I'd argue that her warm acknowledgement of "my little" Hazou's growth is proof enough of her maternal feelings for him. And when Hazou didn't hear it, Mari didn't repeat it. If the words/smile was meant to be a ploy to get the "brat" under her thumb, she would've said something deliberately meaningful to strengthen Hazou's emotional connection to her, binding her clan head ever-closer to her. But Mari didn't do that. Instead, Mari did what she often does when feeling
truly emotionally vulnerable: she deflected, spinning the spotlight back onto Hazou's growth.
I'd also argue that "this" Mari is still pretty damned similar to the "old" Mari. Enough that I would argue in favor of a continuation of consciousness, rather than a clear divide. She still loves Jiraiya (she reads his old books, learns more about him by comparing his earlier works to his newer ones), still worries about Akane, still teases Noburi, and still loves her little munchkins. I'd argue that, because of all of this, we can safely state that the emotional context that she's lost is --at least
primarily --constrained to her years as the Heartbreaker and prior.
Then we have to consider that Mari was
already well into the process of outgrowing the role of the Heartbreaker prior to that. So --in my opinion --this just makes the separation between Mari Gokgetsu and Mist's Heartbreaker even
more distinct. A little like how a 50 year old isn't the same person he was when he was 15, just in a more literal sense because of chakra-fuckery.
Further, judging from Mari's shock, muted terror, and overall negative reaction to the revelation of the side effects of her technique (lots of thinking time, lots of chocolate, and lots of family time), I'd say that she's not likely to use her genjutsu unless it's where an alternative is worse than death. (edit: please don't break our hearts with this idea, oh merciful
@Velorien, ever-gracious
@eaglejarl , vigilant
@OliWhail .)
