Thirty minutes later.
In the live feed, Mikoto and Kushina appeared at the entrance to Desire Hot Springs.
Arm in arm, they walked inside, chatting and laughing.
The receptionist at the entrance froze and instinctively tried to stop them, but Kushina lifted her chin.
"Your Clan Head gave me special permission!"
The receptionist's attitude changed immediately. Beaming, they ushered the two women inside and even arranged for them to have the indoor hot spring with the best surroundings.
They walked down a long corridor lined with bamboo fences and stone lanterns, following a bluestone path to a wooden door at the end.
They pushed open the door to find a quiet, elegant room.
Tatami mats covered the floor, a flower arrangement stood in the corner, and an artificial rock garden with flowing water lay outside the window.
Clean bathing robes and towels sat on shelves against the wall, and a faint fragrance drifted through the air.
Mikoto and Kushina changed into bathing robes and entered the inner room.
Inside was a small indoor hot spring. Its pool was built from bluestone, its water clear enough to see the bottom, with wisps of steam rising from it.
Xuandou's breathing stopped for a moment.
The two women began changing.
With her back to the feed, Mikoto untied her kimono's sash, letting the garment slip from her shoulders to reveal her smooth back.
Her skin was fair, her shoulders gracefully curved, her waist slender...
She put on her swimsuit and turned around.
It was a dark blue two-piece.
The top was strapless, and the bottom was a pair of tie-side bikini briefs.
The swimsuit was not particularly revealing, but on her, it had an indescribable allure.
Kushina was much less reserved.
She stripped off her outer clothes in a few quick movements, revealing a fiery red bikini.
Large stretches of snowy skin were exposed, with not a trace of flab around her waist and stomach, and her legs were long and straight.
She stretched, making the curves of her chest even more pronounced.
"Mikoto, hurry up and get in!"
She stepped into the pool first. Ripples spread as the water rose over her calves, knees, and thighs...
Mikoto slowly entered the pool as well.
They sat down in the pool, with the water reaching just to their chests.
Steam rose, the haze obscuring the view beneath the water while making the parts above the surface even more enticing.
"Mmm..."
Kushina tipped her head back against the edge of the pool and let out a contented moan.
Her face was flushed, her eyes narrowed, and her lips slightly parted, looking utterly blissful.
Mikoto was much more reserved.
She merely leaned gently against the edge, eyes closed and breathing evenly.
But judging by the gentle rise and fall of her chest and her increasingly flushed cheeks, she was enjoying the soothing hot spring just as much.
Kushina opened her eyes, turned toward Mikoto, and grinned mischievously.
"Mikoto, there's no one else here. If it feels good, just let it out."
Mikoto opened her eyes, her face growing even redder.
Kushina suddenly swam over, drew close to Mikoto, and began running her hands all over her.
"Ah!"
Mikoto cried out in surprise.
She instinctively tried to dodge.
But Kushina caught her in an embrace.
"Hehe, little Mikoto, come here!"
"Hahaha, don't!"
Mikoto struggled fiercely.
Water splashed everywhere in the pool.
She tried to push Kushina away.
But Kushina was too strong for her to break free.
Kushina's playful antics only grew more outrageous.
"Mmph... don't!"
Kushina remained unmoved by Mikoto's pleas.
Her hands grew even bolder.
At home, Xuandou watched their antics, finding the sight quite an eye-opener.
He had never expected two beautiful women who seemed so proper to be so uninhibited in private!
After playing around for a while, they gradually settled down.
Mikoto spoke wistfully.
"Kushina, the Clan Head has been encouraging us to have children lately. I want to have another child with Fugaku."
"Then go ahead."
"It's not like your family is short of money. Raising another child wouldn't be a problem, right?"
Mikoto sighed.
"You don't know how busy the Konoha Military Police Force has been lately. Fugaku works overtime every day, sometimes only coming home in the middle of the night. He comes home, but he's exhausted and falls asleep the moment his head hits the pillow... I never get a chance to bring it up."
Hearing this, Kushina comforted her.
"It's all right. You'll get a chance."
As she spoke, the smile faded from Kushina's face, and a trace of loneliness appeared in her eyes.
"No matter how late it is, Fugaku still comes home. Unlike Minato... when he gets busy, he often doesn't come home at all."
Mikoto paused, then raised her head.
"Doesn't Minato know Flying Thunder God? Getting home should be easy for him, shouldn't it?"
Kushina pursed her lips, her voice tinged with grievance.
"But every day, he's either in meetings with those old men or out on missions. And me? I'm a Jinchūriki. I can't go with him..."
"So whenever he comes home, I treasure every moment. I want to have a child with Minato too... but when do we ever have the time?"
"We haven't done it in ages..."
Mikoto said nothing, merely reaching out to hold her hand.
Listening to their conversation, Xuandou grew thoughtful...
In the blink of an eye, eleven months flew by.
It was now Konoha Year 51.
Over that year, the changes in the Uchiha Clan Compound had been plain to see.
After the first Indulgence Apartments building, four more apartment buildings were completed one after another, standing in neat rows in the center of the compound.
Xuandou had single-handedly solved the housing problem for more than two hundred unmarried young people.
The apartments had an immediate effect.
The young people living there kept running into one another.
A meeting in the corridor, an encounter in the bathroom-over time, conversations grew longer, and gazes grew warmer.
Besides, the residents were all young people in the prime of their passion. When loneliness became unbearable, things were bound to happen.
And so, at night, strange sounds would always emerge from some of the rooms, and everyone else grew used to them.
Then there was the added help of Desire Hot Springs.
In the mixed baths, amid the swirling steam, one person would steal a few extra glances at another or pass someone a towel. As time went on, they ended up going home together.
With all these factors combined, more than two hundred newborns were born to the Uchiha in less than a year!
The clan's population finally passed the three-thousand mark.
And it was not just the Uchiha.
All of Konoha experienced a baby boom.
The war had ended, the men had come home, and the women had welcomed back their husbands.
Although the ninja still had to go on missions, they could at least catch their breath compared with wartime.
And so, Konoha Year 51 truly became the "year of newborns."
Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi, and Ino Yamanaka were born one after another in the same month.
Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame, and Hinata Hyuga were also born in succession.
The heirs of the major ninja clans arrived in the world in a cluster.
Many more young mothers pushing baby carriages appeared on the streets.
Many new shops selling baby and toddler supplies opened in the village as well.
That day, Xuandou took Kurenai for a walk along a path outside the village.
They walked at an easy pace, with Kurenai holding his arm and making small talk now and then.
Suddenly.
Boom!
A tremendous blast came from ahead.
Xuandou jerked his head up.
Flames shot into the sky, carrying thick smoke.
He recognized it at a glance: the Uchiha's Great Fireball.
"Something's happened."
Xuandou patted Kurenai's hand.
"I'll go take a look."
Kurenai nodded without asking any questions.
Xuandou darted away, racing forward across the rooftops.
Halfway there, he saw three figures also rushing toward the scene.
The man in the lead glanced back. It was Fugaku.
"What's going on?"
Xuandou caught up to him.
"A Special Jōnin is causing trouble."
Fugaku's expression was grave.
Xuandou nodded and asked no more questions.
They landed at a street corner.
A crowd had already gathered around the scene.
Three Uchiha clan members wearing Konoha Military Police Force vests were pinning a man firmly to the ground.
The man was still struggling, his face pressed against the ground as he cursed.
Fugaku walked over and looked down at the restrained ninja.
"Take him back."
Two members of the Konoha Military Police Force hauled the man up.
Xuandou breathed a sigh of relief.
It looked as though the matter had already been resolved.
He was just about to turn and leave.
Suddenly.
Splat!
An egg struck one of the Konoha Military Police Force members on the back of the head.
"All you Uchiha deserve to die!"