Some seemingly insignificant people had left the wedding, but it was still lively.
They were all part of the Third's faction, the people who currently held power in Konoha.
Kushina Uzumaki moved away from the Third. She was pregnant now, and smoking was never good for the baby.
The Third noticed his lapse, but had no intention of putting down his pipe.
Minato Namikaze wore a fawning smile, but he didn't stop the Third either.
Kushina Uzumaki went over to Kakashi Hatake.
Though she was pregnant, she wasn't showing yet. But the maternal love in her heart had already overflowed, and she had also noticed Kakashi Hatake's predicament.
Having lost his comrades, he had fallen into a state of despondency.
That was why she had insisted on making Kakashi Hatake a flower boy at the wedding. Surely it would make him feel something different.
"Kakashi, how did it go? Did Shinichi accept those things?"
Kushina Uzumaki spoke in a furtive voice, sneaking glances around as if afraid someone might catch her.
"No. He probably refused."
Seeing his sensei's wife acting like that, Kakashi Hatake felt a bead of cold sweat run down his forehead.
His sensei's wife would always be like a child who had never grown up.
Recalling his brief exchange with Shinichi Hyuga earlier, he realized that his sensei's wife had probably done this without his sensei's permission.
She hadn't discussed it with Shinichi Hyuga either.
As he spoke, he took a scroll from his robes.
The character for "seal" was written on it. Inside were some common sealing jutsu from the Uzumaki Clan.
It was the sealing jutsu Kushina Uzumaki had asked him to give Shinichi Hyuga.
But Shinichi Hyuga hadn't accepted it.
"Why?"
Kushina Uzumaki was puzzled.
A few days earlier, Shinichi Hyuga had visited on his own for two reasons.
First, he wanted Minato Namikaze to use his influence to help him compete for the position of Main Branch member in the hidden line at the Hyuga Clan's meeting a month later.
The other reason was to ask for sealing jutsu, because the Caged Bird was, ultimately, a Cursed Seal and was related to sealing jutsu.
The Branch Family of the Hyuga Clan wasn't allowed to study advanced sealing jutsu, precisely because there was a chance they could use it to break the Caged Bird.
At the time, Minato Namikaze had refused his request for sealing jutsu, saying instead that he wanted to secure his daughter a chance at freedom.
That was when Shinichi Hyuga understood.
Minato Namikaze sat in the Hokage's seat, and his mind worked like a Hokage's. Shinichi shouldn't expect him to fight for someone's freedom.
His daughter, Reiko Hyuga, had half Uzumaki Clan blood. Even with such a good excuse handed to him, Minato Namikaze still hadn't relented.
That was probably why Kushina Uzumaki had given him the Sealing Scroll. The princess of the Uzumaki Clan still had a lot of goodwill toward her clansmen.
It was just a pity that Uzumaki women always entrusted themselves to the wrong people.
"Sensei's wife, you should go back and ask sensei."
Kakashi Hatake was getting a headache. He fixed Kushina Uzumaki with a dead-fish stare. A husband and wife should be on the same side, and he thought Shinichi Hyuga had done the right thing.
Kushina Uzumaki had been reckless, and had already fallen into the schemes of someone with an agenda.
Passing information in a place like this...
Did his sensei's wife really think that little of him? Besides, the Anbu had already tampered with this scroll.
He had detected a sealing barrier unique to the Konoha Anbu. It was a sealing jutsu that only someone at captain level or higher could perform.
If his father hadn't once served as head of the Konoha Anbu, he wouldn't have noticed. Now his sensei's wife had been dragged into something.
Judging by Shinichi Hyuga's reaction, this matter involved a struggle within the Hyuga Clan.
If his sensei's wife hadn't asked him, he wouldn't have taken on such a thankless task.
Thump—
Just as he was thinking, Kushina Uzumaki brought her fist down on the top of his head, raising a bump.
He staggered, drawing the attention of the people around them.
But he didn't cry out. The sensation was simply too familiar.
At that moment, Kushina Uzumaki grabbed him by the hair and smiled awkwardly at the people around them as she explained,
"Sorry, the kid's being too naughty!"
At the same time, she whispered a threat.
"Are you looking down on me, kid?"
Her voice was full of suspicion. She couldn't shake the feeling that the way Kakashi Hatake had looked at her just now was like he was looking at a pig.
"No... no..."
Kakashi Hatake hurriedly waved his hands.
Otherwise, he had no idea what his sensei's wife might do next.
That familiar gesture filled him with warmth, a feeling he hadn't experienced in a long time.
His whole life had been marked by loss.
He lost his mother at birth and his father when he was very young.
Later, he lost the comrade who mattered most to him.
That was why he had grown more and more indifferent. It seemed as though he brought misfortune to everyone around him.
"All right! Forget it. I'll take your advice and ask Minato when I get home."
Kushina Uzumaki's cheerful smile returned. She ruffled Kakashi Hatake's silver hair, putting her worries out of her mind.
After leaving the wedding, Shinichi Hyuga went to Konoha's Eighth Laboratory.
It was near Konoha's Forest of Death, a place few people ever visited. It was now Orochimaru's laboratory, which Shinichi Hyuga had borrowed.
He quickly formed Hand Seals with one hand and opened the barrier.
He followed a dim tunnel to the laboratory at its deepest point.
Glass containers filled his view, each holding an unknown liquid of a different color. Some contained corpses, while others held organs.
A figure was also busy at a workbench.
Sensing Shinichi Hyuga's arrival, he turned around, revealing a pair of cold, snake-like eyes. Purple eyeshadow marked the corners of his eyes.
This was none other than Orochimaru, the famous figure of Konoha.
In his hand was a Byakugan that had already lost its sight. It had been cut into many slices, each marked with a different Cursed Seal.
"Shinichi, you're here." Orochimaru's voice was still fairly clear; it hadn't yet grown so deep. He sensed the murderous intent that had flared from Shinichi Hyuga. "I really don't understand you. Why would you attend such a boring wedding?"
"No, I got an unexpected benefit. Your teacher is taking part in my plan for a month from now." Orochimaru, in his current state, no longer had much interest in the position of Hokage.
"Then you're in for a rough time. My teacher has been leading me around by the nose." Orochimaru suddenly laughed, then continued, "As for the stakes, I won't be giving them back."
"Just focus on your research. The so-called immortality is simpler than you imagine."
Shinichi Hyuga paid no mind to Orochimaru's words. As Orochimaru had said, people like the Third were masters at manipulating both human nature and the rules.
They could speak so casually because their strength gave them other options.
Even in the worst-case scenario, he could flee with his daughter.
Their quality of life would suffer somewhat if it came to that.
But he also had comrades he couldn't bear to leave behind, so that was the worst option.
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