Building Wooden Houses

"Of course." Nami nodded as if it were only natural, then gently broke free from Mingyou's embrace. "Now, I'm going to punish you a second time."

"Now? All right, go ahead." Mingyou resigned himself and closed his eyes.

Since the little princess wanted to get all her revenge out at once, he would let her have her fill.

For some reason, no pain came for quite a while. Mingyou opened his eyes in confusion.

Seeing what was happening before him, Mingyou stood there blankly, somewhat at a loss.

Nami's pretty face slowly drew closer to his. She stared at Mingyou with those big eyes, her lashes fluttering.

Perhaps because she was too embarrassed, two blushes rose on her cheeks, making her look utterly adorable.

At last, Nami's red lips gently pressed against Mingyou's. She closed her eyes and kissed him clumsily.

Mingyou stood there dumbfounded, feeling an electric current shoot from his lips straight into his brain.

Mingyou sharply sucked in a breath. His heartbeat seemed to have surged past three hundred miles per hour.

So this was how exhilarating it felt when a girl shyly offered up her first kiss.

Only now did Mingyou finally understand that this was the kind of punishment Nami had meant.

At that moment, Mingyou only wanted to throw back his head and shout at the sky.

Heavens above~~

Let this punishment come even harder~~

I'm willing to be punished to death~~

Nami seemed to have long guessed what Mingyou was thinking.

She raised her delicate hands and gently rested them on Mingyou's shoulders.

Then she softly pushed him to the ground.

Next, she removed her clothes.

And sat astride Mingyou.

From noon until the sun set, the two remained tightly entwined, savoring the pleasure of each other's warmth.

Only when the sky gradually darkened did Nami pull herself from Mingyou's embrace, grabbing the clothes beside her and putting them on.

"Hurry up and get up. We should head back, or Grandpa and the others will worry."

"Oh? Now you know to be anxious? You didn't seem worried about that when you ran off." Mingyou gave a wicked chuckle. Looking at the scattered traces of red on the ground, the tenderness he felt for Nami deepened further.

Nami gave a soft huff, rose to her feet, and urged him on. "You were the one who made me angry. Hurry up."

"All right, all right. I'll listen to you. I don't want to stay here and feed the mosquitoes either."

Mingyou also stood and began straightening his clothes. Though this tender haven was very comfortable, there were simply too many mosquitoes and bugs in these woods.

Those mosquitoes were nearly as large as flies.

When Mingyou brought Nami back safely, the clan members had already finished setting up the tents.

Quite a few had even started bonfires and were preparing food for the clan members who had gone out to fell trees.

"Young Clan Leader, you're back."

"Greetings, Young Clan Leader."

As Mingyou passed the tents, the clan members eagerly greeted him with enthusiasm.

Mingyou nodded to each of them in response and continued toward the foot of the mountain with Nami.

Before long, Mingyou saw Uchiha Mikoto sitting outside a tent, chatting animatedly with Samui.

Judging by how warmly the two were talking, it seemed that after half a day, they had already become familiar with one another.

That was just as well. It saved Mingyou from having to worry about how Samui would get along with the clan members.

With his mother Mikoto guiding her, Samui would surely gradually integrate into the clan.

"Oh, Nami, you're back. Why were you out for so long?"

Mikoto spotted Mingyou and Nami returning hand in hand from far away.

Her lips curled into a smile as she waved Nami over to sit beside her.

"Aunt Mikoto."

Nami called out sweetly, then obediently ran to Mikoto, linked arms with her, and sat down.

Although she still did not think much of Samui, she did not display any particularly obvious hostility.

"Mingyou, your father was just looking for you. Go see what he wants."

Mikoto kept winking at Mingyou, pursing her lips toward where Uchiha Fuyue was.

"Ah? Oh, all right."

Mingyou immediately understood. It seemed his mother was helping him ease the relationship between his two wives.

Sigh...

Mingyou could not help but sigh. Having such an understanding mother truly was wonderful.

Without lingering any longer, Mingyou headed toward Fugaku, who was helping a group of people construct houses.

It had to be said that the efficiency of more than a hundred ninja laborers was absurdly high.

After only a single day, five wooden houses had already been built along the outer edge at the foot of the mountain.

Of course, the wooden houses were not particularly elaborate.

They were simply the most basic kind of wooden structures, with several rooms partitioned off by planks and a thick layer of wooden boards laid over the ground.

But on this deserted island, no one cared to compare beauty and ugliness. Having wooden houses to shelter them from the wind and rain was more than enough.

Fugaku was still holding a large hammer, building a fence around one of the wooden houses.

Mingyou stepped forward and gently patted his shoulder. "Father, were you looking for me?"

"Oh, Mingyou's back." Fugaku smiled and set down the large hammer in his hand. "Come on. It's been a long time since the two of us had a proper talk."

As he spoke, Fugaku called out to Soki, who was still busy behind the wooden house. "Great Elder, take a break. We're done for today."

"Huh?" The Great Elder poked his head out from behind the wooden house and glanced toward the front yard.

When he saw that Mingyou had arrived, he immediately understood what was going on.

Fugaku walked over and sat on the newly laid steps outside the wooden house, gently patting the empty spot beside him. "Mingyou, come sit."

"Mm." Mingyou nodded. Naturally, he knew that these two wanted to learn the details of what had happened during his trip to the Land of Hot Springs.

After the Great Elder came over and sat down as well.

Without waiting for either of them to ask, Mingyou slowly began, "After entering the Land of Hot Springs that day, I went into the Lord's Manor and saw the four Kage..."

Mingyou spoke slowly, recounting roughly everything that had happened.

After Fugaku and Soki heard of the Fourth Raikage's schemes, both of them angrily clenched their fists and pounded the floor, venting the fury in their hearts.

Though one was a mature and steady clan leader while the other was a deeply experienced Great Elder, neither could keep their emotions under control.

This showed just how hateful the Raikage's sinister cunning truly was.

After a long while, Fugaku finally calmed down. "Mingyou, are you planning to have the Uchiha Clan settle on this deserted island in the Land of Water from now on?"

Mingyou nodded. "That's right. Aside from Fifth Mizukage Mei Terumī, no one knows that we Uchiha are here."