After resolving the noble rebellion, Konoha Village returned to peace. Everyone went about their lives and work as usual, not caring about any conflicts between the Daimyo's heir and his appointed Advisors.
No matter how blatant Matsukata Seigou was, he ultimately acted in the Daimyo's name. As long as he didn't directly rebel like the two noble families before, Minato and the Advisors couldn't intervene.
Now that everything was successfully resolved, Minato had some free time, so he chose a good day to marry Kushina.
The wedding was low-key and simple; they only invited about forty to fifty people, and the entire ceremony took only half a day to complete.
If it hadn't been handled with such semi-secrecy, given Minato's consistently high popularity as a commoner Hokage in Konoha Village, the wedding venue would probably have replicated the lively scene of Kushina's wedding back then.
Although the scale was not large, the guests who attended were all heavyweights.
For example, the former Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi; the Konoha Sannin, Tsunade Hime, the gallant Jiraiya, and the cold Orochimaru; his teammates Choza Akimichi and Shibi Aburame; Kana and Arashi; Kakashi, Naraku, and Rin; and the heads of various Ninja Clans with their wives and children... Naraku secretly lamented that almost all of Konoha's decision-makers and high-level combat power were present. If something unexpected were to happen, the Land of Fire would be completely finished.
However, this was merely a theoretical outcome. In reality, no one could currently wipe out everyone present; anyone who dared to try would only be serving themselves up as fodder.
That evening, Naraku received a system notification that several episodes of the anime had been updated.
He immediately decided to stay up and watch them all to confirm whether Zhin had appeared in the "Iii-Manri Incident."
Unfortunately, the animator had completely cut Zhin's scenes again, making it seem as if there were no masterminds behind the events.
The culprits, Iii and Manri, appeared to have launched the rebellion purely out of their own mental illness, and the more than half of the Twelve Guardian Ninja who defected did so out of greed and self-interest.
Meanwhile, Matsukata Seigou had incredibly good luck, seizing a hard-won opportunity. He used the support sent by Konoha to his advantage, becoming the de facto ruler of the Land of Fire.
This series of changes caught the audience off guard, leading to comments in the bullet chat and comment sections marveling that the Iii and Manri families were truly excellent support, single-handedly reviving the seemingly precarious Matsukata Family.
No, it was more than just reviving them; they directly boosted Matsukata Seigou into a Cao Cao-like figure.
If it weren't for the tragic end of the Iii and Manri families, everyone might even suspect that it was all a double act with Matsukata Seigou, designed to help him seize power and usurp the throne.
After the thrilling major event concluded, it was time for the long-awaited wedding of Minato and Kushina.
For the audience, nothing was more joyous than the marriage of this couple they had watched grow up.
Bullet chats, comment sections, short video platforms, online forums... everywhere was filled with "MinaKushi" related content.
The content either expressed blessings and emotion for the young couple, or joy that their long-shipping CP had finally achieved a happy ending, or speculated whether they would have a son or a daughter, and what names they would choose... This exaggerated popularity and traffic made Naraku incredibly envious, so much so that he even wanted to marry Kakashi to see the strength of his own fans.
System: [You really are unscrupulous...]
Naraku: None of your business! It doesn't concern you!
System: [...].
Having witnessed Minato and Kushina's marriage as he wished, Jiraiya left Konoha Village contentedly to continue his travels, searching for the Child of Prophecy he had yet to confirm.
Soon after, Tsunade, whose gambling addiction had relapsed, left the village with Shizune. Accompanying her was a large sum of medical funding sponsored by the Uchiha Clan—though everyone knew where the money would ultimately end up.
Orochimaru, as before, immersed himself in his laboratory, dedicated to his strange projects. With Uchiha Clan funding, he no longer had to worry about money.
No one knew whether he harbored resentment about not being chosen, or if he would remain docile indefinitely.
Even Naraku, who was familiar with the plot, couldn't be sure if Orochimaru would still defect this time, as many things in the current Konoha Village were different from the original timeline.
Life continued uneventfully, and soon it was New Year's. Naraku, like Kakashi, turned 13, making him half an adult in the Ninja World, where people matured early.
During this past period, besides frequently going on missions with Kakashi, he spent the rest of his time in the laboratory.
Nearly half of the previously earned popularity points were spent, and the improved Senra Tensei Rinne Array was barely completed, significantly increasing the efficiency of collecting and converging natural energy.
Combined with other Sealing Jutsu hidden within the array, awakening Sakumo was finally no longer an unattainable dream.
Additionally, given Itachi's early display of extraordinary talent and his commencement of preliminary Ninja training, Naraku insisted on adding several Healing Seal: Modification (Zhen Yu Feng Yin - Gai) to him.
Others might not know that Itachi would likely suffer from bloodline limit sickness in the future, but how could he, a transmigrator, not be aware?
With these seals delaying the awakening of his Sharingan, Itachi wouldn't die from illness at just twenty years old.
Fugaku and Mikoto, having experienced the pain of their eldest son's bloodline limit sickness, feared Itachi might follow the same path and readily agreed.
Strangely, however, someone soon secretly spread rumors that Naraku was destroying the talents of the Clan Head's biological son in an attempt to solidify his position as Young Clan Head, causing many Clan Member to discuss it privately.
Fugaku initially thought an Elder was tired of living and wanted to leave early, and was preparing to send them off. To his surprise, after many days of investigation, several key suspects were cleared, leaving him completely baffled.
Seeing the rumors grow increasingly outrageous, he had no choice but to urgently convene a full clan meeting to specifically explain the matter and reassure the ordinary Clan Member who were unaware of the truth.
Uchiha Entō, who had experienced the benefits of the Healing Seal, stepped forward to speak, claiming that if Naraku hadn't applied the Healing Seal: Modification (Zhen Yu Feng Yin - Gai) to Shisui early on, that unfortunate child would have been beyond medical help due to awakening his Sharingan too quickly.
The parents of Kazuki, Sou, and Hibiki were equally supportive, immediately stepping forward to ask Naraku to apply the seals to their children to prevent accidental early awakening.
Naraku agreed without hesitation, applying the Sealing Jutsu to the three children in front of almost all the Clan Member.
These young Uchiha—especially the little devil Kazuki—indeed possessed good talent, and their risk of developing illness from awakening their Sharingan was not low, so having a seal to protect them was safer.
Anyway, the seals could be removed once they reached an appropriate age, and the suppressed Dōjutsu Power (Pupil Power) would rapidly increase, still allowing them to awaken their Sharingan smoothly without any loss.
After the clan meeting, the Healing Seal: Modification (Zhen Yu Feng Yin - Gai), which was rumored to destroy the Sharingan, transformed into a symbol of extraordinary talent within the Uchiha Clan.
That day, Uchiha Kazuki proudly led her two little followers, showing off several times around the clan grounds, school, and shopping street, before being dragged home by her parents, who had heard the news, to be disciplined.
Shisui vividly described the scene at that time, making Naraku somewhat amused.
He hadn't expected Kazuki to have a talent for being a comedian?