Chapter 33 Chapter 33

Kushina took Yuki and Minato's hands, as if she had made up her mind.

She looked at the two of them and said, "Let's date together as a trio!"

Minato Namikaze and Yuki's expressions froze for a moment.

Xue realized what was happening and almost instinctively took a few steps back.

He turned to run, but his other hand was grabbed by Minato, and he couldn't break free.

Kushina continued, "I love Yuki very much, and I can't give her up. Since Yuki loves Minato, and Minato loves Yuki, I don't dislike Minato either. If the village forces Minato and me to marry, I don't want to give up on this relationship. So, Yuki... please don't leave me and Minato?"

Damn... madman.

This was Yuki's first thought; she looked at the result that Kushina had come up with after careful consideration.

Minato looked at Yuki and reached out his other hand to remove her mask.

Beneath the girl's mask lay an expression of utter shock, her almond-shaped eyes filled with disbelief at this relationship.

"I...I don't want to!"

As expected... they won't agree.

Kushina's expression immediately darkened, but she still respected Yuki's wishes.

In contrast, Minato's expression was sinister, his gaze fixed intently on Yuki.

-

Although Yuki requested a change of mission from her superiors after Kushina made that request.

After being flatly rejected by the Konoha leadership, she resigned herself to continuing the mission. Realizing that Uchiha Yuki alone could control Uzumaki Kushina, the burden of surveillance, originally shared by two people, suddenly fell entirely on Yuki's shoulders. Aside from regular shifts, Yuki spent most of her time in the village with Kushina.

Xue, who had just finished her shift, walked down the street as the setting sun had painted the horizon a fiery orange-red.

I don't know when, but Obito's smiling face always appears in my mind.

Just like when she was still a genin, she would pick up Obito at the ninja academy gate after completing a mission and take him home.

Along the way, I listened to him talk enthusiastically about what happened at school, and that sentence.

[Snow, you'll definitely watch me become Hokage!]

As the last rays of the setting sun shone down, the black-haired boy wearing orange goggles smiled purely and brightly.

Behind her was the Fire Shadow Rock bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun. Xue rubbed her eyes, as if she had sand in them.

"Auntie?"

Xue instinctively lowered her head; it was Itachi.

Xue knelt down and gently rubbed Itachi's soft hair.

The boy's hair had reached his shoulders, and he looked like a very handsome Uchiha child.

"Itachi has already started attending the Ninja Academy. Let's go. Your aunt will pick you up and take you home."

The girl was smiling, but Itachi could tell that she was looking at someone through him.

Is that Uncle Obito? Itachi nodded and took Yuki's hand.

My aunt's hands were icy cold, just like her chakra, carrying a faint chill.

Itachi was somewhat bewildered. So the meaning of life is simply to keep losing?

Some of what Orochimaru said differed from what Itachi had said, and Itachi fell into deep thought.

Upon arriving at the residence of the Uchiha clan head, Mikoto was already waiting at the entrance to welcome the two inside.

Mikoto told Itachi to do his homework first, saying she had something to say to Yuki.

"Did Fugaku ask you to be a spy and participate in the Uchiha clan's political activities?"

Unlike other women, Mikoto didn't use euphemisms; instead, she directly took Yuki's hands.

Her usually gentle and peaceful eyes now revealed the sharpness she possessed as an elite Jonin.

Yuki remembered what Fugaku had said and shook her head; she didn't want Mikoto to worry.

Mikoto always trusted Xue the most, and she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Xue deny it.

"I thought... you were transferred to monitor the Jinchuriki because Konoha was against you—"

Xue extended a finger and gently placed it between Meiqin's lips, her smile tinged with helplessness: "No, Meiqin. Don't worry, I'll tell you as soon as anything happens."

Mikoto lovingly embraced Yuki: "Yuki, you still have me and Itachi."

Yes, she also has Mikoto and Weasel.

She needs to pull herself together and protect them.

"Fugaku is in the Japanese-style room. He... has something to say to you. Why don't you stay for dinner later?"

Xue nodded and opened the door to the Japanese-style room.

Fugaku was sitting on a futon, waiting for her report on the past few months.

The intelligence she had gathered regarding her role as a spy for the Uchiha clan planted in Konoha's Anbu was extremely limited. Yuki also vaguely sensed that this was Jiraiya's doing—by transferring her to monitor Kushina, he both limited the Uchiha clan's development within the Anbu and used her as a tool to reconcile the relationship between Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki.

After the brief report, Fugaku Uchiha nodded.

"Thank you for your hard work, Xiaoxue."

Yuki shook her head and followed Fugaku out of the Japanese-style room and into the living room.

A light and delicious meal was laid out on the table. Mikoto served rice to the three of them, revealing her gentle smile as always.

"Let's eat."

After the meal, Yuki was about to leave when Itachi called her back.

The boy was dressed in the typical children's clothing style of the Uchiha clan: a high-necked, dark-colored short-sleeved shirt paired with white shorts, and the clan crest of a fan embroidered on the back.

Xue felt that Itachi, after experiencing the war, seemed to have become more thoughtful, but he didn't say much in front of her.

He stood there in the entryway, his dark eyes fixed on her.

"Auntie, can you cultivate with me?"

Xue instinctively agreed, "Of course."

Xue increasingly felt that Itachi might truly be a genius. He had already mastered the Great Fireball Technique, which she had only demonstrated once. At the training grounds by the Naka River, she watched as Itachi, who had been holding a single kunai, suddenly multiplied it into five with a flick of his wrist. He leaped high into the air, twisted his wrist, and threw with such precision that she couldn't help but frown slightly.

Itachi pulled the kunai from under the target and put it back into his ninja tool pouch.

He jogged to Xue's side: "Auntie, can you come with me next time too?"

Xue smiled, put her index and middle fingers together, and gently poked his forehead with the tip of her finger.

"If there's no mission, of course."

Itachi's lips curled up slightly. He took Yuki's hand, stood on tiptoe, and affectionately kissed the tip of Yuki's ear.

"Then it's a deal, Auntie."

Xue touched her ear tips in a daze; they were slightly red.

Agreements and such...

-

Yuki never expected that after Minato Namikaze succeeded him, he would defy public opinion and include her, as a member of the Uchiha clan, in the Fourth Hokage's elite guard unit. The other three were Genma Shiranui, Raido Namiashi, and Iwashi Tadashi, who were all commoners.

After Minato Namikaze's succession ceremony, it was common knowledge that Yuki had been transferred from the Anbu to the Hokage's guard unit.

Although there was a precedent of Uchiha Kagami being a member of the Second Hokage's elite guard, everyone still found it strange that Shisui wasn't transferred in.

After all, given their seniority within the clan, Uchiha Kagami and Shisui were clearly more suitable as members of the elite force.

Jiraiya also strongly disapproved of Minato Namikaze's actions, believing that he was abusing his power for personal gain.

Minato smiled and replied, "Then, didn't the teacher have any ulterior motives in transferring Yuki to monitor Kushina?"

Jiraiya awkwardly touched his nose and said nothing more.

At this time, the Third Hokage had retired to the background and become one of the elder advisors of Konoha.

He strongly agreed with the decision to include Xue in the elite troops.

However, the other elders were unaware of the relationship between Minato Namikaze and Yuki Uchiha, regarding them only as ordinary superiors and subordinates.

Minato Namikaze, as the newly appointed Hokage, was extremely busy every day, and even Yuki Uchiha was assigned a lot of paperwork. Yuki sighed, feeling like she was wearing many hats, acting as both a bodyguard and a document reviewer. Aside from Genma Shiranui, she wasn't very familiar with her other two colleagues. The four of them sat in the office, reviewing reports that even the most trivial matters had to be written up and submitted to the Hokage for review.

Yuki categorized and organized the reports, leaving simple tasks that her subordinates could handle to Genma Shiranui and the other two. As for the various documents from the Daimyo and other countries, she briefly reviewed them, sorted them by importance, and then sent them to the Hokage's office.

Minato Namikaze put down his pen and looked at Yuki, who was wearing a green vest with Hokage Guard epaulets embroidered on her shoulders, and was putting down her documents.

His gaze unconsciously fell on Xue's already considerably taller figure and her increasingly mature features. He reached out and gently tucked a stray strand of hair behind Xue's ear.

"The Fourth Generation..."

Xue rested her hands on her elbows, her fists clenching slightly involuntarily.

Minato Namikaze took her hand and pulled her into his lap.

The girl smelled faintly of lilac blossoms, which was very refreshing.

Even her figure was very slender, and sitting on his lap, she was as small as a life-sized, exquisite doll.

"Just call me Minato in private."

The sound of warm breath near her ear made Yuki shudder involuntarily, instinctively trying to stand up, but she was held tightly in Minato's arms. The man's embrace behind her was broad and warm, like sunshine that radiated warmth endlessly.

Xue was somewhat restless.

"Didn't we agree that you would be my wife?"

Minato rested his chin on Yuki's neck from behind.

Xue lowered her head, her delicate willow-leaf eyebrows furrowing, her voice somewhat weak: "It's just... I apologize for the innocent words I uttered as a child, Fourth Hokage."

The hands around her waist gradually tightened, as if in retaliation, and Xue felt a little short of breath.

"Why... is it always Xue who decides everything? Has Xue ever considered my feelings?"

Golden strands of hair tickled Xue's neck, and Xue couldn't argue with it.

"Always so self-centered. She promised to protect me, yet she didn't even try to get a position in the elite unit. She promised to be my wife, yet she let Kushina get close to me. Whether as a protector or a wife, Yuki is completely unfit—"

Minato's voice was muffled, mixed with inexplicable sobs. Yuki felt large patches of wetness on her collarbone and realized that Minato Namikaze... he was crying.

Xue pursed her lips in surprise. What should she do?

The crying only lasted a short while. When Minato Namikaze raised his head again, apart from the slight redness in the corners of his eyes, he showed no signs of vulnerability.

He picked up the girl and turned her around. Xue sat on him with her legs apart, forced to face him.

The girl's expression seemed reluctant and apologetic.

Minato Namikaze looked at her with his clear, azure eyes, still glistening with tears from his recent crying.

"Let's elope, Xiaoxue."

"Just the two of us, going to a place where no one knows us. Abandoning Konoha, the Uchiha clan, and leaving the Land of Fire."

"How about we live in seclusion? We'll have a child like Yuki, and I'll teach him the Flying Thunder God Technique or the Rasengan, any ninjutsu will do. Since he's our child, his talent will definitely be good. Even if it's a little lacking, it doesn't matter. I will protect Yuki and our child. What do you say, Yuki?"

Uchiha Yuki felt her scalp tingle. Were these two guys both lunatics?

Each one of them said something more outrageous than the last, and they were so willful and reckless.

Minato Namikaze couldn't help but take a deep breath, his voice trembling with tears: "What exactly does Yuki want?"

Xue looked bewildered, then lowered her head and remained silent.