The Afterglow in the Study and the Open Plot to Seize Control of the Finances

Morning sunlight, mingled with dust and the smell of blood, pierced through the shattered floor-to-ceiling window of the study and cast mottled shadows across the wreckage-strewn floor.

The faint fragrance Mikoto Uchiha had left behind when she departed, the rich Chakra scent clinging to Kushina that carried a hint of her domineering nature, and the salty aroma of the bowl of miso soup that had already gone lukewarm bizarrely intertwined in the air.

Baishi lounged against the sofa, eyes half-closed, seemingly savoring the afterglow of the power surging through his body after devouring the Mutant and the One-Tail, Shukaku, the previous night.

"Hey! Are you even listening to me?"

Kushina angrily slammed a bowl of porridge onto the coffee table. A few drops of rice soup splashed out and scalded her, making her bare her teeth. Her beautiful violet eyes burned with undisguised jealousy and possessiveness.

"That woman from the Uchiha family, and that lousy Scroll you were just looking at—which one matters more?"

Baishi slowly opened his eyes, not a ripple stirring within them.

What a troublesome woman. Still, it's precisely because of this unreasonable obsession that the Nine-Tails' power has become so useful.

He did not answer. Instead, he reached out and gently brushed his fingers over Kushina's cheeks, which had puffed up slightly with anger. His voice carried a deliberately cultivated hint of weariness. "Kushina, I'm a little tired. Help me prepare some hot water. The smell of blood from last night is too strong."

His words carried a commanding tone, yet were tinged with a hint of weakness. They struck Kushina's soft spot like a perfectly aimed Gentle Fist.

All her anger and questioning vanished the instant she saw that hint of "weariness" in Baishi's eyes, replaced by overflowing concern and self-reproach.

"You... you jerk. You