Chapter 145: Ashes and Beginnings

Chapter 145: Ashes and Beginnings

The soft hum of chakra coils buzzed through the air.

Deep beneath the Hokage Tower, in the heart of Hajime’s hidden laboratory, the boy lay silent.

Sora’s body was Lying above a reinforced steel medical table, his skin pale and glistening with residual sweat. Faint seal markings pulsed on his chest, a reminder of the unstable power that had nearly consumed him. Now, that power was caged.

Hajime stood quietly nearby, his armored frame reflected in the curved glass of a containment wall. He reached out, and with a flick of his fingers, the restraints lowered Sora gently onto the table. Hajime’s hands glowed faintly green as he channeled medical chakra, beginning the long process of cellular repair. Torn tissue, ruptured organs, nerve strain, it was all stabilized with practiced precision. His psychic senses scanned deeper, checking for foreign interference, ensuring no chakra residue remained volatile.

Once Sora's vitals stabilized, Hajime began the next task: sealing.

He walked closer to the platform beside the table and stepped inside. Arcane sigils glowed at his feet, his personal sealing array, designed for complex chakra suppression. He extended both hands, palms up, and invoked the final phase.

“Absolute Suppression Matrix.”

A dome of radiant light enveloped the boy. Concentric rings of sealing kanji spun into place over his chest, locking the Nine-Tails fragment behind walls of suppression so dense that not even the host would sense it.

The light faded. Hajime exhaled through his nose, not from exhaustion, but from the weight of consequence. He looked at the unconscious child for a long time.

"A child molded into a weapon,” he muttered. “Not again.”

Later that evening, above ground, the Hokage’s office was unusually quiet.

Tsunade sat at her desk, leaning back with a cup of untouched sake beside her. Shizune sat nearby, finishing off the last of their now-cold takeout meal. The time is now nearing Dawn.

Hajime appeared without sound. His massive frame emerged from nothingness near the window, armor gone, wearing only the dark inner layer of his suit.

“You’re back,” Tsunade said calmly. “Done?”

“It’s over,” Hajime said, brushing stray dust from his gloves. “But there’s a byproduct.”

Tsunade raised a brow. “Go on.”

He explained everything. How Kazuma had somehow extracted a chakra fragment from the Nine-Tails attack years ago. How he had infused it into his son. How Sora had grown, unknowingly, into a pseudo-jinchūriki, a walking weapon.

Tsunade’s face shifted through disbelief, then to horror, then fury.

“He experimented… on his own child?” she said through gritted teeth.

Shizune’s eyes were wide. “How could anyone do that?”

Hajime nodded slightly. “He saw it as a tool. A future advantage.”

Tsunade set down her sake with a hard clink. “And the boy?”

“Alive. Sealed. I Healed him, His unconscious right now. He’s not a threat anymore.”

Tsunade leaned back and rubbed her forehead. “What a mess.”

The next morning, faint light broke through the slatted window blinds of Hajime’s underground infirmary.

Sora stirred.

He woke slowly, his fingers curling slightly as he felt the firm sheets beneath him. There was no rage. No pulsing, overwhelming chakra. Just a strange emptiness, and peace.

His eyes opened. The room was sterile and quiet. And the Ceilings Are etched with unknown scriptures. A figure sat beside the bed, tall and unmoving.

“…Did I lose?” Sora asked, his voice hoarse.

Hajime didn’t turn at first. He waited a few seconds, then gave a short nod. “Yes.”

There was no shame in his tone, just honesty.

Sora looked at the ceiling, brows furrowed.

“What… am I?” he whispered. “Am I really a monster?”

“No,” Hajime said quietly. “You’re a boy. A victim. Someone made into something you never asked to be.”

He explained everything. What the Nine-Tails was. How the chakra was taken. How Kazuma had used it, knowing the burden it would place on a child.

Sora didn’t speak for a while. He listened. And Hajime, using subtle psychic Telepathy, gently lowered the boy’s emotional barriers, easing the pain without altering his will. Sora’s thoughts became clearer. The knot of hate in his chest loosened.

“Why would he do that to me?” Sora finally asked.

“Because he thought power was more important than your childhood,” Hajime replied. “But that doesn’t define who you are.”

Sora closed his eyes. “Can I… be normal?”

Hajime stood and placed a hand gently on the boy’s shoulder.

“You can start by learning what it means to be a Child.”

Midmorning sunlight bathed the Hokage Tower in golden warmth.

Tsunade looked up from a scroll as Hajime reappeared, this time carrying Sora in his arms, the boy dressed in fresh clothes, alert but quiet.

“He’s eleven,” Hajime said simply. “He will be enrolled to the Ninja School for now.”

Tsunade stood. “You want him enrolled at his age?”

“Yes,” Hajime said. “He can make friends with his age, and with his strength, it will not be a problem.”

Tsunade studied the boy. He looked wary, uncertain, but not dangerous. She saw no malice in his eyes, only weariness and curiosity.

She nodded. “Done.”

A chūnin instructor was called. The man bowed and approached, extending a hand gently to Sora. The boy hesitated, then took it. As he walked away, he looked back at Hajime.

Just a faint smile. Grateful. Unsure, but hopeful.

Back in the office, Tsunade poured herself a second cup of tea and offered one to Hajime.

“You did a Good Job, Here's some reward.”

“Always,” Hajime said, accepting the cup.

They sat in silence for a minute. Then Talk about trivial things, especially how is Naruto doing now, as he is training right now with kakashi, and etc.

But soon, the conversation turned, naturally, toward strategy.

Tsunade sighed. “Now that we’ve removed the Daimyo and centralized governance, we’re going to face pressure. Not just complaints, sanctions. No Rice Imports. No medicinal herbs from the Grass Lands. They’ will claim we’re destabilizing the world, Especially since we are also feeding the Land of Rain, Amegakure.”

Hajime took a sip of tea. “Then we replace dependency with production.”

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. “Go on.”

“The researchers I captured from Kara, when I dismantled the organization, why not put them to work? Have them develop high-yield, fast-growing crops. I’ll assist in designing the process.”

Tsunade blinked, then sat straighter. “Why didn’t I think of that? If we can produce our own food, sanctions won’t matter as much.”

“Not just crops,” Hajime added. “We can breed livestock with accelerated growth cycles. Modified animals, healthy, sustainable, and quick to mature. That would cover the protein gap too.”

Tsunade leaned back, arms crossed, her gaze sharpening with interest. “You’ve actually been thinking about agriculture and animal husbandry?”

“I think about a lot of things,” Hajime replied calmly.

Her expression softened with a wry smile. “Of course you do.”

Tsunade smiled faintly and reached for a blank scroll.

“Shizune,” she called. “Get the ANBU.”

Moments later, two masked operatives knelt at the door.

“Bring me Amado,” Tsunade said. “Tell him to come here.”

The ANBU nodded and vanished.

End of Chapter 145