"...Careful... Ow! That hurts! Aaaah!"
In Konoha's residential district, inside Umino Iruka's home, subdued cries of pain and frustrated muttering occasionally rang out beneath the warm lights.
Iruka's hand trembled again. The sharp carving knife failed to land precisely on the vaguely humanoid clay figure before him, instead cutting deeply into his left index finger, which was already covered in several bandages.
Bright red blood immediately seeped out, dripping onto the wood shavings and clay scraps scattered across the workbench.
He hurriedly tossed aside the knife and clay figure, grabbed the bandages and disinfectant nearby, and clumsily treated the fresh wound, unable to stop himself from hissing in pain.
"Ugh..."
After bandaging his finger, Iruka looked at the statue, whose features were still blurry and details rough, and let out a heavy sigh.
"This is so hard... Naruto's hands are way too skilled... Can I really finish this before the wedding...?"
Umino Iruka was now the principal of Konoha's Ninja Academy. Though his personal strength was far inferior, the weighty honor of being "the hero's teacher" and "the teacher who raised the one who saved the village," along with his widely recognized achievements in education, was enough to silence any possible gossip.
Not long ago, when Naruto personally handed him an exquisitely made wedding invitation and somewhat bashfully told him the date, Iruka's eyes had immediately reddened. No matter how hard he tried, he could not hold back the tears of excitement and relief.
After the wave of joy passed, practical considerations surfaced. As one of Naruto's teachers, what wedding gift should he give? A honeymoon travel package? High-grade ninja tools? A custom Seal Scroll? A specially made multi-tier wedding cake? Or practical new furniture...
Ninja tools seemed too unoriginal, and Naruto probably did not lack those now. As for