Night deepened. In the bedroom of the Uchiha Residence, the "family meeting" that would shape the future of the shinobi world had long since ended.
Mito Uzumaki, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and Nara Shikashin had taken their leave one after another, each weighed down by concerns and making plans of their own.
As for the three youngsters, Minato, Kushina, and Nawaki, Tsunade had sent them back to their respective rooms with a mixture of coaxing and firmness, telling them, "Children need to go to bed early. You have to get up early to train tomorrow."
Now, only Shinichi and Tsunade remained in the bedroom.
Tsunade sat at the dressing table and removed her hairpin, letting her long hair spill down like a golden waterfall, gleaming softly in the lamplight.
Looking into the mirror, she gently rubbed her aching temples. Clearly, a day of Hokage duties followed by an evening "meeting" packed with overwhelming revelations had left her mentally exhausted.
Shinichi, meanwhile, was still his unshakably lazy self, sprawled on the tatami with his hands behind his head and a stalk of foxtail grass he had pilfered from somewhere between his lips. He gazed at the ceiling through half-lidded eyes, looking utterly relaxed, as though none of this had anything to do with him.
"Hey, system,"
Shinichi called lazily in his mind, his voice relaxed and casual after that "serious" meeting. "Now that those old geezers and little brats have all left, I can finally get some peace and quiet in my head.
"Give it to me straight. If I took on that bullshit God of Ōtsutsuki or those guys in Takama-ga-hara who call themselves 'gods' right now, what would my chances be?"
[...]
The system fell silent for a moment, seemingly performing some incredibly complex, resource-intensive data analysis.
"Hmm?"
Shinichi