If Kushina could truly forget Minato so easily—her childhood sweetheart, her husband, and the father of her child—Sima Ming would have been far more concerned.
The fact that she couldn’t forget him only proved how deeply she valued the people she loved.
Of course, it wasn’t exactly pleasant knowing another man still occupied such an important place in the heart of the woman he had fallen for.
But what choice did he have?
He had arrived in the Ninja World too late.
And the woman he had met just happened to be Kushina.
Even Sima Ming couldn’t tell whether he truly loved Kushina herself, or if years of being single—combined with their strange, inseparable bond—had simply made him attracted to her beauty.
Reality, however, was simple.
They were bound together.
Perhaps…
For the rest of their lives.
If he wanted to be with her, then he also had to accept everything that came with her—including the memories she could never let go.
Sima Ming’s words shook Kushina to her core.
She couldn’t imagine how deep his feelings must be for him to willingly accept that Minato would always remain in a corner of her heart.
Love was supposed to be selfish.
Wasn’t it?
If she had known what Sima Ming was actually thinking—that part of his attraction came from their constant closeness, while another part simply longed for warmth and companionship—she might have been able to face the situation much more calmly.
Instead…
Their misunderstanding only deepened her guilt.
She silently thanked fate.
After losing Minato…
She had met Sima Ming.
Yet the more kindness he showed her…
The more she felt unworthy of it.
Inside the Inner World, the Nine-Tails silently watched everything unfold.
“Human emotions are truly complicated…”
“I’ve lived for over a thousand years and still can’t understand them.”
“Perhaps this is what the old man, the Sage of Six Paths, meant…”
“…Damn it.”
Its view of the outside world suddenly disappeared.
This wasn’t the first time it had happened.
Long ago…
Whenever Hashirama Senju and Uzumaki Mito spent time together…
The connection would suddenly go dark.
The same thing happened later whenever Minato and Kushina were alone together.
Every time its view disappeared for a while…
Another new life would eventually appear.
The Nine-Tails had always been curious.
How exactly were humans born?
How was that process different from the way the Sage of Six Paths had created the Tailed Beasts?
Unfortunately…
It had never been able to witness it.
Reality, however, was far less dramatic than the Nine-Tails imagined.
Although Kushina had accepted Sima Ming’s feelings and no longer rejected them emotionally…
She wasn’t ready to entrust him with her heart and body completely.
Instead, she simply chose to comfort him in her own gentle way.
“Ming-kun…”
“Please give me a little more time.”
Sima Ming took a slow breath before answering.
“…Alright.”
“I’m… not in a hurry.”
Kushina could easily hear the hesitation in his voice.
Still…
His patience and respect only made her appreciate him even more.
The quiet moment they shared brought them closer together, strengthening the bond between them.
By the time they finally settled down for the night, both of them felt far more at ease than before.
“Good night, Ming-kun.”
“Good night.”
Although he closed his eyes…
Sima Ming didn’t fall asleep for quite some time.
The following morning…
Kushina no longer pretended not to notice his awkwardness after waking up.
She smiled apologetically.
“Ming-kun…”
“I’ve really made things difficult for you lately.”
Her concern alone was enough to brighten his mood.
Yakushi Nonō didn’t find it strange that Kushina woke up nearly an hour later than usual.
After all…
The previous day’s weighted training had been exhausting.
The fact that Kushina could even get out of bed without complaining was already impressive.
After preparing breakfast and placing it on the table, Nonō picked up little Naruto and headed outside for their usual morning walk.
Meanwhile, Kushina finished eating and immediately resumed her training.
This time, she shifted part of the additional weight from her arms to her legs.
After lunch…
Kushina and Sima Ming entered the Nine-Tails’ Inner World once again.
As always, Kushina chatted with the Nine-Tails to gradually build trust between them.
At the same time, she continued adapting to the Nine-Tails’ chakra.
Although only a single day had passed…
She could already endure the corrosive influence of its negative emotions for nearly two and a half minutes longer than before.
The improvement wasn’t huge…
But it was enough to encourage her.
That afternoon, she trained even harder than usual.
Meanwhile…
The situation on the battlefield had begun to change.
With the arrival of the Uchiha Clan, the Hidden Cloud Village’s offensive gradually lost momentum.
Shisui of the Body Flicker continuously disrupted Kumogakure’s advance, forcing the Fourth Raikage to respond wherever he appeared.
More importantly…
The Sharingan’s ability to control Tailed Beasts had already been demonstrated during Konoha’s Nine-Tails Incident.
Fearing that Killer B or Yugito Nii might also fall under the Sharingan’s control, the Raikage became increasingly reluctant to deploy either of his Jinchūriki recklessly.
Even so…
One prodigy like Shisui wasn’t enough to decide an entire war.
Far away in Iwagakure…
The Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, sighed in disappointment.
He had hoped to exploit the conflict between Konoha and Kumogakure to strike the Hidden Cloud from behind.
Instead…
Konoha’s resilience once again exceeded his expectations.
Unable to find an opening, he shifted his attention toward Sunagakure and Kirigakure, hoping to persuade them to join the conflict.
Unfortunately for him…
Neither village showed any interest.
Unlike Konoha, Iwagakure, and Kumogakure, the Hidden Sand and Hidden Mist had suffered devastating losses during the Third Great Ninja War.
Recovering their strength was far more important than becoming cannon fodder for Iwagakure’s ambitions.
Left with no other options…
Ōnoki could only curse the leaders of both villages for being timid and lacking courage.
Back in Konoha…
The rumors surrounding Danzo continued to spread.
Neither Danzo nor the Hokage had publicly addressed them.
As time passed…
Even villagers who had originally dismissed the rumors began questioning whether they might actually be true.
It wasn’t that Danzo wanted to remain silent.
He simply couldn’t identify the mastermind behind the rumors.
He knew any explanation would be pointless.
Suppress one rumor…
And two more would appear.
His best hope was for the ongoing war with Kumogakure to draw everyone’s attention elsewhere.
Unfortunately…
The Hidden Cloud wasn’t performing as well as he had hoped.
Even after deploying both of its Jinchūriki, Kumogakure still hadn’t broken through Konoha’s first defensive line.
To Danzo…
That simply wasn’t enough.
If Kumogakure couldn’t create sufficient pressure on its own…
Then perhaps someone needed to help it.
As for Hiruzen…
He deliberately refused to respond publicly to the rumors.
His reasoning was straightforward.
He wanted to use the situation to pressure Danzo.
Without the Hokage’s support, Danzo would finally realize he couldn’t solve every problem through his own methods.
Perhaps then…
He would return to being the loyal advisor he had once been instead of constantly challenging the Hokage’s authority.
When Danzo entered the Hokage’s office with an unreadable expression, Hiruzen couldn’t help feeling pleased.
He assumed Danzo had finally bowed his head and come to admit defeat.
Instead…
The very first words out of Danzo’s mouth nearly made him explode with anger.
“Hiruzen.”
“I understand your decision to send the Uchiha to the front lines.”
“But they’ve been fighting there for several days now.”
“They’ve neither driven back Kumogakure…”
“Nor captured a single Jinchūriki.”
“They’re clearly holding back.”
“What does that tell us?”
“It proves they aren’t truly united with the village.”