Not bothering about Sakumo, who was still in a dilemma, Kawaki thought he was troubled by the fact that his sister - in - law still hadn't conceived.
Anyway, he knew his nephew was Kakashi, so he didn't try to comfort Sakumo. These things couldn't be rushed.
Seeing Kushina looking like a curious little kid, Kawaki stroked her beautiful red hair.
"Want to learn it?"
Kushina nodded, then quickly shook her head.
"Aniki Kawaki, it's not that I'm eager to learn."
"I just think if my friend learns this [jutsu], he'll be really amazing."
Seeing how cute Kushina looked, Kawaki couldn't resist teasing her.
"Is your friend a guy?"
"Yes. How did you know?"
"Does he have blond hair and a nice smile?"
"Yes. Have you met him?"
"Is his name Minato Namikaze?"
Kawaki didn't answer Kushina's question. The surprised look on her face was so funny.
"Ah, you got it all right."
At this moment, Kushina finally showed her childish side, shedding her usual tough facade.
"Such a trifle. I just need to do a little mental arithmetic."
Kawaki raised his head and put on an air of mystery.
"Come on, I don't believe it. You must have heard it somewhere."
"After all, Minato is my only friend at school."
Looking at the cocky big brother, Kushina regained her wits.
If it weren't about Minato, she wouldn't have been interested at all.
"Ahem."
Kawaki, who failed in his pretense, coughed awkwardly twice.
This was Minato's signature move. Of course, he'd be amazing if he learned it.
"If your friend is interested, he can come to me."
"I'm still short of a student."
Taking Minato as his apprentice would be quite fulfilling. Jiraiya probably hadn't spotted this genius yet, so there was no need to worry about stealing him away.
Besides, Jiraiya had so many apprentices. It wouldn't matter if he lost one.
Kawaki tried to justify his thoughts. He had snatched Jiraiya's goddess before, and now he wanted to steal his apprentice.
He was really being a bad guy.
"Big brother, you're being a bit much."
Nawaki, who had been silently doing the horse - stance, was unhappy. Was he saying he was short of a student right in front of him?
Wasn't he learning from him?
"Hey, Nawaki, it's different with you."
"What's our relationship? Can it be compared to an ordinary person?"
Seeing that his future brother - in - law was unhappy, Kawaki quickly changed his attitude to placate him.
"Well, you're right. I'll forgive you then."
Nawaki was left a bit dazed by the soothing words. This carefree guy must have taken after Hashirama Senju's nature.
If he had a bit of Tobirama Senju's shrewdness, he wouldn't have forgiven Kawaki so readily.
"Really?"
Kushina didn't pay attention to their conversation. She was extremely excited. She thought that with Minato's talent, if he had a teacher as powerful as Kawaki, he would definitely become really powerful.
"Really."
Kawaki answered firmly. He was set on taking Minato as his apprentice. Not even the Shinigami could stop him.
"Then let's pinky - swear. I'll tell Minato when school starts."
"He'll be over the moon."
Saying that, Kushina stretched out her little finger on her right hand.
Kawaki also played along with this childish game and hooked his pinky with hers.
Since Kawaki was willing to take Minato as his disciple, Kushina didn't want to do horse stances with Nawaki anymore. Let those who want to do it.
She was attracted by the Ghost Mastiff running around in the martial arts training hall. Sure enough, she was a tough - tempered girl.
Normally, it would be considered brave for a girl not to run away at the sight of a Ghost Mastiff.
She took off at full speed towards the Ghost Mastiff.
"Ah, what a big dog."
Perhaps due to the natural affinity of the Uzumaki clan, the Ghost Mastiff didn't resist at all and let Kushina pet it.
It even looked like it was enjoying the petting. As it whimpered softly, it felt the dissatisfaction from Kawaki.
When I pet you, you act like you're half - dead, but when a pretty little girl pets you, you enjoy it?
Where does that leave my face, Kawaki?
The Ghost Mastiff's fur stood on end. It quickly got out of Kushina's hand and only then did the hair - raising aura fade.
What an extremely possessive man. How terrifying.
As the day passed, Nawaki and Kushina returned to the Senju family under the escort of the samurai.
As the moon hung on the branches, the whole Konoha became completely quiet.
It was late at night. Three black - clothed men with their figures obscured came to the Uchiha clan's land.
Under the moonlight, one could faintly see that the man in the lead had an X - shaped scar on his chin. It was Tanzō.
He visited the Hatake family last night, and tonight he's at the Uchiha's. I wonder how many of his subordinates he can afford to lose.
They avoided the Uchiha's secret sentries. They were very familiar with the Uchiha clan's land.
They came to the door of the Uchiha clan leader's house.
One of the men behind stepped forward to knock on the door and then stepped back and stood still.
After a while, the door opened, and a young man in a kimono appeared in front of Tanzō and the other two.
"I'm Fugaku. What brings you three to our Uchiha clan out of the blue?"
Fugaku looked arrogant and vigilant. After all, the appearance of three strangers in front of the clan leader's door already showed their skills.
"I'm Tanzō. I have something important to discuss with your clan leader."
Tanzō didn't give this young Uchiha a second thought. He was determined to wipe out the Uchiha clan sooner or later.
"Wait."
Fugaku frowned. He naturally knew of Tanzō's reputation. Root had clashed with the Uchiha clan quite a lot.
Among the higher - ups in Konoha, Tanzō had no good feelings for the Uchiha. He wondered what his purpose was today.
He turned around without closing the door. A door was just a fig leaf for a ninja.
After a moment, Fugaku came back and led Tanzō and the other two to the quiet room of the clan leader's house.
Looking at the quiet room that was about 80% similar to the one last night, Tanzō's eyelid twitched slightly.
It was as if there was still a faint pain in his neck.
After standing still for a moment, he sat down opposite the Uchiha clan leader. Behind him were two Root ninjas, and behind the Uchiha clan leader was Fugaku.
At the signal of his uncle, Fugaku poured a cup of tea for Tanzō.
"When did our Uchiha clan ever have something important to discuss with Tanzō?"
The Uchiha clan leader cut straight to the chase when he spoke.
"The Senju family is going to open a hospital next to the Uchiha Security Force."
Tanzō didn't mention the Hatake family because the Senju were the Uchiha's eternal rivals.
"Really?"
The Uchiha clan leader's mind went into overdrive. He suspected it was a new ploy of the Third Hokage to get rid of the Uchiha.
Seeing the sudden change in the Uchiha clan leader's expression, a faint, almost imperceptible smile flashed across Tanzō's face.
"It's absolutely true. The approval has been issued."
"The construction will start once the money is in place."
Tanzō was actually telling the truth, but he didn't mention that the money would come from the Hatake family.
"What's your purpose?"
The Uchiha clan leader didn't believe that Tanzō would be so kind as to share this information with him.
"I also don't want this hospital to be built."
Since he couldn't become the director, Tanzō would rather the hospital not open. He even didn't hesitate to cooperate with his most hated Uchiha clan.
You can see how sneaky he is.
Having been involved in politics for most of his life, the Uchiha clan leader immediately guessed Tanzō's intention. Tanzō was just afraid that Tsunade would gain popularity and compete with him for the position of Hokage.
His guess actually matched Tanzō's ambition.
"So, how are we gonna cooperate?"
Since they had the same goal, the Uchiha clan leader didn't mind cooperating with Tanzō once.
Moreover, Tsunade had the support of the Hatake family, which was not easy to deal with.
Fugaku's skills are quite remarkable among the Uchiha clan, but he couldn't even withstand a single move from Kawaki.
If he knew Tanzō almost got killed by Kawaki last night, he'd probably think differently.