Throughout the entire breakfast, Hoshiyomi remained in a dazed, foggy state. He heard every word Tsunade said, but all he could manage in response were vague "mm" and "ah" sounds—nothing more.
His brain had completely crashed for the moment, leaving only a single thought echoing inside.
I'm going to be a father...
Even though, counting both his lives, he was already over sixty years old, this would be his first time ever becoming a father—across both lifetimes combined.
Becoming a dad out of nowhere, without any preparation… it was overwhelming.
Hoshiyomi's mind was a chaotic mess, full of questions about what he should do if something happened to his child.
What if he couldn't raise the kid properly, and they turned out like Boruto's grandpa?
What if his kid didn't bully others but instead got bullied—what was he supposed to do then?
Should he march over and beat up the other kid and their parents?
No—that would set a horrible example.
And what if it was a girl? What if she was too pretty, shy like Hinata, easy to bully—or got ostracized by jealous girls?
He had absolutely no experience handling any of that. And beyond those worries, there were countless more.
What if she ran into a scumbag?
What if she started dating too early…?
Thinking about all of it made Hoshiyomi's head feel like it was about to explode.
No—panicking here alone wasn't helping. With that thought, he stood up abruptly and strode toward the door.
If he wanted to be a good father, he needed advice. So he decided to go find Sakumo and the others—to learn from their experience and deliver the good news.
After briefing Tsunade and promising to be back before dinner, Hoshiyomi set out.
His first stop was the Hokage's office, where he immediately dragged Minato outside.
"Sensei, why are you in such a hurry to gather everyone? Is there some urgent problem?" Minato asked nervously.
Seeing Hoshiyomi's serious, stone-like face the moment he barged into the office and pulled him out, Minato thought for sure some powerful enemy had invaded.
But Hoshiyomi didn't explain anything. He wanted to announce this good news with everyone present.
Before long, Sakumo, Shinku, Orochimaru, and Nawaki were all dragged out. Besides Jiraiya—who was away traveling—the entire Konoha men's group of their generation had assembled.
Seeing everyone gathered with confused expressions around the table, Hoshiyomi cleared his throat solemnly and said:
"I have something very important to announce today…"
His expression was so serious that the others reacted just like Minato—Sakumo even had a hand on the hilt of the short sword on his back.
"I'm going to be a father."
Everyone, who had been as tense as Hoshiyomi seemed a moment ago, froze for a second before collectively rolling their eyes.
"That's it?"
Hoshiyomi widened his eyes, clearly offended.
"What do you mean 'that's it'? Becoming a father is one of the most important things in a person's life!"
Minato scratched his head helplessly.
"Sensei, that's not what we meant. We meant… isn't it weirder that you've never been a father until now at your age?"
At that, everyone nodded. Orochimaru even licked his lips and said:
"If I didn't know the condition of your body, Hoshiyomi-kun, I might've suspected you had… certain unmentionable issues."
Shinku chimed in from the side as well:
"Isn't that right? I even thought back then that maybe we could have my Kurenai and your kid engaged as childhood sweethearts. But look at this now—by the time your kid is born, my kid will be old enough to be their teacher."
Hearing that, Hoshiyomi froze for a moment.
Right… even without counting his previous life, in this life he was already close to forty. Having a child at this age was already considered late.
Sakumo and Shinku —men his age—already had kids who were nearly old enough to start dating. If they kept at that pace, in seven or eight years they might even be grandfathers.
Thinking about that, he realized maybe there wasn't anything to panic about after all.
All he needed to focus on from now on… was just being a good father.
No—being a good father is actually very important.
With that thought, Hoshiyomi spoke again:
"But I'm still worried. That's why I gathered all of you—to get some advice."
He then dumped all the problems he had been worrying about onto them in one go.
But after listening, the group nearly rolled their eyes out of their sockets.
Minato sighed helplessly:
"Sensei, I really don't think you need to worry about any of that."
Nawaki put it even more bluntly:
"Brother-in-law, think about it. A kid born from you and my sister—what kind of level would that be? Who could possibly bully him? It'd already be great if he doesn't bully others.
"And early romance? With our nephew's family background, if he's a boy, the girls lining up to chase him might stretch eight blocks long. Aunt Rie's dream of expanding the Gekko family tree will be instantly fulfilled.
"And if it's a girl—look at us. We're all here watching her back. Who'd dare bully her?"
Hoshiyomi blinked.
Hold on… that actually made a lot of sense.
With his and Tsunade's strength and status, as long as their kid didn't literally pierce the heavens, who in Konoha could possibly control him?
With that realization, he couldn't help imagining his future child.
He himself was only one step away from Six Paths level.
Tsunade was one of the strongest Kage-level shinobi alive.
Their child could not possibly be some sickly frail kid like Hayate.
And the kid would still be a direct descendant of Hashirama.
A near-Six-Paths father, a peak-Kage mother…
Great-grandfather: Senju Hashirama.
Great-grandmother: Uzumaki Mito…
A bloodline like that—this unborn child practically screamed "limitless potential."
Naruto and the other Konoha 12 were barely two years old right now; in ten more months, Hoshiyomi's kid would be around three years younger than Naruto.
Which meant about the same age as Konohamaru… maybe a year older at most.
So doesn't that mean future Konoha won't have anything to do with Konohamaru anymore?
He can just obediently follow behind Hoshiyomi's child as a little brother.
And the timing was perfect, too—not like Naruto's generation, which had to live through the Fourth Great Ninja War.
As long as he handled the Pain invasion properly, his child would have no major unavoidable crises growing up.
Even though "children have their own destinies," Hoshiyomi instinctively wanted to create the best environment possible for the kid.
And to make sure his child wouldn't face any unexpected disasters, Pain's invasion and the Fourth Ninja War… yeah, no slacking off for him anymore.
Thinking of his future kid—
Damn.
He was fired up.
..
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