[Konoha2] Chapter 108: Do Your Best, With the Strength of Nine Bulls and Two Tigers!

The Nine-Tails’ pupils shrank sharply.

How did this brat in front of him know so much?

Hajime feigned mystique and said, “Some truths may be buried in the river of history, but clues still remain.”

“The secret of the Ten-Tails isn’t something only I know.”

“You haven’t forgotten the one who once used the Sharingan to control you, have you?”

The Nine-Tails bared his fangs, “Uchiha Madara!”

Hajime continued, “It’s said that before his death, the Sage of Six Paths said something: ‘One day, the nine tailed beasts will gather once again.’”

“How do you interpret that statement?”

The question shook the Nine-Tails’ mind.

Hajime added, “You better learn to distinguish between enemies and allies, or the consequences will be dire.”

The Nine-Tails snapped out of it and snorted coldly, “Are you trying to say you’re an ally?”

Hajime chuckled, “No, I’m not your friend.”

That caught the Nine-Tails off guard. Wasn’t all of this just a setup to convince him to cooperate?

Hajime said, “Your power is unique—you can sense good and evil.”

“I’m very interested in your power, and I know I can’t lie to you about that.”

The Nine-Tails snorted, “Of course I know that.”

“You brat are just as evil as Madara.”

Hajime smiled. “Which is exactly why you should get along with your jinchūriki.”

“Surely you’ve heard of the power of bonds humans possess?”

“For Kushina’s sake, I won’t do anything to you.”

“But without Kushina, I’ll seal you into myself and extract your chakra.”

“My Wood Release might not be as powerful as the First Hokage’s, but it has its own strengths.”

The Nine-Tails glared at Hajime with frustration but said nothing. He went silent.

He had already seen this brat’s Wood Release firsthand.

And now, he could feel it—this guy… really was different.

Hajime said no more and vanished from the sealing space.

The Nine-Tails wasn’t so easily fooled.

In the original timeline, this beast didn’t align itself with Naruto until the very end.

Now that it was sealed within Uzumaki Kushina, there wasn’t much more Hajime could do.

Besides, deception wouldn’t work—the Nine-Tails could sense morality.

***

In the room—

Seeing Kushina return to normal, the ANBU operatives visibly relaxed and vanished one after another.

Soon after, Uzumaki Kushina slowly woke up, looking dazed.

Hajime smiled, “You’ve made progress, but still have room to improve.”

Kushina scratched her head.

“Senpai, did I get hit by a genjutsu rebound?”

Hajime nodded with a grin.

“Come on, I’ve got time today. Ask me anything you want.”

Kushina’s eyes lit up as she got up.

“My sealing techniques have gotten a lot better recently. I can even help you now, senpai!”

And so the two sat together, eating fruit and helping each other with their training questions.

***

Inside the Hokage’s Office—

Having just finished some work, Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn’t help but peek in—and saw this harmonious scene.

It looked a bit odd, but it was exactly what he had hoped for.

Being a jinchūriki was no easy task—especially with the power of the Nine-Tails being so overwhelmingly dangerous. And Kushina, unlike Uzumaki Mito, was still far too young.

When Mito became the jinchūriki, she was already strong enough to suppress the Nine-Tails with her own sealing techniques.

Kushina wasn’t there yet. Without a strong emotional anchor, it was easy for her to be overwhelmed by the Nine-Tails’ malicious chakra and lose control.

This wasn’t something sealing techniques alone could solve—

Especially not when the jinchūriki was expected to become a powerful weapon.

***

After taking Kushina out for dinner, Hajime finally returned home, washed up, and headed over to Tsunade’s house.

But Tsunade wasn’t home.

Instead, Nawaki had eaten a bucket of instant noodles and passed out nearby—dirty and disheveled.

Hajime shook his head and walked over to wake him up.

Nawaki blinked awake groggily and muttered,

“Big bro Hajime… I dreamed about you again…”

Hajime couldn’t help but laugh, then flicked him on the forehead.

“Ow!”

Nawaki clutched his head, then fully came to.

“Big bro Hajime, you’re really back?!”

Hajime nodded, “You eaten?”

Nawaki nodded, then shook his head, grinning sheepishly.

Hajime smiled, “Go take a bath. I’ll treat you to something good.”

Nawaki jumped to his feet,

“Be right back!”

Five minutes later, dressed neatly, he followed Hajime out the door.

“Big bro Hajime, is the war over?

“How’s sis doing?”

Along the way, Nawaki chatted non-stop, full of questions.

And Hajime answered them patiently.

They arrived at the ramen shop, and only then did Nawaki finally come to a stop.

After a satisfying meal, the two strolled through the village streets. Nawaki walked with his hands behind his head, belly bulging, grinning.

“Big Bro Hajime, Sis already agreed to let me graduate early this year!”

“Haha, I’m about to be an official ninja!”

Hajime glanced at Nawaki and said plainly,

“Becoming a qualified genin isn’t that easy.”

Nawaki puffed up with pride,

“I’ll pass the exams no problem!”

“Big Bro Hajime, I’ve already mastered the Rasengan, and that’s an A-rank jutsu!”

“Transformation, Clone, Substitution, and the written test? No problem at all! I’m gonna be Hokage one day!”

Hajime halted mid-step, his expression turning serious as he thought about Nawaki’s short life.

“That’s far from enough.”

“Not enough?”

Nawaki scratched his head, puzzled.

“But that’s all the graduation exam covers.”

Hajime shook his head.

“That just proves you’re qualified to become a genin. But to be a competent genin? That’s something else entirely.”

“Follow me.”

With that, he leapt into the air. Nawaki quickly followed.

Soon, they had left Konoha’s central area and entered the surrounding forest.

Hajime brought Nawaki to one of Root’s training grounds, a place filled with all kinds of traps and mechanisms.

Seeing how excited Nawaki looked, Hajime felt it was necessary to give him a hard lesson.

Whether it worked or not—he could only do his best.

After all, they did have a teacher-student bond in practice.

Stopping, Hajime pointed at the forest ahead.

“This is one of Root’s training fields.”

“Make a clone.”

Nawaki lit up with excitement.

“Big Bro Hajime, are you gonna train me?”

Hajime nodded.

Nawaki immediately formed a seal and created a basic clone—just a regular illusionary one, no substance, no combat power.

Hajime said,

“Now begin a simulation.”

“Imagine you’re on a battlefield.”

“This forest is the only path forward.”

“Send your clone through.”

“I’ll give you a heads-up—there are a lot of traps inside.”

“They taught you trap detection and setting at the academy, right?”

Nawaki nodded and patted his chest with confidence.

“No worries, I got full marks on that stuff.”

Hajime smiled warmly.

“Then I’ll be watching.”

“If you make it through this forest successfully, I’ll teach you an S-rank jutsu.”

Nawaki’s eyes lit up, and his clone rushed into the woods without hesitation.

Hajime shook his head quietly.

As expected, moments later—BOOM! The clone was obliterated by an explosion.

Nawaki stood to the side, frozen, his grin stiff.

Hajime spoke sternly,

“If this were a real battlefield, and that wasn’t a clone, you’d be dead.”

“On an actual battlefield, no one’s going to tell you there are traps ahead.”

Nawaki looked embarrassed, then gritted his teeth,

“Big Bro Hajime, I can do it!”

He formed a seal again—this time creating a Shadow Clone.

But this was a Root-designed training ground, meticulously built.

With Nawaki’s impulsive personality, even with the first lesson in mind, his shadow clone quickly fell into a trap and was eliminated.

Hajime said,

“And this is without anyone actively operating the traps.”

“So, being a real ninja isn’t just about passing the graduation test.”

“Nawaki, you don’t want to die from a trap before even seeing the enemy, right?”

Nawaki nodded repeatedly.

Hajime didn’t just lecture him. He leapt into the forest and began teaching Nawaki how to read traces, recognize signs of traps, and gradually connect what he learned at school with real-world survival skills.

Of course, that wasn’t enough.

Two hours later, after escorting Nawaki home, Hajime went to the Root base and copied a batch of Fire Release and Lightning Release ninjutsu from the archive.

Right now, he was the top authority in Root—and acting in Danzo’s place—so naturally, he was free to use these resources.

However, back home, Hajime didn’t dive straight into researching those new jutsu.

Instead, he reviewed the sealing technique knowledge he’d learned earlier that day from Uzumaki Kushina.

As of now—

Sealing jutsu ranked just below Wood Release and Space-Time Ninjutsu in priority.

Time flew by, and before he knew it, it was past midnight.

Status Bar: Refreshed!

> Current Status: Strength of Nine Bulls and Two Tigers

> Note: In your current state, you possess the strength of nine bulls and two tigers.

> Next Refresh Countdown: 167:59:58

(End of Chapter)