Holding the Ōmaeda Family travel permit, Uchiha Hiyo passed through Seiryūmon on the eastern edge of the Seireitei.
The giant guard Kaiwan barely even looked at her. He had long since grown numb to the sight of her coming and going, and he smoothly opened the massive gate.
In truth, Hiyo didn't even need the permit—anyone who entered or exited so frequently was automatically recognized.
After an hour of walking beyond the gate, she arrived at District 45 in East Rukongai: the Uchiha Clan headquarters.
When Hiyo first married into the clan, she had secretly suggested relocating the headquarters inside the Seireitei.
It would be safer, closer to the center of power, and more convenient for clan members attending school or going to work.
But Senya, her father-in-law, had dismissed the idea with a single phrase:
"We're used to living here."
After that, obedient Hiyo never mentioned it again.
Pushing open the front door, a familiar scent of old books and ink greeted her.
In the corner of the living room—part study, part sanctuary—her husband Uchiha Izuna was buried in a mountain of calculation drafts, covered in complex runes.
His brows were furrowed. Fingers traced invisible patterns in the air as he muttered to himself, completely lost in his world.
On the corner of the desk sat a bowl of ochazuke that had long since gone cold.
Hiyo hummed a slightly off-key tune, accustomed to the sight. She placed the heavy money box with a clang onto the most conspicuous spot on the table and set the lacquer box beside it.
"You're back?" Izuna's voice was hoarse, tired from late nights of work, but his head never rose.
"Yep. Brought back quite a haul," Hiyo said casually, shrugging off her outer garment.
"Oh, and this," she added, pointing to the lacquer box. "Mother sent it—top-tier black sugar yōkan from Toraya, specifically for Shisui."
She grinned mischievously. Seeing that Izuna probably hadn't eaten lunch, she carefully opened the lacquer box, revealing six neatly arranged blocks of dark, tempting yōkan.
"Shisui hasn't returned from the academy yet," she said, picking up one piece for herself and one for Izuna. "Better 'test' it first. Quality control, you know."
Before he could object, she popped a piece into his slightly parted mouth.
The cool, glutinous texture, with its rich caramel aroma and delicate red bean paste, instantly melted in his mouth.
Izuna's thoughts briefly returned from the labyrinth of spatial theory. He chewed twice, squinting slightly, and mumbled:
"Mm… so sweet."
Hiyo picked up a piece for herself and closed her eyes in satisfaction.
"The money was given freely, and the dessert is top-notch. Eldest Sister-in-Law still acted like the world owed her eight hundred cents, but I just treated it as background noise. Second Brother wasn't around either—Captain Suì-Fēng must have dragged him off for grunt work again."
She finished the yōkan in a few bites, licking her fingers with lingering satisfaction.
Izuna barely glanced up. He picked up his pen and circled a point on the draft before murmuring:
"Next week, I need to order a new batch of ink at the workshop, and also that special base paper for high-level spatial runes."
"I know, I know. Money is no object," Hiyo said, waving her hand. She shook her head at his absorbed profile—someone who truly "ignored everything outside the window and only studied Kidō."
To an outsider, this life might seem absurd or stifling. But for them, it was perfectly self-contained.
They had food, drink, happiness, and two sons.
Their eldest, Shisui, especially, made the family proud.
The "Eternal Waste Freeloader King" hat that the Ōmaeda Family had pinned to Izuna's head? He didn't care. Reputation was meaningless.
Suddenly, Izuna's eyes lit up, as if he'd solved a difficult problem.
He pulled out a fresh sheet of draft paper and rapidly sketched a complex, multi-dimensional rune structure, the lines fluid and precise.
"Look at this!" he said, pushing the draft toward Hiyo. "I just thought of a multiply nested foundational structure to stabilize secondary spatial distortions. Theoretically, it should greatly reduce spatial resistance. A spatial channel could open between two points—basically, spatial instantaneous movement. Do you think this energy circuit connection point works here?"
Excitement shone in his eyes like a child discovering a new toy.
Hiyo examined the chaotic lines and dense runes, feigning serious consideration.
"Hmm… this line isn't round enough… and this corner looks crooked… oh, how would I understand your specialized stuff!"
She laughed and tossed the draft back to him casually.
"You figure it out, Spatial Kidō Theorist!" She winked.
Unbothered, Izuna immediately submerged himself back into his labyrinth of spatial mysteries.
The room filled with only the scratching of pen on paper, and the quiet, magnificent tableau of a mind unfolding entire dimensions.
Hiyo paused for a moment. "Huh… I think I forgot something? What was it again?"
She shrugged. Probably unimportant—Shino Academy, anyway.
Far across the district, sitting in a tree opposite the academy, a black-haired boy with thick eyebrows and spiky hair gazed into the distance.
Next to him, a broad-faced, rotund man with a topknot chuckled awkwardly.
"Big Uncle, do you think Mom forgot about me?" the boy asked, a hint of resentment in his voice.
"How could she? Obito, trust your uncle. She'll come for you," the man replied, though he wasn't entirely sure.
"I'm hungry… can we go get something to eat?"
"Sounds good. I'm hungry too. Let's go somewhere nice."
The fat man was Ōmaeda Marechiyo, affectionately nicknamed "God Ōmaeda" by Shinigami fans, thanks to his unique role as comic relief.