Iori and the others beside them all burst into laughter.
"Is special training that hard? It hasn't even been that long, and you already miss your wife?"
Katsura's wife, Mie, teased him from the side.
Kazuki chimed in, "It's incredibly hard. This is special training, after all."
But what he was thinking was, When Katsura comes up later, I hope you can still joke around.
He hugged Mitsuko again, but behind his closed eyelids, his Mangekyō Sharingan spun once.
Kazuki whispered into Mitsuko's ear, "Why didn't you tell me you were pregnant?"
Mitsuko lightly smacked Kazuki, looking a little embarrassed.
"Did Shisui tell you? I wanted to give you a surprise."
Kazuki's expression shifted. "It really is quite a surprise."
At that moment, a little kid walked over, eating dragon fruit as he asked, "Teacher Kazuki, what's wrong?"
Kazuki blanked out for a moment. The image of half of Keisuke's head flying onto him still lingered in his mind.
Kazuki shook his head and crouched down. "Keisuke, why did you come over?"
Keisuke had just entered the Ninja Academy. He was only five years old, hugging a dragon fruit as large as his head, his mouth stained red from eating it.
"Lord Shisui told me to come! He said you and Teacher Katsura are both taking part in special training and need us to cheer you on!"
"Teacher Kazuki, do your best!"
Kazuki rubbed Keisuke's head.
"Alright, alright. I've received Keisuke's encouragement. My special training isn't over yet, so I'm heading back down."
With that, Kazuki greeted Mitsuko and the others before heading back down the way he had come.
Everyone found it a little strange, but they could not figure out why.
Only Iori wore an odd expression, as though she were pondering something.
Natsuki and the others