"Dad!"
"Waaah!"
The father and son pair clung to each other, crying their hearts out.
Watching the scene, Nara Shikaku sighed helplessly and glanced at Seisui.
He and his teammates had just graduated this year.
This wasn't like the Ninja Academy during Naruto's time — due to the ongoing Second Great Ninja War, Konoha was rushing to replenish its forces.
So, the academy currently graduated students at age ten.
Kakashi's generation was the same.
By the time the Seventh Hokage graduated, the ninja world had long since been peaceful.
"Where's Minato?" Yamanaka Inoichi asked curiously when he noticed only Seisui and Haru. "Shouldn't he be with you two?"
Teams were always three-man cells — no matter the mission, they operated together. Seeing Minato missing was strange.
"You idiot," Shikaku muttered, rolling his eyes. "They must've just come back from a mission."
"He's probably resting right now."
"More like visiting Kushina," he added with a knowing smirk.
"Oh, oh!" Inoichi blinked in realization, then scowled. "Tch! Minato's so unfair! I haven't even found a girl I like yet!"
"The kind of girl you're looking for is rare," Seisui said dryly. "And even if one existed, she probably wouldn't look your way."
"What's that supposed to mean?!"
Inoichi puffed out his chest indignantly. "Why wouldn't she like me? I'm from the prestigious Yamanaka clan! Talented, wealthy, both parents gone, and still a youthful bachelor! What more could a girl want?"
"You think she'd be a commoner, then?" Seisui shot back. "Dream on."
"Still! A man without dreams is no different from a salted fish!"
"Right, right. Whatever makes you happy," Seisui sighed, subtly tightening his grip on Haru's hand — no way was he letting Inoichi realize that she perfectly matched his criteria.
Feeling the pressure from his hand, Haru's face flushed, and she squeezed back softly.
"You two are heading out on a mission?" Seisui asked.
"Yeah," Shikaku replied lazily, staring up at the sky. "Got a river-cleaning job."
"Ah… that kind of mission, huh," Seisui muttered, wincing.
They'd done one of those before — smelly, muddy, and absolutely miserable.
He decided then and there not to see the Ino–Shika–Cho trio for at least three days.
Once they left, he turned toward the pair still hugging and bawling.
"Big Brother Dai, are you already training Guy?" Seisui asked, recalling the few times he'd met the boy.
Before Might Duy could answer, little Guy jumped up. "I'm going to grow stronger as fast as I can! Then I'll join Danzo-sama's ANBU!"
That… was one dream best left unfulfilled.
Danzo was definitely not the role model this kid thought he was.
Still, Seisui smiled. "Then, good luck to you."
Guy's eyes blazed with determination. "I will! It's the flaming vow of youth between father and son!"
"Waaah!"
"Well said, Guy!"
"You're my son indeed!"
"Dad!"
"Guy!"
The two embraced again dramatically, and everyone nearby went about their business — clearly used to this spectacle.
"Let's go," Seisui said quickly, dragging Haru away before the awkwardness spread.
He was heading to see old man Hiruzen — to claim the forbidden technique Jiraiya had promised him.
"I wonder what kind of jutsu it'll be…" he murmured. "Hopefully not too useless."
"It should be a powerful one," Haru smiled. "It is called a forbidden technique, after all."
"Not necessarily," Seisui replied. "Most are 'forbidden' because they harm the user. Like Multi Shadow Clone or Flying Raijin."
"Then let's just see for ourselves," Haru said, her smile bright.
"Yeah."
Before long, they arrived at the Hokage's office.
Seisui stared at the heavy metal door and twitched his lips. How many times has this door been replaced… for you to use solid metal now?
When Hiruzen's voice called, "Come in," Seisui and Haru stepped inside.
"Grandpa Hokage."
"Oh?" Hiruzen looked up, smiling when he saw them. "Seisui, Haru — what brings you here?"
Seisui scratched his head. "Jiraiya-sensei said we'd receive a jutsu when we got back."
"Ah, that's right," Hiruzen said after a moment's thought. "I nearly forgot. Been too busy lately."
He opened a drawer and took out a small scroll. "Here — this is the one Jiraiya requested for you. Take it, but don't spread it around."
"Got it!" Seisui grinned, taking the scroll.
"Good. Now go — I've got paperwork to finish," the old Hokage chuckled.
Leaving the office, Seisui and Haru climbed up to the top of the Hokage Rock before unrolling the scroll.
The first line made him freeze.
"Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags?!"
His eyes lit up with glee.
He'd been wondering how to get his hands on this technique — and now it was handed to him for free.
A true gift from the heavens!
"Mutual what?" Haru tilted her head curiously.
"It's amazing, that's what!" Seisui explained, excitement bubbling in his voice.
Developed by the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju — an A-rank forbidden technique of endless explosions. From a single explosive tag, one could summon an infinite chain of tags, detonating continuously in focused waves.
If Konan had known this jutsu in the original timeline, Tobi would've been blown to dust ten times over!
Though the summoned tags still needed to be pre-prepared, its power and persistence were unmatched.
In the Fourth War, the technique even shattered the Myojin Gate and annihilated countless Ten-Tails spawns — destroying one of Hashirama's wood clones in the process.
But because the explosion radius was massive and lasted long, careless use could engulf the caster too. A suicidal technique — hence its classification as forbidden.
After Seisui's thorough explanation, Haru finally understood how terrifying it was.
"But…" she said thoughtfully, "you don't have that many explosive tags, right?"
She paused, then smiled sweetly. "Still, if you want, I can have the ninja cats buy tens of thousands for you."
Seisui's heart warmed. "Haru, you're the best!"
He hugged her tightly.
Her face flamed red, but after a moment she wrapped her arms around him too, quietly savoring the warmth.
After a long while, Seisui released her and added, "Actually, I was wondering if this could work with explosive clay instead."
"Using paper tags is too expensive…" he muttered with visible pain.
Even though Haru said she'd pay, in Seisui's mind, Uchiha Setsuna's money was basically their future savings — he couldn't waste that.
And besides, his real goal was to adapt it for clay.
If it worked, his enemies were doomed.
Endless detonating clay, summoned in waves — a living minefield.
The Panda Clan had stockpiles of clay. Every adult panda could produce it; even the cubs would soon.
Once someone got stuck with his clay bombs — they'd never escape.
I'll have Panda Wu experiment with it later, Seisui thought.
As for Hiruzen's warning not to spread it?
He didn't care in the slightest.
As long as Hiruzen never saw it, it didn't count as "spreading."
While Seisui was lost in thought, Haru sat quietly beside him, gazing down at Konoha from atop the Hokage Rock.
She used to dream of becoming the first Uchiha Haruge.
But now…
She looked at Seisui, still studying the scroll with intense focus, and smiled softly.
Now she only wanted to become the Hokage's woman.
If Seisui aimed for that seat, she would become his unwavering pillar — and anyone who dared stand in his way… she'd eliminate without hesitation.
Her eyes gleamed crimson for a moment, the tomoe spinning briefly before fading.
The day she'd thought Seisui died, her world had crumbled. She'd been ready to hunt down Madara himself, then follow Seisui into the Pure Land.
Thankfully, it had only been a feigned death.
But even so, something deep within her had changed.
Anyone who threatened Seisui… would die.
Seisui, unaware of her dark vow, happily finished studying the scroll.
The technique's principle wasn't difficult — it was labeled forbidden only because of the self-hazard.
Since it worked on the same concept as summoning, once you grasped the mechanics, it was simple.
"One technique, a hundred uses," he murmured.
"Seisui's going to benefit from this one."
He'd soon begin learning sealing arts from Mito-sama — after all, as the new head of the Uzumaki clan, not knowing seals was pretty embarrassing.
Especially since he had none of the usual traits — no sealing skills, no red hair, not even the surname "Uzumaki" by blood.
Utterly absurd.
When he learned sealing, he'd improve this technique — and Seisui could serve as his test subject.
Once it evolved into the Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags, Seisui would finally stop dying so often.
Lost in that thought, Seisui suddenly felt a heated gaze on him.
He turned his head — Haru was tilting hers, watching him quietly.
"Haru? What's wrong?"
"...Nothing," she said quickly, her cheeks blooming red as though caught in the act.
Seeing her flustered expression, Seisui leaned close and blew gently into her ear.
"Really nothing?"
Her whole face went red.
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