Seeing that the two girls were completely unbothered, Arata finally felt relieved.
Truth be told, Shizune—such a sensible, well-behaved girl—was someone he genuinely liked. He had always treated her as someone to be raised and guided, almost like the next generation.
As for Kushina, Arata hadn't expected her to blend into the household so quickly. Had she been completely melted by Shizune's cuteness?
After all, Shizune's clothes were custom-made by Arata himself—styles inspired by the kinds of outfits popular among 21st-century livestreamers. Even fairly ordinary-looking streamers could attract fans just by wearing that kind of cute aesthetic.
And Shizune was already adorable to begin with.
Still, Arata decided to leave that mystery for later. Right now, he hadn't forgotten his real task—properly settling the Uzumaki clan.
Just as he was about to release the Uzumaki people from his Kamui space, a familiar figure appeared in front of him.
The man had silver hair, his face showing clear signs of fatigue, yet his handsome features were still unmistakable.
The short blade strapped to his back made his identity obvious.
It was Hatake Sakumo, who had long been stationed at the border of the Land of Wind.
There was a reason he looked so worn out.
Originally, with the front lines shifting from the Land of Wind to the Land of Rain, he should have been able to rest for a while. But who could have expected that trouble would erupt again back home in the Land of Fire—right in Konoha?
Even just hearing about the massive tsunami through intelligence reports had made him suck in a sharp breath.
A wave over two meters high—if that kind of disaster ran rampant, who knew how many civilians would die?
And according to the Hokage's information, it wasn't even a natural tsunami. It had been triggered by the battle between two super–Kage-level powerhouses.
Which meant that if Sakumo went there, he might actually encounter an opponent of super–Kage caliber.
Of course, Sakumo also knew that since the fighting had already ended, the battlefield itself was likely deserted by now. What puzzled him was why the Hokage refused to tell him who had fought there.
Not only that—Sarutobi Hiruzen hadn't explained anything and had only sent Sakumo alone with a three-man squad for disaster relief.
The affected area spanned a diameter of more than ten kilometers. By the time such a small team arrived and began rescue operations, most of the refugees would already be dead.
With so few people, they wouldn't even be able to handle the injured. It was practically no different from sending no one at all.
What Sakumo didn't know was that Sarutobi's thinking was simple: it was better to barely send anyone, but at least keep up appearances.
After all, if the country's citizens saw that the Hokage had taken no action whatsoever in the face of such a catastrophic disaster, public opinion would turn ugly fast.
This incident caused Sakumo—who had once been utterly loyal to the Third Hokage—to once again doubt the man, and that doubt was beginning to harden into distance.
Back when information about Arata had leaked, the perceptive Sakumo had already sensed something was wrong.
Arata's intelligence had been top-level classified, even within the ANBU.
During Arata's battle with Zōshirō, Sakumo had been the first to arrive. No one else should have had access to that information.
As for Arata's Lightning Armor—that was secrecy upon secrecy. Sakumo alone knew about it, and he had personally reported it to the Third Hokage.
Yet somehow, that intelligence still ended up in the hands of the Land of Lightning.
That meant only two possibilities: either Sakumo himself had leaked it—or there was a problem on the Hokage's side.
Sakumo knew he hadn't leaked anything.
Which meant Sarutobi Hiruzen was deeply suspect.
From that moment on, Sakumo had begun to view the seemingly kind, benevolent old man with wary eyes.
As for Arata—despite having married the Senju clan's "princess," the very Senju responsible for the downfall of the Hatake clan—Sakumo still held a fairly positive view of him as a person.
He'd heard that some time ago, Arata had risked his own life to save the lives of several civilian ninja, standing alone against the entire army of the Land of Lightning.
That kind of resolve earned Sakumo's respect.
Putting himself in Arata's shoes, Sakumo felt he might have done the same—but with his own level of strength, he would probably have died on the spot.
Only a monster like Arata could single-handedly confront an entire nation's army and still walk away alive.
No—according to the reports, it wasn't just survival.
Arata had defeated the Raikage and two jinchūriki, driving off the Land of Lightning's forces by himself.
That level of power left no doubt: Arata had reached the super–Kage tier.
For Sakumo, who had once regarded Arata as a rival, this only made him look forward even more to their next duel.
After their first clash, they had agreed to fight again once Arata's strength had increased further.
Only now, it seemed likely that Sakumo would be the one getting completely overwhelmed.
Lost in thought, Sakumo suddenly sensed an overwhelming chakra presence right in front of him.
It was unlike anything he had ever felt before—so immense that it even surpassed the chakra of Uzumaki Mito, whom he had once seen in person.
And Uzumaki Mito had been a Kage-peak shinobi, with the super–Kage Nine-Tails sealed inside her.
Sakumo couldn't imagine what kind of person could possess chakra greater than hers.
Startled, he quickly looked up—
And saw a tall man standing before him.
The man's appearance felt both unfamiliar and strangely familiar at the same time.
Suddenly, Sakumo's eyes widened as realization struck.
"Y–You… you're Arata?!"
His shock was understandable.
Arata's changes over the past few months were simply too drastic.
The shinobi world's technology wasn't advanced enough for photographs to be widely circulated, so what people had were portraits—most of them drawn months ago.
Back then, Arata's facial features hadn't changed much, but his height and physique were a completely different story now.
He had grown over twenty centimeters taller—like someone who'd been pumped full of stimulants.
Before, Arata had been nearly a full head shorter than Sakumo.
After just a few months, he was now slightly taller than him.
More importantly, there was Arata's chakra.
Previously, it had been at most elite chūnin level. Now, upon meeting him again, it felt unfathomably deep—even Sakumo couldn't tell what tier it belonged to anymore.
Sakumo had known Arata had grown stronger. He'd assumed that, at most, Arata had reached the peak of the Kage level.
But now he realized—he had underestimated him.
This wasn't Kage-peak at all.
This was at least super–Kage level.
For countless Kage-level shinobi, super–Kage was the regret of a lifetime.
No matter how gifted, many would spend their entire lives stuck at Kage-peak.
Throughout history, only a handful of truly monstrous geniuses had ever reached the super–Kage realm.
Even Sakumo—confident in his own talent—had never believed he could reach that level in his lifetime.
And yet here stood Arata—a shinobi of civilian origin—who had done exactly that.
Seeing Sakumo's stunned expression, Arata smiled faintly and said,
"If it's not me, who else would it be? It's only been a few months—did you really forget me already?"