Zander
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Chapter 138 – Sparks of Change
🕑 Added 2025-07-26 12:00:16 +0000 UTCChapter 138 – Sparks of Change
The sound of heavy breathing echoed through the training field behind the Hokage Tower. Sakura stood soaked in sweat, her hands pressed against her knees as she tried to catch her breath. Her legs trembled, and her body ached all over. Every part of her felt like it had been pushed to the limit, again.
Hajime stood nearby, his tall figure calm as always. His armor was off, replaced with a simpler dark training outfit. He had watched her the entire time, silent but focused, his piercing gaze not missing a single movement.
“Rest for ten seconds,” Hajime said plainly.
Sakura looked up, exhausted but determined. She nodded, wiping the sweat from her brow. Her body still needed time to adjust. Even though Hajime had implanted her with the new organs, created from his own gene-seed and perfectly matched to her, her strength and stamina were still catching up. The training Hajime had set was nothing like what she had done before.
Today’s routine was brutal: sprints, weighted squats, upper body drills, and chakra control exercises done back-to-back with no more than a few seconds of rest in between. Each time she collapsed, Hajime would step forward, place his hand on her shoulder, and with a soft glow, her pain faded. Not completely, but enough to continue. He healed her with his psychic-based medical abilities, not just fixing injuries, but easing her muscles, refreshing her organs, and pushing her body to recover faster.
It was hard, but it worked.
“You’re adapting,” Hajime said as she stood up again.
Sakura tried to smile through her heavy breaths. “Thanks… I feel stronger already.”
“Good. Again.”
And she ran once more.
They trained like that for three full days. Sakura’s progress was clear. Her recovery time dropped, her strength with only physical have increase tremendously, her movements became sharper, and her chakra control more precise. Hajime remained mostly quiet, but once in a while, he gave short advice.
“Lower your center of gravity when dodging.”
“Don’t waste movement.”
“Let your breathing guide your punches.”
These simple comments helped more than long lectures. Sakura listened carefully. Hajime never praised her directly, but his continued support, and the way he stayed nearby to help her every time, was enough, and hope the time to stay like this for a long time.
On the fourth day, as the afternoon sun hung low in the sky, Hajime stood with his arms crossed, watching Sakura go through one final set. But before she could finish, a faint clicking sound echoed from below the tower. Hajime’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Someone had approached the hidden entrance of his underground lab.
Down below, behind thick stone walls, the lab was protected from both normal entry and regular detection. It could only be accessed by his psychic signature, his own mind opening the doors, and only people he trusted could pass. This time, he sensed the presence immediately: one of Tsunade’s ANBU.
Without a word, Hajime sent a pulse of thought. The stone wall slid open without a sound, revealing the spiral path leading into the lab.
The ANBU, dressed in a crow mask and black armor, wasn’t surprised. He moved calmly down the spiraling stone steps. The air was cooler inside, lined with soft white lights. The ANBU arrived at the center lab chamber where Hajime was watching Sakura training. He turned his head slightly as the masked ninja stepped in.
“Hokage-sama wants to speak to you. Immediately,” the ANBU said respectfully.
Hajime gave a short nod. “Understood.”
He left Sakura in the resting area, telling her to cool down and eat the protein bars he had prepared. Then, with one step, Hajime vanished in a blur of space-bending movement.
A second later, he appeared inside the Hokage Tower.
Tsunade stood in her office with her arms crossed, a scroll in hand, and a very irritated look on her face. Papers were scattered across the desk. Shizune stood off to the side, also looking tense.
“Hajime,” Tsunade said, not even hiding her frustration. “We’ve got a problem.”
He nodded once, stepping forward without speaking.
Tsunade held up the scroll. “The Daimyo is establishing a shinobi training school in the Land of Fire’s capital. And he’s reducing the funds sent to Konoha.”
Hajime raised a brow slightly. “That’s bold.”
“He’s saying it’s for national growth,” Tsunade said, her voice bitter. “But I think it’s more than that. We’re nearly self-funded now, thanks to the inventions of yours and with Kara Researchers, were letting out products, that makes a lot of profits, but because of that were almost economically independent now. I think… he’s trying to remind us who’s in charge.”
Hajime calmly crossed his arms. “So he’s training loyalists. Even though he already has the Twelve Guardian Ninja.”
Tsunade sighed. “Exactly. He’s expanding his influence.”
Hajime said nothing for a moment, his thoughts quiet but focused. He didn’t show frustration, but the shift in his posture suggested deeper thoughts.
Privately, Hajime reflected on the system. The Daimyo ruled the country and controlled the economy. The Hidden Leaf Village, powerful as it was, still depended on his funding, just like the other villages did in their own lands. It was an old system. A leftover from the feudal era, well it's not even a hundred years past the Sengoku age, Its not their fault for a stupid system. This system is truly backwards. The ninja handled war, defense, strategy, and global peace… yet they still bowed to nobles who barely understood how the world truly worked.
It was broken.
But he said none of that out loud.
Instead, he turned to Tsunade and calmly opened a scroll from his belt pouch. It showed the latest results of his studies on the Rinnegan.
“I’ve made progress,” he said. “I can now replicate the implantation process. The same as what I did for myself. Sakura was the second, though her version is weaker.”
Tsunade raised an eyebrow, clearly trying to act neutral. But curiosity crept onto her face.
“I see,” she said. “And you can do the same for others?”
“I can,” Hajime replied. “I’ve refined the process. Each one is built from matching genetics. In Sakura’s case, I used her cells with mine as a blueprint. No rejection. No side effects.”
Tsunade gave a small nod, then turned away, pretending to organize the documents on her desk. A long moment passed before she spoke again.
“So… if I wanted this for myself?”
“You’d be stronger. Much stronger,” Hajime said plainly. “And your life span would extend by hundreds of years. Maybe even more.”
Tsunade stopped moving.
Then, slowly, she turned her head toward him with a faint smirk. “Sakura already got hers… When’s it my turn?” as she was always insecure about her age, with Hajime.
Hajime allowed a rare, faint smile. “After we settle this problem first.”
Tsunade’s face turned serious again, her playful side fading. “This could get worse. If the Daimyo keeps pulling back control.”
Hajime’s tone was even. “Then should we kill the Daimyo?”
Tsunade stiffened.
She hadn’t expected that, not so blunt, and not so calmly delivered. It took her a moment to realize he was serious.
She shook her head, hesitating. “That’s not how things are done… And if we act recklessly, the other hidden villages might get involved. Their Daimyo could rally them.”
Hajime didn’t look worried.
“If that happens, we’ll handle them. I can flatten any village that rises.”
Tsunade bit her lip. “That’s not the point…”
He interrupted gently. “Tsunade. What if this is our chance? To finally bring peace. A lasting one. We unify the world, with Konoha leading.”
Tsunade stared at him, silent.
The idea was heavy. Dangerous. But also… tempting.
Hajime didn’t press the matter further. He simply turned, walking toward the window and looking out over the village, his village.
“Think about it,” he said quietly. "We will build a world of lasting peace, one where war no longer returns each decade, and children are never again raised to become weapons."
