Hiroki completed his discharge procedures and walked out of Konoha Hospital.
The air outside smelled much better than inside the ward, carrying the scent of earth and plants.
The Third Hokage's words still lingered in his mind, but he knew that just sitting around thinking was useless—he had to take action.
Whether his developed Brain Overload Script would actually work and how effective it would be both required a test subject.
Other people in the village wouldn't do—the risk was too great.
After thinking it over, there was only one suitable candidate.
Hiroki wandered around the streets and eventually found Uzumaki Kushina at a dango shop. She sat alone, eating one skewer after another rapidly, but her face showed no happiness—like she was venting something.
"Ah! Hiroki!?"
Kushina's eyes lit up when she saw him. She swallowed the dango in her mouth before saying, "You're discharged? Why didn't you rest another day?"
"Because I recovered well." Hiroki walked over and sat across from her. "May I sit here?"
"Of course! After all, Hiroki, you're my lifesaver!" Kushina patted her chest and gave Hiroki a thumbs up!
"You know about the graduation exam, right? The Third Hokage said we'd graduate early and need to prepare for the assessment." Hiroki ordered some tea. "Just staying in the hospital won't help me figure out a good way to show myself off."
"Hmph! I'm going to be Konoha's first female Hokage! I won't be troubled by something small like that!" Kushina proudly lifted her head, but quickly lowered it again, ate a bite of dango, and looked at Hiroki curiously. "Did you think of a way to show yourself off?"
"Mind sharing?" Stars sparkled in Kushina's eyes.
Hiroki smiled.
This saved him considerable effort steering the conversation toward the graduation exam.
"What I prepared for the graduation exam is a new technique." Hiroki looked at her. "You know, I just awakened my kekkei genkai, so I developed a new technique based on it. I need someone I can trust to help me test it."
Hearing "new technique" and "someone I can trust," Kushina immediately puffed out her chest, finished the last dango skewer, clapped her hands and said, "Leave it to me! What do you need me to do?"
Her reaction was exactly as Hiroki expected—direct and decisive.
This was also the main reason Hiroki sought her out! After all, Kushina was a straightforward person!
The two found the deserted Training Ground No. 3.
"My technique is a bit special," Hiroki explained. "It requires physical contact with the target to activate. And it might make your head... a bit confused. But don't worry, it's temporary and not dangerous."
"I know, I know, stop being so naggy!" Kushina impatiently waved her hand and directly extended her wrist. "Come on! Let me see what you've cooked up!"
Hiroki nodded, reached out, and grasped her warm wrist.
The instant he gripped it, a popup appeared in his consciousness space: Detected other computer 'Uzumaki Kushina', connect?
He selected Yes.
Connection established.
Hiroki took a deep breath and, like double-clicking a mouse, used his mental intention to activate the Brain_Overload_Script.bat written in the alternative logic.
Instantly, Kushina's body went completely rigid.
The expression of curiosity and anticipation on her face froze. The light in her eyes rapidly disappeared, becoming hollow and vacant, like a powered-down puppet.
In Kushina's own perception, it felt even more terrifying.
One second, she was thinking: "Hiroki's hands are pretty strong."
The next second, that thought began repeating uncontrollably in her mind.
"Hands... strong... hands strong hands strong hands strong hands strong..."
Immediately after, more chaotic thought fragments were forcibly stuffed in, like static on a television screen, instantly filling all her consciousness.
She wanted to think but couldn't grasp any complete thought; she wanted to move but her body wouldn't obey.
Her brain was blank... no, not blank exactly, but more like a pot of boiling porridge, with countless fine bubbles of steam and tumbling ingredients all clamoring in the pot, desperately trying to blow off the lid!
"Kushina?"
Hiroki's voice came through like a thunderbolt, splitting the chaos in her mind.
He'd only let the program run for three seconds before manually stopping it.
Kushina suddenly gasped for air, her body went limp and nearly collapsed, but Hiroki caught her. She breathed heavily, her eyes refocusing, her face full of shock and admiration!
Such an amazing jutsu!!
"Just... just now that was... what did you do to me?" She grabbed Hiroki's arm, her voice trembling. "My brain... my brain stopped working just now! Did you see that!? Did you see that!"
"I saw it!" Seeing her reaction, Hiroki breathed a sigh of relief and nodded, feeling confident. This technique's effect was even better than he'd expected.
If he hadn't stopped it in time, the other party would probably continue spacing out, stuck in that brain crash state!
"What is this thing?" Enormous shock and curiosity hung on Kushina's face as she circled Hiroki twice, looking at him like some kind of monster. "You just touched me once and made me unable to think? What kind of kekkei genkai is this? That's incredible!"
She completely couldn't understand the principle, but that didn't prevent her from judging this technique's value in combat. Just touching an enemy once could turn them into a sitting duck.
It was basically cheating!
"Teach me, will you teach me!?"
Teach her? That seemed a bit troublesome, but maybe not impossible. Theoretically, he could copy this program to someone else, but if he copied it to Kushina, did Kushina have a computer? Did she have a Windows interface? How would she activate this program, and how would she use it?
Seeing Kushina's expression shift from shock to admiration, Hiroki was about to explain when an anxious voice approached from far away.
"Hiroki! Kushina! Found you!"
They both turned to see Namikaze Minato jogging toward them, his face showing rare panic, breathing somewhat rapid.
"What's wrong, Minato?" Kushina asked.
Minato ran up to them, hands on his knees catching his breath before saying urgently, "The exam! The Hokage just sent someone to notify us—our graduation exam... starts the day after tomorrow!"
"Apparently, the examiner will be the Hokage's student, Jiraiya!!"