Love.

Konoha.

Namikaze Minato, blessed with a rare day off, naturally went to find Kushina.

After dropping off Kagami Uchiha and Kakashi, he left behind a "dinner at the barbecue place tonight" and vanished without a trace.

"Tch, a guy who ditches his junior disciple for a girl." Kakashi muttered.

"What about you? Not going to see your little girlfriend from the Ninja Academy?"

Kakashi kicked a pebble by the roadside and said flatly, "I'm not interested in little girls."

"Heh, I wonder who it is that reads Icha Icha Paradise during training breaks."

"...I'm appreciating Jiraiya Teacher's literary skill! That's training too!"

"Besides... those books... are all about older women..." His voice trailed off.

"No need to explain. If I catch you peeping at the women's bathhouse with that old pervert, I'll notify the Uchiha Police Force to arrest you both."

Kagami Uchiha walked toward his home and said calmly, "Tell Minato I'll eat at home. I'm not going."

Tap tap...

"Then I'll eat at your place too!"

Kakashi shamelessly followed, forgetting that Kagami's warning had been a one-time-only deal.

Kagami thought it over. The effort required to drive Kakashi away far outweighed setting out one extra pair of chopsticks, so he let it slide.

"I'm not in the mood. You go buy the groceries, and you do the cooking too."

"Huh? I'm your guest, aren't I? Even if I cook, shouldn't I at least skip the shopping?"

"Take it or leave it."

Kakashi finally understood how Obito and Might Guy felt.

When Kakashi walked through the door carrying two grocery bags alongside Kagami, the first thing he saw was Shisui standing on the water tank.

"Little Shisui, practicing water-walking?"

Splash...

Shisui, completely focused, had his concentration shattered by the shout and half his body tumbled into the tank.

His little face flushed bright red as he glared at Kakashi. "White-haired dead fish eyes! Don't disturb me!"

"Ah! Big brother! You're back!!"

Shisui leaped out of the tank, flipping like a carp as he lunged at Kagami Uchiha.

Slap--

Kagami pressed a hand against Shisui's face and frowned. "Go rinse off and change into clean clothes."

"Okay!"

Watching Shisui bounce away, Kakashi leaned in and said, "You're too hard on him. Even I didn't start water-walking until I was four. He's only two or three, right?"

"And... 'White-haired dead fish eyes'... Why does he call me that nickname!"

"He's three and a half, and he can't even water-walk smoothly yet." Kagami shot Kakashi a disdainful look. "Just as useless as you."

Kakashi wanted to say he'd been called a prodigy since childhood...

But facing Kagami Uchiha, he couldn't bring himself to say it.

When Kagami returned home, his Grandmother's face lit up with joy, though she made no move to rise.

Kakashi could clearly feel that this old woman carried a heavier air of twilight than she had a year ago.

Kagami walked softly to her side and placed his hand on her ankle.

The muscles had already begun to atrophy, skin clinging to bone so thin he could clearly feel the skeleton beneath.

"It's already this bad... Why didn't you tell me?"

Grandmother gently stroked Kagami's hair and smiled kindly. "It's fine. Shisui already knows how to take care of me."

Kagami silently lowered his head, saying nothing.

He had ways to heal his Grandmother's body. If it came down to it, he could even beg Tsunade and Orochimaru for help.

But wounds of the body could be cured; wounds of the heart could not.

Erasing his Grandmother's longing for the departed with Genjutsu?

Kagami Uchiha couldn't bring himself to do something so cruel.

He clearly sensed that as he grew older, his Grandmother's will to live grew weaker.

She was born into the Uchiha Clan, took to the battlefield as a child, barely survived, witnessed the founding of Konoha, and married the one she loved.

But not long after, her beloved husband died on a mission.

Then, the son and daughter-in-law who left behind Shisui also died.

The Ninja World had never treated the Uchiha Clan kindly.

Just because of the conflict between Asura and Indra, the Uchiha Clan had known no peace for a thousand years!

Without any grand declarations, Kagami Uchiha gently moved his grandmother's hand aside and said in a low voice:

"Grandmother, I'll take care of myself, and I'll take care of Shisui too."

If one morning or afternoon, you wish to go seek the one you love, then go in peace.

"Mm... Grandmother believes you."

--

"Kushina!"

Downstairs, Minato, holding a bouquet of crimson flowers the same color as Kushina's hair, shouted at the top of his lungs.

Bang!

The window shattered from being pushed too hard.

The girl, ignoring the height of over ten meters, jumped straight out the window.

"Catch me, Minato!"

--

Hokage Office.

Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at the intel sent back by Orochimaru and Sarutobi Shin'nosuke, taking a deep drag of his cigarette.

Overpowering the Four-Tails, forcing back the Tsuchikage—the Uchiha's Nine-Tails Jinchuriki!

Of course, he wouldn't believe the rumors spread by Iwagakure.

The Nine-Tails was still safely inside Kushina's belly.

Based on the intel Sarutobi Shin'nosuke gathered from Shibi and others, along with Minato's clarification, Kagami Uchiha had mastered a secret technique, similar to a higher-order Spirit Transformation Technique.

Using this technique, Kagami had successfully seized part of the Four-Tails Chakra, thereby outsmarting Ōnoki.

That old man Ōnoki, clearly driven to distraction by the Raikage, still talked about upholding the half-year pact and never moving south.

Ridiculous.

Everyone had been a Kage for decades—who were they fooling with that act?

But...

What unsettled Sarutobi Hiruzen was precisely this ability of Kagami Uchiha.

If he could seize the Four-Tails, could he also seize the Nine-Tails?

The Nine-Tails plus the Uchiha—it was too easy to remind him of one person.

He had witnessed with his own eyes that earth-shattering battle.

It was possible for the Uchiha to produce another Uchiha Madara... but could the Senju produce another First Hokage?

Sarutobi Hiruzen knew all too well that power on that level was simply unreachable for ordinary ninja.

Only bloodline.

The thought of eliminating Kagami Uchiha early flashed through his mind.

Sarutobi Hiruzen shook his head inwardly, rejecting the idea.

If Kagami Uchiha died now, the Uchiha Clan would absolutely riot. Even the Uchiha clan members who had originally sided with him would not accept such a thing.

Sarutobi Hiruzen hesitated, then picked up Minato's letter again.

At the end, it read:

"Kagami is someone with a true Will of Fire, who will bring peace to the Ninja World.

I'm beginning to believe that he might be the Child of Prophecy Jiraiya Teacher has been searching for.

The one who will guide the ninja world through change!"

Ever since Jiraiya was young, the Great Toad Sage had prophesied that his disciple would become the savior.

Therefore, Sarutobi Hiruzen had allowed Jiraiya to travel far and wide, searching for that possible disciple.

I thought... I thought the one Jiraiya was looking for was you, Minato.

But you think that person might be Kagami instead...

"What should I do... Teacher..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen looked up at the portrait of the previous Hokage hanging in the office.