Integration!

Kushina Uzumaki and her younger brother settled into the residence of Mito Uzumaki. To call it merely Mito's residence is slightly inaccurate; the estate was actually the marital property of Mito and the First Hokage, Hashirama.

Thanks to the First Hokage's stylish "Villa Creation Technique," the couple had their own detached villa in the prime district of Konoha, a grand estate with dual entrances facing north and south.

The garden alone exceeded the size of an average family's entire home. Not many people lived in this house; aside from Mito herself, there was only her granddaughter, Tsunade. However, as a Jonin of the village, Tsunade spent far more time out on missions than she did at home.

Consequently, the vast estate was largely unoccupied, feeling somewhat eerie in its emptiness. The arrival of Kushina and Kuming Uzumaki, however, brought a touch of vitality to the house. To better care for Kuming, who was still in his infancy, Mito had specifically sought out a trusted wet nurse from the Senju Clan. She would be moving into the estate as well, though she was not due to report for duty until the following day.

Night fell, the stars were sparse, and a crescent moon hung high in the sky, casting unique hues across the pitch-black heavens. Moonlight spilled through the window into Kushina's room.

At this time, electricity had not yet been popularized throughout Konoha, and most of the retro-style estate relied on candles. The flame in the room flickered gently in the night breeze. Kushina sat there, cradling Kuming in her arms, staring blankly at the firelight. The unfamiliar environment and the upheaval she had faced that morning made it impossible for her to sleep.

Although Mito provided Kushina with a strong sense of security, once night descended and the surroundings grew deathly quiet, Kushina's thoughts began to drift. At such a young age, she did not know how her life would proceed. Children in this world were generally precocious; the things they encountered were experiences that even adults from the era before Kuming arrived might never have faced.

Having suffered such a major change at such a tender age, Kushina lost her sense of direction in life that night.

At this moment, every movement in the room was under Mito's observation. The elderly woman did not sleep well; after waking in the middle of the night, she used her sensory abilities to check on the siblings in the next room. When she sensed Kushina holding the sleeping Kuming and staring blankly at the candle flame, Mito knew the child was heavily burdened.

"How pitiful, to have so many unpleasant experiences at such a young age. It is all my fault." Mito sighed softly, straightened her back on the tatami mat, and put on her clothes. She pushed open her bedroom door and walked through the corridor to the door of Kushina's room.

"Kushina, are you still awake? Open the door, dear." Seeing the light inside, Mito called out softly.

Click. Kushina opened the door. The little girl before Mito looked dim, lacking the vibrant spirit she had shown that morning. Tear tracks remained on her small face, and her haggard appearance was heartbreaking.

"Child, you can tell Grandma anything that is troubling you." Seeing Kushina's state, Mito felt a pang of heartache. Although Mito, as a ninja, had long since weathered countless storms, she revealed the soft side of her heart in front of the child.

Mito knelt down and gently embraced Kushina, wrapping the siblings in her warm chakra.

"Grandma Mito..."

"I miss home."

Kushina could no longer suppress her emotions. She buried her small face in Mito's embrace, tears streaming down uncontrollably. Kushina's state was witnessed by Mito, and equally by Kuming. Though his body was in a deep sleep, his consciousness remained remarkably clear.

Kuming felt Kushina's profound sorrow vividly, and such emotions were infecting him as well. Kuming understood that the world he now inhabited was the real and cruel world of Naruto.

Home, huh... Kuming felt a sense of bitterness seeing Kushina sobbing uncontrollably. He had always thought Kushina was strong—a child who could face enemies and death without fear—yet here she was, weeping loudly. This scene filled him with pity. Strictly speaking, Kushina was his older sister, his true and genuine family.

After crying, Kushina nestled into Mito's arms and fell into a deep sleep. She had not slept much during the journey, and the stimulation she had received throughout the day had left her mentally exhausted. Mito did not return to her own room; after gently laying Kushina flat on the tatami, she placed Kuming beside her.

After tucking the two children in, Mito lay down as well, reaching out to rest her hand on them before drifting off to sleep. The candle in the room suddenly extinguished, and the entire estate fell into silence.

The chakra within Kuming's body began to stir once Mito lay down. The flow of chakra accelerated; despite the fact that chakra usually needed to be extracted from the trillions of cells in the human body, it began to grow naturally within Kuming. As the chakra flow accelerated, his young body began to undergo passive strengthening.

Kuming could feel the flow of chakra. With nothing better to do, he began to attempt to manipulate it. Under the control of his consciousness, the chakra that had been flowing along his meridians began to change its path. When he stopped actively controlling it, the chakra continued to flow along the meridians. Furthermore, under his internal observation, his body's meridians were rapidly expanding.

Perhaps this is what they call being born with a gift. Kuming knew that what was happening to him was absolutely impossible for others. He knew that everyone in the Naruto world required arduous training combined with hand seals to manipulate chakra and perform ninjutsu.

Yet, he could now use his own consciousness to mobilize chakra from any location. The process of performing ninjutsu was simply the act of mobilizing chakra and applying nature and shape transformation to it. Compared to outsiders, Kuming had effectively skipped the entire project of training to mobilize chakra.

As long as he mastered nature and shape transformation in the future, he would be able to perform ninjutsu immediately. For a ninja, this could save a massive amount of training time. Outsiders had a specific title for such gifted individuals: a genius!

Kuming studied his own state until his consciousness began to blur, at which point he stopped and began to rest. By then, the sky was already beginning to brighten.

Early the next morning, the wet nurse specifically hired to care for Kuming arrived. She was a woman of about thirty named Akemi Senju, who had a seven-year-old boy at home learning carpentry from his father, Akemi's husband. It was unclear why so many civilians of the Senju Clan chose the carpentry trade.

Akemi could be considered a beauty; she was tall with a curvaceous figure. Possessing the Senju bloodline, she looked like a young woman in her early twenties, and one could never tell she was thirty.

"Come, come, open wide, ah~~~~~" In one of the rooms of the Senju estate, Akemi held Kuming and loosened her clothing in front of Mito. Kushina had been taken out by Tsunade to familiarize herself with the village, as her enrollment procedures had not yet been completed. Kuming, however, had been ordered by Mito to stay home and was not allowed to be taken out.

Kuming, who had been wailing and wanting to go out to play with Tsunade and Kushina, was assumed to be hungry, which led to this scene. In truth, Kuming wanted to refuse—it was just that the young lady's chest was too... it was just that his stomach was too hungry. His starving belly made him unable to control himself.