Anyway, it had been roughly a week since he quit. Whatever happened now was none of his business. Whether he was hired back into the ANBU or stayed a jōnin of Konoha—it was none of his business.

Either way, this gave him the perfect amount of time to fully assimilate the Bijū power.

So now, he had the One, Three, Six, and Seven-Tails. He was only missing the Two, Four, Five, Eight, and Nine.

And while he could go for the Nine-Tails right now, he'd much rather gather the majority of the others first.

He felt like the Nine-Tails' chakra would be way too potent. So, in order to build up his resistance, he'd go for the rest first.

Anyway, he was sure he'd be asked back into the ANBU eventually—after all, he was the most efficient member they ever had.

But oh well. He hoped his team was okay.

At the moment, he was hanging out with Nawaki.

Seijuro and Nawaki sat on a slanted rooftop near the training field, sipping from cold bottles of barley tea. Their sandals clinked lightly as they dangled off the edge.

Nawaki laughed as he wiped sweat from his brow, cheeks slightly red from sparring.

"Man, you're still ridiculously fast," he said, shaking his head. "I blinked, and my shirt was already hanging off a tree branch. That's not normal, you know."

Seijuro gave a rare small grin.

"It was simple, really... your reaction time wasn't the best," he said calmly.

"Hey, I have the best reaction time ever!" Nawaki said, puffing his chest out proudly.

"Sure..."

The silence lingered for a bit—comfortable, at first... until Nawaki broke it with a frown.

"Hey, uh... I heard some whispers. You quit the ANBU?"

Seijuro didn't answer right away.

He leaned back on his arms, eyes watching the clouds roll above the Hokage Monument.

"Yeah. I did."

Nawaki blinked.

"Wait—what? You quit? You were their best operative! What happened? I thought you lived for that shadow-life ninja drama. What changed?"

Seijuro's voice was calm. Too calm.

"I figured out that one of the elders was trying to get me killed... because I was getting too popular," he said, sighing a bit.

Nawaki's face dropped.

"...What?"

"Sent one of his people on our last mission to leak our position. Nearly got my entire team wiped out. Only reason I made it back was because I outplayed the game."

"That—! That's treason!"

"It's Konoha," Seijuro said simply. "We kill for it. We die for it. And sometimes, we die because of it."

He looked over at Nawaki with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"So I quit. If the higher-ups are that willing to sacrifice us, then I don't want to serve them."

Nawaki swallowed hard.

"So what now...?"

"Probably finish learning Sage Mode. Maybe go on a few S-rank missions," he said softly.

Nawaki looked down at his hands.

"That sucks. I mean... you are the best of us. You always felt like the guy who should've been Hokage one day."

Seijuro chuckled softly.

"Hm... isn't being Hokage your dream?" he asked, looking genuinely confused.

"I mean yeah, which is why you are my rival. I'll surpass you, then become Hokage."

Seijuro chuckled at that.

"What did I tell you about having realistic dreams?"

"Hey... that's a realistic dream."

Seijuro sighed a bit at Nawaki's words. As things stood right now—with Sage Mode and Magnet Release—he was either as strong or stronger than current Hiruzen.

If he mastered Coral Release, and the bubbles, he could probably get even farther.

Oh well.

Just then—

A poof of smoke and a soft thump marked Minato Namikaze's sudden arrival.

"Sorry I'm late! I got caught helping Kushina move her new fuinjutsu books..."

Nawaki grinned like a hyena.

"Oho~ helping Kushina, huh? That what we call it now?"

Minato froze.

"Wh-what? No! It's not like that!"

Seijuro smiled and raised an eyebrow.

"You know... she doesn't like wusses. If you want her to notice you, stop folding like paper every time someone says her name."

Minato gulped.

"Y-Yeah. You're right. I'll try to be more... confident."

Seijuro's eyes glinted with warmth for a moment—but just for a moment—before the smile vanished again, replaced with steel.

"Good. Because if you ever break the heart of my little sister—"

He leaned forward slightly.

"I will break every bone in your body, Minato Namikaze."

Minato stiffened so fast it was like he turned into a statue.

Nawaki howled with laughter, clutching his stomach.

Seijuro just sipped from his barley tea again like nothing had happened.

He wasn't lying though. Kushina was his little sister. If her heart was ever broken, he would beat the shit out of the person that did it.

Till this day, he was still pissed at Kumo.

Which is probably why, in the future, when he attacked them under his alias identity, he would utterly humiliate the Third Raikage. Maybe even destroy that perfect defense he was so proud of.

He would wipe them out.

As for the other villages—heh, they were aight. He had nothing against them for the most part. They were simply ninja following orders. That excuse didn't fly for the Cloud, though—not after what they were planning to do with Kushina.

Thinking about it now, if Kushina had actually been captured, it would've forced him to reveal his dual identity. He would've used all the strength he had back then to rescue her.

Which—while making him weaker than the Third Raikage—still meant he was dangerous.

Because his illusion could spread to the whole village. With his Kekkei Genkai, he could craft an illusion where all of Konoha's forces were attacking Kumo. And since his illusions felt real...

If they died in them?

They died in real life.

Yeah.

It'd be GG.