Amegakure Village Chief's Office.
Rie sat on the sofa, watching as Rinjin set the little one on his lap, a bitter taste lingering in her mouth.
Her big brother's request was simple: help him look after the kid.
After mulling it over, Rie could only grit her teeth and shake her head.
"Bro, it's not that I don't want to help you.
But I'm still a pure, innocent maiden!
How am I supposed to take care of a child?!"
Rinjin's face darkened instantly.
Seriously, is that even something a normal person would say?
Besides, every young wife started out as a maiden, didn't she?!
Then again, thinking about how his sister managed every little thing in Amegakure, it was true—she barely had any free time.
With a sigh, Rinjin let it go.
He'd only asked on a whim anyway. If it wasn't possible, so be it.
"Alright, forget it. I'll figure something else out.
But I've heard that someone might be targeting Amegakure soon, so stay on your toes."
The words had barely left his lips when Rie, who'd been slouched like a lazy cat, suddenly perked up with a gleam in her eyes, practically buzzing with excitement.
"Who? Who's coming for me?!
Damn, I've been bored out of my mind! Finally, someone with a brain wants to attack Amegakure!"
Watching this warmonger come to life, Rinjin could only look out the window at the gloomy sky and sigh helplessly.
This girl is hopeless.
Rie's mom, I'm so sorry—I've let you down.
With a heavy heart, Rinjin glanced down at Mei Terumī sitting on his lap, reading intently. That sight brought him a bit of comfort.
This kid—I'm going to raise her right. She'll be a model of virtue, with proper values and a kind heart!
Just as Rinjin was lost in these thoughts,
little Mei Terumī suddenly raised her book, pointed at a full-color illustration, and asked with pure innocence,
"Uncle Rinjin, why are these big uncles rolling around on the ground?"
"Because they're—
...Wait! What are you reading?!"
On the page, several muscular, handsome men were tangled together:
One was lifting another's chin with slender fingers; another was pinning someone to the wall with a brooding, cool expression.
He flipped to the cover.
Oh, for the love of—"Ninja World Side Story: The Seven Ninja Swordsmen—Sevenfold Permutations."
What the hell?!
Who came up with that title—"Sevenfold Permutations"?
Are they seriously counting how many possible pairings these seven guys can have?
No need to count—5040 combinations!
One pairing per chapter, and this book could run until my son's in college!
Staring at the utterly unique cover, Rinjin was left completely speechless.
It took a while for his brain to reboot. He checked the cover again.
Beneath the title, in small print:
Author: Boss Lady of the Rain
...
With extreme disdain, Rinjin tossed aside the ongoing BL novel, scooped up little Mei Terumī with a dark face, and used Flying Thunder God Technique to leave Amegakure in a flash.
His own sister had completely given up on any sense of restraint!
If he left the kid with her, she'd probably grow up to be a "talented artist" of a very particular kind!
Just imagining the first and second Amekage—kids he'd painstakingly raised—huddled in some shadowy corner, giggling over a book like this, made Rinjin's scalp tingle.
No way.
If things kept up like this, the whole atmosphere of Amegakure would go down the drain!
At 66 Mingcha Street in Konoha, Rinjin set little Mei Terumī down, pulled out a copy of "Baby Encyclopedia" from who-knows-where, and gently handed it to her.
"Little Mei, read this one. This one's good."
The little girl stared blankly at the book, which was thicker than a brick, and nodded.
Still, the images of those handsome young men "fighting" together were burned into her mind.
And so, Rinjin and little Mei Terumī sat together on the wooden porch beside the courtyard, basking in the warm autumn sun.
The late autumn sunlight was cozy and drowsy, lulling people toward sleep.
Rinjin lay stretched out on the porch, eyelids drooping.
Just then, a small head peeked over the courtyard wall.
The kid scanned the yard with sharp eyes, quickly spotting Rinjin on the porch.
"Dad, someone's home!" the little head ducked down and whispered below.
A moment later, the front door rattled.
Hearing the sound, Rinjin lazily got up to answer.
Creak—
The door swung open.
Outside stood Hatake Sakumo, straight as a board, with a boy of about one or two years old at his side.
"Rinjin, long time no see!"
"Dog—er, Sakumo!"
Catching sight of the little boy, Rinjin quickly caught himself and changed his greeting.
"Long time no see! Come in, come in!"
He stepped aside to let them in.
In the tea room, after a bit of small talk, Sakumo got to the point.
"Rinjin, um… there's something I'd like to ask you…"
Dog-bro's eyes darted nervously all over the place as he hesitated.
Hearing this, Rinjin's eyelids twitched.
He'd developed a serious allergy to the word "ask" lately.
Glancing at the little boy sitting up straight, Rinjin cleared his throat and said,
"Uh, go ahead, but I can't promise I'll say yes!"
Dog-bro nodded—rare for him—and looked genuinely troubled.
"It's like this.
This is my son, Hatake Kakashi."
He gave the super-serious little Kakashi a gentle pat and continued,
"You know how it is—war's on, and I really can't get away.
I just got back last night, and tomorrow morning I have to head to the northern front.
And, well…"
"And what?" Rinjin pressed.
"Uh, my wife is…"
Seeing this, Rinjin, who'd read plenty of books on emotional intelligence, immediately raised a hand to cut him off.
Difficult childbirth!
No need to say that in front of the kid!
He already understood Sakumo's meaning.
The guy wanted to leave his son here for a while—he was too busy fighting, and with his wife gone, there was no one else to take care of the boy.
Besides, Kakashi was barely two.
Rinjin let out a helpless sigh.
Well, this was getting out of hand!
If any more kids showed up, he might as well switch careers from cold-blooded spy to demon super-dad!
But hey, his resume was looking pretty wild now:
Infiltrated Konoha, Kumogakure, Kirigakure;
Raised the First Mizukage of Amegakure and the Sixth Hokage;
And, not to brag, even introduced the Fourth Hokage to adult literature…
Seriously…
With a résumé like this, he could apply for village chief anywhere!
This is getting ridiculous.
What kind of spy needs a CV like this?!
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
The story isn't over...
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