Chapter 89: Deidara
However, this was quite good, after all, the women in this world were much, much better than the women in his previous life.
Mikoto was gentle and considerate, generous and graceful—a model of a good wife.
Fugaku scrambled up, turned off the TV, paused for a few seconds in front of the light switch, and after turning it off, quickly sprinted upstairs in a hurry. His speed up the stairs was no less than a hundred-meter dash, as if something was chasing him from behind.
When Fugaku entered the bedroom and closed the door, he finally regained his composure.
It was as if the panic just now was only an illusion.
Even though Fugaku's strength was already the strongest in the ninja world, some habits carried over from his previous life still lingered and could not be easily changed.
It's like when you graduate from college, leave home, work alone in a new city, and one late night, you, a single man, start watching a Japanese "action movie." Could you resist rewarding yourself?
If you could, then disregard this thought. After all, you are not Fugaku, and people differ.
"Wife, I'm coming."
Fugaku pounced over with a chuckle. Mikoto, who had already changed into a nightgown, softly reminded him,
"Lower your voice, don't wake the children!"
She had just gone upstairs to check, and Sasuke and Naruto were both asleep. Especially Naruto, who was sleeping soundly, clearly having a good dream, giggling twice in his sleep.
Fugaku slipped under the covers and began his plan to have a child of his own.
Mikoto was still young, and he wanted to have another child—one that he himself could watch grow from birth.
Itachi and Sasuke, though his biological sons in this body, were not children he had personally raised from the very beginning. Inevitably, there was a sense of detachment.
But to him, having another child wasn't about bloodline—it was about experiencing the process.
He was Uchiha Fugaku now, and Fugaku was him.
Accompanied by suppressed, mosquito-like whispers, the night quietly passed.
---
The sun rose in the east, warm sunlight spilling over the Uchiha Clan compound.
In the clan head's house, the curtains of the best bedroom on the second floor were suddenly pulled open. Light poured in, brightening the dim room.
Fugaku, sleeping on the bed in just his underwear, stirred and opened his eyes.
"Mikoto, what time is it?" he yawned.
Mikoto, glowing with vitality after last night, smiled as she opened the window.
"Husband, you should get up, it's already nine past eight."
"8:09?" Fugaku mumbled, covering his face with the quilt. "Let me sleep 20 more minutes. Wake me then."
"Aren't you eating breakfast?" Mikoto asked gently, placing his folded clothes by the bed.
"No, I'll just buy some buns later," he muttered.
Mikoto shook her head and left the room.
Downstairs, she slipped a bottle of warm milk and a tea egg into each of Naruto and Sasuke's school bags. Watching the two children bicker as they ate, Mikoto clapped her hands.
"Children, don't talk while eating."
After breakfast, she sent them off to school.
---
Meanwhile, far away in the Land of Earth, a rocky mountainous region welcomed three figures in high-collared cloaks.
They didn't linger, heading straight toward Iwagakure.
Before setting out, they had received precise intelligence from Yakushi Kabuto, the adopted son of Yakushi Nonō.
Their target: Deidara.
Expelled from Iwagakure by the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, Deidara had been forced to live outside the village after causing repeated "terror incidents."
Their destination was a certain rocky mountain outside the village.
Originally, Itachi Uchiha had intended to bring Kabuto along, but Nonō refused, so Itachi relented.
The terrain here was nothing like the Land of Fire—mostly bare, jagged mountains where it was easy to get lost. Luckily, Nonō had once gathered intelligence in this area, making her a reliable guide.
This was another reason Itachi had agreed to bring her.
Following Kabuto's intel, they searched until they found a rock formation shaped like a large serpent.
Reuniting at the spot, the three climbed up quietly and soon spotted a small stone house built into the mountain.
Not far from it squatted a blond boy, hands busy kneading something.
"Is that kid… playing with mud?" Kisame Hoshigaki asked, puzzled.
"No," Itachi said calmly after watching. "He's making clay bombs."
According to Fugaku's intel, Deidara was a genius—a disciple of Ōnoki and a former member of the Iwagakure Explosion Corps. At only nine years old, he had been cast out for his reckless use of explosive clay, and had since lived alone in the mountains for three years.
He was Itachi's age.
To live alone since childhood, yet calmly continue kneading clay bombs as if nothing were wrong—this showed remarkable endurance and willpower.
The reports also noted that while Deidara was self-willed, brash, and destructive, he nonetheless valued his comrades beneath the madness.
For that reason, Itachi did not object to inviting him.
Iwagakure had failed to recognize his worth. If they cast aside this talent, then Konoha would take him in.
"Let's go," Itachi said, recalling his father's words before they left. "Meeting him will be simple. Deidara is straightforward, and when it comes to his 'art,' his obsession runs deeper than anything else."
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