Early morning, Uchiha Clan Compound, Naka Shrine.
A group of Uchiha were busy here, moving tables, arranging chairs, and setting out flowers.
When Yashiro arrived in a black kimono, he was dumbfounded. He hurried over to Fugaku, who was directing the preparations, and asked nervously, "Minister Fugaku, what exactly is going on?"
Fugaku turned around. Seeing Yashiro in his wedding clothes, he smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "We're setting up the wedding venue for you, aren't we?"
"But this... This is way too grand!"
"I'm just getting married, that's all!"
"Hey!"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"This isn't just a wedding between you and Akiya. It's the first time an Uchiha has married someone from another Ninja Clan. We have to make a proper show of it. What if the other clans laugh at us because it isn't grand enough?"
"Go wait backstage. The bride hasn't arrived yet." After speaking, Fugaku turned back to directing the preparations.
"But—"
"Come on, are you ever going to stop? Someone take the groom into the shrine to rest."
Hikari and Yakumi appeared beside Yashiro and smiled. "Yashiro, just go wait for your bride like a good boy."
"Let's go!"
They each took one of Yashiro's arms and led him toward the shrine's main hall.
Meanwhile, in Konoha.
Today, invitations had been posted at all the places where the Police Department usually put up notices, from the very center of the village to its outskirts.
They invited the entire village to attend the wedding.
Quite a few villagers stopped to read the invitation.
"Good grief... Uchiha Yashiro and Inuzuka Akiya's wedding. Do they really need to make such a big fuss over getting married?"
"It's a ninja wedding, and an Uchiha wedding at that. I wouldn't dare go."
"But hasn't the Police Department gotten a lot better lately? They even posted the invitations publicly. Why not go?"
"Come on, how many Uchiha are there in the Police Department? My kid just told me the other day that the Uchiha in his class got into another fight. The Police Department might be better now, but there are so many Uchiha. You know how it is."
Some people in the crowd had just started thinking about going to see the festivities, only to be talked out of it by a few remarks from others.
But a few braver villagers couldn't resist their curiosity and still wanted to attend. There weren't many of them, but Konoha had so many people that all together, they numbered around a hundred.
They went home to freshen up and get dressed, planning to go have a look.
The sun slowly climbed higher. By nine o'clock, all the tables and chairs had been neatly arranged, and the decorations looked both elegant and immaculate.
Even the flowers had been personally purchased from the Yamanaka Clan's flower shop by Kurama Saiun. They were fresh and delicate, filling the air with a pleasant fragrance that wasn't overpowering.
"Aunt Saiun, thank you so much," Qingguang said.
"It was nothing."
"Wait, what did you call me?" Saiun belatedly realized, her lips trembling slightly.
"Aunt Saiun, why don't you go rest over there? The wedding doesn't start until noon, so there's still some time."
Saiun looked at Qingguang in his black formal outfit. Her eyes grew slightly moist, and she smiled and nodded.
"All right."
As the one officiating Yashiro and Akiya's wedding today, he naturally had to dress appropriately.
Even if he found the outfit a bit of a hassle himself...
Nearly a hundred villagers arrived one after another. As soon as they got there, they were stunned by the astonishing scale of the event.
Even from outside the shrine, they could see the temporary cooking stations set up in the park. Dozens of cooks from the village had been invited, and they were hurrying to prepare the food.
"No wonder so many restaurants in the village are closed today. They've all been invited here."
"Huh? Isn't that the owner of Ichiraku Ramen?"
Teuchi wasn't making ramen. Instead, he was preparing bowl after bowl of cold noodles, each served with exquisite garnishes and decorations, like a work of art.
The sight left all the villagers who had come completely amazed.
In the crowd, a few children carrying flowers happily trotted through and rushed into the shrine ahead of everyone else.
A little boy spotted someone he knew at a glance and ran up behind him.
"Big brother, candy!"
Hikari turned around and looked down. Recognizing the little fellow, he smiled and crouched down.
"What are you doing here, little guy?"
"You treated me last time, so it's my turn to treat you." Hikari pulled a handful of wedding candies from his pocket and placed them in the boy's hands, then affectionately ruffled his hair.
"Go play over there for now. I still have to keep things orderly here."
The little boy nodded politely, then rejoined the other children.
"Here, these are the wedding candies the big brother from the Police Department gave me. Let's all have some."
The crowd continued to make its way into the shrine.
When Inuzuka Gou, the head of the Inuzuka Clan, arrived, he widened his eyes at the figure walking in front of him. He was utterly dumbfounded.
He raised a hand and rubbed his eyes hard.
Wait, why was Lord Hokage here too?
And wasn't this whole affair a bit too extravagant?
It was almost like a Daimyo's princess was getting married!
Hiruzen Sarutobi wasn't wearing his Hokage robes. Instead, he wore an ordinary dark-brown kimono, making him look like a kind, ordinary middle-aged man.
Because of his outfit, almost none of the villagers recognized Hiruzen Sarutobi.
However, Inuzuka Gou wasn't the only one who had spotted him. There were also many other ninja sent by the clans, disguised as ordinary villagers.
A young man with pineapple hair pretended to have a stomachache and said he needed to use the restroom. He immediately left Naka Shrine, changed clothes in the bathroom, and hurried to the home of Shikajiro Nara, head of the Nara Clan.
At that moment, Shikajiro Nara, Torifu Akimichi, and Jinichi Yamanaka were having morning tea together.
Torifu, meanwhile, kept eating the snacks.
"Shikajiro, Jinichi, there'll be plenty of delicious food at Naka Shrine with so many excellent cooks there. Want to come with me?" Torifu Akimichi asked.
As a member of the Akimichi Clan, eating was their greatest pleasure.
It was a rare chance to try so many delicious dishes all at once.
Shikajiro held his teacup, looking completely composed. "Torifu, as clan heads, it wouldn't be appropriate for us to go at a time like this."
Jinichi Yamanaka agreed. "Ino-Shika-Cho has always followed the Sarutobi Clan's lead."
"Anyone with eyes can see how much the Uchiha have changed recently, but no one can guarantee whether it's for the better, or whether they'll go back to how they used to be."
"After all, the Uchiha are the only ones in the Shinobi World whose clan head defected and staged a coup."
Hearing Jinichi say this, Shikajiro nodded slightly in agreement.
Just then, Shikajiro's son, Shikaku Nara, hurried over to the three of them.
"Dad, Lord Hokage is at Naka Shrine in plain clothes. You guys should hurry over."
The composure vanished from Shikajiro's face. "What? Lord Hokage went too!?"
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