The Wheels of Fate Turn

Konoha.

Minato stepped out of the Hokage Office and glanced at the clock outside.

"Ah, it's already this late. Kushina must be asleep by now..."

He used the Flying Thunder God Technique and quietly appeared in his living room.

To his surprise, the living room light was still on.

Kushina sat alone at the table, lost in thought.

Minato asked in surprise,

"Kushina, why are you still up so late?"

Then, touched, he said,

"Were you waiting for me? Is that why..."

"No."

"Oh..."

Kushina turned toward him, her expression complicated.

"Minato, there's something I need to tell you. I..."

"You...?"

Kushina's hesitation made Minato nervous too.

All sorts of possibilities flashed through his mind.

"I might be a mom soon, you know."

"...Huh?"

A stray lock of hair stuck up as Minato froze.

A long moment passed.

Then he asked, hardly daring to believe it,

"I—I'm going to be a dad?... We're having a baby?!"

Kushina bit her lip and nodded gently.

"Mm-hmm."

"This..."

Minato understood why Kushina had been so down.

At their age,

neither of them had ever considered having a child.

The sudden arrival of a new life had left her at a loss.

Minato stood beside Kushina, slowly wrapped an arm around her, and said gently,

"It's a little sudden, but this baby is a wonderful surprise, isn't it?"

Leaning against Minato, Kushina nodded emphatically.

"That's true. There'll be three of us in the family now."

"But... we aren't married yet!"

Minato laughed.

"Then let's get married. Will you marry me?"

"Not a chance you're getting me that easily. You have to propose properly."

Blushing bright red, Kushina gave Minato a bashful punch.

Boom!

Minato flew straight out.

His body left a huge, spread-eagled hole in the wall.

Kushina jumped up in a panic and called outside,

"Minato, are you okay?"

Minato's trembling voice came from outside.

"I—I'm okay..."

It seemed Kushina still couldn't fully control her strength after becoming a Jinchūriki.

Better keep my distance from her for a while, Minato thought.

He couldn't let her pound his chest with her little fists like she used to.

That could kill him...

Minato walked back inside and said gravely,

"Kushina, don't tell anyone you're pregnant."

"I'll report it to Third-sama tomorrow and see how best to handle it."

Kushina nodded slightly.

"I understand, Minato."

Then she pouted.

"Hmph. Come to think of it, this is all your student's fault."

"If it weren't for him, we wouldn't be having a baby so soon."

Minato gave an awkward laugh.

Kushina wasn't exactly wrong.

If the wine Obito had given them hadn't been so potent,

they wouldn't have spent that whole stretch going at it like crazy.

And they probably wouldn't have ended up pregnant so soon.

In the Hokage Office,

after Minato left,

the Third took a crystal ball from his desk drawer.

He waved the pipe in his hand, and an image appeared on the crystal ball.

"Oh, Little Obito's at it again... Very nice..."

The Third smoked, sipped his tea, and watched with a smile.

After a while, he noticed something was off.

"Why is that girl's face getting redder and redder?"

The Third leaned close to the crystal ball.

He studied the woman in the image.

Her face was flushed so deeply it looked ready to bleed.

Then...

Boom!

The beautiful woman exploded!

"What the hell?!"

Startled, the Third flung his pipe away.

Could you imagine how that felt?

You were admiring something beautiful, and then it suddenly exploded!

Two Anbu members burst in through the door.

"Third-sama, are you all right?"

The Third swiftly put away the crystal ball.

Without a change in expression, he shook his head.

"I'm fine. I just dropped my pipe by accident. You may leave."

"Yes, sir."

Once the two Anbu members had gone, the Third slapped the desk in frustration.

That Obito kid was ridiculous!

What normal person would do something like that?

He'd conjured up a beautiful girl, had her dance, and then blown her up?!

Besides,

wasn't that his own Shadow Clone?

He'd blown himself up. Was he even okay with that?

In the Small Grove,

after using the Exploding Shadow Clone Technique,

Obito formed Hand Seals again and summoned his Shadow Clone.

"Brother, are you okay? How do you feel?"

As soon as the Shadow Clone appeared, he smacked his lips.

"I feel... pretty good! So this is art! Man, that felt great."

Obito: "???"

Looking worried, Obito put a hand on his Shadow Clone's shoulder.

"Buddy, did blowing yourself up scramble your brains?"

The Shadow Clone snapped,

"You bastard, get your filthy hand off me!"

"...You really think you're Deidara now?!"

Obito gave his Shadow Clone an exasperated slap.

The blow dispersed him instantly.

Mount Myōboku.

Inside the sacred temple,

Fukasaku hopped in and said to the enormous toad sleeping on its throne,

"Great Sage, little Jiraiya is here."

The Great Toad Sage struggled to lift his eyelids.

But his eyes were vacant, as though he were still half asleep.

(Just like me getting up for an early class.)

Fukasaku called out again, sounding helpless.

"Great Sage, wake up!"

The Great Toad Sage jolted and finally came to his senses.

Behind Fukasaku and Shima stood a human man.

He was tall, with wooden sandals on his feet, a Forehead Protector bearing the character for "oil," and white hair that fell to his waist.

The red markings beneath his eyes looked like two trails of bloody tears.

He wore a long brown robe beneath a red outer coat, with guards on both arms.

"Hmm..."

The Great Toad Sage looked at the man before him.

Resting his chin on one hand, he sank into thought.

"Who's this?"

Fukasaku spoke up beside him.

"Great Sage, that's little Jiraiya."

The Great Toad Sage's face lit up.

"Oh, right. Little Jiraiya. You've grown so big."

Shima said, at a loss,

"Have you gone senile? You're the one who asked him to come."

Fukasaku retorted,

"Old woman, how can you talk to the Great Sage like that?"

The Great Toad Sage waved a hand, unbothered.

"Don't argue, don't argue. A married couple should get along."

The Great Toad Sage turned to Jiraiya, his gaze growing profound.

"The wheels of fate have begun to turn. Where they go from here depends on you, little Jiraiya."

"You can be crushed beneath their weight, or ride the surging tide forward..."

"How far will you make it?"

[The author's writing as fast as possible. It's short, but I'm trying...

TAT I hope you'll drop by every day when you have time. Little Maoqiu's afraid this story will die from neglect, waaah~~~]