Stars had already appeared in the sky.
Inside the Moonlight Clan Compound, the atmosphere was lively.
Even with only nine people present.
"Everyone, come on! Cheers!"
"Cheers!"
"The Byakugan brat isn't old enough to drink! Go find some juice and make do!"
"Hahaha, he's already gone into battle and killed enemies, but he still can't drink. What a fucked-up world!"
"No, I want a drink! The captain isn't twenty yet either. Why does he get to drink?"
"Hahaha, because I'm the captain! Go find yourself a glass of milk, Byakugan brat."
Holding the enormous mug the Gekko Clan had specially made for him, Takahashi Yū laughed and flicked Hyūga Ryūhei's forehead.
They called it specially made, but it was really just a small beer barrel with a handle attached.
Ryūhei covered his forehead, but even both hands could barely hide the green mark.
The Caged Bird Seal, huh. Ryūhei, Takeshi, you won't have to wait much longer.
Takahashi Yū thought silently that once the [Dan-Ability] trait reached a higher level,
he would wear that disgusting thing away, even if he had to grind it down!
Though the Gekko Clan had few members, it was still a shinobi clan.
The huge round table was covered with meat dishes, with several brimming barrels of beer alongside it.
Takahashi Yū and the others forgot their troubles and ate and drank with gusto, not just to celebrate Gekko Yūma taking over as clan head.
They were also celebrating their own survival on the deadly battlefield.
And showing their fallen comrades that life was good now, that their sacrifices had not been in vain.
Bang!
Takahashi Yū slammed his mug down on the table, then stood and raised it high, declaring loudly:
"Everyone! I, Takahashi Yū, couldn't bring everyone back. I only hate that I wasn't strong enough!"
"But that won't happen now! I, Takahashi Yū, am confident I can take on anyone. So go wild! I've got your backs!"
Takahashi Yū drained the liquor from his enormous mug in one go.
The remaining squad members rose to their feet. Yamanaka Ayano's eyes glistened as she remembered the gentle Akimichi Takumi.
"All right! Let's go wild!"
They all drained their cups as well. A year ago, they had been forced to join the Suicide Squad with apprehensive hearts. Now it had become the Undying Squad, renowned throughout the Shinobi World. Only they knew the hardships along the way.
"Oh? Weren't you just calling for milk?" A young woman with the classic grace of an ideal Japanese lady walked out of the house.
She was carrying a tray with a glass of warm milk on it.
They exchanged looks and burst out laughing.
"That's right, give it to the Byakugan brat. Milk is all he's allowed!"
Gekko Yūma stepped forward and took the tray.
"Yūma, you lucky bastard! Your wife is so pretty!"
Gekko Yūma merely smiled and demurred, saying they were too kind.
"When are you having children, Clan Head Yūma? The Gekko Clan is short on people. Our esteemed clan head needs to work harder!"
"Hahahaha!"
Inside the house, Lady Gekko blushed at the raunchy talk outside.
The courtyard was filled with cheer.
As the conversation returned to marriage, a certain Yamanaka clan member's "fluctuations" began leaking out again, spreading a gloomy atmosphere around the table.
"I'm being hounded into matchmaking and marriage too," Uchiha Shunji said helplessly. Beside him, Uchiha Delia, one of the Undying Squad's only two women, looked unhappy as well.
"A bunch of weaklings have the nerve to court me. The atmosphere in the clan has been strange lately," Uchiha Delia said.
Coming from a powerful Uchiha woman, such a statement was perfectly reasonable.
"It's probably because of the captain's Kekkei Genkai. Our clans all want us to have children so the captain's Kekkei Genkai can stay in the clan," Nara Yūma said with an impatient expression.
"Captain, give us a straight answer. Can your Kekkei Genkai be inherited?" Uchiha Kenichi asked curiously.
If it could not be inherited, they could lay their cards on the table with their clans, and the pressure to marry would ease. Though no one dared force a marriage on them, daily visits were still irritating.
Takahashi Yū was at a loss. You're asking me, but who am I supposed to ask? I haven't even figured it out myself. I'm still waiting to hear back from Orochimaru.
"I don't know, but I do know one thing: practice reveals the truth!"
Takahashi Yū shook his head and addressed them.
Everyone, Takahashi Yū included, turned their eyes toward Gekko Yūma.
Their stares made Gekko Yūma's skin crawl, and a bead of sweat the size of a bean formed on his forehead.
He spread his hands and said helplessly, "Fine, fine, fine. But no matter what, you'll have to wait a year."
Though Gekko Yūma was a man, even he could not help blushing a little while discussing this in front of everyone.
Behind him, the courtyard-facing window slid shut from inside with a swish.
At this, Gekko Yūma spread his hands again. "Looks like it'll be a little over a year."
"Ha, hahaha!"
They could not help laughing at his antics.
"Why do we have to wait that long?" Only Hyūga Ryūhei remained bewildered as he drank his milk.
Everyone laughed without restraint around the table.
"You'll understand when you're older!"
Several rounds of drinks later.
They were all shinobi and could use chakra to metabolize the alcohol in their bodies. Takahashi Yū could even control his body to metabolize it directly.
But they all held on to this rare sense of relaxation.
Gekko Yūma lay back in a reclining chair, gazing at the moon on the horizon and feeling the cool evening breeze.
"In a year, if it's a boy, I'll name him Gekko Hayate! If it's a girl, then..."
Wait, what did you say his name would be?
Gekko Hayate?
Takahashi Yū sobered up halfway and quickly waved a hand to interrupt.
"Gekko Hayate? Hmm... good name. Yūma, you're a clan head now. You won't be going out to fight life-and-death battles anymore, will you?"
Takahashi Yū did not care whether he was the father of a "familiar face" from the original story. Besides, in the original story, Gekko Hayate had been the only member left of the entire Gekko Clan.
And he had died young, with health problems since childhood.
Gekko Yūma was taken aback by Takahashi Yū's abrupt change of subject.
"How could I stop taking missions? The Gekko Clan's head still has to earn money to feed his family. Did you really think it was a joke when we said the Gekko Clan was so poor we had nothing left but our underwear?"
Takahashi Yū took a drink and nodded, but his thoughts had wandered somewhere else entirely.
Gekko Yūma, the son of the previous Gekko clan head, had joined the Suicide Squad despite his esteemed position as heir. This truly was a clan devoted to Konoha.
In the original story, Gekko Hayate had been the only Gekko left. Now, barring any mishaps, the end of the Second Shinobi World War would not leave just one survivor.
Then was it the Third Shinobi World War?
It would soon be Year 40 of Konoha. Quite a few characters had died within a few years of that time, the famous ones being Senju Nawaki, Dan Katō, and Mito Uzumaki.
The fighting in the Land of Rain had ended two years early. Hanzo of the Salamander had not declared war on the three surrounding nations, targeting only Konoha instead, but the name "Sannin" had still come from Hanzō's mouth.
Takahashi Yū had also ended the fighting with the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth early. Aside from Mito Uzumaki, who was nearing death from old age, under what circumstances would Nawaki and Dan Katō die?
Takahashi Yū shook his head. The plot was already a complete mess. He could only take things one step at a time.
Perhaps the squad members before him had all died early in the wars in the original story.
Hadn't he also changed the predetermined courses of Uzumaki Shui Ling's and Mizuki's lives, along with those of the two little redheads?
What puzzled Takahashi Yū was that despite the fighting in the Land of Rain ending two years early, Jiraiya still had not returned to Konoha. Had he met Nagato and the other two after all?
It was as though the timeline was adjusting itself, and Takahashi Yū was the virus that kept disrupting it!
At that thought, Takahashi Yū unconsciously clenched his fist. If invisible hands really were adjusting fate, they could not blame him for flipping the table!
If this world could only continue by turning into an Ōtsutsuki family affair, then this Shinobi World had no reason to exist!
If the Ōtsutsuki Clan kept invading this planet endlessly, growing stronger each time, how could a handful of Ōtsutsuki descendants fight them or protect it? It would only be a matter of time before it became an Ōtsutsuki nursery.
Stars twinkled across the sky, and Takahashi Yū gathered his wandering thoughts. It was time to leave the Gekko clan head a little time to work hard. The Undying Squad's gathering at the Moonlight Clan Compound came to an end.
Before you continue