"Give Kushina a surprise."
Minato smiled—
and in the next instant, a deafening explosion erupted beside him.
BOOM!
Before he could even observe his surroundings, a massive shadow appeared overhead, as if something extremely heavy were crashing down from the sky.
Minato instantly sensed danger. His figure flickered, and he reappeared somewhere else.
Reaching up, he wiped at sweat that didn't actually exist, then sprinted back toward where he had been standing.
He wanted to see exactly what had tried to ambush him.
He hadn't gone far when he heard Shukaku's furious roar.
"Stinking fox! Let go of me!"
"If you've got guts, let me go and we'll start over!"
"Let go your ass!" Kurama, a firm believer in peak vulgarity and peak enjoyment, immediately snapped back.
"You stupid raccoon!"
"You still want to beat me up?!"
"Just wait—you're dead today!"
Kurama's and Shukaku's voices reached Minato's ears.
The Minato who had been heading straight for them abruptly stopped.
He smoothly turned around and headed back toward Konoha instead.
Can't afford to mess with this.
Not going to look.
Meanwhile, Yuki Seisui was discussing Wood Release with Sarutobi Hiruzen. Just as he was about to leave, Minato appeared in their line of sight.
Why do I run into people no matter where I go?
Hiruzen froze for a moment when he saw Minato, then asked,
"Minato, why are you here?"
Yuki Seisui also looked at him in confusion.
I only received news that the war ended today—and he's already back?
Danzo watched coldly from the side, glancing between Minato and Yuki Seisui.
Hearing Hiruzen's question, Minato explained,
"Everyone is already close to Konoha. I told Tsunade-sama I'd return first."
Hiruzen nodded. He knew Minato's unit was near the village already but what he didn't understand was why Minato had come out of the Forest of Death.
Before he could ask, Yuki Seisui spoke for him.
"Then why did you come out here?"
"Shouldn't you have gone straight home or gone to see Kushina?"
Minato scratched his head awkwardly.
"I originally planned to use the Flying Raijin to teleport into the Forest of Death, then go find Kushina."
As he spoke, he shot Yuki Seisui an aggrieved look.
"Everything was fine at first. But the moment I arrived, I saw Kurama and Shukaku fighting."
"I almost got smashed to death."
The Forest of Death is huge.
How did you manage to land exactly where those two were fighting?
Yuki Seisui genuinely couldn't understand it.
After Minato finished explaining, Hiruzen gave him a strange look but said nothing.
He only shook his head and turned to leave.
Danzo naturally followed him.
Once the two had left, Minato spoke up again.
"I'm going to find Kushina now."
"See you later!"
With that, Minato ran off toward the Uzumaki district.
The reason he had come out of the Forest of Death was simple, he had hidden something there.
A surprise he had prepared for Uzumaki Kushina.
Watching Minato's retreating figure, Yuki Seisui shook his head and sighed softly.
"The war is finally over."
While Yuki Seisui reflected on this in an unknown cave far away, Uchiha Madara sat with black rods embedded in his back, listening to Black Zetsu's report.
After a long silence, Madara suddenly burst into wild laughter.
"Heh… heh… hahahahahaha!"
"So the war ended just like that?"
Once he finished laughing, Madara looked at Black Zetsu and sighed.
"Black Zetsu, have people keep an eye on Konoha."
"Especially Yuki Seisui."
"The moment he makes a move, wake me immediately."
As Madara spoke, his sharp gaze locked onto Black Zetsu.
Though old, his eyes were not clouded—
they shone brightly.
He had a dream.
Before that dream was fulfilled, he could not die.
And even if he were to die, he would first choose a suitable successor.
If Yuki Seisui knew what Madara was thinking, his mind would likely be filled with mixed emotions.
The ninja world was a strange place.
There were many madmen here.
Many lunatics.
Yet whether madmen or lunatics, they were all pursuing peace.
And precisely because they all sought peace, conflict was inevitable.
A group of obsessive madmen chasing peace became the fuse for war.
For example—Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama.
If they hadn't fought so fiercely, Hashirama might not have died so early.
And if both Hashirama and Madara had remained in Konoha,
even a false peace could have lasted indefinitely.
Another example—the Akatsuki, the original protagonists, Uchiha Obito, and the others.
All of them were stubborn, deranged obsessives.
"I have a feeling," Madara murmured, his voice growing fainter and fainter,
"That the boy named Yuki Seisui will make his move very soon…"
Seeing this, Black Zetsu's eyes flashed with cold malice.
No matter who it was, anyone who tried to stop him from reviving his mother was an enemy.
He had been plotting for a thousand years.
After finally waiting for Uchiha Madara, a Yuki Seisui had appeared out of nowhere.
"Black Zetsu go keep watch on Konoha—especially Yuki Seisui."
Black Zetsu turned to the White Zetsu beside him and gave the order.
"Why don't you go?" White Zetsu muttered.
"Being a White Zetsu is so miserable~~~"
Black Zetsu frowned and snapped at him.
"Stop whining!"
"Go monitor Yuki Seisui!"
White Zetsu complained a bit more, but had no choice and ran off to Konoha to keep watch.
After White Zetsu left, Black Zetsu's gaze flickered briefly before he vanished from the spot.
Underground, White Zetsu used the Mayfly Technique to move swiftly beneath the earth.
Whenever he passed beneath a restroom, he would stop and squat underneath, observing bowel urgency.
"Damn Black Zetsu… I just want to experience bowel urges. What did I ever do wrong?!"
Muttering to himself, White Zetsu suddenly noticed a green-eyed man leading a woman into a restroom.
"Oho?" His eyes lit up.
"Are they going to poop together?"
"Observing two people's bowel urges at once is difficult…"
"But I am White Zetsu!"
Kakuzu led the woman into the restroom.
She had delicate features and wore a fawning expression.
"Kakuzu-sama… are we doing it here?"
Her voice carried anticipation and a hint of excitement.
She had never done that in a restroom before.
"Of course it's here." Kakuzu licked his lips.
"Though if you want to go outside, that's fine too."
"No… I've never done it in a place like this before."
Her expression grew even more stimulated.
"Don't worry."
Kakuzu looked at her, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.
"Didn't you say…"
"…that you've given your heart to me?"
"Not just my heart," the woman said seductively.
"Everything I have belongs to Kakuzu-sama."
"In that case…"
"That's perfect."
Kakuzu let out a twisted grin.
Before the woman's eyes—still filled with disbelief, his hand plunged into her chest and pulled out a beating heart.
…..
Completed version available on Available on [P]atreon.[c]om/Veltoria [remove brackets]