"Guidance?"
Tōshirō explained his thoughts: "Lately, I've been trying to fuse a new Kekkei Genkai. It's a new kind of release created from a combination of Fire Release and Water Release, called Boil Release. It's the same kind of Boil Release that you have."
Under the astonished gaze of the Five-Tails, Tōshirō continued calmly, "But creating a new Kekkei Genkai from scratch has left me totally confused. I don't even know where to begin. And since you just happen to possess the Boil Release ability, I was thinking I could ask for your help."
The Five-Tails thought that this brat Tōshirō had quite the nerve. Just as it was about to refuse, Tōshirō conveniently interrupted and silenced the Tailed Beast:
"Of course, knowing your personality, I realize you wouldn't help me for nothing. We're not exactly close enough for that. So how about this—if the opportunity arises, I can help you free the other Tailed Beasts from their respective jinchūriki. How does that sound?"
Tōshirō painted the Five-Tails a grand picture, unsure whether it would work. To convince it that he had the power to do such a thing and to increase his credibility, he added:
"You might think I'm being arrogant, but I assure you, this isn't arrogance. Actually, Boil Release isn't even my true goal. My real ambition is to use Boil Release in combination with Ice Release to create an unprecedented Kekkei Tōta."
"And when that time comes, with both the Sharingan and Kekkei Tōta in my possession, I'll have the power to free all the Tailed Beasts."
The Five-Tails gave him a look and tested him, "Even the Nine-Tails?"
"The Nine-Tails is a no-go."
Tōshirō rejected the idea without hesitation: "If the Tailed Beast is extracted from a jinchūriki, the host will die. I don't want Granny Mito to die. As for the other jinchūriki, I don't have any real ties to them, so I can extract their Tailed Beasts without much concern and set them free."
The Five-Tails thought for a moment and decided to believe Tōshirō—at least for now: "I won't help you during battles. But if it's during your regular training, I can lend you a bit of help."
Over the past few days of interacting, the Five-Tails had at least come to see on the surface that Tōshirō, despite his eccentric personality, was a person who valued emotional bonds.
And having listened to Tōshirō's information about the future, the Five-Tails had developed some thoughts of its own. It didn't want to be fused with the other Tailed Beasts.
Rather than be handed off to another jinchūriki it didn't even know, and then be painfully extracted to be forced into the Gedo Statue as part of the Ten-Tails, it figured it might be better off sticking with Tōshirō.
Still, with its personality, it wasn't going to just roll over for Tōshirō. But since Tōshirō offered the liberation of its fellow Tailed Beasts as a bargaining chip, and only asked for a bit of guidance during training, the Five-Tails reluctantly agreed.
Upon hearing that, a faint, almost imperceptible glint of cunning passed through Tōshirō's eyes.
This was classic negotiation tactics—start with a condition the other party would never accept, then slowly lower it. That way, psychologically, it was easier for the other side to accept, and his own goals became more achievable.
…
In the real world, Tōshirō opened his eyes. His black irises had turned pale blue, and red markings appeared at the corners of his eyes.
"This power is really something else."
Tōshirō clenched his fists, feeling the immense chakra surging within him. Besides that, he realized he had seemingly, instinctively, mastered a new jutsu—Boil Release.
Eager to give it a try, he looked around, set his sights on a nearby large tree, took a deep breath with his eyes closed, and channeled his chakra through his pores. From a distance, he looked like a giant steaming basket—heat radiating, steam swirling.
This scene was witnessed by Mito, who looked surprised. She hadn't yet grasped what was happening and was about to ask Tōshirō about it when a sudden explosion echoed through the air.
As the sound rang out, debris filled her vision. Then came another loud boom. Following the sound, Mito quickly realized that Tōshirō had somehow appeared over there. In front of him stood a large tree, now blown cleanly in two. From her perspective, it was obvious—he had done it.
Such incredible speed.
Mito was shocked to sense the ominous and massive chakra radiating from Tōshirō. She called his name, and upon hearing it, Tōshirō turned his face. His eyes had turned blue, and if one looked closely, one could see red eye shadow at the corners.
When someone uses a Tailed Beast's chakra, their appearance often undergoes certain changes—Tōshirō was clearly in that state now.
Seeing Tōshirō like this, Mito was suddenly alarmed. She wondered if the Five-Tails' chakra inside him had gone out of control.
Noticing Mito's wary gaze, Tōshirō grinned and reassured her, "Granny Mito, don't worry. I just wanted to test out the Tailed Beast's power in my body."
It was Tōshirō's first time tapping into the Tailed Beast's power, and he hadn't fully mastered it yet, which made things a bit chaotic.
Mito widened her eyes and looked him up and down in disbelief. "You can already control the Tailed Beast's power?"
"Not even close. I just asked the little Five inside me to show me its real power, just so I could experience it for myself."
Tōshirō wore a modest smile as he added, "If I want to truly use the Tailed Beast's power, the first thing I have to do is fight the little Five in my inner world and earn its recognition. I'm still a long way off from that."
"Even so, you're already quite impressive."
Mito thought about how many years she had spent with the Nine-Tails, and yet their relationship was still bad. The smile she forced out was tinged with bitterness, but her praise was sincere.
She remembered that Tōshirō had a reputation in the village for being bad at socializing. But thinking about it now, that evaluation might need to change. Maybe this child wasn't bad at communication—maybe he just didn't want to communicate.
"Tōshirō, you're actually pretty good at connecting with people. Why don't you have many friends in the village?"
Faced with the question, Tōshirō hesitated over whether to lie, but after a moment of thought, he decided to be honest. "How should I put this… Simply put, I didn't want to make friends, so I deliberately acted that way."
Mito couldn't quite understand this child. Her eyes showed her curiosity.
Tōshirō organized his thoughts and began to explain: "In my view, people make friends either out of emotional need or for personal gain. I dislike the latter. As for the former… emotions are fragile and hard to sustain. Of course, I'm not saying lasting emotions don't exist—they're just rare."
Mito looked surprised. She hadn't expected that kind of reasoning from Tōshirō. "So that's why you deliberately made people dislike you?"
Tōshirō's gaze deepened. "That's part of it. The bigger reason is that I'm afraid the people around me might suddenly die—and that I'll be left grieving. In times of war like this, Granny Mito, you know how often that kind of thing happens."
"So, to avoid that pain, I try to make friends only with those who are exceptionally talented. People like that are less likely to die. That's actually why I was willing to befriend Tsunade and the others in the first place."
Mito let out a quiet sigh. She figured that Tōshirō's mindset probably stemmed from childhood trauma.
"But that's all in the past now…"
As he said that, Tōshirō suddenly smiled. It was as radiant as sunlight breaking through the clouds. "Now I'm surrounded by warmth and love."
"Because of Tsunade?" Mito asked.
"Yes." Tōshirō replied with clarity and conviction—there was no other reason.
Mito gazed at Tōshirō. In that moment, it felt as if time had warped. The small figure before her overlapped with a tall, long-gone figure from the past, real and illusory at once. She couldn't help but sigh, "Youth… really is a wonderful thing."
(End of Chapter)
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