In the very center of Konoha stood a landmark building of the Uzumaki clan—the Spiral Tower.
The Uzumaki clan had been destroyed nearly a decade ago. Of the once-great clan, only Kushina and a handful of scattered survivors remained.
Because of this, despite her fiery temper and her moniker "The Red Hot-Blooded Habanero," Kushina often felt profoundly lonely. She frequently came to this tower; here, she felt a sense of peace, and the void in her heart seemed a little less empty.
At the same time, this spot offered the best view of the Hokage Monument.
Today, even though she wasn't actively ostracized by the villagers like Naruto would be, a lonely Kushina climbed to the very top of the Spiral Tower.
This place held the precious memories she shared with Mito Uzumaki, and it offered a spectacular view of the Hokage Rock.
It was true that becoming Hokage was Kushina's current dream. However, for a girl who had lost her country, her home, and her family, wanting to become Hokage was merely a desperate plea for acknowledgment and love from the people around her.
It could be said that Kushina never truly wanted the title of Hokage itself; she wanted love and acceptance. In the original story, Minato Namikaze eventually filled that void in her heart, making the dream of becoming Hokage irrelevant to her.
But right now, their relationship was stuck somewhere between "more than friends" and "not quite lovers."
With the Nine-Tails sealed within her and the sealing jutsu still imperfect, Kushina endured immense physical and psychological pressure.
Coupled with the constant surveillance she was under, her mental state was incredibly fragile.
As she gazed at the Hokage Monument, Kushina suddenly spotted Saiki leaping forward, with Hiruzen Sarutobi and two Anbu following close behind. This instantly piqued her curiosity.
"Wait! Isn't that Saiki? Did they get back? Why didn't he come tell me? That brat!"
Realizing that Saiki and the others had returned from their mission but hadn't even bothered to greet her, she felt utterly disrespected as their sensei. Kushina's fiery temper flared up in an instant.
"No way, I have to go see what they're up to!" Erupting with crimson fury, Kushina leaped from the top of the tower and chased after them.
If Saiki had known, he would have cried, "Injustice!" He truly couldn't be blamed; he hadn't even had time to drink a glass of water before being summoned to the Hokage's office.
Meanwhile, after reporting the mission, Tsume Inuzuka had intended to find Kushina, only to discover she had gone to the Spiral Tower.
Back at the training ground, having just witnessed Saiki's demonstration, Hiruzen was deeply impressed. Still, he couldn't help but offer his critique: "The Lightning Style jutsu you used is called Raikiri, correct? It's an exceptional jutsu. However, traveling at that speed must make it difficult to control your direction and keep a clear eye on the target. And that jutsu you called Rasengan... it seems to be an incomplete technique."
Although Hiruzen shared some similarities with the hypocritical Yue Buqun from wuxia novels, he was no fool; his insight and strength were undeniable.
Looking at Hiruzen, Saiki could only admit to himself, He truly lives up to the title of 'The Professor.' He saw through the strengths and weaknesses of both jutsu after just one demonstration.
However, Saiki didn't let his thoughts show on his face. He simply replied calmly, "Raikiri does require a certain level of reaction speed to compensate for the tunnel vision. However, my reflexes are far beyond normal, so it doesn't affect me much. As for the Rasengan, it is indeed an incomplete jutsu. It currently only incorporates the highest level of shape transformation. One could theoretically add a nature transformation to elevate its destructive power further."
Hearing Saiki's explanation, Hiruzen asked, "Did you develop these yourself, or did you learn them from somewhere?"
Looking at Hiruzen, Saiki thought, This shameless old man definitely wants to scheme these two jutsu out of me and add them to his Scroll of Seals. What a cheapskate.
Nevertheless, Saiki smiled and said, "I developed them with Lady Tsunade's guidance, combining her insights with some research notes left behind by the Second Hokage. If you want these jutsu, Lord Hokage, you just have to pay for them. After all, Lady Tsunade put a lot of effort into this."
Hiruzen hadn't expected Saiki to be so blunt about it, effectively destroying his hopes of getting the jutsu for free.
However, Hiruzen's skin was just as thick as Saiki's. He chuckled warmly. "Excellent! I didn't realize you possessed such incredible talent."
After praising Saiki a bit more, Hiruzen smiled shamelessly. "Let's consider this the equivalent of submitting two A-rank missions!"
"Lord Hokage, Raikiri and Rasengan may only be A-rank right now, but that's solely because my chakra reserves aren't large enough to display their true power. Lady Tsunade estimated that once I grow older and master them fully, they will undoubtedly be S-rank jutsu. Furthermore, since the Rasengan requires no hand signs and has no elemental affinity yet, its potential can easily be elevated to an S-rank or higher." Saiki stared directly at Hiruzen, speaking without holding back.
Hiruzen's old face twitched. He thought, How is this brat so cunning? He's fallen into the same money-grubbing pit as Tsunade. Doesn't he know he's supposed to just obediently hand them over for the good of the village?
Saiki knew exactly what kind of man Hiruzen was, and he wasn't about to let the Hokage take advantage of him.
Right now, Saiki was incredibly short on cash, and the payout for an A-rank mission versus an S-rank mission was completely different!
The reward for a single S-rank mission started at one million Ryo.
Maintaining his thick skin, Hiruzen threw his shame out the window and laughed. "Haha, that may be true. However, neither of these jutsu is fully complete yet. The most I can offer you is the reward of one S-rank mission for the both of them."
It was one thing for someone like Danzo to pull these tricks, but seeing Hiruzen try to scam a child left Saiki speechless. Did these old men in Konoha have no shame at all?
Using the same tactic he would against Danzo, Saiki replied, "Uh, I apologize, Lord Hokage, but it's not my decision to make. Sister Tsunade told me that if you want these jutsu, you'll have to discuss the price directly with her."
Hearing Tsunade's name—knowing her gambling addiction, massive debts, and violent temper—Hiruzen knew she would extort him ruthlessly. His mouth twitched, and he was momentarily at a loss for words.
Consequently, Hiruzen smoothly changed the subject and continued to evaluate Saiki.
Setting aside the sheer difficulty of creating these two jutsu, the fact that Saiki could master them at this age and use them to obliterate a nine-man squad led by a Jonin showed his talent was terrifyingly high.
Taking a drag from his pipe and exhaling a cloud of smoke, Hiruzen asked, "With talent like yours, why did you stay in the Academy for so long? The instructors there couldn't possibly have had anything left to teach you."
As he asked this, Hiruzen's gaze turned sharp and serious. Saiki's answer would heavily influence Hiruzen's final evaluation of him.
Faced with Hiruzen's interrogation, Saiki spoke candidly: "Lord Hokage, I think you've misunderstood something. I stayed in the Academy not because of what they could teach me, but because it gave me the opportunity to meet people and gave me the time I needed to consolidate my own training. If I had left the Academy the moment I learned the basic curriculum, I would have had no free time to train myself, and I certainly wouldn't have been able to master these two jutsu."
"Furthermore, graduating early means taking on missions, which means exposing oneself to danger. What is a shinobi? I believe a ninja shouldn't just learn how to endure; they must also learn how to hide themselves. That is the key to achieving victory through surprise and ensuring one's own survival."
"I am an orphan of war. I know how cruel this world is. Graduating at a ridiculously young age and putting my name on the assassination bingo books of every hidden village as a 'genius' is a profoundly stupid way to live."
Of course, these weren't Saiki's true thoughts. In his mind, the greatest danger in Konoha wasn't foreign assassins; it was the greedy, watchful eyes of the Konoha higher-ups sitting right in front of him.
"Is that truly how you think?" Hearing Saiki's answer, Hiruzen finally understood the boy's behavior at the Academy. While he was still bothered by Saiki's abysmal score in "The Will of Fire," he deeply admired Saiki's understanding of what it meant to be a shinobi.
He wasn't aggressive or arrogant; he knew how to conceal his strength and understood the core tenets of survival as a ninja.
Looking at Saiki Shiroya, Hiruzen couldn't help but think of the other genius, Kakashi Hatake. Right now, it seemed Saiki far surpassed Kakashi in both strength and maturity.
"Saiki! When did you get back?!"
Before Hiruzen could figure out how to praise Saiki and attempt to brainwash him with the Will of Fire, a loud, echoing shout interrupted his thoughts.
Hearing that voice, accompanied by a terrifying aura that felt like an erupting volcano, Saiki turned around. With every step Kushina took, the ground seemed to tremble.
"Ah, Sensei Kushina! What brings you here?" Saiki greeted her with a smile.
If he hadn't needed to play the role of an obedient, non-threatening child, Saiki wouldn't have bothered discussing these pointless philosophies with Hiruzen. At the end of the day, power was the only thing that mattered. If his talent were average, all his grand philosophies would be treated as hot air.
The fact that Saiki had returned without telling her, and was now smiling as if nothing was wrong, only infuriated Kushina further.
Her crimson hair flared up like the tentacles of an angry octopus, and the red chakra radiating from her grew even more volatile. "What brings me here?! You get back to the village and don't even say a word to me! Do you even see me as your sensei?!"
Seeing Kushina looking ready to beat him to a pulp, Saiki quickly explained, "Uh, Sensei Kushina, I think you've misunderstood! I just got back from the mission and was planning to come find you, but Lord Hokage summoned me here immediately!"
Saiki then shot a look at Hiruzen, silently conveying: Explain this to her right now, or you deal with this mess yourself.
Looking at the enraged Kushina, Hiruzen felt a headache coming on. "Yes, Kushina. Saiki and his team just returned from their mission."
"Really?" Hearing it from the Hokage, more than half of Kushina's anger vanished, and she looked back at Saiki.
Saiki nodded vigorously. "Of course it's true! In fact, I just submitted the development records for two S-rank jutsu to Lord Hokage. I was planning to take you out for a massive feast the moment I got my payout!"
Hearing Saiki's words, Hiruzen's mouth twitched. Having just watched Saiki demonstrate the jutsu, Hiruzen had gained a basic understanding of their seals and chakra flow. He had been planning to try replicating them himself later to save some money!
But Kushina's eyes instantly lit up, and she turned her gaze toward Hiruzen.
The jutsu collected from various clans in the Scroll of Seals weren't free; ninja had to complete countless missions and earn massive amounts of contribution points to learn them.
When the Uzumaki clan was destroyed, the vast majority of their sealing jutsu fell into Konoha's hands. In the original story, Kushina had taught Minato many sealing techniques, which were subsequently recorded in the Scroll of Seals. In theory, she should have earned a fortune, yet years later, Naruto practically needed Hinata to pay for their wedding house.
Back in the Hokage's Office.
"Fine! I'll give you 1,400,000 Ryo, and not a single Ryo more!"
Sitting behind his desk, Hiruzen spoke with a look of profound physical pain.
If he didn't officially buy the jutsu from Saiki, even if he managed to reverse-engineer them, he couldn't openly use them or teach them. Now that Kushina was watching, he had to pay up, and it genuinely hurt his wallet!
Although he was jumping for joy internally, Saiki maintained a look of deep dissatisfaction on his face. "Fine! 1.4 million it is."
Even if Saiki hadn't "invented" them, Minato and Kakashi would have created them eventually. But now, Saiki had secured the bag, and the copyrights technically belonged to him.
Standard S-rank Ninjutsu simply weren't as valuable as S-rank Sealing Jutsu or Forbidden Jutsu. If Saiki had offered two S-rank Sealing Jutsu, Hiruzen wouldn't have gotten them for a penny under two million.
Holding a briefcase full of cash, Saiki had never felt so secure in his life. He smiled confidently at Kushina. "Let's go, Sensei Kushina! Pick whatever you want to eat today; it's all on me!"
"Not bad! Saiki, you didn't let down all the worrying I've been doing for you lately!" Kushina laughed heartily, slapping Saiki hard on the shoulder.
Feeling as though his shoulder had been hit by a battering ram, Saiki coughed a few times. "Cough, cough! Sensei Kushina, please, hit a little softer!"
But Kushina continued with booming energy, "Hahaha! Saiki, since when did your body get so weak?!"
Only Hiruzen sat slumped in his chair like a bullied child, his posture looking noticeably more stooped.
That night, at the Akimichi BBQ restaurant.
"Come on, order whatever you want tonight! It's my treat!"
Slapping the menu onto the table, Saiki yelled confidently. Sitting across from him, Kushina could hardly stand it; making a little bit of money had clearly gone straight to the boy's head.
He couldn't help it; Saiki was genuinely thrilled. This was the first time in two lifetimes he had ever made this much money at once.
One Ryo was roughly equivalent to half a Chinese Yuan or a few cents USD. Today, he had made over 700,000 Yuan in a single stroke. In his past life, he could have worked half a century and never seen that kind of money.
"Saiki, don't get too full of yourself!"
Seeing how cocky he was acting, an annoyed Kushina reached out, hooked her arm around Saiki's neck, and yanked him forward, burying his face directly into her chest as she aggressively rubbed her knuckles against his head.
She continued to scold him loudly: "You're getting too carried away! I need to teach you a lesson!"
Faced with Kushina's "Fists of Happiness," Saiki found his face forcefully pressed into an incredibly soft expanse. While the sheer scale wasn't quite on Tsunade's level, the elasticity was perfect, and a wonderfully fresh, maidenly scent flooded his nose.
Although Kushina grinding her knuckles into his scalp hurt a bit, Saiki could only describe the experience as: "Painful, but blissful!"
While he was internally enjoying every second of it, Saiki knew better than to let it show. Instead, he yelled out, begging for mercy: "Sensei Kushina, please, spare me! I admit I was getting too arrogant!"
Fortunately, he begged for mercy quickly; if Kushina had realized he was actually enjoying the "punishment," tonight would have become the Night of the Nine-Tails Rampage.
Hearing his pleas, Kushina rubbed his head a few more times before realizing her position was a bit inappropriate. She let him go and huffed, "Saiki, you better remember this! The three taboos of a ninja are alcohol, women, and money! Don't you dare let yourself get corrupted, and don't get cocky just because you made a little cash!"
"Sensei, I know I was wrong!"
Having already reaped the benefits, Saiki obediently lowered his head and admitted his fault; otherwise, if the Habanero truly exploded, there would be no dinner tonight.
Even though Saiki had conceded, Kushina still pouted, "Make sure you remember!"
"I'll remember!" Saiki nodded furiously.
Kushina cast a glance at Shizune and Genhai, who were both sitting as still and quiet as cicadas in winter. Seeing Tsume Inuzuka watching her with an amused smile, Kushina's face finally broke into an embarrassed, apologetic grin.
"Alright, let's eat!"
"Yes, let's eat! Sensei Kushina, please!" Saiki quickly handed the menu back to her.
Taking the menu, Kushina unceremoniously ordered a massive feast; she needed to eat a lot to calm her nerves.
Considering the "perks" Kushina had just inadvertently provided, spending a little money on dinner was an absolute steal.
While Saiki and the others were feasting and celebrating the successful completion of their mission...
Over on Hot Spring Street, at Tsunade's small estate.
Because she suffered from hemophobia, Tsunade no longer took on active combat missions, but there were still plenty of administrative and medical matters waiting for her attention.
When Saiki's team had left the village, Tsunade had been away. She had returned briefly, only to head out again to handle more business.
Tonight, Tsunade happened to return home early.
Entering the house and looking around, Tsunade thought it was strange; Saiki and Shizune should have returned from their mission by now, so where were they?
"Saiki? Shizune?"
She called out a few times, but the house remained silent.
Walking up to the second floor, she opened Shizune's door. Seeing the slight disarray and some unwashed clothes, it was clear they had indeed come home.
Then, Tsunade walked over to Saiki's room.
The room was neat and incredibly clean.
It wasn't that Saiki was naturally tidy; it was just that if he didn't clean up, Shizune would do it for him. Feeling guilty about making her clean his room, Saiki forced himself to be diligent about it.
Saiki's room was spotless, the bedsheets pulled tight and smooth.
However, one corner of the heavy quilt looked as though it had been hastily pulled up to cover something beneath it. This instantly piqued Tsunade's curiosity.
She walked over, lifted the quilt, and her eyes immediately lit up, because she was incredibly familiar with the object hidden underneath!
A briefcase designed specifically for carrying large sums of Ryo—Tsunade knew it better than she knew herself.
Opening the case, Tsunade's eyes practically turned into glowing dollar signs. It was packed with large-denomination banknotes; she estimated there had to be at least a million Ryo inside.
"Strange, where did Saiki get this much money?" she muttered. Then, a memory surfaced: last night, at a casino in the neighboring town, she had taken out a massive loan, lost until she practically had to pawn her underwear, and signed several massive IOUs.
Seeing this pile of cash, a singular thought bloomed in Tsunade's mind: she had a very strong feeling that tonight was her lucky night. She just needed to go back and gamble one more time!
Even though Tsunade was a notoriously terrible gambler who lost every time she played—earning her the moniker "The Legendary Sucker" from casino owners—when a gambler's itch strikes, they never truly believe they are going to lose.
She reasoned that if she just took this money, went to the casino, won big, and brought the original amount back before Saiki noticed, everything would be fine! The more Tsunade thought about it, the more flawless the plan seemed.
Grabbing the briefcase and shutting the door behind her, Tsunade made a beeline for Konoha's underground casinos. She had to make her money and get back before Saiki and the others returned from dinner.
Saiki had no idea that due to a moment of carelessness, the 1.4 million Ryo he had fought so hard to earn was currently growing wings.
It was partly Kushina's fault for rushing him. He had hastily thrown the quilt over the case and run out the door. After all, this was Tsunade's house—setting aside the various barrier seals protecting the property, what thief would dare break into the home of a Sannin?
But Saiki had forgotten one crucial rule: it's easy to guard against thieves from the outside, but impossible to defend against a thief living in your own home!