Minato Namikaze crossed the street, lifted the curtain, and entered the Ramen Shop.
Under the dim yellow lights, that head of red hair was especially conspicuous.
He slowed his steps as he looked at his wife, the corners of his lips unconsciously lifting.
"Just eating this?"
Kushina Uzumaki was slurping up noodles, with chopped scallions and broth still clinging to the corners of her mouth.
"Minato!"
"Come sit down! Teuchi's ramen is the best!"
Her voice brimmed with energy. Even with noodles in her mouth, she was still calling Minato Namikaze over.
"I just like it! It's the best in the whole world!" Kushina replied righteously, holding up her bowl like a treasure to show off.
Teuchi poked his head out from behind the counter, his face full of pride.
"Lord Fourth Hokage, Miss Kushina is a true gourmet. Her tongue doesn't lie."
"My ramen is absolutely Konoha's... no, the entire Land of Fire's Topmost Delicacy!"
Minato Namikaze laughed. The frustration weighing on his heart these past days was greatly washed away by the lively warmth of the place.
He took off his Hokage Robe, carefully folded it and set it aside, then sat down beside Kushina.
"Then I'll have a bowl too. The same as hers, sir."
"Coming right up! Please wait a moment!"
Soon, a steaming bowl of ramen was served, its milky-white broth giving off an enticing aroma.
Minato Namikaze stirred the noodles, but his mind was elsewhere.
"What's wrong?" Kushina picked up a piece of chashu and placed it in his bowl without giving him a chance to refuse. "Try this. Teuchi simmered it especially tender today—it melts in your mouth!"
He took a bite. It truly was delicious, but his thoughts still drifted.
He simply watched Kushina quietly.
He watched her narrow her eyes, taking a bite of noodles, then a sip of soup, enjoying every mouthful.
That pure happiness stirred a wave of guilt in his heart.
After finishing their ramen, the two walked side by side on the way home.
It was late at night, and the streets were empty.
Moonlight spilled down, stretching their shadows long.
Kushina hummed Unmelodious Song, her steps light, but after walking a few paces, she noticed that the person beside her was unusually silent.
Minato Namikaze walked beside her. The smile on his face had disappeared at some point, replaced by a veil of melancholy.
Kushina stopped and looked up at him.
"Minato."
"Hmm?"
"You have something on your mind, don't you?"
Kushina's eyes sparkled under the moonlight.
She reached out and gently smoothed the furrow between Minato's brows.
"I've heard about what's been happening in the village lately."
"The Daimyo's affairs have put you in a difficult position, haven't they?"
Minato Namikaze fell silent.
He did not want to bring these troubles to Kushina.
He only wanted her to always be as carefree and happy as she had been while eating ramen earlier.
"It's nothing. Just some matters in the village..."
"Minato Namikaze!"
Kushina interrupted him, her tone more serious than ever before.
"We're husband and wife, aren't we?"
"Your troubles are my troubles. I won't allow you to carry them alone, understand?"
Seeing the persistence in her eyes, the softest part of Minato Namikaze's heart was touched. In the end, he sighed helplessly.
"Alright."
He told her everything about the two decisions from Daimyo Manor, as well as the intense division they had caused within the village.
From the Genius Cultivation Plan to the selection for the Guardians of the Twelve.
From the Uchiha's fervor to the despair of the two Council Elders.
His voice grew increasingly low and heavy, filled with helplessness.
"Konoha... is being torn apart. The Will of Fire that I took pride in is being corrupted by money and power."
"I don't know what I can do to stop all this."
"As Hokage, I feel like a puppet, with my hands and feet bound. I can only watch helplessly as the village slides into an unknown abyss."
After saying that, he irritably raked a hand through his hair, his face full of pain.
This problem had tormented him for days, leaving him unable to eat or sleep in peace.
Kushina listened quietly without interrupting.
Only after he had finished did she ask seriously, "Minato, what are we protecting Konoha for?"
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Minato Namikaze froze.
"Of course, it's to protect every person in the village and safeguard the home we share."
"Then..." Kushina asked again, "are most people in the village living better lives now, or worse ones?"
That question left Minato Namikaze speechless.
He remembered the flushed, excited faces of those Civilian Ninja when they received their first additional subsidies.
He remembered the joy of those small clans spreading the news everywhere, celebrating that their children now had better prospects.
"But the village's autonomy... the Hokage's authority is being weakened!"
Kushina did not let him evade the issue, pressing him step by step. "Are those ninja clans wrong?"
"They want to make their families stronger. They want their children to have better futures. Is that wrong?"
Minato Namikaze shook his head with difficulty.
"What about those Civilian Ninja?"
"Are they wrong too? They don't want to spend their whole lives doing D-rank missions. They want to become stronger, stand out, earn more money, and let their families live better lives. Is that wrong too?"
Minato Namikaze shook his head again.
He could not refute her.
Because there was nothing wrong with it.
"I understand." He closed his eyes painfully. "But they've all forgotten that everyone once fought for Konoha as a whole! Was the selfless Will of Fire wrong?"
"That's because they had no choice before!"
Kushina's voice suddenly rose, especially clear in the silent night.
"Before, all the resources were controlled by the Hokage and a few major clans. Of course they could only fight for the village."
"Because if they didn't, they would get nothing! That wasn't devotion. That was having no other choice!"
"Now, the Daimyo has given them another choice—a choice that lets them live better lives through their own efforts!"
"Everyone is striving toward something better. Why should we stop them?"
Minato Namikaze's mind was in complete chaos.
Every word Kushina spoke struck fiercely against the beliefs he had built since childhood.
Everything he had always held fast to—the Hokage's responsibility and Konoha's traditions—was crumbling and shattering inch by inch.
Seeing the lingering confusion and pain on her husband's face, Kushina reached out with aching tenderness and gently embraced him.
Her cheek pressed against his broad, warm chest. Her voice became incomparably gentle, yet it was filled with strength.
"Minato."
"Don't forget."
"You were once a Civilian Ninja too!"
Those words exploded in Minato Namikaze's mind like thunder!
His entire body went rigid, and he shuddered sharply.
That was right.
He had forgotten.
How could he have forgotten?
He had forgotten that he too had once been an ordinary civilian, desperately taking missions to save money for a C-rank ninjutsu scroll, eating only the cheapest Military Rations Pills for an entire month.
He had once hidden in a corner of the training grounds, watching ninja born into major clans with immense envy.
They possessed innate Kekkei Genkai and resources that seemed inexhaustible. They could easily learn the ninjutsu he longed for but could never obtain.
He had made it this far because of the Third Hokage's recognition, Jiraiya's guidance, and his own extraordinary talent and hundredfold effort.
But how many people in the village possessed his luck and talent?
More people could only struggle bitterly at the bottom, unable to touch even the edge of their dreams for their entire lives.
The Daimyo's arrival had given them an opportunity.
An opportunity he himself had once desperately desired.
He had always stood from the Hokage's perspective, high above on Cloud Top, considering how to maintain the village's balance and traditions.
Yet he had forgotten that, to those ninja struggling at the bottom, this so-called balance was itself the greatest injustice.
Was the Konoha he wanted to protect truly the Konoha that every person in the village wanted?
Under the cold moonlight.
Minato Namikaze's gaze shifted from confusion to struggle, and finally into clarity and resolve.
He slowly lowered his head and held his wife tightly.
A smile returned to Kushina's face, as gentle as ever.
"Kushina."
"Thank you."
His voice was gentle and firm, no longer confused.
"I... know what I should do now."
"For a Konoha... that truly belongs to everyone."
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