"Arima, I... I like you!"
Standing on the Hokage Rock, which was over a hundred meters tall, the entire Konoha Village, stretching for dozens of miles, was completely visible.
Such a scale, rather than calling it a Village, it was more appropriate to call it a city.
Hyuga Arima stepped on the Third Hokage's rock statue, looking down at Konoha, feeling greatly pleased.
The scenery was secondary; what truly made him feel refreshed was stepping on the Old Man's head.
But the girl's voice suddenly entered his ears, causing his mood to plummet.
He had thought this day wouldn't come so soon, but he didn't expect this child to self-destruct in a year...
Hyuga Arima withdrew his gaze from Konoha Village and turned to look at the girl beside him, who was half a head shorter than him.
She had fiery red, waist-length hair; the breeze stirred her strands, bringing a faint, pleasant scent.
A pale yellow outer jacket was tightly bound to her body by a black belt, outlining a slender, graspable waist.
Black leggings covered her knees, delineating the shape of her long, delicate legs.
A very captivating girl.
Hyuga Arima's gaze returned to her flushed little face.
Her eyes darted around, and her hands were clasped together, clearly extremely nervous.
"Kushina, you like me?"
His voice was very calm.
Kushina quietly raised her eyes, only to meet the young man's bright, piercing gaze head-on.
She turned her gaze away like a startled little rabbit: "I... I..."
Hyuga Arima said nothing, simply looking at this adorable girl, his gaze so calm.
"I like you! Please go out with me!"
Kushina closed her eyes, tilted her head back, clenched her small fists, and shouted, her face flushed.
Upon hearing this, a momentary surge of joy welled up in Hyuga Arima's heart, but it quickly turned into bitterness.
"I like you too..."
Very much, very much.
He spoke softly, as if afraid of startling the girl.
"Re... Really?!"
Kushina looked up in surprise.
However, at this moment, Hyuga Arima slowly shook his head: "Kushina, I agree to go out with you, but... at the same time, I intend to break up with you now."
"Phase One, Passive Confession, Achieved."
"Phase Two, Relationship Confirmed, Achieved."
It was as if body information feedback entered his mind, causing him to feel momentarily dazed.
"Wh-What..."
The flush on Kushina's face faded, leaving only a bewildered expression: "Are you joking?"
Hyuga Arima recovered, looking very calm: "No."
"Then... then you don't like me?"
The girl's pretty face turned pale, and tears welled up in her eyes.
"No," Hyuga Arima shook his head again, "I like you, so I'm willing to go out with you, but I've also decided to break up with you right now."
"We've broken up."
He added.
"Phase Three, Active Breakup Achieved, Dojutsu Awakened."
Hyuga Arima felt a burning sensation in his eyes... only then did he confirm that awakening his Dojutsu after breaking up was actually true.
"You!"
Kushina clenched her small fists, and flames seemed to ignite on her fiery red hair: "You're messing with me!"
The name Bloody Red Pepper of the Ninja School wasn't just for show; an enraged Kushina punched him in the chest.
"Bang."
Amidst the dull thud, Hyuga Arima didn't retreat a single step; instead, he rotated his arm, and a kunai suddenly appeared in his hand.
He deliberately brought a hint of mockery to his lips: "You think you can hurt me with just this much strength? Even if I gave you a kunai, you wouldn't be able to."
"You! Bastard!"
Kushina was furious, she grabbed the kunai from his hand and fiercely stabbed it towards his hand.
A hint of relief flashed in Hyuga Arima's eyes.
But the kunai was stopped mid-air by Kushina.
She didn't actually want to hurt him; her actions just looked intimidating.
In a flash of lightning, Hyuga Arima raised his palm and tightly gripped her wrist, simultaneously pushing his body forward.
"Pfft."
The sharp kunai instantly plunged into his chest, tearing through muscle, leaving a rhomboid wound, and bringing extreme pain.
Perhaps Yahiko would do the same in the future... it's a bit masochistically satisfying.
As the pain stimulated his nerves, Hyuga Arima's thoughts were still a jumble.
"Injury level 10%, cell division accelerated 100 times, consumed 20 seconds of life."
"Ah!"
The kunai was pulled out by Kushina with a scream, clanging onto the rock statue, then sliding down, staining the Third Hokage's nose with a bit of fresh red, looking quite comical.
Hyuga Arima actually leaned down to look: "Falling objects from high up... hope it doesn't land on anyone's head."
Blood stained his clothes, and Kushina burst into tears: "You... what are you doing...?"
She stepped forward and grabbed Hyuga Arima's wrist, urgently saying: "Quick! Come with me to the Konoha Hospital!"
But Hyuga Arima turned sideways to avoid her hand, smiling indifferently: "It'll be fine soon, don't worry."
Saying that, he pulled open the front of his clothes, revealing the bloody wound: "See, it's already stopped bleeding."
Kushina froze, rubbing her eyes in disbelief: "How is that possible?"
If it weren't for the lingering trace of blood on Hyuga Arima's chest, she would have almost thought she was under a Genjutsu.
"It's probably because my cell division speed is relatively fast," Hyuga Arima said.
Kushina watched as the bloodline faded over a few minutes, gradually disappearing, and couldn't help but ask: "Will there be any side effects?"
In her understanding, such a healing speed was abnormal.
"Nothing much, just a little life force consumed," Hyuga Arima said as he pulled his clothes back on, "The life consumed by this wound of mine is probably about the same as the Third Hokage smoking a pipe."
"Consuming life..."
Large drops of tears rolled down Kushina's cheeks, the salty taste flowing into her mouth.
"Don't cry, don't cry, this bit of life is nothing," Hyuga Arima waved his hand, "Many people know that smoking a cigarette will reduce their lifespan by five seconds, but they still smoke, right? The Third Hokage's pipe is at most twenty seconds... Hmm, it's fine."
Kushina rubbed her eyes, with a hint of a sob: "Why did you do this?!"
Hyuga Arima paused: "Because of guilt, I suppose."
'I have to find some reason; I can't tell her that if we don't break up, my body will collapse by the time I'm 10, that would only drag her down,' he thought.
"Guilt?"
Kushina looked up at him through tear-filled eyes.
Hyuga Arima nodded: "I'm the kind of person who doesn't like to confirm relationships, only the ambiguity and excitement before dating, so, even though I like you very much, if you confessed, I wouldn't be able to continue keeping things ambiguous with you."
'Only liking ambiguity might not make me a good person, but at least I'm not cheating or scamming money from anyone in one-on-one relationships, so I'm better than a playboy, right?' he thought.
"Only like ambiguity, don't like confirmed relationships?" Kushina widened her eyes, "How could you like something like that?"
A smile appeared on Hyuga Arima's lips: "Kushina, think about this past year, how we slowly grew closer, guessing each other's feelings, secretly hiding our inner stirrings, tossing and turning over a little ambiguity—how wonderful that feeling was!"
As Kushina listened, she clenched her small fists: "So, you pretended not to understand my hints again and again, always keeping me at arm's length, just for... ambiguity?!"
"Yes... that's how it is..."
Hyuga Arima lowered his head.
"You! You bastard!"
The girl turned around angrily.
Hyuga Arima instinctively reached out to pull her, but heard a 'bang' and his hand grasped at empty air.
A piece of broken wood appeared in Kushina's place, landing on the rock statue, while she herself had moved several steps away from him.
"Don't touch me!"
Kushina turned back, her eyes spitting fire.
Hyuga Arima scratched his head: "Substitute Technique, huh...?"
"Hyuga Arima, let me ask you," Kushina took a deep breath, "After you break up with me, are you going to find ambiguity with other people?"
Hyuga Arima put down the hand he was scratching his head with, his gaze falling again, looking at his toes.
Information once again emerged from his mind.
"Available targets: Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, Konan, Tsunade."
There was no room for negotiation then; either his body would collapse, or he would continue courting death until he got cut down...
"Yes..."
His low voice drifted in the breeze, making the girl's eyes even redder.
"You're a bad person!"