Madara's Thoughts

"Mm," Mina absentmindedly humored Izuna.

Suddenly thinking of something, she sharply turned to Madara and said hurriedly, "Older brother, I'm going home first. I need to tell Mother about this so we can prepare in advance."

Before Madara and Izuna could react, Mina had already vanished from the living room.

"Older brother, I'll head back too. The preparations at home can't do without me."

As he spoke, Izuna also tried to leave.

"Stop right there!" The moment Mina left, Madara's expression turned extremely stern. "How is your Sealing Technique training going?"

Hearing Madara's serious tone, Izuna instinctively shrank his neck and replied softly, "Not bad?"

"Not bad?" Madara's voice suddenly rose several pitches. "Can the Nine-Tails in the training ground be made into a Summoning Beast yet?!!"

"Turn the Nine-Tails into a Summoning Beast?!!!" Izuna's hunched neck immediately snapped upright as he stared at his older brother in disbelief.

He truly couldn't figure out what Madara was thinking.

Did Madara think riding the Nine-Tails back to the clan hadn't been imposing enough? Not flashy enough?

So he wanted to seal the Nine-Tails into a Summoning Beast?

Out of sight, out of mind?

Seeing that the seriousness in Madara's eyes had not diminished in the slightest, Izuna drooped his shoulders and replied, "No."

"No? Then go keep studying until you can turn the Nine-Tails into a Summoning Beast!"

"Huh?!" The light instantly vanished from Izuna's eyes. "Older brother, can we wait until Mito returns to seal the Nine-Tails??"

"No!! Ever since you married Mina, how much time have you spent training?" A look of frustration at his failure to live up to expectations quickly appeared on Madara's face. "You..."

"Stop! Stop! Stop! Older brother! I'll go study Sealing Techniques and train. Stop talking."

As if fleeing, Izuna returned to his room, muttering nonstop, "Seriously, how could an older brother who doesn't even have a partner possibly understand the joys of marriage!"

"Uchiha Izuna!!!"

Madara's crazed roar instantly echoed through the silent sky.

Meanwhile, Mina, who had returned to her family home, shouted excitedly, "Mother! Good news—wonderful news!"

"Good news?"

Aoba, who was in the study, raised her head from the desk and listened curiously to Mina's excited cries.

"Come in."

Aoba lightly waved her hand, and a thread of Chakra instantly connected to the wooden door and opened it.

"Mother, hahaha, good news! Our family has wonderful news!"

"You're pregnant?" Aoba stared at the excited Mina with delight. "How far along are you? You mustn't be so careless from now on. Oh, right, where is Izuna? Why didn't he come with you?"

Aoba kept searching behind Mina, trying to spot Izuna's figure.

"Pregnant?! Me?!" The smile on Mina's face instantly froze. Seeing her mother's reaction, she immediately realized Aoba had misunderstood her.

A flush of embarrassment appeared on Mina's face as she hurriedly waved her hands in clarification. "No, Mother. It's the daughter-in-law you've been longing for—Uzumaki Mito. She's coming back!"

"What?!" Aoba abruptly rose from her chair. In the commotion, the chair crashed heavily to the floor. "Is what you said true?"

Seeing the surprise and joy on her mother's face, Mina nodded heavily.

"That child is finally coming back. I only hope she won't leave again this time..."

"Right, Mina, quickly tell me everything that happened!"

Aoba hurried out from behind the desk, not even having time to deal with the documents on the table or the fallen chair behind her.

She took Mina's hand and headed straight for the living room.

Under Aoba's urging, Mina excitedly recounted the whole matter.

Before long, laughter rang out from the living room.

"This truly is wonderful news!"

Then Aoba took Mina's hand and solemnly instructed, "Mina, there are only Kosuke and me at home now. He'll be going to steal a bride, so I'll have to rely on you to help me arrange things at home."

Hearing this, Mina raised a hand and patted her chest, making it bounce dramatically.

"Of course, Mother. There's no rush for now. We'll start decorating once Kosuke and older brother set off. We can buy everything we need beforehand."

"Yes, yes."

Aoba nodded repeatedly.

Clearly, this sudden joyous news had left her so dizzy with excitement that she no longer knew how to arrange things.

As for Hashirama Senju, who was about to have his bride stolen, both mother and daughter selectively ignored him.

So what if they stole his bride?

Even Heaven could no longer stand the evil Senju of the Forest...

After Kosuke finished handling affairs that evening, the moment he stepped through his front gate, he sensed that something was off.

At that moment, Aoba and Mina were sitting beside the stone table, their heads lowered as they discussed something.

The instant Kosuke entered the courtyard, the two quickly looked up.

Then they stared at Kosuke with smiles on their faces.

Under their sudden gazes, Kosuke felt a faint chill down his spine. "M-Mom... Sis... what are you two doing?"

Seeing this, Aoba suddenly smacked Mina's hand behind her back. "Haha, well... your sister is planning to have a child. We were just discussing what name to give the child, or what things to prepare."

"Really?" A look of excitement appeared on Kosuke's face.

"Kids are so much fun. It'd be even better if it were a little niece..."

"Y-Yeah..."

Urged on by Aoba, Mina nodded stiffly in agreement.

Her expression was a little forced, but Kosuke was currently immersed in the world taking shape in his mind and failed to notice anything unusual.

"What are you doing? Change that expression on your face already!"

Aoba anxiously patted Mina's hand, deeply worried that Kosuke would notice something.

Coming back to his senses, Kosuke smiled and congratulated his sister. "Then let your little brother congratulate you in advance, Sis. But..."

Before he could finish, Izuna, who had snuck out while Madara was away, suddenly appeared in the courtyard.

"Congratulate your sister?" Izuna looked at the three people in the yard in confusion. "But what, Kosuke?"

"But... why did you only get here now?"

Izuna had been eagerly waiting for Kosuke to continue, his gaze following Kosuke's movements. Who knew the other man would suddenly change the subject?

"This afternoon, my older brother forcibly kept me at home to train. I'd originally planned to come back with Mina and—"

Unexpectedly, before he could finish, Mina suddenly stepped forward and gave him a sharp tug from the side.

"Haha, Izuna, there's no need to go into detail about our business."

Worried that Izuna might let something slip, Mina and Aoba exchanged a glance, then immediately used cooking as an excuse to drag him toward the kitchen from either side.

"Come on, go to the kitchen with Mother and me to cook. Kosuke's been busy all day, so let him rest for a while."

And so, Mina and Aoba dragged the utterly bewildered Izuna into the kitchen.

The moment he was pulled into the kitchen, the familiar scent of cooking smoke washed over him.

For a moment, it reminded him of the days when he had not set foot in a kitchen for a very long time.