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A glint of mischief flickered in Katsuyu's massive eyes.
Witnessing Tsunade like this is priceless.
It stoked the flames further. "Tsunade's right—this is dangerous. The choice is yours."
"I'll do it." Sasame didn't hesitate.
"Why?!" Tsunade's fists clenched.
For anyone else, she'd have knocked them unconscious and dragged them home. But this brat—
"Because I'll be the man who becomes Hokage!"
His voice cut through the gloom, eyes blazing. "If I back down now, what kind of dream is that?"
Tsunade froze.
For a heartbeat, she saw him—not the boy she'd coddled, but someone… more.
"Tch." She ruffled his hair violently, masking her fluster. "Fine. Try it."
Her deepest fear wasn't blood—it was history repeating. Yet his resolve disarmed her.
And damn if it wasn't dashing.
Her pulse betrayed her.
Katsuyu's acid rain fell.
Skin blistered, regenerated, charred, and renewed in a grotesque cycle. Tsunade's nails dug into her palms as she watched—each drop etching agony into her heart.
But Sasame didn't scream.
Not once.
He's serious about this.
About becoming Hokage.
A thought crystallized: If he can endure this for his dream, what's stopping me from clearing his path?
The mantle she'd scorned now seemed… necessary.
(Of course, she'd misread his "dream" entirely. But the outcome aligned serendipitously.)
Post-training, Tsunade's healing chakra sealed Sasame's wounds—though her gaze skittered away when his tattered clothes revealed more than intended.
"Go change!" She vanished in a puff of reverse-summoning smoke.
Sasame grinned.
Victory.
Afternoon.
Tsunade headed to the Hokage Tower. Sasame slipped into Hyūga Hinata's quarters.
"Onii-chan." The timid girl's tension melted in his presence—a stark contrast to her sparring sessions with Hiashi and Neji.
With a piggyback ride and a Mangekyō-fueled "field trip," they arrived at their usual training spot.
Hinata's trance began; Sasame practiced Flying Thunder God.
Until—
A chakra ripple.
North.
Two Uchiha teens clashed by a stream, their Sharingan spinning in mirrored prediction battles.
One was Itachi.
The other—a girl with jet-black hair and eyes—was new.
Uchiha Izumi.
A footnote in history. Slaughtered during the massacre by Obito's hand.
Now? A golden opportunity.
"Sasame." Itachi acknowledged him post-spar.
Izumi blinked. "Tsunade-sama's student?" Her warmth contrasted Itachi's reserve.
"Pleasure." Sasame's smile hid calculations.
Easier to manipulate than Itachi. More valuable alive.
"Why train here?" he asked.
Izumi hesitated. Itachi answered: "Uchiha elites are being targeted. We're bait."
Orochimaru's work.
Yet no Fate Points meant the victims were nameless in the original timeline.
(Itachi omitted the grisly details: the teammates tortured to death.)
Note: So far this story is published up to chapter 155 on my patreon, go check it out and remember that if we reach the goal of 45 power stones I will publish the next chapter.
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