บท 5: Chapter 5: Dreams
"Minato, Minato!"
Hearing Kushina calling from the living room, Minato held a frying pan in one hand and a spatula in the other, peeking over to where Kushina sat on the sofa.
"I'm here."
"Minato, today several Uchiha Clan ninjas came by to congratulate us on our marriage."
Kushina flipped through the camera footage she held in her hands, watching the blessings sent by the Uchiha ninjas. Her face couldn't hide the smile that spread across it.
However, the smiles on the faces of those from the Uchiha clan seemed forced, as if they were strained.
It felt as though someone else was standing nearby during the recording, constantly threatening them with words.
"Inhale~ Inhale~"
Suddenly smelling the aroma of cooking oil in the air, she looked up to see Minato Namikaze standing beside her, his head bowed as he watched the footage recorded on her camera.
Looking at the spatula still dripping with oil, Kushina patted the sofa with a hint of distress.
"Be more careful, the sofa is newly changed."
"Oh? Sorry."
Minato realized and hurried back to the kitchen. After returning the spatula and apron, he came back to Kushina and resumed watching with her.
Not only were there blessings from ninjas of the same village, but also from ninjas of other villages. Even from the Hidden Cloud Village, where small-scale wars were still ongoing without a ceasefire agreement with Konoha, blessings were sent.
"Minato."
At this moment, Kushina draped one arm around Minato's shoulder and with the other hand, gently stroked her gradually bulging belly, asking,
"A few days ago, I heard from Mikoto that internal conflicts within her clan are growing, and the members are becoming increasingly difficult to manage. At the last clan meeting, someone even suggested that the Clan Head divorce and pursue the Senju Clan Head."
Hmm?
Minato Namikaze looked at his wife with a bewildered expression. Thoughts of the loving relationship between Fugaku and his wife crossed his mind, and he quickly asked,
"Why?"
"Troublesome!" Kushina exclaimed, setting down the camera with a speechless expression.
"It's all because of the Hokage position. Since Mikoto married Fugaku, she's been nearly driven mad by those clan members, who keep forcing the Clan Head to recall past events."
"For instance, when the First Hokage patted Uchiha Madara's shoulder during the village's founding, saying he intended to pass the position of Second Hokage to him."
"And later, the Second Hokage patted Uchiha Kagami's shoulder, saying, 'You're different from the other Uchiha. You're the most likely to succeed the Third Hokage.'"
"And then, the Third Hokage patted Fugaku's shoulder, saying, 'Defend against the enemy's advances, and your name will appear among the candidates for Hokage.'"
"Minato, as the Fourth Hokage, it's your responsibility to maintain the village's stability. And the Uchiha Clan is the largest clan in Konoha."
Minato looked at his wife, who hesitated to speak, and instantly thought of the Senju Clan Head she had mentioned earlier.
Is she trying to set me up as a go-between??
If so, I'd be killed by Tsunade-sama.
Thinking of his master, who had been punched into the hospital by Tsunade and then healed with her palm before being punched back in, Minato vigorously shook his head and muttered to himself,
"No, Tsunade-sama would slaughter Jiraiya-sensei."
Kushina looked at Minato with a puzzled expression, unable to understand his thought process. She had just warned him that unresolved internal conflicts within the Uchiha Clan could affect the village in the future, so why was he thinking about this?
"You idiot!"
Kushina sat on Minato's lap, grabbed his collar with both hands, and shook him back and forth.
"Why don't you transfer that ninja who advised Mikoto to divorce? Prevent him from holding clan meetings or voicing opinions."
"Transfer him where?"
Watching Kushina's hair bristle, Minato Namikaze quickly raised both hands in a surrendering gesture, his face displaying a pleasing smile as he said,
"Got it, got it. Due to recent applications from a group of ANBU members to return to regular ninja duties, there are numerous vacancies in ANBU. In a little while, ANBU will be extending invitations to outstanding ninjas within the village."
"What about now? What about now?"
"Right now... right now..."
Minato, somewhat tongue-tied, stole a glance at the furious Kushina. With one hand, he continuously patted her back to calm her down, while the other hand rubbed his chin, showing a face of indulgence.
"Lately, there have been Academy students applying for early graduation. If that person is mentally sound, we could appoint them as a temporary sensei for a while. Kushina, what's the name of that Uchiha clan ninja? I'll look up their file."
"That'll do."
Kushina picked up the camera lying nearby, flipped through it for a moment, then pointed at a video on it and said,
"Ah, it's him, Uchiha Asuka, a Jonin from the Uchiha Clan, a highly versatile ninja. It's said that even when he was a Chunin, he already possessed Jonin-level combat abilities. Now that he's a Jonin, his exact strength is unknown."
"So it's him."
Following Kushina's finger, Minato saw the familiar figure on the camera.
As he gazed at the familiar figure, Minato Namikaze recalled in his mind, and suddenly, a lightning bolt flashed across his mind, rendering him momentarily silent.
Seeing Minato sitting there in sudden silence, Kushina shook his shoulder with concern.
"Is there something wrong with him?"
"Not exactly."
Minato shook his head, recalling the scenes from the Third War and Asuka's profile, and spoke slowly.
"His background is somewhat similar to Tsunade-sama's, but among combat-type ninjas, he's one of the few who have mastered Medical Ninjutsu."
And in his profile, it's written that the Third Great Ninja War took away all his comrades. Despite spending a long time learning Medical Ninjutsu, besides being able to clearly sense the life force fading within his comrades, he couldn't even extend their lives.
Later on, he rejected his Medical Ninjutsu and never used it again."
"Is that so?"
After listening to Minato, Kushina paused. Due to her status, she hadn't participated in the Third Great Ninja War.
"But during that time, nearly every household in Konoha was draped in white."
"Alright!"
Seeing Kushina somewhat upset, Minato gently stroked her belly and spoke.
"Tomorrow, I'll assign him to a small team."
At that moment,
Asuka sat in a chair, surveying his empty room, feeling a twinge of regret.
"That Grandma cat is really cunning.
When I bought it, she calculated a nine percent discount, but when I sold it, she calculated a seventy
In this back-and-forth, I didn't do anything, and my family's assets shrunk by nearly a third.
"Ah!"
He sighed deeply, spat the chicken bone from his mouth onto the floor, then glanced at the orange cat sleeping on the table. Looking at this ungracefully fat cat, he pushed it a couple of times and said,
"Don't sleep. Go deliver this letter for me."
Feeling someone continuously nudging its buttocks, the orange cat slowly opened its eyes, subconsciously stretched, and then noticed there seemed to be a letter tied around its waist. Instantly, the fat cat's lazy stretch froze.
After a long silence, it looked at the recipient's information on the letter, then looked up at Asuka, a trace of human-like helplessness appearing on its face. It muttered with a voice like a young girl,
"I don't want to deliver a letter to a widow. It's not auspicious. Besides, the Senju Clan and you are mortal enemies."
"Pah!"
Asuka spat on the ground, then looked towards the direction of the Senju Clan's territory and said,
"Their entire clan has been wiped out, leaving only one female. What's the point of holding onto ancient grudges now? When the Senju Clan was still around, there were disagreements between our clans, but now that they're all gone, there's no need to kick someone when they're down."
Upon hearing this, the orange cat glanced at Asuka, casually opened the letter, and read its contents aloud.
"To Senju Clan Head, Senju Tsunade,
As the Third Great Ninja War draws to a close, the ninja world has finally found temporary peace. Although temporary, as the Clan Head of the Uchiha Clan, I wish to discuss the future of our two clans' millennia-long disputes, the future of our village, and the future of the ninja world through this letter.
Uchiha Fugaku"
Snap!
As it finished reading the closing, a piece of paper fell out from the envelope.
The orange cat picked up the paper that had fallen onto the table, glanced at it, and exclaimed in surprise.
"Asuka, did you strike it rich? Why did you stuff 100,000 silver coins into the envelope??"
"If we don't include money, Tsunade won't bother with us."
"Why are you trying so hard?"
Smack!
Asuka lightly slapped the fat cat's head and said irritably,
"I just want to live out my life safely. Using force means danger. If things can be resolved peacefully, of course, we should resolve them peacefully"
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