"Looks like Mikoto got her wish after all."
Watching the heartwarming interaction between the Uchiha mother and son from a distance, Kushina sighed softly.
"If you wanted to, you could too," Yuto paused his writing and glanced at her.
"Nah, forget it. That knucklehead of mine still hasn't figured things out yet." Kushina shook her head helplessly. "Reuniting wouldn't mean much right now, and honestly? I'm afraid he'd send my blood pressure skyrocketing."
That wasn't entirely impossible.
Given Naruto's unpredictable personality, there was a high chance that what should've been a tender mother-son reunion would veer off into uncharted territory.
But Yuto suspected that wasn't the real reason.
The truth was, this red-haired mother still carried guilt—a weight she couldn't shake off.
Even though Naruto's hardships as a child weren't her fault, but rather the deliberate machinations of Konoha's higher-ups, Kushina still felt responsible. As a mother, she couldn't give her son a happy childhood, and that ate at her.
Yuto didn't offer empty comfort or platitudes. He simply picked up his brush and returned to his paperwork. Some wounds couldn't be soothed by others—she'd have to come to terms with it herself.
*Tap.*
Just as Yuto was scribbling away, a pale, delicate foot plopped onto his elbow.
He blinked, then slowly turned his gaze toward the foot's owner.
The red-haired woman, however, acted as if nothing had happened, turning her face away to avoid eye contact.
Yuto raised an eyebrow, grabbed her ankle, and moved her foot onto the nearby table. But before he could resume working, the foot was back on his arm.
"Big sis, what do you want?" Yuto asked, exasperated.
Kushina ignored him, even picking up a book to read as if she hadn't heard a thing.
"..."
A dark aura practically radiated from Yuto as he poked Kushina's sole with a finger. Her toes curled adorably, but the foot remained stubbornly in place.
'Oh, so we're playing hardball, huh?'
'Lady, you have no idea what kind of freak you're dealing with.'
A wicked thought crossed Yuto's mind. He leaned in, pretending he was about to take a bite of that "ice cream"—
"Hey, that guy's back again," Kushina suddenly said, lowering her book and pointing at the surveillance screen.
On the monitor, a suspicious white figure crept into Yuto's cabin, eyes darting around. Seeing no one, its face lit up with glee before it tiptoed into the bathroom.
A few seconds later, it emerged, looking utterly dejected.
"What the hell is wrong with this White Zetsu?" Kushina frowned, baffled. "Why does it look so disappointed every time it comes out of your bathroom? What's it even looking for in there?"
Yep.
The sneaky intruder was indeed a White Zetsu.
Yuto had noticed it lurking around Danzō a while back but chose not to expose or capture it. Instead, he'd been monitoring its movements.
Lately, though, this particular Zetsu had shifted its focus to Yuto himself, making frequent visits to his cabin—especially the bathroom, which had become its daily pilgrimage site.
The whole routine had Kushina completely stumped.
"Maybe it's looking for poop," Yuto said solemnly.
"Huh?"
"You remember how it's always going on about poop in front of Obito and Madara, right?"
That much was true.
But Kushina still couldn't wrap her head around the idea of breaking into someone's bathroom just to hunt for feces. That was way beyond her comprehension.
"Interesting. It seems pretty invested in my books too," Yuto mused.
On the screen, the Zetsu's disappointment didn't last long. Soon, it perked up again, drawn to a particular book on the shelf. Without hesitation, it grabbed the book, plopped into a chair, and started reading intently.
"Let's go ask for its review," Yuto said, patting Kushina's smooth foot before standing up.
Inside the house, the White Zetsu clone was completely absorbed in the book's "profound wisdom," utterly oblivious to the two people now standing behind it.
[*"Man is not an abstract, isolated individual, but the sum total of his social relations."*]
[*"By reversing this logic, even certain non-human species... as long as they possess human consciousness, thought, and emotion, can be considered 'human.' They are entitled to 'human rights' and are likewise subjects in need of liberation."*]
[*"They should not be enslaved by oppressors and reduced to mere tools!"*]
Reading that last line, the Zetsu clone suddenly felt the urge to cry.
The haze of its past existence lifted in an instant.
"Yes!"
It was a "human"! A being with rights! And yet, Obito and the main Zetsu body had exploited it relentlessly, forcing it to scurry around gathering intel every day—even restricting its poop-observation time!
Before, this Zetsu clone had never questioned its life's purpose.
But now? It just wanted to march up to Obito and its main body and scream, "NO! Screw you, I quit!"
"Why... why didn't I realize this sooner?" the Zetsu clone whispered, wiping away nonexistent tears.
A hand reached over its shoulder, offering a tissue.
"Thanks," the Zetsu said, taking it—before freezing mid-motion. Its head turned stiffly, like a rusted gear, until its eyes locked onto the bespectacled young man behind it.
Instinctively, it tried to burrow into the ground and flee.
*BZZT.*
An overwhelming pressure instantly pinned it in place.
"Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Zetsu."
From the Zetsu's perspective, the boy's glasses gleamed ominously in the dark, as if he was the darkness itself.
"I'm curious," Yuto said mildly. "Do you have a name?"
"Z-Zero-Zero-Seven!" the Zetsu stammered, every cell in its body trembling. This level of terror surpassed even what it had felt serving Madara. "I—I'm the seventh clone spawned from the main body."
"Ah, White Zetsu 007, then?" Yuto nodded. "Tell me—would you be willing to join us in liberating your brethren?"
The pressure vanished. The Zetsu's face lit up. "R-Really? I can?"
"Of course," Yuto said warmly. "We welcome all like-minded comrades."
"Boss!" 007's expression was pure euphoria—before it suddenly added, "C-Can I watch you poop every day?"
"?"
Yuto's smile vanished. His eye twitched.
"PFFT—HAHAHAHA!"
Now the grin had transferred to Kushina, who was cackling like a maniac. "Say yes! Come on, as a leader, how can you deny such a simple request from your own comrade?"
"Comrade 007, there's a mission I need you to handle..." Yuto swiftly deployed the distraction maneuver.
Fortunately, Zetsu 007 was highly motivated.
Eager to prove itself, it immediately vowed to complete the task and vanished into the ground, overjoyed.
Not long after, the underground passage reopened.
"You bastard..."
Sasuke emerged, his face darker than a thundercloud. He looked like he wanted to strangle Yuto, but after a tense moment, he just gritted his teeth and spat out,
"Take care of my mother from now on."
Then he stormed out, slamming the door behind him.
Yuto stood there, utterly bewildered.
"Wait. What just happened?"
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