After Minato took office as the Fourth Hokage, the Third Great Ninja War finally came to an end, and the ninja world entered a time of peace.
Of course, calling it "peace" only meant there were no wars between the major hidden villages. It didn't mean there were no conflicts among the powers beneath them.
In fact, since the chakra converters were extremely useful and every village that used them praised their performance, the great villages took the initiative to contact Akatsuki and ordered second, third, fourth, and even fifth batches of converters.
Meanwhile, Akatsuki continued to send members out, endlessly, selling or gifting chakra converters to more remote and rarely visited villages.
The value of this device quickly became widely known, stirring greed in many hearts. Fights over the machines soon erupted, even escalating into a large-scale war that spread across the entire ninja world, later known as the "Chakra Converter War."
However, due to Akatsuki's strict supervision, these wars never reached the level of high-end combat. The major hidden villages dispatched troops and easily suppressed them.
After that, as chakra converters became more widespread, the entire ninja world, once suffering from extreme resource shortages, suddenly became rich and abundant.
This, however, gravely damaged the interests of those who had profited from old energy sources, among them wealthy merchants, great nobles, and even the feudal lords themselves.
These people banded together for a desperate struggle, launching another war that swept across the world, later known as the "War of Old and New Energy."
Yet, because the great hidden villages, all wielders of violence, stood firmly on the side of new energy, and partly because they genuinely wished to see the ninja world become better.
But above all, the most important reason was that no one dared to openly oppose Akatsuki or Uchiha Madara. Any policy promoted by Madara that didn't touch upon matters of life and death simply had to be followed.
Thus, the defenders of the old energy were swiftly eradicated.
Of course, this also brought tragedy.
A great number of civilians who had worked in the old energy industries became unemployed. Some, unable to support their families, turned to crime, or, unable to face the cruel new reality, chose to end their own lives.
But there was no helping it. Before a new era arrives, such sacrifices are inevitable.
No reform can happen without bloodshed. Even Obito's past Infinite Tsukuyomi created countless wandering souls along the way.
Time in the ninja world flowed by, day after day. Kushina's belly grew larger and larger.
Obito, Kakashi, and Rin each grew another year older.
Before Kushina's delivery, in order to ensure absolute safety, Obito decided that the birth would take place inside his own Kamui space.
Unless someone used a space-time technique on the level of Kaguya Otsutsuki's Yomotsu Hirasaka, the Kamui space was the safest place in existence.
When Kushina, belly round and heavy, first moved in, she couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time, "Obito, isn't this a bit over the top?"
But Obito only shook his head solemnly, "Within the range of what I can do, I must provide the greatest possible protection. That's the only way to take full responsibility for you, Big Sis, and for Naruko."
"In short, there's already been one accident. I have to make sure a second one never happens."
Kushina could only shake her head helplessly, but she settled in the Kamui space with peace of mind.
In the end, Obito even made a special trip to another ninja world to borrow a bit of Six Paths power from the older Obito. Using the power of "Imaginary Creation," he made a wish, that Kushina and her daughter would be safe and sound.
When he returned, Kushina gave him several hard whacks on the head.
"All your unease comes from your own anxiety. The things you're worrying about don't even exist!"
"As long as I give birth calmly, Naruko will be born safely!"
Hearing her say that, Obito finally relaxed.
And so, the day of Kushina's delivery arrived.
In her previous life, because of the Nine-Tails' interference, the process had been excruciating. Kushina had to endure the tearing pain of childbirth while also suppressing the interference of the Nine-Tails' chakra.
But this time, although the Nine-Tails still referred to her as "that woman," in truth, because she was the mother of the golden-haired, blue-eyed Child of Prophecy, it treated her quite kindly.
When it came to childbirth, the Nine-Tails not only refrained from causing trouble. It even continuously used its chakra to heal Kushina's internal injuries, quietly assisting in the delivery.
In addition, the one handling the delivery was Rin, whose medical ninjutsu had reached an extremely high level of mastery.
So Kushina's labor was almost laughably easy, practically a textbook example of "Is it starting? Oh, it's already over."
When Naruko finally landed in the world, crying loudly in Kushina's arms, she was still half in a dream.
Turning to Rin, who was smiling beside her, she asked softly, "Rin, so… I'm a mother now?"
Rin nodded and congratulated her, "Congratulations, Mistress. From now on, you're a mother."
Overjoyed, Kushina couldn't help but fiddle with little Naruko's fingers, then suddenly looked up at Rin, who had a faint look of longing in her eyes.
"Rin, you like children too, don't you? I know I've said this countless times already, but I'll say it again, if you like them, why not have one of your own?"
Rin fell into that familiar kind of embarrassment again, finally managing to say, "Mistress, I… it's still too early for me…"
But Kushina sighed softly, "Not early at all. When I was dating your teacher Minato, we also thought everything could wait, but before we knew it, time slipped by quietly. In the blink of an eye, Minato became the Fourth Hokage… and I became a mother."
Rin blinked, momentarily dazed, "Is that so?"
Kushina smiled, "That's right."
Then, glancing down at Naruko in her arms, she suddenly said,
"But still, besides Naruko, Naruto hasn't been born yet. I've still got work to do. Let's both do our best, Rin."
Rin nodded earnestly, "Mm, let's do our best, Mistress!"
But right after saying it, she felt something was off, 'Wait, did I just included myself in that?'
Blushing slightly, she remembered that Obito and Minato were still waiting outside the delivery room.
Rin raised her voice, "Obito, Lord Minato, you can come in now!"
The space around the room twisted, and Obito and Minato's figures slowly appeared.
Minato rushed to Kushina at once, taking Naruko from her arms and gently rocking the baby.
Naruko blinked her tiny eyes, looked up at Minato, and burst into a loud wail.
Startled, Minato fumbled to calm her, his movements hurried, "Does Naruko… not like me?"
Obito smiled faintly as he watched the scene, "Of course not. Babies only cry loudly when they're in a safe environment."
At that, he couldn't help but recall his past life, when he had held Naruto, the boy's crying had clearly softened.
Seeing this, Minato handed Naruko carefully toward Obito, "Obito, would you like… to hold her too?"
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