"Ah, the old academy… feels like forever."
Yuto stood at the ninja school gates, hands on his hips, striking a dramatic pose like he'd just returned from a decade-long war.
Kushina's voice piped up in his head, dripping with sarcasm. "Four Days. It's only been four days, drama queen."
Four days packed with life-changing events!" Yuto countered, undeterred. "That's, like, a whole shounen arc in ninja time!"
Kushina sighed. "Fine, whatever. Just don't start monologuing about the 'weight of existence' or something."
"Too late, I've already wrote a poem about it."
"Ugh."
"Well then, let's enjoy what little remains of our student life," Yuto said with a faint smirk, his words carrying a deeper meaning.
"Your student life," Kushina huffed. "I'm your legal guardian."
"Sure, whatever you say." He didn't bother arguing there was no point.
"Speaking of which… Did you really gain all of Aizen Sosuke's powers?" Kushina asked again.
She had already received the memories of the Bleach anime from Yuto, so she knew exactly what kind of monster "Aizen Sosuke" was.
Invincible. Kushina had to admit Yuto was literally unstoppable now.
Even if the legendary "Rabbit Goddess" herself showed up, she'd probably end up crying after taking two slaps to the face.
"Didn't you already see for yourself last night?" Yuto chuckled.
"That was just a fraction of it, and not even his actual power!" Kushina muttered under her breath. "And are you sure that thing you made won't cause problems? If it leaks out, it'll be a disaster!"
"It's just a prototype, so of course it looks unstable," Yuto said confidently. "Once it becomes what we truly want, that's when we'll reap the rewards."
"I can't even imagine how the shinobi world would react if they saw that," Kushina sighed.
"Ambitious schemers would crave it. Ordinary people would fear it…" Yuto paused before adding softly, "But for us, it's just a means to an end. No need to overthink it, 'dear wife'."
"Call me sis."
"Sure thing, old sis."
"And stop doing that Aizen roleplay when talking to me, it's creepy!" Kushina demanded.
Anyone familiar with Aizen knew just how cruel and domineering he was beneath that gentle facade.
Kushina didn't want Yuto to become like that.
Even if he was roleplaying, she wanted to be his anchor to make sure that, at least when facing her, he'd stay true to himself and not get consumed by Aizen's persona.
Otherwise, it'd be an unimaginable catastrophe for the entire world! Compared to that, even Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's invasion would be child's play.
If Yuto knew what she was thinking right now, he'd probably laugh out loud.
As a staunch materialist, how could he possibly confuse fiction with reality? His personality couldn't be overwritten by anyone; he'd always be himself!
Of course…
Right now, Yuto was blissfully unaware of Kushina's concerns. He just took it as a reasonable request and nodded. "Fine."
"Y-Yuto kun?!" A timid voice suddenly called out.
Yuto and Kushina turned to see a short-haired girl with pale lavender eyes staring at him. Her expression, a mix of delight and hesitation.
"It's been a while…"
"It's only been four days, Hinata," Yuto replied with a warm smile. "But I appreciate the sentiment."
Hinata's face turned pink. "I-I just meant… it felt long…"
Currently, Yuto was wearing Aizen's signature black-framed glasses, and his eyes no longer had their usual dead-fish look.
Even Kushina had admitted that unless someone knew him well, they probably wouldn't recognize him. Yet somehow, this girl who he'd barely spoken to instantly called out his name.
'Such a sweet girl. Your son is a lucky guy.' Yuto mused inwardly.
Having seen all of Naruto's plot, Kushina knew exactly what he meant but her expression turned oddly conflicted. "Yuto… are you sure Naruto ends up with her?"
"Huh? Of course! It's Kishimoto's divine pairing," Yuto chuckled.
"Have you considered that you might be the butterfly flapping its wings?"
"…What?"
"Did you used to see Hinata often before?"
'Pfft, no way! She's the heiress of the Hyūga clan!' Yuto laughed exaggeratedly. 'A commoner like me would've been shooed away if I got too close. But we did meet a long time ago… remember that scene in the original story where she got bullied as a kid? I took Naruto with me to help her out.'
"Oh. Then it makes sense." Kushina sighed deeply before muttering, "What if she transferred the admiration she was supposed to have for Naruto… onto you?"
'…Wait, what?' Yuto froze.
"You really didn't notice? That girl clearly has a crush on you," Kushina said flatly.
'Hold on, that's…!' Yuto had never considered this possibility. In fact, he'd never paid much attention to how Hinata acted around him.
Now that Kushina pointed it out, an overwhelming sense of awkwardness washed over him.
This is basically stealing my own future son's love interest!
"Honestly, I don't think it's a big deal. Fate isn't set in stone," Kushina exhaled, her tone weirdly reassuring. "If my dumb son couldn't win her over, that's his own fault. But… Yuto-kun."
"Y-Yeah?" Yuto stiffened.
If she had just yelled at him or told him to stay away from Hinata, he could've handled it. But this? It was torturing his conscience!
After a long pause, Kushina spoke in an eerie, ethereal voice:
"You already have enough girls around you… You'd better sleep with one eye open from now on."
That's a threat!
Yuto was certain that it was a threat!
"YUTO!"
A certain blond knucklehead's voice suddenly rang out, pulling him out of his moral crisis. "You jerk! You went off sightseeing all by yourself? Not cool!"
"Since when do you wear glasses?" Shikamaru, standing beside the blond, noticed Yuto's new accessory.
"They're for roleplay," Yuto said solemnly, adjusting his frames. "And I wasn't sightseeing, I was saving a country."
Silence.
For a solid ten seconds, nobody spoke.
Then—
"PFFT—HAHAHAHAHA!" Naruto doubled over laughing, wiping tears from his eyes. "Man, I missed you! You always come up with the best jokes!"
'Sis, your son's laugh is painfully dumb,' Yuto sighed internally.
"Just whose genes made him this much of an idiot?" Kushina wondered aloud.