Hinowa had no idea what Orochimaru wanted or what was going through his mind.
This man's thoughts were utterly unreadable!
Driven by sheer survival instinct, ever since Orochimaru had brought her back, Hinowa hadn't dared to defy him in the slightest—whatever he said, she obeyed without question.
For the sake of her child, she had even gone out of her way to try and please him—waking up early to prepare a nutritious breakfast, keeping the house spotless inside and out, and so on.
Take today, for example.
While Orochimaru was out, Hinowa had cleaned every inch of the house—except for the basement, which she was forbidden from entering—until it was immaculate.
She had even ventured outside, enduring the whispers and strange looks from the neighbors, to buy ingredients from the market.
Then, she prepared a hearty, nutrient-rich dinner in advance, waiting for Orochimaru to return.
All of this was just in the hope that the legendary Sannin might show some mercy and spare her child.
But…
It had no effect whatsoever.
On the contrary, her efforts only seemed to earn her Orochimaru's visible displeasure and dissatisfaction.
"You don't need to do these things!"
With those words, Orochimaru stood up and walked away.
But after just two steps, he paused, turning back to coldly add.
"And don't clean up while I'm gone."
More confused than ever about what Orochimaru was thinking, Hinowa quickly stammered.
"Hai…"
*****
On the street, Orochimaru strode straight toward the bookstore, completely indifferent to the murmurs and pointing fingers around him.
Once inside, he barely glanced around before heading straight for a particular shelf.
Reaching it, he picked up a book titled The Complete Guide to Pregnancy Nutrition.
This woman…
She had no awareness of what it meant to be a mother!
Orochimaru thought irritably, recalling the question he had subtly posed to Minato earlier at the Hokage's office.
"Minato, who handles the housework and cooking in your household—you or Kushina?"
"Usually, it's me…"
The answer had ignited a surge of frustration in Orochimaru.
This woman was utterly incompetent!
Thankfully, he had sought advice from Minato, who was also about to become a father.
Otherwise, this mistake might have persisted much longer!
Minato's approach had to be the standard.
Orochimaru firmly believed this, piecing together a perfectly logical explanation.
Minato took on these tasks to personally oversee his wife's diet and ensure balanced nutrition, preventing any potential mishaps.
It also aligned with the doctor's advice—pregnant women must not overexert themselves!
That had to be it.
Nodding to himself, Orochimaru paid for the book and strode confidently out of the store, leaving the shopkeeper gaping in astonishment.
On the way home, Orochimaru pored over the cookbook with meticulous attention, his mind made up.
Starting tomorrow, he would personally take control of that foolish woman's diet and nutritional intake—absolutely no more letting her run wild!
Of course, such tasks could easily be delegated to others, but Orochimaru had firmly decided to handle it himself.
The reason? He simply didn't trust anyone else!
"Lord Orochimaru!"
On the deserted path, a Root ninja suddenly appeared, blocking Orochimaru's way.
"What?" Orochimaru halted, his brow furrowing.
"Lord Danzo has sent me to inquire about the progress of the experiment."
"Soon."
With those two curt words, Orochimaru stepped past the Root ninja and continued on his way.
The Root ninja could only sigh in frustration.
"Soon" was the same answer he'd heard multiple times now!
Every time he came, it was always just "soon"!
Couldn't you at least give a concrete timeline, Lord Orochimaru?
I'm the one who'll get scolded by Lord Danzo when I return!
Could you maybe take this a little more seriously?
Aren't you supposed to be Lord Danzo's close ally?
And what the hell is this "Complete Guide to Pregnancy Diets"?
What kind of experiment even requires something like that?
Are you and Lord Danzo playing some kind of...exceptionally twisted game?
*****
What was bound to happen had finally come.
As he listened to the ANBU's summary report on the recent village rumors, Minato let out a long sigh in his heart.
These rumors were particularly hard to suppress, mainly because the villagers weren't entirely wrong—a lowly wandering kunoichi and one of the Legendary Sannin, Orochimaru.
If they cracked down too harshly on such talk, it might breed resentment among the villagers, or worse, they could be accused of suppressing freedom of speech.
There was, however, a silver lining: for now, Orochimaru didn't seem to care about the gossip or the villagers' pointing fingers.
But that was only for now.
*****
The next morning, 7 a.m.
"Eat all of it."
Hinowa stared in disbelief at the meal laid out on the table—prepared by Orochimaru, who had been clattering around in the kitchen since 4 a.m.
"Leave the dishes when you're done. Anko will clean up. Also, I have business today, so Anko will accompany you to the hospital."
Without giving Hinowa a chance to respond, Orochimaru turned and left.
As for the aforementioned Anko, she stood in the kitchen, holding a steel scrubber, her face twitching as she surveyed the disastrous mess before her.
This... was the "super important mission" her teacher had mentioned?
What kind of experiment even is this?!
....
"Mind your damn business!"
On the way to the hospital with Hinowa, Anko finally snapped, shouting at the villagers who kept whispering and pointing.
"Watch your mouths!"
Her aggressive stance and combative glare were enough to silence the onlookers.
Satisfied, Anko let it go.
"Don't worry, Sensei Wife! With me here, nothing will go wrong!" Anko declared proudly, thumping her chest.
She held immense respect for this sudden addition to her teacher's life.
"N-no, I'm not..." Hinowa waved her hands weakly in denial. "I'm not his wife..."
Anko, completely ignoring her, tilted her head and curiously eyed Hinowa's increasingly prominent belly.
"By the way, is it a little brother or sister? And what about the name? Has Orochimaru-sensei named the baby yet? What is it?"
Facing the excited, chatterbox little girl who wasn't listening to a word she said, Hinowa ultimately gave up on explaining and simply shook her head with a resigned smile.
"Sadaharu! No! That dog really isn't suitable for you! Please!"
Hearing the commotion, Hinowa turned to see a black-haired boy wearing goggles straining with all his might to hold back a large white dog that seemed irresistibly drawn to something.
"Sadaharu, please! That really won't work! The size difference is just too much!"
"Woof!"
Obito, with the thick dog leash slung over his shoulder, was doing everything he could to stop Sadaharu from charging towards a small, adorable pet dog he had spotted.
Beside him, Kakashi wore an expression of utter exasperation.
This was the consequence of Obito insisting on walking his useless older brother's dog while accompanying their teacher's wife to her prenatal checkup!
"Sadaharu! I'm begging you! Let it go for today! I'll introduce you to a toad your size later, okay?"
"There's no way he'd agree to that!" Kakashi instantly retorted.
"They're completely different species!"
"How do you know he wouldn't like it? What if Sadaharu does?"
"No matter how you look at it, Sadaharu would never be into that!"
"Damn it! Just watch—I'll prove it to you!"
With that, Obito dropped the leash, bit his thumb, and began forming hand seals, determined to make his point.
"Idiot! Why'd you let go of the leash?! Sadaharu's chasing after that dog now!"
"Huh?"
Obito turned around just in time to see Sadaharu bounding joyfully after the unleashed pet dog of unknown ownership.
"Oh no!!"
Clutching his head in despair, Obito immediately took off after the dog, Kakashi right behind him.
If they didn't intervene, Sadaharu was sure to wreak havoc on the streets of Konoha!
Meanwhile, Rin and Kushina watched the two boys' noisy retreating figures and exchanged a helpless smile.
"Well, I guess it's just you and me going to the hospital, Rin-chan."
"Mm!" Rin nodded firmly, supporting Kushina by the arm.
"Then let's get going."
Just as Kushina was about to step forward, she noticed another woman who's also visibly pregnant, heading in the same direction toward the hospital.
And like her, the woman was accompanied by a young genin girl…