Though vast stretches of its land were desert, Wind Country's winters couldn't be called hot.
"Hoo..."
Exhaling a white mist, Hii Kōri—now clad in winter wear—suddenly paused by the path to the library, as if waiting for someone.
Winter wear, but compared to most people's cotton-padded clothes, his beige turtleneck and brown long coat seemed more like autumn attire.
Hii Kōri loved winter—or rather, he loved this kind of refreshing chill.
This was his third year in Sunagakure, yet he still hadn't adapted to the dry air and hot climate.
Even if winter made Sunagakure even drier, that was fine. Dry eyes and mouth could be fixed with more water. But experiencing cool temperatures? Only this season offered that.
Of course, he also loved life here.
Learning ninjutsu, training taijutsu, forging various weapons, researching barrier techniques and sealing techniques, occasionally finding new research topics, taking breaks now and then to stroll around the village with Pakura and Karura.
Such monotonous, repetitive life—Hii Kōri found it as sweet as sugar.
He had always been the type to easily immerse himself in his own rhythm. A life that could fully satisfy all his desires was something he couldn't ask for more.
"Not coming out, old man?"
After waiting a bit longer, Hii Kōri turned toward a certain direction and shook his head helplessly.
"Seriously, how are you so perceptive, you little brat?"
A gentle breeze brushed past his ear, then a broad palm landed on his head along with these words.
Turning around, a tall, red-haired man stood behind Hii Kōri. His left hand held a bunch of bags, and with a gloomy expression, he rubbed his chin with the hand he'd just lifted from Hii Kōri's head.
"I'm an Uzumaki. Keen perception is only natural, isn't it?"
This tall man was Chiyo's husband, Hii Kōri's foster father—Matazaburō.
Truth be told, Hii Kōri hadn't seen him often. This man was always traveling outside Sunagakure.
Though there was the mission reason of "gathering intelligence," it was mostly Matazaburō's personal preference. He was the type who couldn't stay in one place too long, his gaze always fixed on distant horizons.
Hii Kōri felt that Matazaburō, more than a ninja, resembled those romanticized pirates from fantasy works.
Born alone, set sail proudly, die bravely.
As a father and husband, Matazaburō could hardly be called conscientious. But from a personal standpoint, he thoroughly implemented his own will.
This unabashed self-centeredness was quite similar to Hii Kōri. Perhaps sensing a similar aura in each other, their relationship was quite good.
"How long will you be home this time?"
Arms crossed, Hii Kōri asked in a steady tone.
"Eh... probably leave the day after tomorrow?"
The red-haired man scratched his hair, his tone somewhat vague.
"Ahh, it's because you're like this that Big Brother has so little confidence, crushed by the old hag's talent."
Hii Kōri squinted and kicked Matazaburō, his words unabashedly complaining toward his foster father.
"Ha, and you think you're not part of the reason? An adopted child, yet you ended up inheriting my Wind Release—I think that hit Mataza even harder."
Matazaburō, long accustomed to such accusations, couldn't care less. With a "dead pig not fearing scalding water" demeanor, he shrugged in response.
Perhaps precisely because of his wind-like personality, Matazaburō's mastery of Wind Release was unprecedented. Known as "The Wind's Matazaburō," he had once been considered by Shamon as a candidate for Third Kazekage.
But clearly, his personality made it absolutely impossible to sit obediently in an office handling official business.
A Wind Release master like Matazaburō—his technique notes were priceless treasures. Yet over these three years, Hii Kōri had learned all the Wind techniques he developed and used them with ease.
That talent—like an abyss, greedily devouring all knowledge within reach—could be called "detestable" in some eyes.
In fact, just as his personality had softened slightly under his body's influence, his soul had also caused certain changes in his body.
Take his chakra nature, for example.
Uzumaki almost lacked regular chakra natures. The elemental techniques they mastered were nature transformations cultivated from Yang Nature. Though not exactly common knowledge in the ninja world, it wasn't entirely unknown.
But during training, Hii Kōri clearly felt learning Wind Release came far more easily than Fire Release.
Sensing something off, he proactively asked Chiyo for chakra paper to test.
The result: the moistened paper split in two—symbols of "Wind" and "Water" natures.
At the time, Chiyo was completely confused. From Hii Kōri's mother cheating to him not being Uzumaki—all kinds of conjectures ran through her mind. Finally, after an overnight search of countless ancient texts, she found a plausible explanation.
Though chakra nature was a gift determined by the body at birth, chakra itself was a mixture of physical and spiritual energy.
If the spiritual aspect underwent serious distortion, chakra nature could change accordingly. And because childhood offered the greatest plasticity, this phenomenon was more common in children—so reco
rded the Kojiki.
Chiyo even speculated that Hii Kōri's chakra nature change was proof he'd fully integrated into Sunagakure. The Water nature might represent subconscious awareness that the ninja who killed his parents had Fire nature chakra, or something.
But Hii Kōri knew clearly: though this body's chakra nature had indeed been rewritten due to "spiritual upheaval," the reason had nothing to do with Chiyo's analysis.
In the ninja world, Wind nature was seen as blade-like chakra capable of cutting anything. Water nature was seen as adaptable to colorful shape transformations—versatile and excellent auxiliary effects.
But in Hii Kōri's view, Wind and Water share certain commonalities.
Absorption, conversion, flow and circulation—in a word, the properties of flux and change.
Also the nature of his former jujutsu—the most fundamental expression of who he was.
"What can I do about that? With new knowledge and techniques right in front of me, could you expect me not to learn?"
Hii Kōri responded equally confidently. "When it comes down to it, we're both the type of bastards who can hardly be considerate of others' feelings."
"Bastards who, despite that, are fortunate enough to be loved."
Under the winter sky, Matazaburō sighed thus.
***
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