"Congratulations on the Hokage's wedding!"
Amid thunderous cheers, as the sun set, came the most beautiful moment of the day.
Wuye and Kushina stood side by side, one clad in black and the other in red. Their kimono-clad figures complemented each other like an immortal couple.
Cheers, shouts, and screams rang out without end, driving the atmosphere of the day to its peak.
Behind them, beneath the glow of the evening clouds, the newly formed Fourth Hokage's stone face seemed to have been plated with fiery golden light.
It was the tallest and largest of the four stone faces...
After the ceremony ended, all of Konoha celebrated as if it were a festival. Crowds surged through every street and alley.
The vendors selling all kinds of street snacks did booming business, raking in huge profits.
Though they did not need to attend every family's banquet, Wuye still took Kushina to visit them one by one—the major clans, especially the Ino–Shika–Cho trio, as well as close acquaintances such as Minato Namikaze.
For Kushina, this no longer felt like a wedding for just the two of them. Instead, it felt like a ceremony certifying her as Konoha's First Lady.
From this day on, she would truly become the wife of... Hyuga Wuye, acknowledged by everyone!
"What are you thinking about?"
After finally leaving Minato Namikaze's wedding banquet, Wuye found Kushina standing alone by the roadside, blankly gazing up at the moon high overhead.
"Wuye..."
Kushina's red hair fluttered as she turned her lovely little face toward him. "Is all of this... real...?"
Her eyes seemed somewhat dazed.
Often, when a goal one had longed for finally came true, the joy was fleeting. Confusion and emptiness became the stronger emotions instead.
People needed goals. Once they lost them, they felt lost or unreal.