The news that the Fifth Kazekage now had an heir—a son—brought a collective sigh of relief to the council of elders led by Ebizo.
Regardless of political shifts, for the next several decades, the surname Aoki was destined to become the most prestigious lineage within the Hidden Sand.
This was an undeniable reality. As the Kazekage, Shiraishi had pioneered countless secret and forbidden techniques that required a blood successor.
While he had taken the Uzumaki orphan as a disciple, Ebizo and the others had long hoped Shiraishi would have a child of his own.
A man's perspective changes when he has a legacy to protect.
With a direct heir, Shiraishi's formidable original ninjutsu would remain within the family rather than being entirely dispersed among the Uzumaki or the various desert-style clans.
While the elders welcomed the Uzumaki clan's integration, they harbored a private desire to keep the Uzumaki from becoming too close to Shiraishi's inner circle.
Since the Aoki "clan" currently consisted only of Shiraishi and his infant son, it wouldn't grow into an overwhelming political behemoth overnight.
Thus, the elders were more than happy to see the Aoki line continue naturally.
The entire village celebrated the birth. The Daimyo's estate sent immediate congratulations, and every high-ranking official within the village presented gifts.
Even beyond the Land of Wind, the Daimyos of the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth sent special envoys to congratulate Shiraishi.
"Aoki Shigeru... It's a very good name."
Maki was still weak after the labor. Shiraishi gestured for his wife to keep resting and placed the infant beside her. "Insisting on sleeping right next to the little guy—you're quite stubborn."
Driven by a mother's instinct, Maki wished to spend every moment with her child. Watching them fall into a peaceful sleep, Shiraishi nodded and quietly left the room, returning to the Kazekage's office to handle the mounting paperwork.
In the wake of Minato and Kushina's deaths, the Sand's dominance and Konoha's retreat had shifted the global paradigm.
Small nations previously caught between the two powers scrambled to send gifts, hoping to curry favor with the father of the new heir.
While Maki's child had entered the world, the child within Uzumaki Tomoe showed no sign of birth.
By Shiraishi's calculations, Tomoe had been pregnant for over ten months. Logically, she should have delivered by now, but medical reports indicated the fetus had no intention of leaving the womb.
Instead, Tomoe's physical condition was deteriorating. The immense vitality of her pure Uzumaki constitution was serving as the perfect nourishment for the child, and the fetus was in no hurry to stop feeding.
This instinctive consumption of massive chakra and life force foreshadowed an extraordinary existence.
"Historically, when Uzumaki children are born, there are cases where the fetus over-consumes the mother's essence," the medics reported. "But this child... It's as if it hasn't gorged itself enough yet."
Tomoe's daily intake of food and medicinal supplements had been increased significantly, yet the fetus continued to devour everything it could reach.
This endless hunger left Tomoe more haggard by the day. Tomoki was sick with worry and suggested inducing labor, but Tomoe stopped him.
"This level of talent represents the infinite potential of this child," Tomoe insisted. Unlike Tomoki, she was driven by the dream of restoring the glory of the Uzumaki. "To see our clan reborn, I must fulfill my mission as a mother."
As the child within Tomoe grew day by day, Shiraishi began to sense an abnormal fluctuation.
The air around the New Hidden Sand was thick with unstable chakra energy. Normally, these ambient particles were negligible, but over several days of observation, Shiraishi realized the rate of sedimentation was accelerating. After a long investigation, Shiraishi's expression darkened.
"Chakra is energy, but it also carries mental will," Shiraishi mused. "And this will... it seems to be actively trying to prevent the birth of Chiju's child."
The origin of the chakra was the God Tree, the creation of the world. It was the source of all chakra, and every shinobi's energy originated from it.
Legend says that once every thousand years, the tree bore a sacred fruit. Humans were forbidden from touching it, but due to endless war, a princess named Otsutsuki Kaguya consumed the fruit to gain the power to end the conflict.
She was the first human with chakra. Her son, born with chakra in his veins, was the second. To reclaim the stolen energy, the God Tree transformed into the Ten-Tails and went on a rampage.
Kaguya's son, Otsutsuki Hagoromo—the Sage of the Six Paths—stopped the beast, founded the Ninja Creed (Ninshu), and became the ancestor of all shinobi.
While this history differed slightly from what the spirit of Asura had told him, Shiraishi was certain of one thing: if Asura could split a portion of his chakra to watch over the world, then the ancient, powerful beings of the primordial era likely did the same.
The Sage of the Six Paths himself had likely left behind a "Chakra Will" to monitor the land.
The child within Tomoe, though still in the womb, had already triggered a reaction and rejection from the world's natural chakra. This existence, deemed "unacceptable" by heaven and earth, only proved the success of Shiraishi's experiment.
The gathering chakra was primarily of the Lightning nature. Shiraishi suspected that on the day of the birth, the weather would turn violent.
The Sand hadn't seen a torrential lightning storm in ages—was this child really going to have to "endure a tribulation" just to be born?
Furthermore, Shiraishi confirmed that the Sage of the Six Paths, or other ancient celestials, continued to exist in a special form, regulating the changes of the shinobi world.
The Sage used his will to set the rules. If the Akatsuki's goal was to resurrect the Ten-Tails, who would the Sage designate as the new generation of Asura and Indra?
Looking out the window at the lowering pressure and the swirling wind, Shiraishi spoke with cold mockery:
"I don't believe an old relic from thousands of years ago has the right to keep judging the events of this era."
"I will ensure that Tomoe's child is born, no matter what."
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