The wedding ceremony of Sora and Uzumaki Kushina had concluded, and the two had officially become husband and wife before their witnesses.
Now the couple was making their rounds, toasting the guests one by one.
The first was naturally the eldest person present, Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Sora and Kushina approached Hiruzen and Biwako, wine glasses in hand.
Sora smiled and said, "Lord Third, Lady Biwako, thank you both for taking the time to attend our wedding."
Hiruzen smiled kindly and replied, "Of course Biwako and I had to come to your wedding with Kushina. Sora, you are a great contributor to Konoha, and we have watched you grow up."
Sora smiled, clinked glasses with them, and then said, "Thank you, Lord Third and Lady Biwako. Kushina and I should go greet the other guests now."
Sora and Kushina then approached Danzo.
Danzo appeared to be forcing a smile.
He had expected that Sora would not invite Namikaze Minato to the wedding, but Minato had come.
This made the naturally suspicious Danzo reconsider the situation.
Sora was incredibly important now, not only in terms of strength but also reputation. More significantly, Sora played a crucial role in Danzo's plans for the Uchiha clan.
If Sora switched allegiances, Danzo would lose his advantage. Danzo intended to gain considerable benefits from Sora in his scheme against the Uchiha clan.
Although Sora bore the Cursed Tongue Seal, this seal had no binding power over Sora himself.
If Sora truly switched sides, Danzo would be powerless to stop him.
Noticing Danzo's sour expression, Sora's lips curled into a slight smile. He raised his glass to Danzo and said, "Lord Danzo, I'd like to visit you personally tomorrow. There are some matters I wish to discuss with you. Would you be available?"
Hearing Sora's words, Danzo looked directly into his eyes, and Sora's gaze briefly flickered in Minato's direction.
Danzo immediately understood, and his forced smile disappeared.
It seemed that Sora had not switched sides to Hiruzen or Minato but remained loyal to Danzo's cause.
When Sora mentioned wanting to talk, he likely wanted to explain why he had invited Minato today.
Even if Sora didn't offer an explanation, Danzo now believed that Sora was still one of his own.
After all, Sora had already made his position clear to him.
Danzo raised his wine glass and clinked it against those of Sora and Kushina, "I wish you a happy marriage. There's no rush to visit me. You just got married today—you should take a few days off and spend more time with your bride."
Sora maintained his smile and said, "Thank you for your understanding, Lord Danzo, but I'd prefer to come tomorrow. I have some important matters I'd like to discuss with you."
Danzo nodded and said, "Very well, I'll expect you at Root headquarters tomorrow."
Next, Sora and Kushina approached the table where Minato and Uzumaki Miyuki were seated.
Miyuki congratulated them, "Congratulations to you both! You're finally married."
Kushina said happily, "Yes, Miyuki, and you'll be next!"
Miyuki responded shyly, "Don't say such things, Kushina."
Minato picked up his wine glass and said to Sora, "Congratulations, Sora."
"Thank you."
Sora clinked glasses with Minato.
Then Sora and Kushina walked over to Orochimaru, who was seated with Kakashi as they enjoyed the banquet.
"Orochimaru-sensei, Kakashi, thank you both for all your help with the wedding. I truly appreciate it."
Orochimaru took a sip of wine and said, "It was nothing difficult. As your mentor, I'm very pleased to see you get married."
After swallowing his food, Kakashi added, "Yeah, I just had to entertain a few people. There weren't many guests, so it wasn't tiring at all."
After Sora and Kushina toasted Orochimaru and Kakashi, they finally came to the table with Kushina's three close friends.
Kushina's friends appeared more nervous than the bride and groom themselves.
After all, they were just ordinary shinobi, and everyone else here, except for Kakashi, was a high-ranking figure they would normally only see on important occasions. They felt both excited and nervous.
When the wedding ended, Sora and Kushina returned home with their gifts.
Once home, Kushina showed her true colors, collapsing onto the sofa and complaining, "I shouldn't be tired, but I feel as exhausted as if I'd completed an S-rank mission."
After changing his clothes, Sora winked at Kushina and said, "You'll be even more tired later~"
Kushina, though they were now married, immediately understood Sora's meaning. Her cheeks flushed red, and she retorted, "I don't know who will be more tired!"
...
The next day.
Sora and Kushina didn't wake up until past noon.
Kushina lay in bed after their exhausting night, reluctant to get up.
Sora pinched Kushina's soft cheek affectionately before getting up himself. After changing his clothes, he asked, "Kushina, what would you like for lunch? I'll make it for you."
Kushina replied with a slightly hoarse voice, "I want sukiyaki."
"Alright, I'll go buy the ingredients first. I'll call you when it's ready."
"Mmm~"
Sora left home to purchase groceries.
The smile hadn't left his face since he woke up.
After knowing Kushina for so many years, he had finally achieved his goal.
His immediate objective had been accomplished: Kushina had not become a Jinchūriki, and everything was developing favorably.
Now Sora could focus on his next goal.
The shinobi world of the future would be full of dangers.
Sora's goal was straightforward: to secure his own place in this perilous ninja world.
Perhaps it was the warlike blood of the Uchiha clan flowing through his veins that made Sora eager to face powerful adversaries.
After purchasing the ingredients for sukiyaki, Sora took out his ring on the way home. He channeled chakra into it to contact Yahiko, asking him to bring his companions to Danshu Street in the Land of Fire.
From the ring Sora had given Yahiko, he could tell that two new members had already joined the Akatsuki organization.
After returning home, Sora prepared the sukiyaki. After having lunch with Kushina, he headed to Root headquarters.
Besides wanting to reassure Danzo of his loyalty, Sora also wanted to learn about Danzo's next move regarding the Uchiha clan.
As a radical, Danzo would definitely be planning to continue targeting the Uchiha clan severely if nothing else changed.
However, as a conservative, Sarutobi Hiruzen would certainly not agree with such an approach. The reason for being so aggressive before was due to the war—they had to prevent the Uchiha clan from establishing great achievements, lest the clan become completely uncontrollable after the conflict.
Now that the war was over and the ninja world was at peace, Hiruzen would never support such aggressive measures against the Uchiha clan.
Sora was obviously not suitable for a more moderate approach, especially now that there was a more appropriate candidate than him: Uchiha Shisui.
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