The Uchiha Clan had been bustling lately.
Ever since the rumors started spreading a while ago, the Military Police Force members who had long felt oppressed by the higher-ups in the village had all been beaming. They even occasionally laughed aloud while patrolling the streets.
The villagers had also noticed that the Military Police Force members were no longer as cold and impersonal as before. They sometimes wore smiles, and even when people privately gossiped about the village bigwigs, the officers didn't interfere at all. Every so often, they even seemed eager to join in.
"Genichi, you're here." Kohaku smiled and nodded at Genichi, who had come to see his granddaughter.
"Old man, how have you been feeling lately?"
"Great. I've got more energy every day. It's like I'm young again, and my Sharingan keeps getting clearer. My visual prowess is even stronger than it was back then! What exactly was that solution you gave me last time? Do you have any more? Remember to prepare some for Mikoto too." Thinking about how he'd been feeling, Uchiha Kohaku couldn't help but find it unbelievable.
"It's nothing, as long as it helped. Don't worry about Mikoto. I'll prepare the best for her." Genichi smiled faintly without explaining.
In Genichi's view, getting injured, losing blood, and saving someone with a transfusion were all perfectly normal. But the thought of Hashirama's highly invasive Wood Release Cells entering Mikoto's body just felt strange to him. He planned to wait until he'd uncovered more of Yang Release's secrets before making arrangements for her.
"That's right. Genichi said there's still a lot of potential to explore in that medicine. He'll give me the best once he's developed it." Watching her grandfather's strength steadily improve made Mikoto a little envious too. The Uchiha Clan's competitive nature was stirring inside her.
If the Uchiha Clan's basic approach to improving their strength was to train Yin Release and enhance their visual prowess, then combining Yin and Yang to create all things was practically the ultimate way for the clan to grow stronger.
Of course it worked well. It was the best result Orochimaru had achieved from his research into Hashirama Cells at the time, and it was nothing like the defective batches he'd thrown together for Danzo.
"Oh, right. Have you heard about that thing going around lately? Do you think it's true?" Kohaku lowered his voice, as if he didn't want anyone else to hear.
Seeing the familiar opening to a rumor, Genichi's mouth twitched. He thought back to the rumors he'd invented and ventured, "Are you talking about Shimura Danzo taking the Sharingan from Senior Kagami Uchiha? It happened so many years ago that there's practically no evidence left. Even if it's true, he could claim Kagami entrusted it to him before he died. It'd probably be hard to use this against Danzo."
Genichi wasn't sure whether Kagami's death had been voluntary or not. Judging from Shisui's later actions, Kagami had probably loved the village too. If he'd faced danger, it wouldn't have been impossible for him to stay behind and die protecting his comrades.
"Ah, I wasn't talking about that. I meant the story about Lord Madara!"
"Madara Uchiha?" Genichi was a little surprised. He thought it over several times, making sure he'd never spread any rumors about Madara Uchiha, then asked, "What happened to Madara Uchiha?"
Only then did Kohaku speak in a hushed, mysterious tone. "You haven't heard? They've found the reason Lord Madara left the village.
"Lord Madara and Lord Hashirama had actually confessed their feelings to each other long ago and vowed to spend their lives together. That was why they put aside the thousand-year feud between their clans and built Konoha together.
"Later, the First and Lady Mito had children, and little by little, the First neglected Lord Madara. Heartbroken, Lord Madara finally left the village in a fit of anger.
"During the battle at the Valley of the End, Lord Hashirama accidentally killed the one he loved. He returned home overcome with grief and passed away just a few years later."
Mikoto listened, nodding along. "If Genichi had another woman, I'd also—wait, he already..."
At that thought, Mikoto couldn't help staring at Genichi with a resentful look.
Covered in goosebumps under her gaze, Genichi felt completely bewildered and hurriedly stopped Kohaku from continuing. "Ahem, it's all made up! And it's not very nice to spread stories about the village's senior figures."
Madara Uchiha was probably still lurking in some cave. If he heard the rumors about himself and Hashirama and got fired up enough to come after them, Genichi wouldn't be afraid, but Konoha would have to start Reconstruction Plan No. 1 ahead of schedule.
After they chatted about some other recent events, Mikoto got up to see Genichi out.
For his own sake—no, to comfort Mikoto, who seemed oddly upset—Genichi said, "Mikoto, we recently built a big hot spring at my place. The scenery is beautiful, and soaking in it is relaxing and comfortable. Would you like to come try it tonight?"
They hadn't seen each other for two years, and Mikoto's possessiveness toward Genichi had gradually pushed down her shyness. She was just about to nod in agreement.
"Absolutely not! You little rascal, don't even think about it." Kohaku, whose strength had recently returned to its peak and whose hearing had grown sharp, rushed out. "Genichi, I trust you when it comes to you and Mikoto, but some things can only happen after you're married. You're not trying to take advantage of her without taking responsibility, are you?"
"Haha, of course not. You've misunderstood." Looks like there was no getting around Kohaku before marriage, Genichi thought, then said his goodbyes and left.
He also went to Konoha Hospital to ask Hana what she thought, but she turned him down, saying she was busy with work.
After graduating, Hana hadn't wanted to return to the Hyuga clan, so Genichi had asked Tsunade to find her a job at Konoha Hospital. With her excellent Medical Ninjutsu and Byakugan, Hana had steadily risen through the ranks until she became the head of the surgical department.
When Hiashi, who had just become the Hyuga clan head, heard about it, he didn't say anything, out of respect for Genichi and Tsunade. It was good to train an excellent medical ninja, after all. Who didn't get injured or sick from time to time? Besides, with the Caged Bird in place, members of the branch family would never betray the clan, nor would they have the ability to do so.
His happy plan to soak in the hot spring with everyone had fallen through, so Genichi decided to take things one step at a time: plan carefully, drop hints, and take the roundabout route. Today, at the very least, he had to succeed in inviting Kushina.
"Kushina, are you there?"
Kushina opened the door and came bouncing over happily, giving Genichi a warm hug.
"Genichi, you're finally here! Listen, that stupid fox has been driving me crazy lately. Ever since you taught it how to play cards, it's been pestering me to play nonstop."
At this point, training hard wasn't doing much to improve his strength, and he had more and more free time. Every so often, Genichi brought over forms of entertainment from his previous life.
"Forget about it. It's just bad at the game and can't stop playing. The movie theater just brought in some new films. Want to go see one? Just the two of us. We can get dinner together afterward." Looking into Kushina's eyes, Genichi gently stroked her soft red hair with one hand and invited her out.
"Sure!" Hearing it was a date for just the two of them, Kushina happily agreed. "Let me change. I'll be quick."
Before long, Kushina came out at an easy pace. She wore white open-toed ninja sandals, with long, fair legs, and a white dress scattered with pale yellow patterns. Her long red hair shimmered in the sunlight.
With her hands behind her back, Kushina leaned forward slightly and looked up at him with a smile. "What do you think? Not bad, right? I picked it out just for—"
Genichi stepped closer and put an arm around her, gazing into her shy eyes. "Of course. It suits you perfectly. Our Kushina is so cute that she looks beautiful in anything."
Time always flew when you were with someone you loved, doing things you loved.
After dinner, Genichi casually asked, "Kushina, I thought of another special Sealing Jutsu recently. Would you like to come by my place tonight and see it?"
Kushina remembered that the Eight-Trigrams Seal inside her had been based on a theory Genichi proposed. Curious about how special this new seal could be, she nodded.
When they arrived at Genichi's place and saw the hot spring in the courtyard, Genichi finally revealed his true intentions. "Kushina, look. I just built this hot spring. Isn't it lovely? Why don't we relax in it later? You must be tired after walking around all day."
At that point, Kushina understood. There was no special Sealing Jutsu. Genichi was still hung up on what he'd said earlier about soaking in the hot spring.
"How long has it been? It should be soon, right? She should be here any moment." Genichi sat at the edge of the hot spring by himself, muttering.
He'd just spent ages sweet-talking and coaxing Kushina until she finally agreed. She'd only said she needed to go home and grab some clothes.
Poor Kushina had been so dazzled by Genichi's sweet words that she'd lost all sense of direction.
At last, Kushina arrived at the hot spring wearing a yukata, looking shy.
"Come on in. It feels great." Genichi quickly invited her over.
Kushina gave Genichi a light, exasperated look, then slowly took off her yukata. Underneath, she was wearing...
A light-blue one-piece swimsuit! Genichi wailed inwardly.
Nothing much happened after that—or rather, none of the things people might have expected.
The two of them sat together, holding hands as they soaked in the hot spring. They looked up at the sky, where countless stars shone like sparkling gems.
"Genichi, I'm so glad you caught up with me back then."
"Don't worry, Kushina. I'll always protect you."
"I wish I could be as happy as I am now in the future, too."
"The future will only get better, I promise." Genichi gazed at Kushina with deep affection. "Kushina, you've been in Konoha for more than ten years now. Because you're a Jinchūriki, you've been confined to this village all these years.
"The world beyond is vast and wonderful. Once I become Hokage, we'll go see it together."
"Mm~" Kushina gazed back at Genichi with equal affection. Gradually, they could no longer hold back their feelings. Both willing, they slowly embraced.
Genichi lowered his head slightly and looked into Kushina's eyes. The stars were reflected in them, making her impossibly beautiful.
"Kushina, you're the only member of the Uzumaki Clan left in Konoha. These past years must have been hard on you. But there must still be plenty of Uzumaki scattered across the Ninja World. When the time comes, I'll find them and help you rebuild the Uzumaki Clan."
Breathing in the girl's sweet scent mingled with the steam, and seeing her cheeks gradually flush from the hot spring and her lips grow rosy and inviting, Genichi could no longer hold back. He slowly lowered his head and silenced Kushina's response with a kiss.
If you were wondering what the Nine-Tails was doing at that moment, it was sitting obediently inside the Little Dark Room seal Genichi had designed, imagining the future.
After watching a movie with Kushina that afternoon, the Nine-Tails hadn't cared about the human film's plot, but it had keenly realized that the movie could spread the heroic story of how it had beaten Madara Uchiha, Hashirama Senju, and the other Tailed Beasts.
In exchange, it had given Genichi and Kushina some time alone. Once Genichi became Hokage, he would have to make a personalized movie just for the Nine-Tails.
Thinking of the Sage of Six Paths, the Nine-Tails murmured to itself, "It's not like I couldn't get a little stronger."
Before you continue