Chapter 65: Fear
The day of celebration had passed.
After dawn, the heavy snowfall stopped, leaving the ground covered in a thick layer of goose feathers—silver draped over everything. Pedestrians on the streets wore heavy clothing, and children had already begun building snowmen. The cold weather did nothing to diminish Konoha's bustling energy.
In Ryuzen's house, the curtains slowly parted.
A young, handsome face appeared at the window.
Ryuzen glanced at the snowy scene outside, then looked down at the two sisters lying in the bed beside him.
Beneath the heavy quilt, two small, delicate heads were visible—their faces beautiful and cute, their features exquisite. Long lavender and black hair spread across the pillows like spilled ink.
He lowered his head, pressing a gentle kiss to each of their foreheads. Then he straightened and surveyed the chaotic state of the room. The madness of the previous night replayed in his mind, and he couldn't help but smile.
The surprise he had carefully prepared had truly made Hinata lose control.
That gentle, shy girl had actually played those crazy little games with him—egged on by Hanabi's instigation, of course.
Thinking about those games now sent a rush of heat through his body, dispelling the winter chill.
Of course, the games themselves weren't anything too extreme. Things like passing paper strips mouth-to-mouth, with penalties involving feeding each other drinks. Simple party games.
If Ryuzen had wanted to play such games, he could have just asked Hinata sweetly—or been a little forceful. Her submissive nature would have agreed eventually.
But Hanabi had been present last night.
As the atmosphere intensified, things had gotten... crazy. Crazy enough that they had actually agreed to let Hanabi join in.
Recalling the feeling of Hanabi against him, guilt suddenly stabbed through Ryuzen's chest.
Damn it. She's only seven.
No—her birthday was March 27th. She was already eight.
He shook his head quickly, forcing the thoughts away.
He went to the bathroom, washed up, then began cleaning the messy house.
Girls in this world matured early, but Hanabi was still an eight-year-old girl. They hadn't even finished more than a few bites of yesterday's cake before it had been wasted in their... activities. Even gentle Hinata had gone completely wild, falling asleep without cleaning anything.
Ryuzen fetched a bucket of water from the bathroom, wearing only a bathrobe with an apron tied around his waist, and began to work.
First, he swept up the garbage on the floor. Then, using a wet cloth, he wiped away the cake stuck to the walls, the tables, the chairs.
Cleaning was troublesome work, but he showed no impatience.
On the contrary, he was enjoying himself.
Other people dreamed of becoming Hokage. Of becoming leaders. Of achieving world peace.
Ryuzen had no such ambitions.
He just wanted enough strength to protect himself and his loved ones. He wanted to live like this with Hinata every day.
But thinking about the chaotic times a few years ahead—the Akatsuki, the war, and eventually the Ōtsutsuki clan who would descend from the stars—his strength was still far from enough.
He couldn't afford to be lazy.
After cleaning the house, Ryuzen went to the training ground and began exercising.
Weighted push-ups. Weighted frog jumps. Weighted pull-ups. Two hours later, he started running laps around the village with weights attached.
The training weights were far heavier than before—several times heavier, in fact.
For the past two months, Ryuzen had spent nearly half his day purely on physical conditioning. He had completely abandoned the Body Flicker Technique.
Because he was afraid.
Yes, Ryuzen was afraid.
He was afraid of meeting another ninja like Kimimaro.
In the ninja world, there were plenty of threats—powerful taijutsu specialists, space-time ninjutsu users, sages, Mangekyō Sharingan wielders. Those could all kill him. But other types—elite jōnin like Kurenai, Asuma, Zabuza, even Kakashi—he no longer feared.
Was Kimimaro strong?
Incredibly strong. In his prime, he had possessed the power to threaten a Kage.
But Kimimaro had been terminally ill. Dying. And Ryuzen had still nearly died fighting him.
A sick child had made him experience death's approach for the first time.
If that brush with death hadn't forced out his potential, Ryuzen would have died.
Yet in the original story, Gaara had easily avoided Kimimaro's final technique—the Dance of the Seedling Fern—using his floating sand. Lee had survived it too.
Why had Ryuzen almost died?
The answer was simple: he couldn't fly, and he wasn't fast enough.
That was when he realized his true weakness wasn't speed—it was mobility. Ground-bound movement was insufficient.
And he remembered another Akatsuki member who would be virtually impossible for him to handle.
Not Itachi Uchiha. Not Pain. Not Konan.
Deidara.
Without elemental chakra transformation, without any way to counter microscopic explosives, Ryuzen would die instantly unless he killed Deidara before the man could unleash C4 Karura or C0 self-destruction.
He never wanted to experience that powerless feeling again.
So he had made a decision: abandon the Body Flicker Technique. Focus entirely on developing Soru and Geppo instead.
Geppo—Moon Step—was one of the Six Powers. A technique that allowed the user to run through the air by perfectly applying the principles of Soru. To learn Geppo, one had to master Soru first. To master Soru, one had to push their physical conditioning beyond normal limits.
In the ninja world, the only person who could perform anything like Geppo was Might Guy, using the Eighth Gate.
For Ryuzen to master these techniques, he would need years of intense physical training.
So he had made his plan: for the next three years, he would devote himself entirely to improving his body.
After three hours of running around Konoha with weights, Ryuzen returned home, drenched in sweat.
Hinata and Hanabi were already awake.
When Hinata saw him come in, breathing hard and exhausted, she immediately stood up from the sofa and walked over. She raised the sleeve of her pajamas to wipe the sweat from his face.
He caught her wrist gently, smiling. "No need to wipe. Training's done for now—I'm just going to take a shower."
Hinata nodded, her face slightly red.
Apparently, after waking up, she had fully recalled the previous night's events.
Even Hanabi, usually so energetic, remained on the sofa. Her face was bright red, and she had buried her head like an ostrich, unable to meet his eyes.
Normally, no matter how sweaty or smelly Ryuzen was, she would have pounced on him without hesitation.
It seemed even the "little witch" felt shy and ashamed sometimes.
✨Enjoying the story? You can support me on Patreon —
Patreon.com/MizuSan
✨ Patreon members get early chapter access, bonus content! 🥰
🎉 Plus, I'll release 1 for every 50 Power Stones you send my way! 🥳
🌊 Let's reach 80 Patreon members to unlock 5 extra chapters together
Join Patreon ,there is ongoing discount that will last for 1 days❤️