Naruto: Konoha’s Trickster, Starting as the Seven-Tails Jinchūriki

Two months had passed since Kushina became a Jinchūriki. Her missions had been completely canceled, leaving her without the need to participate in any assignments. In their place, she received a fixed allowance every month.

She understood the reason behind this arrangement but had no choice in the matter. After all, her status had changed, and this was one of the burdens she had to bear as a Jinchūriki.

Fortunately, she had Minato and Kazuyama to rely on; otherwise, she might have felt even more isolated.

At Kazuyama's residence.

"Pakura, is Sunagakure fun?"

"I haven't seen any yellow sand yet... What kind of experience is that?"

"If it's all sand, how do you people in Sunagakure survive? Don't you lack water?"

Kushina and Pakura were seated together, sipping tea and enjoying some dessert.

"What's so interesting about sand? Compared to Konoha, it's not even close. But there is an underground river beneath Sunagakure," Pakura explained.

"So there's no shortage of water."

It took just one day for Kushina and Pakura to go from strangers to being on familiar terms. After all, their situations had some similarities—one couldn't leave her village, and the other couldn't return to hers. While their circumstances weren't exactly the same, they were close enough.

Pakura had been deeply surprised to learn that the young girl before her was a Jinchūriki. Similarly, Kushina had been equally shocked to discover that Pakura was a ninja from Sunagakure, captured by Kazuyama.

Through a day of mutual exploration, the two had grown close and formed a bond.

"So, that bastard Kazuyama went to his sensei's place again?"

"Mm, he said he was conducting some research, acting all mysterious," Pakura said, irritation evident in her tone.

She muttered to herself, annoyed: He promised to show me around Konoha, but it only turned out to be a three-day fling. And then he vanished!

"Hmph, you really can't trust a man's word! Minato also said he'd keep me company, but then he went off on a mission," Kushina chimed in.

"Hmph. Pakura, why don't we go shopping?"

Kushina was restless by nature. Staying idle for long periods was unbearable for her.

"Huh? Just the two of us? Wouldn't that be bad?" Pakura hesitated. "After all, my status…"

Pakura genuinely wanted to go out and explore, but her special status made her wary. She didn't want to cause trouble for Kazuyama either. After all, she was only safe here because of Kazuyama's role with ANBU.

"Oh, it's fine. Although we can't leave, there's no harm in just wandering around the village."

After Kushina's persistent pestering, Pakura finally relented and agreed.

The two strolled into the village, beginning to explore its streets and alleys.

"Wonderful, Kazuyama, you are absolutely correct."

"Ninjas with multiple nature affinities are fairly common, so why don't they possess Kekkei Genkai?"

"That's because their bloodline lacks guidance. If you could guide it—force the elements to mix—you could generate new attributes."

"Unfortunately, while your Kekkei Genkai and Pakura's Kekkei Genkai are both remarkable, they aren't enough to sustain this research."

"Though there is power in the blood, it's far too limited, and its activity has greatly diminished. What a pity…"

For the past two months, Orochimaru had been working alongside Kazuyama to analyze Kekkei Genkai, aiming to artificially create it. Despite some progress, the experiments faced limitations due to a lack of sufficient materials, halting further advancements.

At that moment, Kazuyama's face appeared pale. Over the last two months, Orochimaru had been drawing his blood almost every other day. He had essentially become a walking blood bank, but even with his contributions, his blood alone wasn't enough to advance Orochimaru's research further.

This prompted Orochimaru's dissatisfied sigh.

"Sensei…you've already achieved so much. I don't think there's anyone else in the entire ninja world who could have come this far."

"But, Sensei…could we stop drawing blood for a while? I think I'm becoming anemic…"

Orochimaru glanced at his pale-faced disciple and gave a slight smile.

"Kazuyama, don't exaggerate. Although I take a few tubes of your blood every so often, I've ensured you're supplied with blood-replenishing potions."

"With your constitution, you couldn't possibly become anemic."

"If it's a reward you're after, just say so. Given your cooperation over the past months, I might consider it."

Orochimaru was in an excellent mood as the experiments were yielding results.

At the mention of a reward, Kazuyama's face instantly turned red—an application of chakra control through the Eight Inner Gates. By opening the first gate, he forcibly restricted the blood circulation on his face using chakra.

It had to be said, Kazuyama was highly skilled at developing ninjutsu, though his direction was often unconventional.

"Sensei, I noticed you're quite talented in researching machinery. Could you make me a suit of armor? Nothing too fancy—just something that can spit fire and discharge electricity."

Orochimaru: …What nonsense is this?

Armor? That spits fire? And discharges electricity? Why not ask for it to fly, too?

If Kazuyama heard that, he'd probably say, I can already fly on my own…

"Hehe, Kazuyama, you're making things unnecessarily difficult. Why don't we focus on your training instead?"

"Two months have passed. I'm afraid you've become rusty."

Seeing the increasingly dangerous glint in Orochimaru's eyes, Kazuyama shuddered.

Damn it, Sensei! Why does everything end in violence?

"Well, Sensei, I just remembered—I need to take a bath. Wouldn't want to keep you from your research!"

"Goodbye!"

With that, Kazuyama activated the Flying Thunder God Technique, vanishing from Orochimaru's sight.

As he disappeared, Orochimaru let out a sinister smile.

"Next time, I'll have to prepare a spatial isolation seal... Flying Thunder God Technique, hmm?"

…

Escaping from the laboratory, Kazuyama sat on the Hokage Rock, gazing down at the village below. A sigh escaped his lips.

"Hmph! What a cheapskate. It's not that difficult to make a battle armor..."

"Forget it. I guess he hasn't yet come into contact with high-level mechanical research."

"Hey, these past two months, my attributes haven't improved at all. It's so annoying."

"It's time to get back to some of my old work..."

Suddenly, Kazuyama activated his Hive Mind technique and focused on the shopping street below.

When he caught sight of something unusual, he exclaimed, "Why did they run out here?"

"This Kushina… It's one thing for her to sneak out, but why did she drag Pakura along too?"

But in the next moment, a smile crept across his face.

"Hey hey... isn't this a perfect opportunity..."

"Let me think… How can I pull this off without anyone noticing..."