Madara took Izuna and Chiri to Paradise Island for a sauna.
Hashirama took Mito to the resort Yu had built beside the southern rainforest.
Minato and Kushina had gone to the summer retreat Yu built in the northern mountains during summer, and now that it was winter, they still had not returned.
As for the women in Yu's household, they had gone sightseeing as well.
The vast Sky Feather Pavilion was exceptionally quiet.
Xiaoxue stood beneath the eaves, silently watching the falling snow.
Yu stepped out from the shadow of a roof beam.
"..." Xue knew Yu had arrived, but father and daughter simply stood there in silence with their backs to each other.
Just as Yu's lips moved and he could not help but speak first, Xue turned around and greeted him. "Dad, I'm back."
That calm greeting warmed Yu's cooled heart. His eyes inexplicably reddened, and he casually raised a hand to wipe away the evidence before smiling and asking, "Did you have a good time out there?"
With Xiaoxue's current eyesight, how could she have missed the change in Yu's emotions?
From childhood to adulthood, she had regarded Yu as both her home and her role model. Seeing him like this, how could her heart remain unmoved?
She no longer hid behind deliberate calmness. Instead, she opened her heart and said resentfully, "It wasn't good. Not good at all."
"Mm." Yu nodded and said softly, "Because of Dad, right?"
Xue spoke bluntly. "Mm, because of Dad! Dad is a big liar. You clearly said you wouldn't accept any women besides Aunt Rin, but you broke your promise—and took in two at once!"
Yu honestly admitted his mistake. "Mm, it was Dad's fault. I wasn't disciplined enough, and that's why things turned out this way."
Yes, that time