The Ninja World, Konoha.
News that the Ninja World's Chairman had two wives pregnant at the same time spread like wildfire across the shinobi nations.
Before long, the wives of various clan heads—along with women who were especially close—arrived one after another to offer their congratulations and well wishes.
For a time, the Chairman's residence was filled with a chorus of light laughter and gentle chatter.
Uchiha Soren beamed with undisguised joy as he held the hands of Uchiha Chisato and Kaori Minamoto, welcoming the endless stream of congratulations.
Off to the side, Uchiha Hikaru puffed out her cheeks, fixing Soren's back with a distinctly dangerous glare.
(Saying I'm still too young and that we'd talk about having children in a few years… all lies.)
(Uzumaki Minako gave birth to Tsunade at this very age. Everyone in the ninja world does.)
Grumbling inwardly, Hikaru cast an envious look at her two radiant, blissful elder sisters. In the end, there was nothing she could say.
(No need to rush. What's meant to come will come.)
As that thought crossed her mind, a figure stepped out of the teleportation array into Konoha.
Clearly having dressed up with care, the shrine maiden Momiji approached them with graceful steps.
"Chairman, Lady Chisato, Lady Kaori."
After completing her formal greeting, Momiji did not dare meet Hikaru's unabashed gaze.
From playful teasing between two, to three sharing the same quilt, and all the way to today—those memories were still enough to make the shrine maiden's heart flutter with embarrassment.
"Lord Momiji, welcome."
Uchiha Chisato looked at Momiji—her hair adorned with a shrine maiden's crown, crimson hakama flowing with mature charm. Her eyes narrowed slightly before she smiled warmly.
"The prayers for the children's health will be entrusted to you."
"It is my duty."
The moment Momiji finished speaking, Kaori Minamoto clasped both of her hands and warmly extended an invitation.
"Lord Momiji, for the sake of making the blessings more convenient, why not stay here? Our home is quite spacious."
The instant those words left Kaori's lips, Momiji's heart nearly leapt out of her chest.
As for Uchiha Soren, his mind drifted far away, as though the affairs of the world had suddenly lost all relevance.
"There are still matters at the shrine that require my attention. Lady Kaori, I truly apologize."
Momiji's gentle refusal was entirely within Kaori's expectations.
She cast a sidelong glance at her lecherous husband—who had slipped away quietly the night before. Did he really think he could still come and go without anyone noticing?
Now hovering on the brink of the Six Paths threshold—equivalent to over Level 95 in pure taijutsu—Kaori Minamoto had long since reached a realm where the cicada sensed autumn before the wind stirred.
Even the faintest disturbance could not escape her perception.
Even fluctuations in space itself were within her awareness.
Rather than allowing Soren to recklessly indulge elsewhere, it was far better to keep any wildflowers right under her nose.
She absolutely refused to discover, during her pregnancy, that Soren had gotten someone else pregnant outside.
"The shrine's affairs are no issue," Kaori said with a gentle smile.
"I'll arrange a professional team to manage them. I guarantee the shrine's operations will flourish."
Though Kaori was half a head shorter than Momiji, under her calm gaze, the shrine maiden unconsciously lowered her eyes.
At this point, refusal was no longer an option.
"Thank you for your generosity, Lady Kaori."
"Shrine maidens are divine envoys of Susanoo. We're all family—no need for such formality."
Having seen through Kaori's intentions, Uchiha Chisato also took Momiji's hand, gently caressing her still-smooth, fair fingers, her words carrying unmistakable implication.
"Just these hands alone would surely delight the revered Martial Deity."
"Isn't that so?"
"Dear Soren?"
That light, floating tone felt to Soren like three mountains pressing down on his chest. Before he could respond, Uchiha Hikaru eagerly joined in.
"Not just her hands—Lord Martial Deity also favors shrine maidens' beautiful faces."
Her voice was soft, audible only to family nearby.
To the surrounding women, all they felt was a sudden drop in pressure that sent a chill down their spines—before everything returned to normal.
"She truly inspires pity at first sight. It's only natural that Lord Martial Deity would be fond of her."
After Chisato's praise, Kaori Minamoto cast a deep look at Hikaru.
She had long felt that this younger sister knew many things the two elder sisters did not.
That "testimony" given on the bed that night… perhaps Hikaru had been complicit with Soren all along, deliberately misleading them.
(I'll need to probe her sometime.)
With that decision made, Kaori's smile grew ever warmer—now carrying hints of her elder brother Kazuhiko Minamoto.
"Kaori."
As his daughter now carried the Supreme Chairman's child, Kazuhiko Minamoto, along with groups of relatives, came forward one after another to offer congratulations.
Especially the children who had grown up in recent years—their crisp, sweet voices softened Kaori's expression.
Her own childhood had not been happy. But that had nothing to do with this new generation.
She planned to select promising children from among them, nurture them at her side—both for Konoha's future and for her own children's paths.
The Magic Continent was even vaster than the Ninja World.
Given her husband's nature, her children would inevitably be sent there to govern regions of their own.
The talents cultivated now would certainly prove useful—and obedient—in the future.
At present, the entire Ninja World suffered from a happy problem:
Too much land. Too few people. Too many posts.
The men of the Uchiha clan were mostly taciturn—peerless in battle and killing, but hopeless at flattery.
Among the gathered Uchiha, it was largely the women speaking, while the men stood awkwardly to the side.
Fortunately, Uchiha Soren gathered them together and held a brief meeting.
The topic left the Uchiha men both delighted and miserable.
Children?
How could that compare to training and cutting down enemies?
Dancing on blade edges and singing amid flames—that was the Uchiha way.
Spending all day tangled in bed with women? That was sheer degeneration.
"Enough talk. Within ten years, I want this many."
Soren raised his fingers, causing the Uchiha men's expressions to darken.
You tell us to have kids and we just do it? Who do you think you are?!
If not for the fact that the speaker was their exalted Chairman, they would have erupted on the spot.
"During the Warring States era, which clan didn't have five or six children? And now you lot can't manage it?"
Seeing the atmosphere grow heavy, Soren pressed on mercilessly.
"If your bodies don't work, go to the hospital. The clan will reimburse the full cost!"
Instantly, the Uchiha men stiffened, faces flushing red as they thumped their chests and vowed to make their wives unable to leave the bed year after year.
One even declared he'd take ten wives—
Earning nothing but scornful looks from the others.
Everyone knew each other's limits far too well.
The bustling day soon came to an end.
Far away, to the southeast of E-Rantel, on the Katz Plains, a colossal ruin quietly appeared—without a single sound.
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