Naruto: I Have Cursed Spirits!

In his office, Hanzō furrowed his brow, staring at the map on the desk.

Chiba stood silently behind Hanzō, like an unremarkable shadow.

In front of the desk, many ninjas stood in neat formation. They were all elite ninjas with influence in the village.

Sensing the heavy atmosphere in the office, Amanagi glanced at his companions, then at Hanzō ahead.

He suddenly cleared his throat.

Several gazes immediately focused on him.

"Hanzō-sama," he said cautiously, feeling immense pressure, "should we be the ones to proactively submit a treaty to Konoha?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a fellow ninja immediately rebuked him: "We haven't lost the war with Konoha! Why should we be the first to lower our heads?"

Amanagi twitched at the corner of his mouth and explained, "What does this have to do with lowering our heads? We didn't lose, so it's reasonable for us to submit the treaty first. Konoha is one of the Five Great Ninja Villages, and they're currently at war with Suna, why would they take the initiative to come to us?"

What he really wanted to say was that Konoha had deep resources. Although the Ame ninjas had won temporarily thanks to Hanzō's strength, they might not be able to continue winning indefinitely.

Rather than face total defeat in the future, it was better to end things now while they were ahead. As long as they could get Konoha to recognize Ame's position and sign a non-aggression treaty, that would suffice.

Now that Konoha was fighting Suna, if Ame took the initiative to offer a treaty, there was a strong chance Konoha would agree. Saying these things out loud would be too discouraging to his comrades, so he chose to express himself tactfully.

Hanzō glanced at him, and Amanagi felt as if his thoughts had been seen through completely by Hanzō.

But he felt no guilt. He was doing this for the good of Ame.

In the rain, a crow landed on the window of the office.

The crow tilted its head and pecked at its feathers, alertly watching the people talking inside.

"A normal crow. Not a summoning beast," Chiba reported after stepping forward to inspect it.

Hanzō nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping across the gathered Ame ninjas.

"We'll do as Amanagi said. Submit the treaty to Konoha."

With the war between Konoha and Suna reaching its peak, Konoha would not choose to antagonize Ame now.

This was also part of his calculation.

Once the war between Konoha and Suna ended, Konoha would be free to turn on Ame again.

His ultimate goal was to drive all the foreign ninjas out of the Land of Rain, which meant continued conflict with the great ninja villages.

The Ame ninjas who had been about to object swallowed their words.

"Yes."

---

A crow circled and landed on the railing of a single-occupancy apartment balcony. Inside, on the tatami mat of the living room, Shiratori stroked his chin, replaying the scene he had just witnessed in Hanzō's office.

Ame and Konoha were about to sign a treaty?

He vaguely remembered that the chaos in Ame hadn't ended this quickly... Although a treaty had been decided upon, the final outcome was still uncertain.

He still had a chance.

The battlefield, to him, was the perfect place to harvest emotional energy. He couldn't bear to see the war end just like that.

But even if the war between Ame and Konoha ended, there was still Suna, eyeing Ame like a predator from the sidelines.

Glancing out the window at the darkening sky, he headed out to retrieve his sword.

---

At the blacksmith shop, Tetsuma took down his sword, which was hanging on the wall, and handed it to him.

Shiratori accepted it with both hands, placing one hand on the hilt.

Shing!

A metallic hum rang out as the long blade slid from its sheath.

Inch by inch, the blade was revealed, its surface a deep, inky black.

A ghostly blue light shimmered along the edge, like lightning splitting through the night. The edge of the blade was so thin it was nearly invisible, exuding a biting, icy glow.

Under the firelight, it was so sharp it made his eyes sting slightly.

He was beyond satisfied.

He looked at Tetsuma in delight. "Thank you!"

Tetsuma gave a small smile. Despite being a towering man with exaggerated muscles, he sometimes showed surprising shyness.

"The blade's too sharp. Be careful when you train," Tetsuma warned.

Shiratori nodded vigorously. "I will!"

He slung the sword onto his back, full of fighting spirit. "I'll train hard and grow stronger, to become a ninja everyone can rely on!"

Tetsuma looked at him, thinking, Shiratori has already become someone everyone can rely on.

His medical abilities had given all the ninjas a second life. On the battlefield, he was the very reason they could fight without fear.

Words surged in his heart, but he couldn't bring himself to say them out loud.

[Affection detected: Tetsuma +1000 points]

[Energy transferred to Rika]

[Development progress: 59.8%]

Shiratori glanced at Tetsuma. Looks like Tetsuma's internal thoughts had been detected.

"I'm heading out now."

He waved to him and ran out of the forge.

Tetsuma chased him to the door, and finally let out the words he hadn't been able to say earlier: "Be careful on the road!"

"I will!"

Shiratori turned back halfway, waved again, then quickly disappeared from Tetsuma's sight.

Tetsuma let out a breath of relief. He hadn't expected that he'd actually manage to say it.

---

Shiratori weaved through the steel pipelines of Ame and quickly arrived at the training grounds. By the time he got there, a familiar figure was already standing in the rain.

"...So typical."

Hanzō, of course, was the type to do surprise inspections.

How was this any different from his old homeroom teacher?

"Where did you go?"

As soon as he stood before him, Hanzō questioned him sternly.

After finishing his official duties, he had come to check his training progress, only to find him nowhere in sight.

Had he already forgotten the promise he made just yesterday?

"I..."

Shiratori took the long sword from his back and held it in both hands. His voice started strong but began to waver. "I went to pick up my weapon! I wasn't slacking off! I've already practiced cursed energy today, and with the remaining time I wanted to work on my swordsmanship, so I can become as strong as you, Hanzō-sama..."

His shoulders hunched slightly, and moisture gathered at the corners of his eyes.

Hanzō hadn't expected that to be the reason. His fingers, hanging at his sides, curled slightly.

Looking at the tears threatening to spill from the boy's eyes, Hanzō felt as if an invisible hand was gripping his heart.

[Emotional energy detected: Guilt +5000 points]

[Insufficient for cursed spirit generation]

[Energy stored for future use]

[Affection detected: Hanzō +2000 points]

[Energy transferred to Rika]

[Development progress: 60%]

Shiratori noticed the wording in the system prompt.

System, what do you mean by "cursed spirit generation"?

Are they different from then ones I activated?