It was already early the next morning.
"I never thought I'd spend an entire night lying around at the Inuzuka Clan's place. Sigh..."
Xia Yu was troubled.
If what Akimi Inuzuka had said was true, he would need another full day to recover.
A day was not long, but to Xia Yu, it was a painful loss.
After all, his grand plan to make Konoha greener could not wait.
"Damn it! It's all because I'm too weak! If I were strong, how could some rabid dog have scratched me up!"
In the Shinobi World, where the strong preyed on the weak, even strolling down the street was dangerous for someone as powerless as him.
One moment of carelessness could lead to injury, or even cost him his life.
To grow stronger, he needed to keep having children without a hitch.
To keep things going smoothly, he first had to stay alive until his children were born.
"Tsk, tsk. I should think of a way to improve efficiency. I can't keep wasting time like this. It's holding things up..."
Xia Yu stopped to think for a moment, and suddenly his eyes lit up.
"I've got it!"
"The Third Hokage has already let the whole village know I'm looking for wives anyway, so why am I still going door to door, day and night? Why not just have them move into my place themselves!"
"I can Revive the Clan without leaving home. It's safe, saves time, and gives the ladies of Konoha a home. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"
When it came to his looks and personal charm, Xia Yu had absolute confidence.
The famous, powerful women might not come, but there would still be ordinary women.
For Xia Yu, whose main strategy was quantity, they were the main force in his Revive the Clan army.
There happened to be a stationery shop by the road.
Xia Yu bought a pen and a large stack of paper, then began writing furiously.
[Announcement:]
[Issued by: Uchiha Xia Yu.]
[I am male, eighteen years old, handsome, wealthy, and the owner of a large home. I have substantial endowments and come with the high-quality genes of a prestigious clan. As the Uchiha Clan is currently severely short of members, I sincerely invite interested applicants to have plenty of babies and help restore the Uchiha Clan's prosperity.]
[Requirements: female, between eighteen and thirty-five years old, with above-average looks. Good health is preferred. If you meet these conditions, being a little older is no problem.]
[Anyone interested may submit a résumé and attend an interview at the entrance to the Uchiha Clan compound. Once you pass the interview, we will be family, and you will be treated as such. Circumstances permitting, I will never neglect anyone. This I guarantee.]
[Note: there is no application deadline. This notice remains valid indefinitely.]
"Done!"
"I'll go with these standards!"
Before long, Uchiha Xia Yu had personally copied out dozens of notices by hand. He visited every public noticeboard at the intersections throughout Konoha, posted the [notice] in the most conspicuous spot on each one, then returned to the clan compound to recover, thoroughly satisfied.
The moment he stepped into the Clan Compound, an inexplicable sense of familiarity welled up within him.
Though the scene before him was dilapidated, and the prosperity in his memories had vanished.
This was, after all, his true home.
"Soon, Uchiha. Everything will get better!"
Xia Yu walked slowly to his front door.
Before he could enter, several women suddenly ran out of the neighboring houses and crowded around Xia Yu.
These women were none other than the first batch of wealthy ladies.
The bathhouse proprietress said, "Xia Yu, sweetie, you're finally back! I didn't see you at all yesterday. I missed you so much!"
The flower shop proprietress said, "Xia Yu, sweetie, I followed your arrangements and moved my flower shop here~"
The dango shop proprietress said, "Do you know how heartbroken I was after Anko took you away that night? I didn't sleep a wink. I was so upset... I just felt so empty."
The dango shop waitress said, "Boo-hoo... Xia Yu, sweetie, when I can't see you, I don't even feel like making dango..."
Xia Yu smiled. "Don't cry, any of you. I'm very glad you moved here. As I said before, I will never abandon you. To show my sincerity, how about we get married?"
The women were both surprised and delighted:
"M-married? Really?"
"Then won't I be a member of the Uchiha Clan from now on? I'm so excited!"
In Konoha, especially among prestigious clans, a woman would take her husband's surname after marriage, and the clan crest on her clothes would also be changed to her husband's.
For ordinary people, marrying into the prestigious Uchiha Clan had always been something they dared not dream of.
In truth, at first they had only wanted to stay by Xia Yu's side.
They had never expected Xia Yu to actually give them the status of wives.
"Yes! I'll marry you! From today on, everything I have is yours, Xia Yu!"
"Me too! Xia Yu, sweetie... no, darling! Hurry inside and rest. We'll keep you company..."
Xia Yu hurriedly waved his hands with a wry smile. "No, no, no, there's no need to keep me company. I'm afraid today won't work. I'm... injured."
"What did you say?"
They cried out in unison and hurriedly looked Xia Yu up and down. "Where are you hurt? Is it serious? Hurry, let us take a look..."
Xia Yu pointed behind him. "Someone from the Inuzuka Clan scratched my back, but it's all right. I've already received professional treatment, so it shouldn't be a problem. A few days of rest and I'll be fine."
The bathhouse proprietress's face flushed with anger. "How could this happen! Now even those dog keepers are bullying the Uchiha! Back when the Uchiha Clan held sway, the Inuzuka Clan didn't even dare breathe too loudly!"
The flower shop proprietress was equally furious. "No! This is intolerable! I'll go find my jonin ex-husband and have him help get back at them for you, Xia Yu!"
Xia Yu did not know whether to laugh or cry:
"Ladies, I know you mean well, but there's really no need. It's over now, and it was someone from the Inuzuka Clan who treated my injuries, too. Right now, I need to focus on recovering. Once I'm fully healed... hehe, you know what I mean."
At those words, the women nodded repeatedly and helped Xia Yu back to his room.
"Xia Yu, sweetie, get plenty of rest. If you need anything, be sure to tell me. I'll be sitting right outside the door, ready whenever you call."
"Me too. I'll go make you some nourishing soup and feed it to you later~"
"Sweetie, remember that close friend of mine at the dango shop? Her family runs a massage parlor. It's been passed down for generations, and her skills are first-rate! She'll be moving here soon, too. I'll have her give you a proper massage then. It'll definitely help!"
"All right, let Xia Yu rest quietly on his own. He needs peace and quiet to recover. Anything else can wait until he's rested."
At the bathhouse proprietress's urging, the women finally left Xia Yu's bedroom, looking back with every few steps.
Not long after they left, Xia Yu fell asleep.
He truly was exhausted. He had walked through every corner of Konoha alone and put up so many [notices]. With the injury on his back as well, it would have been strange if he were not tired.
He slept for the entire afternoon.
Had he not felt someone shifting back and forth beside him and heard the repeated jingling of bells, he probably would have kept sleeping.
"Jingle~ jingle~"
"...?"
"Strange... that sound...?"
Xia Yu began to stir from his dreams and asked groggily, "Wh-who is it?"
Akimi Inuzuka's voice reached his ears. "Shh~ don't talk. I'm changing your dressing. How does it feel? It doesn't hurt, does it...?"
Lying on his stomach, Xia Yu turned his head and finally saw who had come:
"M-Miss Qiushi?"
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