Chapter 21
(Flashback)
Kenji's POV
On what should have been a normal morning, Kenji worked in his office with quiet focus. He needed to finish his paperwork as soon as possible so he could return to his newborn daughter. She had recently lost her mother, and he had lost a piece of his soul.
A sad, tender smile touched his lips as he thought of his little girl. But closely following her image came the memory of his late wife. Her pale face, her fading breath, and her final words to him.
"Protect her… Kenji."
His grip tightened around his pen until his knuckles turned white.
"I will, Hiori. I will always protect our daughter," he murmured to the empty room.
A sudden knock at the door broke the silence. Kenji quickly blinked away the moisture gathering in his eyes, cleared his throat, and replied, "...Enter."
A shinobi walked in, looking visibly nervous. "Kenji-sama, a woman named Medori has come to see you. She is waiting outside the compound."
'Medori? Why now?' A flash of bitter frustration pierced his grief, but it was quickly swallowed by a heavy, exhausted sadness. He sighed.
"Let her in. She is my sister-in-law," he told the ninja. "I will meet her outside in the garden."
The shinobi nodded and quickly disappeared back into the hallway.
Kenji noticed the man's nervous demeanor but ignored it. As he walked toward the gardens, he recalled Hiori telling him that she and Medori didn't always get along, often bickering when they were together. But judging by the deep, fond look his wife always had whenever she spoke of her little sister, he thought it was just their own unique way of showing love.
He had only seen Medori a handful of times himself. She spent most of her life outside the village, roaming the world. She would vanish for months, sometimes even years, at a time.
That was exactly why he felt so frustrated with her arrival now. Hiori had desperately wanted to see her sister before the delivery. Kenji had sent trackers to multiple nations, but no one could find her. And now, when it was already too late, she had finally arrived.
Stepping out of the hallway, Kenji entered the garden. Standing in the center of the courtyard was a woman who was looking at flowers with detachment.
This was the other reason people felt so uncomfortable around her. Medori's aura was one of absolute, freezing solitude. She looked at the world with a heavy detachment, as if she existed entirely above it.
She finally turned to look at him, her deep, indifferent green eyes locking onto his. Kenji felt an uncomfortable shiver, as though she were looking straight through his flesh and into his very soul. He couldn't help but marvel at how different the two sisters were. One was as cold, indifferent, and calm as winter itself. The other had been as bright, boisterous, and lively as spring.
"Kenji-sama." She offered a graceful, perfectly measured bow.
Kenji instinctively straightened his posture, feeling as though he were greeting foreign royalty.
"Medori-san," he replied, returning the courtesy. "It has been a year or two since I last saw you."
"Hmm. I was in the far north, traveling its frozen mountains," she replied calmly.
He nodded. That explained why his trackers couldn't locate her.
"Why were you out there?" he asked genuinely.
Her reply caught him slightly off guard.
"I heard rumors of an ancient, forgotten civilization buried beneath the ice. A lost city that predated the hidden villages. Out of curiosity, I went looking."
"Did you find anything?"
"Only shattered stone and dead history," she answered, her voice perfectly flat. She didn't elaborate. Instead, her piercing green eyes swept the compound. "Where is Hiori? I cannot sense her anywhere on this island."
Kenji's clasped hands tightened behind his back. Medori's green eyes narrowed slightly as if sensing his sudden spike of sorrow, which she undoubtedly did. She possessed the Mind's Eye of the Kagura; she could feel everything.
"Hiori… she is dead," he said in a broken whisper. "She died a month ago… giving birth to our daughter."
He watched Medori's expression closely. She didn't flinch, didn't gasp, and didn't even blink. But he felt a violent ripple in her aura—like something delicate had just snapped in half inside of her.
Then, her green eyes shifted, locking onto the distant wing of the compound where his daughter rested.
"Can I see her?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.
"..."
After a few seconds of heavy silence, he nodded. Together, they began walking back into the house.
He noticed that her steps were slightly dazed. He sighed inwardly. No matter how many differences they had, in the end, they were still sisters.
When they reached Kushina's room, he gently opened the door. His daughter was soundly sleeping in her crib, the soft morning light illuminating the room.
As if sensing their arrival, the baby's small violet eyes fluttered open, and she immediately began to cry. Kenji panicked. He very carefully picked her up and began bouncing her, trying to soothe her. But little Kushina kept crying.
"Give her to me…" Medori said quietly from his side.
With obvious reluctance, he carefully handed the screaming infant over.
Medori cradled Kushina with the effortless grace of a seasoned mother. It had taken Kenji an entire day just to learn how to support her head properly, but here Medori was, handling Kushina like she had done it a thousand times before.
A few seconds later, Kushina's cries softened into hiccups, and then stopped entirely. Her wide violet eyes looked up at Medori curiously.
"She has her mother's eyes…" Medori whispered. "What's her name?"
"Kushina… Kushina Uzumaki."
He saw Medori's pupils widen slightly in surprise before settling back into their calm, deep green depths.
"It's a beautiful name," she said, a small, genuine smile finally breaking through her cold exterior as she gently brushed a finger against Kushina's cheek.
"Hmm. You think so too," Kenji nodded, eager to share the memory. "Hiori thought of it. We decided that if we had a daughter, her name would be Kushina. And if we had a son, his name would be Haruto."
"They are beautiful names."
"Yes, they are."
Medori then murmured something under her breath that he couldn't quite catch. She began to hum a soft, melodic lullaby that Kenji had never heard before, slowly patting the baby.
The atmosphere in the room suddenly shifted, feeling like a warm winter sun that soothes the very soul.
After a few minutes of her gentle humming, Kushina fell fast asleep. Kenji watched in awe. He desperately needed to learn how to do that; only he knew how much exhausting effort it took to get her to sleep every night.
When Medori finally looked up, her green eyes landed on him again. But this time, they were looking at him—not straight through him with cold indifference. She was truly seeing him.
"Kenji-sama, can you arrange a house for me at the base of the mountain? I want to stay in the village for a long time."
Kenji sighed, the tension leaving his shoulders. "Yes, I can arrange that."
"Thank you… and can you take me to her grave?" she asked. There was a slight, unnatural warmth in her tone, as if she were making a conscious effort to sound comforting.
This time, he sighed audibly, rubbing a hand over his tired face. He looked at her and spoke in a soft, firm voice.
"Medori-san, you don't have to pretend. Yes, you were gone for most of your life. But remember, in the end, we are family. No matter how far you have traveled or how long your journey has been, you are at home now. There is no need for pretending here."
Her eyes widened in genuine surprise, and a soft, real smile bloomed on her face.
"I will remember that, Kenji-sama."
He nodded, and they began walking toward the clan cemetery. She still held Kushina securely in her arms, but this time, he didn't protest.
On their way, he spoke up. "By the way, you can just call me Kenji. You are my sister-in-law, after all."
"I cannot do that, Kenji-sama. You are the Head of my clan. It would be disrespectful toward both your position and our traditions. And I haven't even considered your identity as a Daimyo yet," she replied calmly. "On the other hand, you can just call me Medori. There is no need for the '-san.' It will become a political hassle if you use honorifics every time we meet."
"Ugh… I hate politics," he grumbled.
"Yes, nobody likes it. But it has to be done," she stated flatly.
After a few more minutes of walking, they finally reached Hiori's grave.
As they stood before the stone, Kenji saw Medori's green eyes turn to look at him. For a brief second, they seemed to glow. He didn't know if it was a trick of the sunlight or something else entirely. But after that moment, his memory grew incredibly hazy.
All he remembered was sitting beside the grave for hours. When he finally came back to his senses, he felt lighter than he had in weeks. The crushing fatigue and suffocating grief that had been weighing on him for a month had simply dissolved.
Thud.
The sharp sound of a closing door snapped Kenji forcefully out of his memory. He blinked, the reality rushing back as he looked across the table at Shōto, Akamitsu, and Sakuko.
"Kenji, you should get some rest. You are spacing out," Shōto said, his voice laced with quiet concern.
Kenji sighed, massaging his tired eyes. "You are right. But only after we handle this ordeal."
His mind lingered on Medori for just a moment longer. Her returning to Uzushio had been one of the best things to ever happen to the village as a whole. While she wasn't absurdly talented in traditional combat fūinjutsu, she possessed a completely different vision. She had created countless seals for everyday civilian use, and she was the one who first suggested they sell those domestic products to the outside world, expanding their monopoly far beyond just shinobi and military supplies.
That single idea had been like someone lighting a match in a dark room. Why had none of the clan elders ever thought of it?
He could still vividly remember Iori's slack-jawed expression the day Medori presented the business proposal. Beyond the economy, she had also invented entirely new training methods for Kushina. Yet, no matter how fiercely she loved her niece, Medori had always respected boundaries—she never once interfered with Saki's brutal, necessary training regimen.
From engineering everyday seals that somehow vastly outsold their military supplies, to innovating the clan's foundational training—Medori was both brilliant and undeniably powerful.
"Ahem… Kenji?"
"Sorry… it seems old age is finally catching up to me," Kenji said self-deprecatingly to Shōto.
Shōto frowned, but Kenji continued before he could comment.
"Let's start with a critical task." He looked directly at Shōto. "I am giving you official permission to create a specialized ANBU unit dedicated strictly to monitoring the outside world. I need intel from every nation—everything from their troop movements down to their villagers' everyday gossip."
His gaze then shifted to Sakuko. "You will assist him in finding suitable candidates from within our current forces." Sakuko nodded slowly, waiting for the rest. "Furthermore, I want you to secretly begin recruiting war orphans from outside our borders. We will train them, feed them, and give them a stable life. In return, they will serve Uzushio in the future."
Shock rippled through the room. From Akamitsu and Shōto's widened eyes to Sakuko's dropped jaw, everyone was stunned into silence.
With a heavy sigh, Kenji continued. "We lack manpower, and we cannot risk adult spies infiltrating our village. If we must recruit from the outside to survive, it is better we choose those who have suffered loss and can be easily influenced. Children orphaned by war are the most logical choice. They understand the true value of peace, and we can provide them with a place to call home."
The council members exchanged deeply contemplative expressions. This was not a decision to be made lightly. It was a radical shift in tradition that would irrevocably change their village, for better or for worse.
"We will only recruit a handful of them at first," Kenji further explained. "If it yields the expected results, only then will we begin doing it in larger numbers."
The first one to reply was Akamitsu.
"I have no objection," he said with rare seriousness. "What you are doing now may be against our traditions, but I saw this exact same thing happen when Hashirama first presented the Hidden Village concept to your father. And I remember that you and Mito were the ones who pushed him to accept it and support his cause. That single decision forced the world to change its very structure to accommodate them. So, I have no objection to your proposal, Kenji-sama."
At his words, Kenji and Shōto showed slightly surprised expressions before their tension melted into small, respectful smiles.
Then came the final approvals.
"I have no objection," Shōto agreed, nodding firmly.
"I have no objection," Sakuko echoed.
"But I will keep a close eye on them," Shōto added in the same firm voice.
"I understand," Kenji nodded with a wry smile, but in the next instant, his voice turned deadly serious. "But I also hope that you understand I will not force them into something they don't want to do."
Shōto nodded, but didn't reply.
Setting aside the recruitment matter for a moment, Kenji asked.
"Now, do you have anything else to ask about?"
"Kenji-sama, how will we manage our patrols around the village, and what should we do with the Konoha ANBU squads that are already on the island?" Sakuko asked seriously. She needed to know how to handle these foreign forces.
Shōto inwardly nodded; he had been about to ask the exact same question.
"Hmm… I have already informed Hiruzen about them. By now, he should have the letter sitting on his desk," Kenji said, looking at Sakuko. "They will be gone in a day or two. As for the patrols around the village, they will keep changing under my direct command."
Sakuko nodded, satisfied. Then, Shōto finally asked his own burning question.
"How much life force did you sacrifice in this war?"
Akamitsu's eyes instantly widened, and he whipped his head toward Kenji. This was the first time he was hearing about this. "What are you talking about? What sacrifice?"
"At the start of the invasion, he activated the Grand Sacrifice… using his own blood as a medium," Shōto replied grimly.
Akamitsu wore a horrified look as he stared at Kenji. Using blood as a medium was no small thing, especially in that caliber of forbidden fūinjutsu. A jutsu that could rewrite a battlefield itself, its cost would not be small.
Kenji looked pointedly at Shōto, but after a long, heavy sigh, he answered truthfully. "Twenty years—"
Shōto slowly released his breath. 'Twenty years was bad, but compared to an Uzumaki's vast lifespan, it was manageable.'
But Kenji continued.
"I have twenty to twenty-five years left to live."
Sakuko gasped. Akamitsu stood from his chair so violently that it scraped against the floor. Shōto tightly clenched his jaw.
*******
Well this chapter was important for me to introduce many important characters, if you know what I mean.😏😏