After giving Hiruzen Sarutobi quite a fright, Xuanye returned to his office, sat for a while, and cleared a few routine documents.
The morning patrol had gone smoothly, and he had just extorted a hefty ransom from the old Third Hokage. In an excellent mood, Xuanye simply skipped work and went home.
Inside Xuanye's luxurious residence in the Uchiha Clan Compound.
On the large round bed in the master bedroom, Kurenai Yuhi opened her eyes groggily.
Her entire body ached as though it had been taken apart. Biting her lip, she struggled for ages just to roll over.
When she turned her head, she met a pair of teasing eyes.
Kurenai's little face instantly flushed scarlet. She hurriedly pulled the covers over her head, and only after a long while did she cautiously reveal half her face, the tips of her ears still red:
"Sister Naraku, did Xuanye... secretly take some powerful tonic last night?"
It was hardly surprising that Kurenai suspected as much.
Last night, Xuanye had been nothing short of a tireless primordial beast!
Perhaps the joke she had casually made before bed had completely flipped a certain man's berserk switch.
He had held nothing back throughout their nightlong battle, going at full firepower from the first half of the night until dawn.
"He's always like that. You'll get used to it."
Sitting beside the bed, Kushina rolled her eyes and adopted the air of a seasoned veteran, too lazy to explain much to the girl.
After all, Kurenai had been utterly unable to withstand him alone last night. Routed halfway through, she had finally dragged Kushina into the fray as well, and only by joining forces had the two women barely weathered the ordeal.
"You're awake?"
The door opened, and Xuanye walked in carrying a tray.
Considering how hard he had pushed them last night, Xuanye had made a special trip to the kitchen after coming home today and personally prepared a tableful of delicious dishes.
He had always been a considerate man. Having thoroughly devoured the girl, he naturally had to follow up with proper care afterward.
Only by keeping his household settled could he continue bringing women home with a clear conscience.
At the dining table, Kurenai picked up a piece of braised pork that looked, smelled, and tasted wonderful. As she put it in her mouth, her eyes immediately lit up:
"This is delicious! I never imagined you were such an amazing cook too, Xuanye!"
After fighting side by side last night, Kurenai and Kushina's relationship had advanced by leaps and bounds, with none of their initial unfamiliarity remaining.
She had figured it out anyway: on her own, she would never beat Xuanye in bed in this lifetime. Having someone else at home to share the onslaught was a good thing.
"Consider yourself lucky. This guy is usually so lazy that he hardly ever cooks, even once in an entire year."
Kushina, who had been allowed to join them at the table, swallowed her food and casually chimed in.
"Sister Naraku, since you're usually at home, you must be a good cook too, right?"
Kurenai turned to her and asked curiously.
"Hmph, my cooking is second to none! I'll personally make you a meal to try another day!" Kushina raised her chin proudly.
Pfft-!
Beside them, Xuanye nearly sprayed out his soup, the corner of his eye twitching hard twice.
Personally cook? Are you trying to send Kurenai straight to the Pure Land?!
Back when he had first brought Kushina home, Xuanye had once had the privilege of tasting her disastrous cooking.
Even with a constitution over two hundred times stronger than Kakashi's, his stomach had hurt for a full half hour afterward!
Would Xuanye have spent a fortune hiring a private chef for the house if he had not been left with no other choice?
Xuanye even seriously suspected that the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, had developed his unrivaled speed in the Shinobi World purely as a side effect of racing for the toilet after years of eating Kushina's cooking!
For that little sun to have survived long enough to grow up and become Hokage, he really must have been absurdly hard to kill.
Amid laughter and cheerful chatter, the lavish lunch was soon finished.
That afternoon, in Konoha's central residential district.
At the gates of the Yūhi Clan's residence.
Yuhi Shinku stood on the steps, looking with mixed feelings at his daughter and Uchiha Genya, who stood beside her with a hand supporting her waist.
As a man with experience, one look at his daughter's flushed cheeks and awkward gait told Shinku everything.
The precious daughter he had raised for so many years had previously only stayed at her best friend Mitaraishi Anko's house whenever she did not come home at night.
Now a man was supporting her as he brought her home in the middle of the afternoon. There was no need to guess what had happened last night.
"Dad... I accidentally twisted my ankle."
Kurenai lowered her head and offered a lousy excuse with a guilty conscience.
Only an idiot would believe that!
A bitter smile appeared on Shinku's lips. His feelings were a tangled mess, yet he could not lash out.
"Kurenai, go inside and rest. I'd like a word alone with Xuanye."
Watching his daughter limp back into the house, Shinku heaved a heavy sigh.
A grown daughter really won't stay at home!
Only the father-in-law and son-in-law remained in the living room, sitting opposite each other.
Xuanye looked perfectly at ease, without the slightest guilt over having just plucked the man's tender young flower.
With a casual turn of his hand, he took two exquisite wine gourds from his ninja tool pouch. He pushed one toward Shinku, then uncorked the other and took a sip:
"Fruit wine I brewed myself. Would you like a taste, sir?"
As head of the Konoha Military Police Force, skipping work in the afternoon to accompany his girlfriend to her family home and share a few drinks with his father-in-law was perfectly reasonable.
The rich aroma of wine instantly filled the living room.
Xuanye's gaze was clear. He had taken the initiative to accompany Kurenai on this visit today precisely to make his position clear to her father.
Since he had taken the girl, he would not shortchange her in either the status or the security she deserved.
Shinku silently picked up the wine gourd, tipped his head back, and took a large gulp. The fiery liquor slid down his throat and became a long sigh:
"Xuanye, setting aside our clans' positions, I actually think quite highly of you."
"But as a father, I don't want Kurenai to end up with you. Do you understand my concerns?"
Holding his wine gourd, Xuanye calmly nodded.
Shinku was only alive today because Xuanye had happened to save him during the Night of the Nine-Tails three years ago.
Had events followed their original course, this father-in-law would have long since died beneath the Nine-Tails' claws.
Because of that debt, even though Shinku had known his daughter was dating Xuanye, he had always turned a blind eye.
But things were different now.
Shinku held the nominal post of acting commander in Konoha's Anbu, and he knew better than ordinary jonin just how explosive tensions between the leadership and the Uchiha had become.
In Shinku's eyes, however powerful the Uchiha Clan was, attempting to stand alone against all of Konoha could only end in its destruction.
As captain of the Konoha Military Police Force, Xuanye stood at the very center of that storm.
Moreover, Xuanye had only just arrested Mitokado Homura and son, along with Asuma Sarutobi, last night. Coming openly to drink at the Yuhi home today might well make the Third Hokage see the Yūhi Clan as Uchiha accomplices too!
Although Shinku held little real authority and Hiruzen Sarutobi had long since stripped him of all effective power in the Anbu, he truly feared that his precious daughter would fall into a bottomless abyss along with Xuanye.
Unfortunately, what was done was done. There was certainly no stopping them now, so he could only lay his concerns out plainly.
"I understand your worries, sir. And I don't like beating around the bush either."
Xuanye finished his last mouthful of wine, casually put away the gourd, stood up, and smiled:
"I have no interest whatsoever in how Konoha High Command and the Uchiha fight."
"No one should think they can order me around in the name of some greater cause. As long as they obey the public security regulations, I can't be bothered with them. But if anyone dares cross the line, I certainly won't show mercy."
Here, Xuanye paused and turned to Shinku, his tone calm yet filled with absolute confidence:
"As for whether I can keep Kurenai safe... why not see for yourself, sir!"
Boom-!
The instant his words fell, a terrifying, invisible pressure suddenly erupted from Xuanye's body!
The air throughout the living room seemed to freeze solid in an instant!
In no more than the blink of an eye, Xuanye withdrew his released aura, and calm returned to the room.
Yet Shinku, sitting opposite him, had already gone rigid, cold sweat streaming down his forehead and horror filling his eyes!
In that fleeting instant, he seemed to have seen an apocalyptic vision of the heavens collapsing, the earth shattering, and the entire Shinobi World reduced to scorched earth!
Before such power, never mind an elite jonin like him-even the Third Hokage himself probably could not withstand a single move!
Uchiha Genya... was actually hiding such world-destroying strength?!
What was he after, staying in the little Military Police Force?
With power on this level, if he wanted to overturn Konoha, wouldn't it take no more than raising a hand?!
Before you continue