In a momentary daze, Hii Kōri found himself suddenly in a silent snowfield.
Thick snow submerged his ankles, emitting a faint "creak" with each movement. Cold, dry air flowed into his nostrils, carrying a biting quality distinct from the desert's searing heat.
As far as the eye could see, the gently sloping horizon, piled high with snow, stretches infinitely until that pure, dazzling white met the low-hanging, overcast sky.
In the distance, a few birds—their species indistinguishable—like tiny moving black spots, swept beneath the gray-blue, sleepy sky, silently flying toward a more distant direction amidst the drifting fine snow.
Scattered throughout the snowfield, dead trees stretched toward the sky like futile hands, desperately trying to grasp something. But they could not catch the passing birds; only slowly falling snow accumulated in their palms.
Beyond this, the heaven and earth held nothing else.
"Domain Expansion... no, something specious, I suppose..."
Catching a snowflake, feeling that trace of cold quickly melted in his palm, Hii Kōri gently exhaled a puff of white mist.
Although he couldn't sense the cursed energy commensurate with Domain Expansion, in form, there was no difference.
So-called Domain Expansion involves affixing a sorcerer's own innate domain—the inner world everyone possesses—to a barrier, transforming the spiritual world into a tangible "other world."
That is to say, tracing it to its roots, the Shikai and Bankai of Zanpakutō, the Mangekyō Sharingan, Reality Marble, Kamui, Nen abilities, Domain Expansion... are essentially similar things.
That is, the "outflow of self-nature."
Forging the purest ambition, the purest longing, the purest desire within one's heart—the most fundamental aspect beneath countless personas—into shape, transforming it into power.
And regardless of how it manifests, this power possesses a commonality: an "inviolable" strong sense of self.
Judging by the scene before him, the master of this inner world was truly lost and lonely.
"Teacher? What is this place?"
A call, tinged with timidity and confusion, interrupted Hii Kōri's thoughts.
Looking down, Konan was pinching a corner of his sandy brown cloak. Her small face was slightly pale from the cold, her expression astonished as she gazed at this unfamiliar snowy world.
Similarly, Yahiko, Nagato, and Sasori's faces also held similar bewilderment, as if they had inexplicably traveled from the scorching Great Sand Sea all the way to the far northern Country of Snow.
"Hmm... call it someone's barrier. You can understand it that way for now."
Hii Kōri raised his hand and placed it on Konan's soft blue-purple hair, gently rubbing it as he casually explained.
His shadow space, and the not-yet-hatched Yin Release secret technique—Rashōmon—were also extensions of his will.
But within this snowfield, formed from someone's inner world, such "external things" obviously couldn't extend wantonly, to the point that the four children, who had been tossed into the "safe house," were all squeezed out.
Along with the off-road vehicle behind them.
"?! An enemy?" Yahiko immediately freaked out, assuming a defensive stance.
"Nothing to do with you. It's your teacher's personal business." Hii Kōri casually delivered a not-too-light chop to Yahiko's head, interrupting his overreaction. Then, from the sealing scroll on his wrist, he pulled out several thick blankets, draping one over each child to help them withstand the cold.
"Go over there and build an igloo to avoid the cold. Teacher has some things to handle."
Motioning them to move away, watching Nagato and Yahiko skillfully use Water Release to form ice bricks, Hii Kōri finally turned his gaze toward a withered tree in the distance.
"Don't you agree, kid?"
"...In terms of physical age, I'm actually older than you are now."
Watching his still-young brothers run off to build an igloo, Hii Kao's expression softened slightly. Then he patted his cheeks, composed himself, and walked out from behind the withered tree, facing Hii Kōri expressionlessly.
"Father."
"Then you're still just a child."
Hii Kōri unhurriedly produced a self-made herbal cigarette, placed it between his lips, and lit it with a tiny flame from his fingertip. He slowly exhaled a puff of green white smoke, squinting, and replied in a calm tone.
"Whether it's the completion of your inner world or the technique you used to expand your domain, both indicate your spirit is still far from 'adulthood.'"
Ha, initially I thought it was a disciple, or another version of myself, or some other associate. Turns out it's such a direct blood connection...
Surveying the other's features, quite similar to his own, and that memorable wheat-colored hair and amber eyes, Hii Kōri inwardly marveled.
He lightly tapped his heel against the ground, and an invisible soundproof barrier rose silently, enveloping them, ensuring the subsequent conversation wouldn't be heard by the children in the distance.
"Too boring. Too inefficient. Too lacking in ambition." Hii Kōri surveyed the monotonous inner world scenery around him, shaking his head with subtle emotion, but then his expression shifted to understanding. "Hmm, but even saying that, it seems future I had problems in the education department."
Although after dealing with those lightning beasts, before he could continue pursuit, he'd been enveloped by that wave of butterflies, Hii Kōri's ninja dynamic vision had still been enough to capture the "cocoon" in Hii Kao's hand.
Combined with those black-winged butterflies, it was easy for him to associate where this incomplete inner world originated.
Larva, pupa, and imago—butterflies and moths with almost different ecologies—their very existence is the embodiment of "change."
From larva to pupa, breaking the cocoon to become a butterfly, and then the butterfly giving birth to larva... this cycle was also one of the important compositional imagery of Hii Kōri's technique, [Palm Hatching].
"Forcing an incompletely formed inner world to establish—no, rather, forcibly establishing insufficient possibilities in a short time... The device you just used was probably that kind of thing."
Hii Kōri judged with certainty. "Since the inner world can only be perfected by oneself, not pursuing the true effect of my technique, instead utilizing the process of forcing an incomplete outflow of self-nature into a cocoon to form an imitation Domain Expansion—that's actually quite an interesting idea."
"..."
Hii Kao didn't answer, only unconsciously biting his lip.
Though there were many things he'd never figured out, this alone—his own immaturity and confusion—he had a clear self-awareness.
Similarly, he didn't think his father would fail to see what means he'd used.
In many cases, what people lack isn't inspiration, but the ability to clearly depict that fleeting inspiration. Hii Kōri clearly wasn't in that category.
Though it was a product from the future, that Hiruko Shadow Bright Deity was, after all, also from the future his hand. Even if there were many unknowable black boxes in the technology, that didn't prevent present-day him from deducing its effects based on its performance.
Hii Kōri took one last drag and casually tossed the spent cigarette into the pure snow beside him. That spark burned a small, glaring black spot, like a small hole burned into a tablecloth.
"...I don't think you came here to listen to me talk, either."
Seeing the other's reaction, Hii Kōri shook his head with slight boredom. "At least let me know your name."
"...Kao."
"Mugwort, huh..." He frowned slightly. "Not a good name. Doesn't feel like my style... So, Tsunade named you, I suppose?"
With this complaint, Hii Kōri instantly deduced.
Clearly, if in the future his relationship with Tsunade had transformed into something more stable and intimate, he wouldn't have given his child such an unsuitable name, let alone raised their son into This is a melancholy and confused state.
He didn't consider himself a lustful glutton lusting after Tsunade's body. And after establishing his ultimate project, he could foresee his future life being busy as hell. There was no way he would chase after Tsunade, pestering her relentlessly.
Then, Kao could only have been conceived during the time Tsunade was captured and imprisoned by him in the Country of Rain.
Counting the days, even if it was before the meeting, that was over two months ago.
Thinking about how, before leaving, I'd joked to Master Bunpuku that I couldn't imagine what it would be like to have a child—now I feel very uncomfortable.
Damn, the boomerang is still chasing me!.
In any case, based on current developments, there was absolutely no possibility of reconciliation between them going forward.
With Tsunade's stubborn and twisted nature, there was absolutely no way she would let go past hatred because of a child. If she could have been ruthless enough to abort Kao, that would have been one thing, but apparently she hadn't.
Having lost her elders, her lover, her younger brother, with her clan long dissolved, Tsunade's heart had long had no support left. She would only be repeatedly torn between her hatred for Hii Kōri—serving as her spiritual pillar—and her maternal love, until that scarred heart was completely shattered.
Suicide? That seemed unlikely.
"So, Tsunade was killed by future me, right."
The leap from name to topic of killing one's birth mother was undeniably large, but that's just how a quad-core 256-thread artificial intelligence worked.
Since he was his own son, surely he could get used to this style of communication that skips dozens of conversations and jumps directly to another topic.
...Probably.
Judging by Hii Kao before him, he didn't seem the type to communicate cordially with his father.
"...That's right."
Hii Kao lowered his gaze, staring at the small hole burned in the snow by Hii Kōri's discarded cigarette. His tone seemed unchanged.
"According to Teacher Orochimaru, mother discarded all her defenses during that challenge against you and actively sought death."
"Hmm..." Hii Kōri squeezed out an ambiguous syllable from his nasal cavity. He wasn't particularly surprised by this answer—
—neither the title "Teacher Orochimaru," nor Tsunade's choice to actively seek death.
If Tsunade had left the village to give birth, the only people she could trust were her old teammates or teacher. But apparently, Hii Kao didn't look like a child raised by Hiruzen Sarutobi or Jiraiya.
That only left Orochimaru.
Considering Hii Kao's taijutsu and Wind Release techniques, which clearly bore his own style, presumably he and Orochimaru had established a fairly harmonious "fellow enthusiast" relationship in the future.
"So, you came to kill me in advance, to prevent Tsunade from dying by my hand."
"...No."
This time, Hii Kao was silent for even longer. He looked up at that deep sky, seemingly forever snowing, his amber eyes holding nothing but confusion.
In that hollow voice, he repeated: "I... don't know."
"Don't know... huh?"
Hii Kōri raised an eyebrow slightly. He hadn't anticipated this answer. He looked at this child, connected to him by blood yet, having never met before, waiting with interest for his next words.
"...Before I was twelve, before mother was killed by you, I kept thinking about how to ease the relationship between you. But the more I learned about your past, the more I felt it was unnecessary. There was even a time I thought my very existence was one of the root of mother's suffering."
"But perhaps, as Teacher Orochimaru said, your love and hate for each other had nothing to do with me from the start. Even the will mother had prepared long ago told me not to repulse you because of her."
Hii Kao slowly sat down in the snow, gazing across the distant snowfield.
"I couldn't change mother's heart, and I couldn't bring myself to hate you. I don't know what I can do. I don't know why I came to find you at this time..."
"Ha... so future me let you come to this point in time, intending to fundamentally solve the problem."
Hii Kōri nodded in understanding. He could recognize that the cloak on Hii Kao was an extension of his own Rashōmon. With that thing, future he could lock Hii Kao's position with ease.
Since future him hadn't stopped Kao from coming to this time to find him, there was naturally a purpose. What had shaped Hii Kao into his current state was a "past" that future he could no longer change—but for present him, it was a "future" yet to come.
"Let me ask you this: what kind of person is future me?"
"...You... unified the entire—" "I didn't ask about those unimportant things. I mean, in your eyes, what kind of person is your father?"
Hii Kōri curled his lip, interrupting Hii Kao's "spoiler" words. The latter paused briefly, blinking as he looked up at his young father, arms crossed, looking down at him. He let out a long breath.
"You are mother's enemy."
"Mm, of course answer. Even present me can't deny that."
"But I also can't deny that you're a good father."
"..."
"You're someone who always shines brightly... like a blazing sun, scattering your light and heat regardless of others' will."
Recalling the world he lived in, Hii Kao could not deny that Hii Kōri was truly an remarkable person.
But to him...
"...You're... still, just a bastard."
"Fine then. Go ahead and hate me."
***
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