Kushina openly extended her right hand for a handshake. Perhaps because Biwako was no longer there, she seemed especially composed and at ease around Araki, with a touch of easy familiarity.
"..."
Araki's face darkened. Helpless, he stiffly reached out and shook Kushina's hand.
Judging by her manner, she seemed to be the owner of this house.
She settled into that role awfully fast!
Araki felt helpless, but there was nothing he could do. Given a choice, he really did not want such a troublesome friend...
Chapter 4: Kushina Uzumaki
Araki briefly shook Kushina's hand, his gaze slightly grave as he rapidly considered how to deal with things in the future.
As someone who had watched the Naruto anime, he knew all too well what this girl before him, who looked not even ten years old, would face in the future.
Judging by the current point in time...
This was precisely when Kushina came to Konoha to become the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.
And along the way, she would be abducted by ninja from Kumogakure.
Then there was the eventual Night of the Nine-Tails...
Every one of those events could be said to have caused tremendous upheaval in Konoha. Even Naruto, the protagonist of Naruto, was Kushina's son, which showed just how much trouble surrounded her.
Just thinking about it gave him a headache...
Araki understood his own circumstances all too well. As a transmigrator, he had obtained the Wood Release Kekkei Genkai that countless ninja in this world dreamed of, but he lacked the strength to wield it. If he carelessly exposed it, that would certainly be no good for him.
He had originally intended to train quietly without drawing attention, continually improving his physique to produce more chakra and gradually gain enough strength to protect himself.
Until then...
He would just keep a low profile and develop!
After all, he was still young and could not accomplish anything major. He could not rashly draw attention to himself, or he would put himself in an extremely dangerous position.
A wise man never stands beneath a crumbling wall!
With that thought, Araki said nothing more. After their brief handshake, he stepped past her into the house, casually put down his schoolbag, and quickly left again, leaving Kushina with a mysterious view of his retreating back.
"Oh... he really is a strange one!"
Kushina stared blankly at Araki, only coming back to her senses after he had completely disappeared from sight.
She had never met anyone like him before.
But...
At the thought that this might be her mission...
A meaningful smile unconsciously appeared on Kushina's face, and her eyes brimmed with anticipation. She looked forward immensely to what might happen in the future.
"Life in Konoha is pretty interesting!"
Kushina had already begun imagining how to save her strange landlord, who seemed somewhat withdrawn, like someone with autism.
Only after putting some distance between himself and his home did Araki breathe a sigh of relief. Everything had happened far too suddenly, and the other party had been the wife of Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi. He had never had a chance to argue.
"This is such bullying!"
When Araki used to watch Naruto, he had heard some conspiracy theories, but he had dismissed them at the time. He had thought Konoha truly was a village full of sunshine, where every resident lived in the light.
But looking at it now...
Merely because he displayed difficulties with speech and hearing, even his only home had been rented out on his behalf.
Renting it out was not a problem for him, but they had not paid any rent!
What a rip-off!
And they had specifically brought him a female roommate...
That was Kushina Uzumaki, of all people!
Just thinking about it gave Araki a headache. He walked to a small, largely deserted grove within Konoha, preparing for his running training.
"Huff... huff... huff..."
Araki regulated his breathing, moving his joints a little in the process to make the most basic preparations.
Araki had learned a great deal at the Ninja Academy, especially theoretical knowledge concerning ninja. He understood that chakra consisted of two components: spiritual energy and physical energy.
As someone with the Wood Release Kekkei Genkai, Araki needed enormous amounts of chakra to support his use of Wood Release. Spiritual energy was too intangible for him, and it was difficult to say exactly how to improve it, but physical energy could be increased very effectively simply by making his body stronger.
This was the simplest, most direct, and most effective method!
Araki knew that Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi might already have discovered his late-night training through the Telescope Technique. After all, the man had a habit of peeping around every night.
But that was nothing serious. He was merely exercising. Plenty of people in the village exercised, and Araki was just one insignificant person among them.
Araki's training methods were extremely simple. There were only two: running and swimming. He alternated between them; if he ran one day, he would swim the next.
Before transmigrating, Araki had been a shut-in who rarely exercised and knew no particularly scientific training methods. He could only use such primitive physical exercise. As for the training taught at the Ninja Academy, it focused on simple techniques, with little attention paid to basic physical conditioning.
While studying the Ninja Academy's textbooks, Araki could not help reflecting that part of the reason this ninja world had high offense and low defense was its emphasis on offensive power from childhood. After all, most of the time, ninja did not confront enemies head-on but used methods such as assassination and covert killing, and they were always prepared to sacrifice themselves for a mission.
They would not hesitate to die to achieve their objective!
Under such a principle, putting all their energy into improving offensive power allowed them to complete those assassination missions more effectively.
As for whether those ninja lived or died...
Perhaps only their loved ones cared more about that.
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-
After completing his basic warm-up and preparations, Araki began running at speed. Every muscle in his body stretched and strained with his movements, and sweat seeped uncontrollably from his pores.
The night quickly passed.
As the morning sun rose, red clouds blazed across the sky, and the steadily rising temperature slowly dispelled the night's chill.
After running all night, Araki dragged his exhausted body slowly toward his home.
That night had drained all his stamina, leaving his body utterly exhausted, but he felt especially satisfied mentally, with a profound sense of fulfillment.
"Huh?!"
Just as Araki reached his front door, he suddenly stopped, staring blankly at the scene before him.
A girl in a green dress embroidered with cute cartoon designs stood outside his door with her hands on her hips. Her red hair was tied into twin ponytails with two white bow clips, and she was waving at him with a broad smile.
The girl was Kushina Uzumaki, who had moved in yesterday.
"Araki, you're back! It's time for us to go to class!"
Kushina greeted him enthusiastically, with Araki's schoolbag beside her left hand. After thinking it over throughout the night, she had vaguely realized that Biwako had probably arranged for her to stay here so she could use her enthusiasm to heal this autistic boy, who had been traumatized by his parents' deaths.
Chapter 5: From now on, you're one of my people!
Faced with this sight, Araki immediately felt rather out of his element. He had never encountered a scene like this before.
Not far ahead, Kushina watched him with a smile. Coupled with her still-childish face, it gave her an air of innocence and simplicity.
"It's time to go to school!"
Seeing that Araki had not spoken, Kushina waved again. Her tone was calm and exceedingly patient, without the slightest hint of irritation.
"You... you... were... waiting for me?"
Araki stammered, deliberately making his speech sound relatively halting to maintain the persona he had established here.
Almost three years earlier, he had arrived in Konoha as a transmigrator. He had received no transmigration starter package, had no system to support him, and did not even possess the original owner's memories. All he knew was that his name was Araki.
Under those circumstances, he had not actually been playing dumb. Rather, he did not understand the language around him and could neither comprehend nor speak it, so he could only act as though he had suffered a mental shock.
As time passed and he had some time to settle in, Araki gradually mastered the writing and language here. But as he grew steadier, he realized that maintaining this appearance worked quite well too.
At this point in time, although the Kushina Uzumaki before him was nearly nine years old, Araki did not dare lower his guard at all. After all, people matured very early in the ninja world. At a young age, they not only began romantic relationships but might even have to go to war.
Araki did not know Kushina's true purpose in staying here.
Was it really as simple as it appeared, with her merely renting a room here and taking a little advantage of him...
Or did she have some special mission to come here and probe him...
There was no way to say for now.
Whatever the reason...
Araki felt he had to be cautious and could not expose himself carelessly. The ninja world contained more schemes and plots than he had imagined.
"Yep!"
Kushina nodded in response, her twin ponytails swaying and lending her a distinctive air of cuteness.
"I didn't get a chance to tell you yesterday. I'm a transfer student from another village, and I have to report to the Ninja Academy today. We're classmates and roommates, so naturally we should go together!"
A brilliant smile appeared on Kushina's face as she spoke. She deliberately tried to create a warm, friendly atmosphere so that they could grow a little closer.
Sympathy played a certain part in this.
In her eyes, Araki was someone with a closed-off personality who needed her enthusiasm to open the door to his sealed heart.
After all, she was staying in Araki's home. If she could heal the pain in his heart, that would count as repaying him a little.
"..."
Araki was immediately speechless. In truth, he knew they were classmates. Minato was in his class, so it took only a little deduction to reach that answer.
He had simply assumed Kushina did not know this, which would let him use it as an excuse to go separately.
What he had not expected was...
Kushina had actually volunteered that they were classmates.
It seemed Biwako must have told Kushina quite a lot.
But...
At this moment.