Abai, whose name had just come up, flew over at the sound of his name. "I thought I heard someone call me. What's going on?"
Abai flapped his white wings and landed on the eaves opposite Torifu and the others.
His long, smooth feathers hung down naturally, making him look almost like the divine phoenix of legend.
"Nothing. I was just saying you should keep an eye on Kushina's belly. If no one's home, we'll have to count on you."
Abai nodded. "Of course. I've been keeping an eye on Kushina every day for a long time. It's just that humans seem to have a different pregnancy term from birds..."
Torifu gave Abai a helpless look. The bird looked imposing, but in truth, he was a bit of an airhead.
"You've seen Chirori pregnant before. How could you forget already?"
Abai protested, "That was eleven years ago! How am I supposed to remember?"
With that, he flew off as if fleeing for his life.
As one of the old-timers at the Yunzhong Clan Grounds, Abai was highly respected there.
Apart from Torifu, almost no one teased him.
It was astonishing enough that an old hen had actually transformed over time into a divine bird resembling a phoenix.
"Big Brother, look what you did—you chased Abai away. Who's going to look after me now?" Kushina teased.
Torifu waved a hand. "It's fine. Minato's here. His Flying Thunder God can bring him to your side in an instant. You probably won't even need Abai."
At the mention of Minato, Kushina's cheeks flushed. He was about to become the Fourth Hokage.
And somehow, she'd become the Hokage's wife. Was this what it meant to marry the right person?
She'd gone straight from Special Jonin to the highest-ranking position in Konoha.
"Once he becomes