"Grandma!"
Just as Uchiha Xuan was bowing, a woman’s voice mixed with a boy’s voice came from the distance. Uchiha Xuan turned his head to look in the direction of the sound and saw a blonde-haired woman walking toward them with a boy who was, for now, still alive.
"Child, sometimes fulfilling one’s responsibilities doesn’t mean there’s only one path to take. Perfect timing—let me introduce them to you. That boy is a bit older than you, but I think you two will get along well."
Uzumaki Mito looked gently at the two siblings walking toward her and smiled as she spoke to Uchiha Xuan beside her.
"Grandma, why did you come to this place? And you—what is this Uchiha doing next to my grandma?"
Before Uchiha Xuan could answer, Nawaki’s voice grew closer and closer. In just a moment, Nawaki had already arrived in front of Uzumaki Mito, looking at Uchiha Xuan with hostility—or rather, at the clan emblem on Uchiha Xuan’s clothes.
"It seems your intuition was mistaken."
Ignoring Nawaki, Uchiha Xuan spoke softly to Uzumaki Mito.
"Hey, are you even listening? Ouch! Sis, why did you hit me? Shouldn’t you be hitting this Uchiha instead?"
The ignored Nawaki was about to roar in anger when Tsunade punched him on the head, bringing him back to reality.
"Grandma, what’s going on here?"
Tsunade narrowed her eyes, looking at Uchiha Xuan and then at Uzumaki Mito. On her way here, she had already noticed—in the bushes, there were many unconscious Uchiha ninjas.
Without a single scratch on their bodies and appearing as if they were merely asleep, those Uchiha ninjas had undoubtedly been dealt with by her grandmother.
"Little Tsunade, come here. Let me introduce you. This is Uchiha Xuan, the new... younger brother I found for you."
Uzumaki Mito spoke softly with a smile on her face.
"Younger brother!!" ×2
"????"
As Uzumaki Mito’s words fell, three pairs of eyes simultaneously turned to the elderly woman.
Uchiha Xuan looked at Uzumaki Mito in shock. Since when did he remember selling himself off?
Facing Uchiha Xuan’s astonishment, Uzumaki Mito merely blinked at him and reached into her sleeve to pull out a vermilion-red scroll.
"Perfect timing—I haven’t given you a welcome gift yet. This, I think you’ll like."
As she took out the scroll, Uzumaki Mito spoke with a smile.
"Wait! Grandma, what do you mean by ’younger brother’? Did you adopt this Uchiha as your grandson? No way!! That’s absolutely impossible! He’s an Uchiha—"
Compared to Tsunade’s surprise, Nawaki’s mouth moved faster than his brain. He pointed at Uchiha Xuan and questioned him, but before he could finish his sentence, a golden chain instantly wrapped around Nawaki, including his mouth.
"Xuan, may I call you that?"
After tying up Nawaki, Uzumaki Mito looked gently at Uchiha Xuan.
"As you wish."
Holding the scroll, Uchiha Xuan spoke softly.
"Then, come to the Senju Clan Territory tomorrow to have a meal together. Or, I can bring them to the Uchiha Clan Territory to have a meal with you."
Ignoring Nawaki who was writhing on the ground like a maggot, Uzumaki Mito smiled and spoke to Uchiha Xuan.
"........When?"
"This afternoon. After all, you still need to attend school. Skipping class isn’t a good habit."
"Alright."
"Then, see you tomorrow."
Watching the strongest ninja of Konohagakure leave with one large person and one maggot, Uchiha Xuan stood by the riverside, momentarily silent.
Uzumaki Mito’s sudden visit was truly too abstract. Searching his heart, if Uchiha Xuan himself possessed power and discovered an unstable factor that hadn’t yet matured, what he would think of would inevitably be to snuff it out directly.
But Uzumaki Mito’s approach was to use such an utterly absurd transaction to let Uchiha Xuan decide for himself...
Yes, it was absurd.
’Is this the thinking of an elder left over from the Warring States period? Or perhaps... it’s Hashirama’s thinking, as idealized as the Will of Fire...’
Looking at the scroll in his hand, Uchiha Xuan for a moment didn’t know how to evaluate such an elder.
Opening the scroll and seeing its contents, Uchiha Xuan’s eyes instantly widened in shock.
[Uzumaki - Sealing Arts Compendium...]
"This is... truly an extraordinary greeting gift."
"Young Master Xuan, are you alright?!?!"
After Uzumaki Mito left, Uchiha Ganghuo also regained consciousness. The moment he woke up, Uchiha Ganghuo instantly used Body Flicker to appear beside Uchiha Xuan. Only after confirming that Uchiha Xuan was unharmed and there were no signs of a battle in the surroundings did he let out a sigh of relief.
"I’m fine. Notify the elders, let’s have a meeting."
Putting away the scroll, Uchiha Xuan spoke calmly.
"Yes!"
............
Senju Clan Territory.
"Grandma! Why would you take an Uchiha guy as your grandson?! If this gets out, won’t it become a joke?"
Nawaki stood before Uzumaki Mito with a completely unacceptable expression, loudly asking.
"Shut up! You’re too noisy!"
Once again punching Nawaki on the head, forcibly silencing him, Tsunade also looked at her grandmother.
She, too, was puzzled.
"Tsunade, Nawaki, do not hold any prejudice against Xuan or any of the Uchiha. The feud between the Senju and the Uchiha ended long ago in your great-grandfather’s hands. Do you... understand?"
Uzumaki Mito looked at the two before her with a serious expression as she spoke.
"But..."
Seeing Uzumaki Mito’s serious expression, Nawaki inexplicably felt a bit wronged.
"Nawaki, I know your dream is to become a Hokage like your great-grandfather. But if it were Hashirama, he would definitely not hold any prejudice against the Uchiha.
In his eyes, everyone in the village was his family, and that included the Uchiha as well. So, if you truly want to become a ninja like Hashirama, then you must learn to see everyone in the village as family."
Looking at the wronged Nawaki, Uzumaki Mito smiled affectionately, reached out, and gently ruffled Nawaki’s hair as she spoke softly.
"Is that Uchiha boy... special?"
Unable to hold back any longer, Tsunade couldn’t help but ask.
Today’s events are just too strange, no matter how I think about it. Grandma actually invited someone over for dinner, and it was even someone from the Uchiha clan.
And most importantly! She even took him as her god-grandson (or so she thinks)!!