Kei, I Heard You're Getting Married?

After Shimura Danzo was urgently taken away for treatment, the Hokage's office returned to calm.

Sarutobi Hiruzen stood by the office window, watching the sunset on the horizon as he refilled his spent pipe with fresh tobacco.

Smoke began to rise, obscuring his expression.

Danzo's words had indeed reminded him of something.

Whirlpool Country had already fallen.

Konoha had also lost its most reliable source of jinchuriki.

If anything happened to Kushina Uzumaki, it would be difficult to quickly find another suitable jinchuriki.

Mito Uzumaki's instructions still seemed to echo in his ears.

Excessively suppressing a jinchuriki's emotional needs would only make them unstable. The drawbacks absolutely outweighed the benefits.

And childbirth was indeed a difficult hurdle for female jinchuriki.

The practice of succession through the mother's death and the child's inheritance could easily lead to unforeseen complications.

If Konoha had several more Uzumaki clan members proficient in Sealing Technique to assist during a jinchuriki's childbirth, they could not only ensure the seal's stability to the greatest extent and make sure nothing went wrong with the Nine-Tails.

Even if something truly did happen, Konoha would not be left unable to find the next jinchuriki.

Besides...

"War..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen let out a long sigh.

The friction between the various shinobi villages was growing increasingly intense. Perhaps war would break out before long.

The Land of Fire, with its richest resources, most fertile land, and most prosperous economy, had always been the primary target of attack for the shinobi villages of other nations.

Konoha had yet to fully emerge from the shadow of the Second Shinobi World War.

If things truly reached the point of no return.

The power of a jinchuriki might become indispensable.

For a normal shinobi squad, traveling from Konoha to the southern coastline of the Land of Fire took roughly two days.

Then, traveling by sea from the southern coast to the mission destination would take another two days or so.

Because the intelligence for this mission was highly time-sensitive.

Namikaze Minato, overflowing with responsibility, unconsciously picked up the pace the moment they left Konoha's gates.

Even though Yamanaka Kei knew the Sand Village's current circumstances.

They had no chance of stopping their search for the "missing" Third Kazekage.

But he had no way to explain that to Namikaze Minato.

So he could only follow along in helpless silence, burying his head in the journey.

Both of them were bona fide Konoha jonin.

While preserving enough stamina to deal with sudden battles, they skipped nighttime rest and traveled at full speed.

When thirsty, they took a drink of water. When hungry, they swallowed Soldier Pills.

They reached the southern port of the Land of Fire a little after nine that night.

They boarded a small sailboat at the harbor reserved for Konoha shinobi.

After confirming that there was nothing suspicious about the captain and the two sailors, Yamanaka Kei set up various warning systems and traps inside and outside their room.

Namikaze Minato, meanwhile, summoned two small toads from Mount Myōboku, assigning one inside and one outside to keep watch through the night.

Only then did the thoroughly exhausted pair sleep with peace of mind, quickly recovering their condition.

The not-too-rough waves did not cause the ship to rock too violently.

The gentle swaying was not uncomfortable at all. If anything, it was rather sleep-inducing.

Yamanaka Kei slept until late morning, waking to the noisy cries of seabirds.

He had only just taken care of some basic hygiene.

When Namikaze Minato, radiating the air of a virtuous wife and mother, brought over two enormous bowls of seafood ochazuke.

The freshly caught seafood had been cleaned exceptionally well. There was not the slightest fishy smell, only a faint, fresh sweetness.

The rice, soaked in broth, left his mouth fragrant with every bite.

Such delicious food naturally earned Yamanaka Kei's wholehearted approval.

The little sun, somewhat embarrassed by the praise, smiled shyly, his virtuous-wife aura becoming even stronger.

After eating and drinking their fill, the two sat cross-legged on the sailboat's deck.

For once, they leisurely enjoyed some downtime during a mission.

"Kei, I heard you and Kushina are planning to get married?"

Namikaze Minato rested one hand above his eyes as he gazed out at the vast, boundless sea.

The abrupt question filled Yamanaka Kei's head with question marks.

He truly could not understand where such a rumor had come from.

He had not even started dating yet. How had it become preparing for marriage by the time it reached other people's ears?

"Where did you hear that?"

"Huh? Yesterday morning, at the temporary Jonin Waiting Station, Brother Choza said that because Kushina didn't have enough savings, she took the ten million in wedding money you gave her and used it all to compensate the Jonin Waiting Station. Uh... wasn't that right?"

"How did Choza know I gave Kushina ten million?"

"Ahem, the senior Nara Suzaku who handles affairs at the Jonin Waiting Station said the bankbook had your name on it."

"That still doesn't prove it was wedding money."

"Well... Brother Inoichi said you two are already living together and sleep in the same place every night."

"!!! Is it really appropriate for you people to be this gossipy all day?"

Yamanaka Kei suddenly felt that there was absolutely nothing wrong with Danzo targeting him.

Just look at what the rumors inside Konoha had turned into.

And why did he feel like Konoha's jonin were all damn gossip fiends?

Did they do nothing all day but eat up rumors?

Everyone else was one thing, but that bastard Yamanaka Inoichi was actually gossiping about him and Kushina?

Was that something people could gossip about?

Was he really not the least bit afraid of the higher-ups becoming suspicious?

Wait?

Thinking of Nara Shikaku, that freakishly intelligent guy, Yamanaka Kei instantly understood.

That guy had probably long since guessed what Konoha's higher-ups were thinking, which was why he had the Ino-Shika-Cho clans deliberately spread this gossip.

It was also an indirect way of telling Sarutobi Hiruzen that they had no other intentions.

Those guys were quietly clearing away the obstacles between him and Kushina...

What a bunch of people who loved worrying about others.

"Ahahaha, well, everyone has nothing much to do at the Jonin Waiting Station, so we just chat casually."

Namikaze Minato gave an awkward laugh and scratched his head, looking a little embarrassed.

"Have you really never experienced Kushina's iron fists?"

Yamanaka Kei sighed helplessly.

Although Yamanaka Inoichi and the others definitely meant well, if Kushina found out about this.

With her personality—seemingly carefree and unconcerned about everything, but actually terribly thin-skinned—being teased like this...

Well, he only hoped Inoichi and the others would not get beaten too badly.

"Not really."

When Namikaze Minato brought up the subject, his smile was especially bright.

His relationship with Kushina was fairly good too.

Although for a while, after listening to Yamanaka Kei's nonsense, that girl had kept calling him "Konoha's little tomboy," which had troubled him greatly.

But perhaps because he had a relatively gentle personality, Kushina had never raised her fist against him.

Yamanaka Kei, on the other hand.

Because he teased Kushina every now and then, was always chased around and punched.

"Could there be a possibility—just a possibility—that Kushina thinks if she punched you once, you'd cry for ages, and she might even have to come back and comfort you, so she doesn't hit you?"

"???"