22 Uzumaki Kushina

There will be some extra chapters in the next few days, but don't get used to it, the schedule is still 1 per day. 

***

Yujin quickly bid farewell to the elderly woman and left the room. Mito asked him to call Shizune to come in, and that's what he did as he exited.

After leaving the mansion, Yujin chose a secluded place to think. It was a kind of garden on the mansion grounds, with a small lake and some flowers and plants.

He sat on a bench in the garden, lost in thought.

The cave was too bizarre of a mystery for him to unravel in just a few minutes of contemplation. To avoid disrupting Tsunade and Mito's meeting, he left the room.

He knew that, due to the elderly woman's imminent death, every minute, every second, was crucial for the two of them.

While silently contemplating, some birds appeared nearby and started flying around as if searching for something. Yujin noticed the movement of the birds and smiled, finally finding something he understood. He looked at the ground and, after a few seconds, with a quick arm movement, grabbed a handful of soil.

Opening his hand, the soil trickled through his fingers, and three earthworms appeared in his hand, wriggling slowly. With a lift of his hand, he presented the worms in the direction of the birds.

The birds circled the air a bit more and finally landed on Yujin's hand. They were two small gray birds. The two birds took the worms and flew back to their nest.

The whole event was witnessed by a red-haired girl who was nearby, lost in thought.

Yujin's actions were incomprehensible to Kushina.

She was trying to clear her mind by taking a stroll in the garden and saw all of his actions from start to finish.

How did he find where the worms were? How did he make the birds accept the worms he was offering? She had tried feeding birds before, and none had ever landed on her hand. At most, when she threw food on the ground, the birds approached cautiously.

His actions were very strange.

Driven by curiosity, she approached Yujin and asked.

"Hey, mister, how did you do that?"

Yujin looked at the red-haired girl and smiled. It wasn't hard to deduce who she was; her red hair was more than enough.

"Mister? I'm only 24 years old."

Kushina pouted and replied.

"Then I'll call you Onii-san."

"Onissan? Well... as long as it's not an insult."

Kushina was confused by his reaction but decided to overlook it and asked.

"How did you do that with the birds? You picked up worms without even searching through the earth, and the birds promptly came down to get them without being afraid of you."

The girl seemed very curious; her eyes sparkled like gems. Yujin smiled. If Tsunade saw this smile, she would say he was about to do something mischievous. Although Yujin is usually serious with adults, he can be quite playful when dealing with children.

"I knew where the worms were because I heard them. The birds approached without fear because I communicated with them and told them I wouldn't harm them."

"It's impossible to hear worms; they don't talk. And it's also impossible to talk to animals."

Kushina pouted again and retorted, clearly dissatisfied with his answer. Yujin smiled at the girl's pouting, finding her reaction amusing.

"There are ninja magics capable of releasing dragons of fire from their mouths, and you tell me it's impossible to create magic that can talk to animals?"

"Magic? Well... there's a girl who studied with me at the academy who can talk to a dog, so maybe it's not impossible..."

Kushina seemed confused by Yujin's response and began to seriously consider it. Quickly, however, she found a loophole in his answer.

"Maybe I believe the bird part, but what about the worm? I didn't hear anything, and worms don't talk."

Yujin laughed loudly at her response. It took her longer than he thought to realize that.

"But of course, worms don't talk."

"No, wait, so you didn't hear the worms? Then how did you find them?"

Kushina seemed genuinely confused. Yujin's laughter made her realize that maybe he was teasing her, but the bird part made sense. Maybe he really communicated with the birds to make them accept the worms. What didn't make sense was how he located the worms.

"Worms don't need to talk for me to hear them. When they burrow in the ground, they make a sound. It's a very small, almost indiscernible noise, but it's possible to locate them by the sound if your hearing is very good."

The girl nodded slowly, as if she had finally understood, but Yujin wasn't finished.

"I don't need to hear them, actually. Although they are very small, they are still living beings. I can sense their presence, even though I need to make a bit of effort."

"And how do you do that?"

Kushina's eyes sparkled; she had never heard of such an ability. Yujin continued to answer seriously, without trying any more jokes.

"Communion with nature. When you reach Harmony, it becomes easy for you to feel the vitality of everything in this world. From the grass on the ground to the trees in the forest. From the crawling or jumping insects to the animals and people. Everything in this world that has life emits vitality. Whether through breathing, warmth, scent, or the sounds it makes... Just by being alive, you emit countless signals. When you are in communion with nature, you can easily feel these signals, allowing you to understand everything in your surroundings as if you merge with the nature around you."

Kushina's eyes at that moment seemed like real stars, shining so brightly. She had never heard of this. It seemed too mystical for her, as if it were not of this world.

"And that's why the birds landed on my hand. I don't need to communicate with them. To them, I am part of nature, like a tree. They know I am alive, breathing, and can move, but my intentions are as clear to them as a tree's intentions. They know I wouldn't harm them."

Seeing how impressed the girl was, Yujin was satisfied. He loves to impress children. He feels like he brings something meaningful to their lives every time he amazes them.

***

While Yujin enjoyed chatting with Kushina, in the ninja academy, the Hokage's office, the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, was talking to a pale man with golden eyes.

"Yujin. What do you think of him?"

The most powerful man in the village was currently smoking his pipe, leaning back in his chair and talking with one of his disciples, Orochimaru.

"He's dangerous, that's all I can say at the moment."

"You've only seen him a few times, and that's your assessment? I didn't expect that from you."

Hiruzen was surprised by Orochimaru's evaluation.

"I don't know what to tell you, Sensei. The few times I saw him from a distance, I felt shivers all over my body. For some reason, even though he never looked in my direction, I believe he knew I was watching him; it was a bizarre feeling."

Hiruzen nodded slowly, as if understanding Orochimaru's explanation, and he did understand. He had already sent three different Anbu to keep an eye on Yujin. The first two had the same impression; only the third one didn't feel it.

From this, Hiruzen knew that Yujin had learned to ignore the surveillance placed on him.

Orochimaru's impression was not wrong.

"Jiraya, who had contact with him, didn't have such a profound impression. He thought Yujin was a civilian and only got suspicious when the sage toad from Mount Myoboku offered to teach Yujin Sage Mode. We're at war, and his sense of awareness is weak. Maybe it's better to leave him in Ame teaching those orphans he got interested in."

Hiruzen took another puff from his pipe and then spoke to Orochimaru.

"Go to the Senju compound to meet with Tsunade. Find out what you can. Talk to Yujin, and then give me a report on what you think. I can only count on you for this job."

Orochimaru nodded and left the building, heading toward the Senju compound.