Moonlight flowed softly across the room, brushing the faces of two girls like dew over morning blossoms. Wrapped in sleep, their breaths were delicate, peaceful — a quiet aftershock to a night that had utterly exhausted them.
After a long night of vigorous domestic warfare, Uchiha Soren, drained to the marrow, gently tucked both of his wives in. He straightened their blankets, brushed a stray lock of hair away, and stepped over a battlefield of cat-ear and cat-tail accessories before finally pulling on his Hokage robe.
Downstairs, soft light glowed from the living room.
"Hikari, why aren't you asleep yet?" he called.
There, Uchiha Hikari was seated in a posture she must have copied from Yuan Xiangzhi — back straight, chin raised, expression practiced and serious.
It might have looked intimidating if she weren't wearing cat-print pajamas and blushing like a child caught reading forbidden romance scrolls.
"Sleep…?" she echoed with a sigh far too adult for her age.
Her dark eyes narrowed with tragic wisdom.
"I understand everyone wants to celebrate after a great victory… but before celebrating, can you or Sister set up a soundproof barrier?! With that noise… how could anyone sleep?"
Soren's ears turned crimson.
He coughed into his fist, composing himself like a very responsible adult and not at all the source of "that noise."
"Don't expect your elders to be ready for every sudden whim. Be more understanding."
Then, softer, "Tomorrow morning, go to Sister Gentry and learn barrier jutsu. After that, you can set them up yourself at night."
Hikari blinked, startled — then delighted.
Still…
He flicked her forehead lightly. "It's late. No staying up. Tomorrow you're teaching Jiraiya's group at the Advanced Division. I'll be at the Uzumaki front — back by dusk."
He vanished in a whisper of Flying Thunder God.
Hikari stomped upstairs — half annoyed, half secretly happy to be entrusted with something.
Later, curled in bed, she hugged a loudly snoring Juno and drifted into dreams: a parade of joyful Sannin tossing flowers, Hikari in a white bridal gown—
Holding a handsome man…
Wait.
Why was Juno in her arms?!
She jolted awake and flung the cat aside.
After splashing water on her face, curiosity dragged her to the innermost door of the house.
Should she peek?
Just a peek.
Her cheeks burned as she cracked the door open—
Two figures slept peacefully, blankets pulled to their chins, cat toys scattered everywhere. Nothing scandalous.
Hikari shut the door with a breathless sigh and buried herself under her own covers, whining into her pillow.
From inside the blankets, Juno thought loudly at her:
"You big dummy, Hikari."
Then curled into a smug orange ball.
Far away, at an Uzumaki army camp, Soren finished comforting Uzumaki Minako, brushed the sweat from her back, and prepared to leave.
"I'll clear out the Mist Village's forces."
"By dawn, return your soldiers to the Uzumaki camp. I'll come pick you up at dusk."
Minako smiled, lifting her pale neck just enough to make Soren's blood pressure spike. He kissed her lightly and disappeared through space.
Mist Village Front — Coastline
Soren arrived without ceremony.
His Eternal Mangekyō spun; blue flames roared open as he summoned the Two-Tails. Then — rising together — an armored Two-Tails Susanoo, a monstrous war-engine of chakra and fire, towered toward the sky.
From atop the crystal in the Two-Tails' skull, Soren surveyed the Mist army.
Then he descended.
Like a scarlet storm.
Mist shinobi screamed as the massive armored beast carved through their ranks. Water-style specialists attempted counterattacks; their jutsu shattered uselessly against the giant Susanoo's plates.
The Third Mizukage attempted a valiant stand — a barrage of water dragons and water cannons. Soren didn't even look twice. A single armored swipe flattened the Mizukage so hard the ground cracked.
Two-Tails Susanoo left the battlefield without a single scratch.
Soren glanced down from the crystal dome, bored.
He pointed at a particularly sturdy-looking elite Mist shinobi.
"You. Deliver the Fourth Mizukage to Konoha within five days. Alive."
The man trembled but obeyed.
By sunrise, fewer than three hundred Mist shinobi remained.
They sat amid collapsed tents, shattered armor, and the torn banners of their fallen comrades. Blood coated their fingernails, their wrists, even their teeth. Some simply stared at the sea; others fell onto their swords, unable to bear the shame.
When the sun climbed over the horizon, fewer than two hundred escaped the nightmare.
Uzumaki Perspective
"What is this?!"
Uzumaki Runa, clan leader and chieftain of the tidal hamlet, stared at the distant smoke pillars with dread crawling down his spine.
He tasted the air.
That chakra — cold, savage, unnatural — did not belong to any army. It belonged to a force that shouldn't exist.
He muttered:
"Senju have no Wood Release now. The Uchiha wield eye techniques surpassing Madara's… and the Hokage seat is theirs."
He clenched his fists.
"Who can stand against them?"
Kinship bound the Uzumaki to Senju and Konoha — but what happens when your ally becomes a giant?
For now, diplomacy was the only shield.
And marriage diplomacy… was the most secure.
If the Senju had married into Uchiha dominance, the Uzumaki could follow suit.
The safest option was obvious.
Whether they liked it or not.
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