju Clan still exists?"
When Nobuhiko said nothing, Tsunade smiled with easy acceptance.
"So what are you worrying about? Are you afraid I'll dislike you after seeing your Sharingan and won't want to take care of you? Am I someone who goes back on her word?"
When you're wrong, admit it. When you take a beating, stand straight.
Nobuhiko immediately bowed to Tsunade in apology.
"I'm sorry, Lady Tsunade. I was overthinking it."
"All right, what does a little brat like you need to think so much for?" Tsunade said, waving a hand.
"And call me Sister Tsunade from now on."
"Yes, Sister Tsunade!" Nobuhiko answered, relieved of his burden.
"I forgot to tell you: your father's funeral was already held this afternoon while you were unconscious. You can go visit him when you have time."
"All right, Sister Tsunade. Thank you for everything."
Hearing this, Nobuhiko felt a little forlorn again.
After dinner, Nobuhiko returned home alone.
Looking at the empty house, he remembered all the little moments he'd shared with his father, and sorrow welled up within him.
Then he thought about living with Tsunade from now on and felt a little happy again.
After packing what he wanted to bring, Nobuhiko looked back at the house once more.
At the thought that he would not be returning to this home anytime soon, a different sort of feeling began to brew in Nobuhiko's heart.
Quietness is the flute of parting; silence is tonight's Cambridge!
With longing for the past and reluctance to let it go, Nobuhiko walked alone along the empty streets, his steps growing steadily firmer as he headed toward the old Senju residence.