In the anime, Kushina's pregnancy had been a tightly kept secret. And honestly, they'd done a damn good job.
Even Kakashi never told Nara Kazuki the exact reason why their ANBU team had been assigned only in-village or close-perimeter missions lately. Not that Kazuki minded—he already knew the reason.
He'd joined ANBU in the first place precisely to take part in the Night of the Nine-Tails, a turning point in Konoha's history.
Now he had to stay put. Only through ANBU could he get close enough to intervene in Uchiha Obito's plan. Whether he could trigger a special achievement and earn a Rewind Point would hinge on how he performed that night.
Kazuki glanced at Kakashi. Since Kakashi clearly knew about the situation, Kazuki would need to subtly remind him. If Kakashi let something slip around Obito—if Obito figured out Kushina's situation in advance—it could seriously screw everything up.
If Obito remained ignorant, then maybe he'd never launch the Kyuubi attack at all.
But for now, there weren't any active missions. Kazuki decided to make the most of it and went to find Might Guy, committing himself to training under that green beast of youthful terror.
If the Nine-Tails Night was on the horizon, he needed to be as strong as possible. If he was going to face Obito, he needed every advantage he could scrape together.
By the time the sun dipped low, Kazuki collapsed onto the grass near Hokage Rock, panting hard, drenched in sweat.
"This... is youth, Kazuki!" Guy flopped beside him, still somehow smiling, and gave him a thumbs-up.
Kazuki, barely breathing, gave him one back. Guy was a monster. A training demon. But the results spoke for themselves—Kazuki had finally maxed out his Body Strength stat.
And then the system pinged:
[Heart of Steel] – For every 300 system-counted body training actions, your next taijutsu strike grants +2% permanent boost to total physical stats and deals an extra 13% of your physical power as bonus damage.
[I Could Do This All Day!] – Your stamina increases to 200%, stamina regen is automatic. Fight longer!
[The Strength of a Goddamn Bear] – When your feet are planted on solid ground, stamina regen skyrockets. Greatly increases strength, moderately increases defense.
"Holy—" Kazuki exhaled sharply.
He expected strong rewards, but not this good.
Heart of Steel caught his eye immediately.
How could it not? It reminded him of that infamous League of Legends item that changed the entire game for a while—Heartsteel. Made even tanks scale infinitely. Just like that, Kazuki would now gain permanent stat buffs from fighting. On top of that, it added bonus damage? Sold.
The Bear's Strength was impressive too: more power, more stamina regen—but with one limitation. You had to keep your feet on the ground.
Ninjas weren't exactly known for staying grounded. Jumping, dashing, tree-hopping—they lived in the air.
Still, it was tempting.
But in the end, Kazuki chose Heart of Steel. Permanent buffs? Bonus taijutsu damage? No contest.
Sure, the bonus only activated every 300 body drills, but it was permanent. Permanent. He'd build up strength like a tank compounding interest.
"Feels like I'm turning into some kind of hyper-growth protagonist..." Kazuki muttered. So many of his skills scaled over time—some with kill counters, others with training. Now he had one for taijutsu too.
Body Strength scaling? Check.
Chakra pool growth? Check.
Ninjutsu damage scaling? Check.
He was becoming a full-blown polygonal goddamn warrior.
"I'm not the Desert Grim Reaper anymore... I'm the Grim Reaper of Konoha," Kazuki coughed with a grin. With this new buff engine, he was genuinely terrifying now. The only limiter was time and how often he could train.
No stat cap was listed, either. If it really gave +2% per activation, then... hoo boy.
Still giddy, he waved goodbye to Guy and limped back toward the village. Konoha was bustling again. People had mostly moved past the trauma of the last war and returned to daily life with surprising speed.
"New edition of Make-Out Paradise in stock! First-come, first-served! Jiraiya-sama's signing in-store!" a voice shouted down the shopping street. Kazuki stopped as he passed the bookstore.
A long line was forming.
Everyone was wearing masks. ANBU masks.
For a second, Kazuki wondered if the entire ANBU division was having an emergency meeting—until he realized they were all just civilians too embarrassed to show their faces while buying Jiraiya's latest smut.
Inside the store, Jiraiya himself was signing copies with a grin on his face like he'd just won the lottery.
Kazuki winced. No wonder Tsunade never returned his feelings. Sure, losing Dan played a role, but this kind of shameless publishing didn't help.
As he passed a dango stand, Kazuki stopped and bought himself a skewer of three-colored dango. Training depleted his sugar levels—it was only fair to treat himself.
"Excuse me, one order of three-colored dango, please."
A young voice beside him.
The boy stood next to Uchiha Mikoto, who smiled politely and gave Kazuki a nod of recognition. Kazuki returned the gesture.
But then he noticed Mikoto's figure—her belly had flattened. She'd given birth.
That reminded Kazuki: Sasuke was a little over two months older than Naruto. If Sasuke was already out...
That meant Kushina's due date was less than three months away.
"Two months, huh... That's cutting it close," Kazuki muttered, finishing the dango in one bite.
The clock was ticking.