Kazuki had just walked out with Kushina when she suddenly grabbed his arm and pulled him along.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"We're going out to buy a gift for Mikoto! We can't go to the Uchiha house empty-handed tomorrow, can we?"
The moment Kazuki heard the word shopping, he felt his soul leave his body.
What do men hate the most?
Shopping.
No contest.
But Kushina was glowing with excitement.
She hadn't been out in days.
And after what Mikoto said—Danzo removed, Root disbanded, the higher-ups forced to step down or "rest"—the tension in the village had eased.
Grandma Mito had also said it was fine.
So whether Kazuki liked it or not, Kushina dragged him out.
While walking through the street, they ran into a group of people.
At the front—
Danzo Shimura.
Next to him—
Sakumo Hatake, the White Fang of Konoha.
And Minato Namikaze.
Danzo saw Kazuki. Their eyes met briefly.
Then Danzo looked away, expression blank, as if nothing had happened.
They were about to pass each other when Kazuki grabbed Minato.
"Hey. What's going on?"
Minato rolled his eyes.
"Confidential mission. I can't tell you."
"Really? Not even a hint?"
"Nope. Hokage-sama is watching."
Kazuki looked around.
He didn't see any crows this time, but he could clearly feel someone observing from a distance.
That old man really loves spying, huh.
Kazuki let Minato go.
As they walked away, Sakumo asked calmly,
"You're close with him?"
"Same class," Minato replied.
"He's strong."
Minato nodded quickly.
"Yeah. I was planning to spar with him again this week, but this mission came up."
Sakumo shook his head.
"You're not his match."
Minato froze.
"Senior Sakumo… could you not crush my confidence like that?"
"I'm not trying to. I'm being honest."
"I think he might already be stronger than me."
Minato's eyes widened.
Kushina looked curious.
"Where are they going?"
"That idiot Minato wouldn't say. Acting mysterious… Should we follow them?"
Kushina refused immediately.
"What's so interesting about that? We still have to order the cake and buy the gift."
And just like that, Kazuki's opinion was completely ignored.
He was dragged from shop to shop.
Several cake stores later, they finally placed the order.
The Naruto world uses ryō as currency.
D-rank missions pay around 5,000–50,000 ryō.
C-rank missions range from 30,000–100,000.
B-rank missions go even higher.
S-rank missions? Over a million.
And today—
Kushina bought a cake for 1,000 ryō.
Then earrings for 3,888 ryō.
Almost 5,000 ryō total.
That's a full D-rank mission's starting pay.
Kazuki checked his pocket.
1,000 ryō.
That was his monthly base salary as a genin.
If he didn't live at the Uzumaki residence rent-free, he'd probably be forced to take missions just to survive.
A hero can still be broke.
Reality hurts.
The next day at noon—
The Uchiha district.
Headquarters of the Konoha Police Force.
Once upon a time, Konoha had three great bloodline clans: Senju, Uchiha, and Uzumaki.
Now—
The Senju were nearly gone.
The Hyūga kept to themselves.
And the Uchiha stood at the top.
Naturally, they called themselves the number one clan in Konoha.
But today—
No one dared underestimate Kazuki.
In less than a week:
He crushed Root's elite squad.
Danzo was removed.
Two senior advisors were forced into leave.
His momentum was unstoppable.
You could say his reputation rivaled that of Fugaku Uchiha himself.
At the gate, Mikoto Uchiha stood waiting.
Beside her was Fugaku Uchiha and several young clan elites.
Kazuki and Kushina arrived on time, cake and gift in hand.
"Mikoto! Happy birthday!" Kushina said brightly.
"This is the cake we picked, and your present! Sorry it's not anything amazing."
Mikoto smiled.
"It's beautiful! Thank you!"
She immediately put on the earrings.
"How do they look?"
Kushina turned to Kazuki.
"Kazu, do they look good?"
That's a trap.
A certified trap.
Kazuki didn't hesitate.
"I'm blind. I have no idea."
Both girls snorted at the same time.
[Ding! Kushina Favorability +5]
[Ding! Mikoto Favorability +10]
Kazuki blinked internally.
System.
What exactly are you trying to do?
I didn't even compliment her.
Why did Mikoto's favorability go up more?
This feels suspicious.
Very suspicious.