Miroku Is Pregnant; Kakuzu: Orochimaru, Don't Forget the Funding

Half a month passed quietly.

Deep within the Land of Demons' Miko Palace, a faint, soothing fragrance filled the tranquil bedchamber.

Miroku leaned against a soft couch, her complexion slightly pale. One hand rested gently over her lower abdomen, while her eyes, which could foresee fate itself, now held a rare trace of confusion and unease.

A senior miko physician had just completed a thorough examination. She knelt nearby, her respectful expression unable to conceal her excitement.

"Lady Miroku."

The physician's voice trembled faintly.

"Based on your pulse and the resonance of your Spiritual Power... you, you are indeed with child.

"Furthermore, the life force emanating from the fetus is extraordinarily powerful. It is blending and coexisting with your miko Spiritual Power, as well as... another vast power like a sea of stars..."

At those words, Miroku's body stiffened almost imperceptibly.

Though she had long sensed it, the official confirmation still sent enormous waves crashing through her heart.

She instinctively touched her still-flat lower abdomen. Within it, a child connected to her by blood was growing—a child who would inherit both her power and that man's.

Chiyo's child.

This meant that the inheritance of the Land of Demons' miko lineage would face an unprecedented change.

It also meant that her bond with Chiyo Uchiha, and with the entire Ninja Federation, could never be severed again.

"I understand,"

Miroku said, striving to keep her voice calm.

"This matter is to be classified as top secret. Do not disclose it for now."

"Yes, my lady."

The physician bowed and withdrew, and silence returned to the bedchamber.

Miroku sat alone on the couch as sunlight filtered through the window lattice, casting mottled shadows across her body.

Worry, joy, and uncertainty about the future intertwined within her.

There had been precedents of mikos becoming