As night fell, Kakashi Hatake finally concluded the day's social obligations.
As the groom, it was his responsibility to attend to the guests. Since it was his first time managing such affairs, and with no family left to support him, he found himself entirely overwhelmed. Fortunately, Minato Namikaze had been there to assist, saving him a great deal of trouble.
"Kakashi, may you be blessed with a child soon." Minato patted Kakashi on the shoulder. Except for the time he spent helping Yagura Karatachi break his seal, Minato had remained by Kakashi's side throughout the wedding.
"Yeah," Kakashi replied, his trademark dead-fish eyes widening slightly.
He had read plenty of adult books, but putting any of it into practice was a first. For a closet-pervert virgin like him, the reality of the situation was undeniably overwhelming.
"Kushina and I won't disturb you any further," Minato said with a smile. He genuinely hadn't expected Kakashi to be the very first among their peers to get married. He and Kushina Uzumaki were still dragging their feet, after all.
"That's right! You must be happy, Kakashi!" Kushina added cheerfully.
With her own wedding right around the corner, Kushina couldn't help but grow more ecstatic by the second, eagerly envisioning her future. Hmm... if we have a child later on, will they inherit my red hair, or Minato's blonde hair?
Kushina's wandering thoughts strayed far into the future. It wasn't until Minato gently pulled her along that she snapped out of her daze, and together, they stepped out of the Hatake clan compound.
By now, the crowd had mostly dispersed. Heart pounding with nervous anticipation, Kakashi walked toward the bridal chamber to find his wife.
"Kakashi."
An Anbu ninja suddenly materialized directly in front of him. "Lord Third orders you to maintain continuous surveillance on that woman. She is suspected of passing intelligence to Kirigakure."
"Daiko... she..." Kakashi's eyes widened in disbelief.
How could Daiko be leaking information? He had never disclosed anything that could jeopardize Konohagakure; it was all trivial, everyday matters. What could possibly be worth transmitting?
"This is Lord Third's direct command." The Anbu ninja cast a cold glance at Kakashi before vanishing on the spot.
"Daiko."
By the time Kakashi stepped into the room and sat down beside Daiko Hatake, the anticipation in his heart had completely evaporated, replaced by a profound sense of exhaustion. After being forced to spy on his closest companion, Rin Nohara, he now had to surveil the woman who deeply loved him.
Even though Kakashi understood that monitoring anyone from Kirigakure was standard protocol, a heavy gloom settled over him regardless.
"Kakashi..." Daiko's soft, gentle voice echoed in the room, sending a tremor through Kakashi's heart. Having never been in such close proximity to a woman before, his instincts flared. His fondness for adult books, after all, meant he possessed a natural interest in the opposite sex.
"We... should get some sleep." Daiko took Kakashi's hand.
Earlier that day, the Fourth Mizukage had personally sought her out for a private conversation. The heavy burden of her village's responsibility pressed squarely against her shoulders, leaving her with no choice but to comply. After all, she was a shinobi.
To manipulate someone effectively, the fastest route was to forge tighter bonds and cultivate a deeper connection. The absolute simplest method was to conceive a child together—an unbreakable tie of love that would ensure Kakashi could never abandon her.
Feeling the warmth of her touch, Kakashi gazed at Daiko's face. A genuine spark of emotion stirred within him. From this day forward, he was a family man. If it was just simple surveillance, he could endure it. He would ensure his woman's happiness.
Kakashi made his decision. He suppressed his lingering feelings for Rin Nohara to the absolute deepest recesses of his mind. He was a man defined by duty; since he had married Daiko, he would take full responsibility for her for the rest of his life.
That night, the inexperienced couple crossed the threshold into adulthood, losing themselves in the shared pleasure.
That night, there were those who drank heavily to drown their sorrows, only to find them worsening. And there were those who watched Kakashi's wedding unfold with an icy, detached gaze.
On a distant rooftop, the shroud of darkness completely concealed a figure cloaked in black.
"Kakashi's wedding is quite magnificent, isn't it?" A crimson glow emanated from the single eye behind Obito Uchiha's mask.
Yagura Karatachi was already firmly trapped within his genjutsu. Once Yagura's authority within Kirigakure expanded, Obito's control over the village would tighten completely.
"Did you relay the instructions I gave you?" Obito turned his head toward Yagura, who stood silently behind him.
"While Kakashi was busy hosting the guests, I spoke with Shi... Daiko Hatake. I instructed them to conceive a child as quickly as possible."
"Very good," Obito nodded, thoroughly satisfied.
Once the child was born and Kakashi's bonds with that woman became irreversible, he wanted to see exactly what kind of agonizing choice his former comrade would make.
The following day, right after Shimizu Uchiha had attended Kakashi's wedding, Hiruzen Sarutobi issued an official deployment order demanding that the Uchiha clan dispatch forces to the front lines.
Shimizu was included in the draft, yet he felt no sense of urgency whatsoever. With his current level of strength, he was more than capable of self-preservation. On any battlefield, relying on his Hiraishin no Jutsu, there wasn't a single soul alive who could successfully trap him.
Inside the Hokage Residence.
"Kushina is going as well?" Minato asked, visibly stunned. Has the situation with Kumogakure deteriorated so drastically that they need to deploy the power of the Tailed Beast inside Kushina?
"Kumogakure has already deployed their Tailed Beast on a massive scale," Hiruzen Sarutobi explained, lowering his smoking pipe as he stared out the window into the far distance.
Kumogakure's Two-Tails Jinchuriki seemed to harbor an intense hatred for the shinobi of Konoha, having already slaughtered scores of men using Tailed Beast Balls. If left unchecked, it would inflict a devastating blow to Konoha's military numbers.
"For this mission, your primary objective is to guarantee Kushina's safety. While her sealing capabilities are exceptionally effective at suppressing Tailed Beasts, this is still her very first time stepping onto a large-scale battlefield."
"Understood, Lord Third," Minato replied, dropping to one knee.
Even without Hiruzen's explicit orders, protecting Kushina was something Minato would do at all costs. He simply hadn't anticipated that the conflict would escalate to such a critical degree. He feared that the casualties would be immense, and that many familiar faces would never return from this campaign.
"Amass as much prestige as you can during this war. The selection process for the Fourth Hokage is finally drawing to a close," Hiruzen stated plainly.
The moment he had announced his intention to abdicate, dangerous undercurrents began surging through Konohagakure. The mantle of Hokage was a dream nearly every shinobi had fantasized about achieving. Some spent their entire lives desperately chasing that singular goal. Consequently, alongside pure idealists, ambitious, power-hungry schemers had also begun to bare their fangs.
While active warfare would consume everyone's focus—keeping the covert infighting for the Hokage seat relatively subdued—the moment the war ceased, the political struggle would erupt into its most vicious phase.
"I will not fail," Minato nodded firmly.
Every successive Hokage left a profound, permanent mark on Konoha. The First Hokage established a flawless foundation; the Second Hokage reformed archaic systems to create a new order; and the Third Hokage expanded upon those frameworks, driving Konoha's influence to unprecedented heights.
Yet, this rapid growth had generated friction and severe internal contradictions. The most glaring issues involved the isolation of the Uchiha clan, alongside systemic flaws like Konoha's medical ninja infrastructure and the heavily monopolized distribution of clan industries. Over time, Konoha's social strata would completely solidify, making it increasingly impossible for civilian-born shinobi like Minato to ever rise to prominence.
"Fugaku, please be careful."
The families of the Uchiha shinobi watched anxiously as their loved ones donned their battle gear, preparing to march out to the front lines today.
"Take good care of Itachi." Fugaku Uchiha fastened his gauntlet, slung his heavy military pack over his shoulder, and commanded the Uchiha clan elites to mobilize.
"With Lord Fugaku leading the charge, Sister Mikoto doesn't need to worry about us," Shimizu remarked nonchalantly. He traveled light; the traditional, heavy armor of the Uchiha clan would only impede his high agility, so he preferred to forgo it entirely.
"Take very good care of Itachi," Shimizu added, his voice carrying an underlying, meaningful tone.
Listening from the side, Fugaku thought absolutely nothing of the phrasing. The Uchiha clan possessed a tight-knit sense of community, and given that Mikoto and Shimizu shared a highly amicable relationship, showing concern for the newborn Itachi felt entirely natural.
Mikoto's expression shifted subtly, but she held her tongue, offering no further response. Only when their figures had nearly vanished past the horizon did Mikoto slowly raise her head.
Can Itachi's father truly return safely? A deeply anxious look flickered across her eyes. She desperately did not want Itachi to lose his father the moment he was born.
"Itachi's father is... Fugaku." Mikoto shook her head rigidly, trying to dispel the thoughts.
Shimizu was just an accident. This was a catastrophic secret she would have to guard fiercely, burying it deep within her heart for the rest of her life.
Following a relentless, uninterrupted march spanning several days and nights, the vanguard finally arrived at the active war zone.
The scale of the deployment was massive. Many of the more astute shinobi had already deduced that this war represented the absolute final opportunity to influence the Hokage selection. It was an arena where the famous could solidify their legends, and where the nameless could instantly rise to stardom.
"Why do we still have to fight this stupid war?" Tekka Uchiha complained bitterly. The Uchiha clan was being treated like a common brick—tossed around to plug whatever gap needed filling.
"Just endure it," Inabi Uchiha said, lowering his heavy pack. Unlike Shimizu, neither he nor Tekka possessed specialized, game-changing masteries, forcing them to remain tethered to the main Uchiha infantry division.
Yet, the upper management consistently shuffled the Uchiha everywhere. Whenever a defensive line collapsed, they were ordered to reinforce it; whenever territory needed to be aggressively seized, they were pushed to the front.
"So this is a real battlefield!" Kushina exclaimed, eyeing the defensive layout of the stronghold with absolute fascination, finding everything entirely novel.
"Kushina, don't wander off," Minato said, rubbing his temples in exasperation. Her endless reserves of energy remained exactly the same, no matter the gravity of the location.
"Let's go check out the front lines!" Kushina pumped her fist, visibly itching to throw herself into a massive brawl.
"Our objective for today is strictly to defend this perimeter. The timing isn't right to launch a counter-offensive just yet," Minato explained, carrying the military backpack Kushina had temporarily handed off to him due to her aching shoulders. "Follow me. Let's secure our temporary quarters first."
As a Jinchuriki, Kushina naturally could not be quartered in the standard residential zone alongside the other kunoichi. This was an absolute safety precaution.
A Tailed Beast was a double-edged sword. Given Kushina's historical precedence of losing control, the Konoha higher-ups had explicitly drilled the severity of the matter into Minato. He had to keep a constant, unblinking watch over her. Otherwise, before a Tailed Beast Ball could even be launched at the enemy, it might mistakenly obliterate their own forces.
"Fiiine," Kushina groaned, deflating instantly.
But a moment later, she brightened up again. Wait, doesn't this technically count as an outdoor trip alone with Minato? She had never traveled this far away from the village before.
As the couple walked off to find a suitable campsite, Shimizu narrowed his eyes slightly.
Right now, the entity sealed inside Kushina was the entirely intact, undivided Nine-Tails—not the split Yin and Yang halves of the future. Naruto Uzumaki had managed to fight his way to the absolute end of his era relying on a mere half of the Nine-Tails' power.
Exactly how terrifying was a Jinchuriki hosting the complete Nine-Tails? Shimizu couldn't fathom it. In any case, it undoubtedly soared far past standard Kage-level.
The only reason Naruto failed to display the full, terrifying potential of the complete Nine-Tails during the era of Boruto was purely because he had grown complacent in times of peace; even Kurama himself had openly mocked him, stating that his combat reflexes had catastrophically dulled.
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