"The second task is to become friends with her."
"For certain special reasons, Kushina has never had many friends in the village. Her classmates have also headed off to the battlefield one after another, so she's usually very lonely."
"If possible, I hope you two can become friends."
Now he remembered. At this point, the Fourth Hokage and Kushina were still just ordinary classmates.
Two years later, in Konoha Year 41, Kushina would be abducted by Kumogakure. Only after the Fourth Hokage rescued her single-handedly would their relationship begin to develop rapidly.
There were still two years left. That seemed to leave plenty of room to maneuver.
Some half-baked ideas arose in Nobuhiko's mind!
"Rest assured, Lord Hokage. I'll definitely become good friends with Sister Kushina!"
"Green onion!"
"Orange!"
"Good, good, good!"
The Third Hokage was delighted.
"While Kushina is still away, let me tell you a little about her."
"That girl has the same chakra attributes as you, but she isn't particularly skilled at ninjutsu. Instead, she excels at sealing jutsu, and her taijutsu is quite good too."
That's it?
How is that any different from saying nothing? I already knew all that.
But Nobuhiko only dared to grumble inwardly.
"I won't disappoint you, Lord Hokage!"
Just after he had fed the Third Hokage a few more lines, Tsunade returned, pulling along a slightly blushing Kushina.
The Third Hokage exchanged a glance with Tsunade, then signaled with his eyes that Nobuhiko could begin his mission.
"Hello, Sister Kushina. I'm Kihara Nobuhiko, and I'll be six soon. My favorite food is Ichiraku Ramen, and I have two dreams. One is to help more people understand and practice the Will of Fire, and the other is to protect Sister Tsunade when I grow up!"
The Third Hokage was very pleased with Nobuhiko's introduction.
Tsunade, however, had mixed feelings. Knowing Nobuhiko as she did, that first dream he had mentioned was just a line to fool the old man. Practicing the Will of Fire? Bullshit!
The second dream, though, made Tsunade feel she hadn't raised the boy for nothing.
Listening to Nobuhiko's positive, uplifting introduction, Kushina was a little dazed, but quickly recovered.
"Hello, little brother Nobuhiko. I'm Kushina Uzumaki, and I'm twelve this year. My favorite food is ramen too, and my dream is to become the village's first female Hokage!"
"Wow, Sister Kushina, not only is your hair beautiful, but your dream is amazing too!"
Nobuhiko looked at Kushina with admiration written all over his face.
"Oh, it's nothing, really."
Kushina lowered her head with a slight blush and waved her hands.
This was the first time since coming to Konoha that a child had complimented her hair.
Kushina decided she was taking him as her little brother.
"Sister Kushina, could I trouble you to fight me? I want to test my strength."
"No problem. Give me everything you've got, little brother Nobuhiko."
Kushina raised her fists excitedly.
Sister Tsunade had told her about this too. Nobuhiko was outstanding among children his age, and fighting them couldn't test his strength at all. That was why she had asked Kushina, an older sister seven years his senior, to test him.
After all, with her strength, taking down a brat who wasn't even six would definitely be easy.
Kushina had already begun imagining how she could let Nobuhiko fully demonstrate his strength while showing him how powerful she was.
The innocent Kushina never imagined that she was the real target of this battle, and testing Nobuhiko's strength was merely incidental.
Nobuhiko intended to go all out in this battle. Until now, he had always fought Tsunade, and the gap was so great that he couldn't test his own strength at all.
Besides, the Third Hokage and Tsunade were watching nearby. If an accident really happened, that would be the biggest surprise of all.
Nobuhiko dashed forward, taking several quick steps to reach Kushina and throwing a flurry of punches.
Kushina blocked them one by one.
At the same time, Kushina shifted her feet, twisted her body, and drove a fierce side kick toward Nobuhiko's head.
Nobuhiko blocked with both arms and was sent flying.
Nobuhiko suddenly realized he held no advantage in a contest of taijutsu.
Kushina was taller and had longer arms. If they kept fighting this way, he would be the only one to suffer.
Change tactics.
Nobuhiko formed the Ox seal with both hands.
"Water Release: Water Shockwave!"
A waterspout appeared out of thin air, then rapidly spread toward Kushina.
Nobuhiko seized the opportunity to step onto the waves and close in on her.
Seeing the waves surging toward her, Kushina had no time to be shocked that Nobuhiko had unleashed such a powerful ninjutsu with a single seal. She pushed off the ground and leaped up, preparing to land on the waves.
Nobuhiko picked his moment, stopped, and clapped his hands together.
"Water Release: Water Trumpet!"
A thick jet of water burst from Nobuhiko's mouth, shooting toward the spot where Kushina was about to land.
Kushina also realized the danger. If it actually hit her, she wouldn't suffer much injury, but her dignity as his older sister would definitely be ground into the dirt over and over.
Dog-Horse-Ram.
In less than a second, she completed three seals.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
Kushina blew a powerful current of air toward the water, using it to alter her descent and successfully dodge the jet.
Landing on the water, Kushina felt her heart beat a little faster. Her breathing grew rapid, and her palms became slightly sweaty.
Nobuhiko had no intention of giving Kushina a chance to catch her breath.
Rat-Dragon-Rabbit-Tiger.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu!"
A mighty water dragon over ten meters long rose from the surface, opened its ferocious maw, and lunged to bite Kushina.
Tiger-Snake-Tiger-Snake-Tiger-Snake.
Just as the water dragon was about to bite her, a wall of water several meters high rose from the surface.
Boom!
The enormous dragon crashed into the water wall.
The collision produced a deafening crash and a powerful blast of air.
At the same time, a figure flashed past the water wall like a streak of light, his right fist driving toward Kushina with gathered force.
Kushina dodged sideways, caught Nobuhiko's incoming right arm with both hands, and swung him toward the ground.
A violent gale burst from Nobuhiko's left hand, rushing straight at Kushina's face.
Seeing this, Kushina's lips curved slightly. She released Nobuhiko and dodged away.
That was close!
Things were so dangerous I didn't even shout Gale Palm's name.
If Kushina had actually slammed me into the ground just now, I probably wouldn't have had any strength left to fight back.
Nobuhiko scratched his head, feigning embarrassment.
"How was that, Sister Kushina? I did pretty well, right?"
"You did very well, Nobuhiko."
"I wasn't nearly this strong when I was your age."
"But I am six or seven years older than you, after all, so I won't be losing this fight to you!"
Smiling, Kushina tidied her hair and replied confidently.
"The outcome is decided," the Third Hokage said excitedly.
"Yes. Nobuhiko is still too young and inexperienced. He's never seen how frightening sealing jutsu can be."
"Hahahaha, don't put it that way, Tsunade. Nobuhiko has already performed exceptionally well."
"Just as Kushina said, I wasn't this strong at his age either."
"First Minato, and now Nobuhiko. I really wish I could watch them grow up sooner!"
The Third Hokage sounded somewhat wistful.
"Minato? That student Jiraiya recently took on?"
"Yes. Minato is very talented too."
"The village still has us old fellows in the older generation. Its mainstays are you three and Sakumo, and for the future, there are those two children, Minato and Nobuhiko, along with Kushina."
"At last, I can say I haven't failed the charge my teacher entrusted to me!"