Perhaps it was because the New Year was approaching.
Or perhaps it was because the development of the Hashirama cells had succeeded.
Either way, the head of the Uchiha clan had been wearing a smile far more often these days.
The Uchiha clan's life was improving.
Their circumstances had changed. Everyone could see hope again, and naturally, the resentment within the clan had begun to fade.
The Hashirama cells promised visible, tangible benefits to the clan. His future grandson had also been promised by Kizaru as a disciple. Because of that, the voices opposing him among the clan's hardliners had grown quieter and quieter.
All these good things put the Uchiha clan head in an excellent mood.
"Father, you called for me?"
After receiving word from one of the clansmen, Uchiha Fugaku, who had already begun serving in the Konoha Military Police Force, hurried back home to meet his father.
"Fugaku, after the New Year, leave the Police Force."
Hearing his father's words, Fugaku froze for a moment.
"Are you planning to assign me somewhere else?"
"To the Ninja Academy."
Ever since he learned that the Hyūga clan had sent their young lord to the Ninja Academy to assist Kizaru, the Uchiha clan head had been thinking of sending his own son there as well.
Those shameless Hyūga bastards.
In order to build a good relationship with the future Hokage, they had lowered themselves enough to send the heir of their clan to the Ninja Academy.
How brazen could they be?
"Fugaku, after you go to the Ninja Academy, you will work as Kizaru's assistant and maintain the relationship between our clan and him."
"I understand, Father."
As the heir of an equally prestigious clan, Uchiha Fugaku naturally knew that Hyūga Hizashi was currently serving as the teaching director at the Ninja Academy.
"Have Ryuya and the others been behaving recently?"
The man the Uchiha clan head mentioned was the leader of the younger generation among the clan's hardliners.
The Uchiha clan head was not worried about the old men who led the hardline faction.
He understood them too well.
Those people put on tough faces every day, shouting slogans about seizing power by force and restoring the Uchiha's glory. Half of it might be sincere, but the other half was simply for their own authority and status.
Without the support of those hot-blooded young clansmen, how could those old men have gained their current standing within the clan?
Fight?
Revitalize the Uchiha?
Hmph.
It was nothing more than an excuse to compete for power.
With mouths full of grand ideals and hearts full of personal gain, those people still wanted to rely on force to revive the Uchiha?
A foolish dream.
Because he understood those old hardliners so well, the Uchiha clan head was not worried they would do anything truly extreme.
The ones who really concerned him were the young clansmen.
Those boys never thought about consequences. The moment their blood rushed to their heads, they acted on impulse.
A pack of reckless fools.
"After the village raised the Police Force's salary some time ago, they've become much quieter. They haven't caused any trouble since," Fugaku answered truthfully.
It seemed he had overestimated them.
Those young hardliners were not even as reckless as he thought.
"I see. Keep watching them."
"Yes."
After answering, Fugaku prepared to leave.
"Fugaku."
The Uchiha clan head looked at his son's back and reminded him, "Prepare yourself properly. Once you arrive at the Ninja Academy, you must perform better than the Hyūga."
"Don't worry, Father."
Fugaku replied with confidence.
Satisfied by his son's answer, the Uchiha clan head smiled again.
When Kizaru became Hokage, and Fugaku became the head of the Uchiha clan, the village and the clan would surely be able to move forward together.
A better future.
A future where both sides benefited.
On November 8, the wife of Dan Katō's brother gave birth to a girl at the hospital.
The child was named Shizune.
Also in November, Might Duy's pregnant wife was admitted to the hospital because of her poor health.
Just like the treatment given to Hatake Sakumo's wife, Tsunade injected a nutritional potion—Hashirama Cells No. 3—into Might Duy's wife.
Her expected due date was around January 1.
Right at the beginning of the new year.
In order to make it easier for Might Duy to take care of his wife, Kizaru specially sent word to Sarutobi-sensei and asked him to give his eldest disciple a long vacation.
Naturally, Might Duy burst into tears of gratitude again and expressed his thanks with overflowing passion.
"That disciple of yours really is motivated."
Recently, Kizaru and Tsunade had grown closer and closer. He visited the hospital almost every day.
"Might Duy is a genius of hard work. His future achievements will be very high," Kizaru said with sincere praise.
Tsunade, who had personally witnessed the intensity of Duy's training, nodded in agreement.
"Would you like to watch a movie together tonight, Tsunade-senpai?"
"Don't call me senpai!"
As their relationship grew closer, Tsunade had finally started feeling uncomfortable with Kizaru calling her that.
"All right, Tsunade-nee-san."
Kizaru teased her, lowering his head slightly and smiling.
"Did you come here just to annoy me?"
Tsunade glared at him, pretending to be angry.
"No, no. Not at all, Tsunade."
As he spoke, Kizaru placed his right hand on Tsunade's shoulder as though it were perfectly natural.
Feeling the warmth on her shoulder, Tsunade glanced at Kizaru but said nothing, as if she had not noticed.
"Come back to the office with me. I need to take off my work clothes."
After saying that, Tsunade walked toward the office.
With his right hand still resting on her shoulder, Kizaru naturally followed beside her.
"Hehe! Tsunade-sama, leaving work again?"
In the corridor, a young female medical-nin walked toward them with a teasing tone.
A blush rose on Tsunade's face. She knocked Kizaru's hand away and immediately put on a serious expression.
"Hanako, how is your practice with the Mystical Palm Technique going? I'll be checking tomorrow. If you fail… hmph."
The smile on Hanako's face grew even brighter.
She looked at Kizaru and said, "Kizaru-san, you saw that, right? Tsunade-sama is really scary. You'd better be careful in the future."
The moment she finished speaking, Hanako hurried away before Tsunade could explode.
As she ran, her mischievous laughter echoed down the corridor.
"That girl…!"
Both embarrassed and annoyed, Tsunade clenched her fist and lightly punched Kizaru.
"I didn't do anything to offend you, Tsunade."
Kizaru rubbed his waist and smiled.
"You're not allowed to come to the hospital to see me anymore."
Tsunade's face was still flushed from embarrassment.
"Did you hear me?"
"I only came to visit other people."
Kizaru answered with a lazy excuse.
Knowing perfectly well that Kizaru was just making an excuse, Tsunade did not continue threatening him. Instead, she walked forward with an expression that said she had no way to deal with him.
Just like the relationship between Kizaru and Tsunade, the village's recent development had also become steady and positive.
The Land of Fire daimyō was satisfied with Konoha's glorious victory in this year's war. On top of that, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura had brought nutritional potions with them, as well as the agency rights to sell those potions.
Because of this, the daimyō personally stepped forward and asked his ministers to increase Konoha's funding for the coming year.
The current daimyō of the Land of Fire was a very clever ruler.
He handed administrative authority to the ministers he trusted and entrusted financial management to the veteran ministers left behind by his father.
At the same time, he rarely involved himself in the power struggles between ministers, or between the ministers and Konoha. More often than not, he acted as a mediator, balancing the conflicts between both sides to secure his own position.
For the daimyō to personally make a move this time and request an increase in Konoha's funding was extremely rare.
Even more rare was the fact that not a single official or noble opposed the proposal.
This alone showed how popular the nutritional potions brought by the two Konoha advisors had become in the capital of the Land of Fire.
For those officials and nobles who were ordinary people, yet worked day and night, the nutritional potions were like nectar from heaven.
Leaving aside the enormous profits behind the potions, there was not a single official or noble who had experienced their effects and disliked them.
Since drinking the nutritional potions, the status of these officials and nobles at home had clearly improved.
One could say they had regained their former glory.
With personal experience backing it up, everyone understood the value hidden behind the nutritional potions. They knew this was a business with tremendous profit.
Naturally, their impression of Konoha, which had taken the initiative to deliver such an opportunity to their doorstep, became extremely favorable.
By the time Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu left the capital of the Land of Fire, they had already received orders worth hundreds of millions of ryō.
After repeated inspections and evaluations, Konoha's production price to those noble agents was set at three million ryō per potion.
As for the final market price, that would depend on the ability of the nobles who held the sales rights.
In order to prevent malicious price cutting, the five nobles led by the Fire Daimyō, who represented the first-level sales rights, negotiated and agreed on one rule.
The minimum selling price could not be lower than five million ryō.
Carrying orders worth hundreds of millions, along with the good news that Konoha's funding would increase next year, the two Konoha advisors returned to Konoha in excellent spirits.
They were practically in the mood to eat hot pot and sing victory songs all the way back.
With so much money flowing in, both the village and its people would be able to live better and more prosperous lives in the coming year.
Kizaru truly was impressive.
Naturally, the two Hokage advisors, who had also earned a considerable private profit from this trip, did not forget who had arranged everything behind the scenes.
"I'm not going!"
Sitting on his soft little bed, Shukaku hugged his pillow tightly and shook his head with all his might.
Another new week had arrived.
It was time for Shukaku and the Nine-Tails to train again.
"Oooh? Are you scared, Shukaku?"
Kizaru sat in the chair across from the bed, smiling lazily.
Shukaku had already fought Kushina three times.
And he had lost every time.
After being beaten three weeks in a row, Shukaku had finally learned his lesson. He did not want to get beaten again.
Facing Kizaru's provocation, Shukaku refused to fall for it this time.
"Lord Shukaku isn't feeling well today. I don't want to fight."
"Do tailed beasts feel unwell too?"
"I do."
"Oooh, how cute."
Kizaru touched his chin and looked down at him.
"I'm still not going!"
As he spoke, Shukaku threw himself onto the bed and started rolling around.
"I'm not going! I'm not going! I'm not going!"
Seeing Shukaku like this, Kizaru rubbed his head in mild distress.
After thinking for a moment, he suggested, "This time, I'll tell Kushina not to use sealing techniques. She'll only fight you with the Nine-Tails' chakra."
Hearing this, Shukaku immediately stopped rolling and sat up.
"Really?"
"Really."
After receiving Kizaru's assurance, Shukaku instantly felt that he could win again.
He threw aside the pillow in his arms, stood up, and regained his confidence.
"This time, Lord Shukaku is going to teach that stinky tomato a lesson!"
Seeing Shukaku's confident appearance, Matatabi, who was standing on the table beside Kizaru, could not help lowering its head with a sigh.
How long would it take for this foolish tanuki to understand that he was no match for the Nine-Tails?
Although Matatabi was also dissatisfied with Kurama's habit of judging a tailed beast's strength by the number of tails, it understood one thing very clearly.
Among the tailed beasts, Kurama was indeed the strongest.
After all, when the Sage of Six Paths divided the chakra, it was practically done like this.
One portion for the One-Tail.
One portion for the Nine-Tails.
One portion for the Two-Tails.
One portion for the Nine-Tails.
One portion for the Three-Tails.
One portion for the Nine-Tails.
The whole process could be described with a single word.
Fair.
So fair it was almost insulting.
The same familiar place.
The same familiar people.
Outside Konoha Village, on the temporary training ground that had long since been turned into a wasteland, Shukaku and Kushina stood facing each other.
"Kehahahaha! You little stinky tomato! No sealing techniques today! There's no way you can beat me! Hahahaha!"
Having returned to his enormous true form, Shukaku burst into triumphant laughter.
Kushina gritted her teeth and glared at him.
"I told you already. I hate being called a tomato, you stinky tanuki!"
"Beat him up."
Inside Kushina's body, Kurama's words were simple and direct.
"Kurama, give me your chakra."
Through their inner connection, Kushina could now naturally ask Kurama for chakra.
Likewise, Kurama had become skilled at sharing his chakra with Kushina.
The Nine-Tails' chakra continued pouring out, and Kushina quickly transformed into the form of the Nine-Tails.
Watching Kushina grow more and more proficient with the transformation, Kizaru, who was observing from the side, showed a satisfied smile.
With Shukaku around, the process of synchronizing Kushina and Kurama's minds was progressing very quickly.
"Go down, you stinking fox! You stinky tomato brat!"
With a sharp cry, Shukaku created a huge amount of sand and sent it rushing toward Kushina, who had transformed into the Nine-Tails.
A cunning smile appeared on Shukaku's face.
Taking advantage of the fact that Kushina could not use sealing techniques today, he planned to reverse the situation and use sealing techniques himself.
The sand, carrying the same sealing formula as the markings on Shukaku's body, surged forward like a wave under his control and quickly wrapped around the limbs of the Nine-Tails.
"Kehahahaha! Today, I'll let you experience what happened to me these past few times!"
Shukaku laughed proudly, using sand engraved with sealing formulas to bind the Nine-Tails' limbs.
Feeling the flow of chakra slow down, Kushina controlled the Nine-Tails' body and struggled with all her strength, only to discover that she could not break free from the sand's restraints.
"Shukaku's sand contains sealing formulas. It can suppress the flow of chakra," Kurama reminded her.
"What should I do?"
Kizaru had said not to use sealing techniques.
Because of that, Kushina, who specialized in sealing jutsu, had lost most of her combat power. She could only ask Kurama for help.
"Shukaku's sealing jutsu cannot restrain me. Loosen my seal, and I'll give you all of my chakra."
Kurama had no intention of seeing Shukaku's ugly victorious face.
Because she had maintained communication with Kurama for so long, fought alongside him several times, and trusted Kizaru, who was watching from the side, Kushina did not hesitate.
She directly released the seal suppressing Kurama inside her.
"Hand me control of your body."
Without the restraint and suppression of the seal, Kurama's chakra flared with overwhelming force.
"Today, I'm going to teach that stinking tanuki a lesson he won't forget."
"I'm counting on you, Kurama!"
Kushina's anger was no less than his.
"Roar!"
Taking control of the body, Kurama let out a powerful roar.
"You stinking tanuki! I'm beating you down right here today!"
"Kehahahaha! You're the one going down today, you stinking fox!"
Shukaku replied with pride. He opened his mouth, slapped his belly, and fired a Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet.
Kurama erupted with chakra at full force.
Breaking free from the sand's restraints, he chose to take Shukaku's attack head-on.
"Kehahaha! That hurt, didn't it, stinking fox?!"
Shukaku slapped his belly and laughed happily.
"Roar!"
Kurama broke completely free of the restraints, leaped into the air, and rushed straight at Shukaku.
His right claw stretched out.
Before Shukaku could react, Kurama slapped him hard.
Boom!
With a loud crash, Shukaku was knocked straight to the ground.
"Oooh… that looked painful."
Kizaru touched his own face, as if he could feel it too.
"Be careful they don't get carried away," Matatabi kindly reminded him from beside him.
"Don't worry. They can't beat me."
Kizaru lowered his right hand, slipped both hands back into his pockets, and smiled with his usual relaxed expression.
"Honestly, you…"
Faced with Kizaru's answer, Matatabi found that it could not refute him.
Even if Shukaku and Kurama teamed up, they still would not be able to beat Kizaru.
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