Naraku casually brushed his bangs with his fingers, smirking inwardly.
"Crushed you again, didn't I?"
The comments section was still wailing in the end credits, but he remained calm, shoved the last bite of food into his mouth, then neatly stacked the dishes and utensils and took them to the kitchen to wash.
He also clicked on the next episode.
This episode's protagonists were once again Minato and Kushina. Judging by their attire and the indoor decorations, it must have been a few days after the New Year.
Kushina was sharing the good news with Minato that her best friend was having a second child, guessing whether it would be a boy or a girl this time.
"If it's a boy, then Mikoto will have three sons!"
Just imagining the scene gave Kushina a massive headache. She then said with a hopeful expression, "A girl would be better. Mikoto's family really needs a little girl."
Minato put down the book he was reading and chuckled, "You shouldn't jinx it and cause Mikoto to have another son."
"What do you mean? If I were that powerful, I'd just become a shaman, not a Ninja."
Kushina put her hands on her hips, complaining indignantly, "Don't you dare pin that on me!"
"Yes, yes, Hokage-sama," Minato quickly pleaded, changing the subject to dinner, "What do you want to eat tonight? I'll make it!"
Watching her husband busy in the kitchen, Kushina tapped her chin with her index finger, still immersed in the joy of Mikoto becoming a mother again.
"Mikoto already has several children. When will I become a mother?"
"If this keeps up, my child won't even be the same age as Mikoto's children…" [Oh my god, if Mikoto's second child is also a son, plus Kakashi, that makes four boys in the family, right?]
[Ninja World children are so easy to raise. If this were the real world, three or four sons would drive parents crazy.]
[Please, let me reincarnate in Konoha as Mikoto's daughter! With KakaNara and Itachi as older brothers, wouldn't I just walk around the Ninja World fearlessly?]
[Everyone move aside, I'm going to wake that person up with a splash.]
[I'll do it, I've been a bit hot-tempered lately.]
[I predict a huge wave of transmigration novels about Hokage are about to emerge.]
[Minato is definitely henpecked when he's at home.]
[Kushina, you and Minato need to work together on this, hahahahahaha.]
[Did you hear that, Minato? Your wife is eager for a child! (/≧▽≦)/]
[Spread the word, the Hokage's wife thinks Fourth Hokage is impotent!]
[Good heavens, you at the front, be careful Minato doesn't beat you up in your dreams tonight.]
One moment Kushina was worrying about having a child, and the next, the scene shifted to her sitting in the obstetrician's office, being informed that she was pregnant.
"Congratulations!"
Kushina was still bewildered: "Huh?"
"You're pregnant! Your due date is around October 10th."
Having waited and wished for a child, Kushina's eyes instantly brightened several shades: "I'm pregnant!?"
When she got home and told him the news, Minato stood frozen, holding a stainless steel basin, taking a while to process it.
"We're having a baby?"
"I'm going to be a mother!"
"Then I, I'm going to be a father…?"
"I'm going to be a mother very soon!"
"This means I'm going to be a father soon!"
Their natural dorkiness was on full display as they excitedly shouted at each other for a long time, still laughing joyfully when they finally hugged.
[They got pregnant so quickly, Kushina, Minato, you two really put in the effort (laughing-crying.jpg)]
[Yay! Kushina is having a baby!]
[Child marriage! Child marriage! Child marriage!]
[Can you two stop singing to each other from across the room? You're killing me! Hahahahahaha…]
[Minato and Kushina have an heir, congratulations, congratulations!]
[The dorky couple is so funny.]
To a cheerful rhythm, Kushina's pregnancy life officially began, and it was quite enjoyable.
Minato came home every day, finding different ways to cook delicious meals, personally handling every step;
When she had nothing to do, she would go to Mikoto to exchange experiences, repeatedly guessing whether the two children would be boys or girls;
Foods she originally disliked suddenly became incredibly delicious, and she couldn't help but eat a lot, which scared Minato quite a bit… As the music was about to end, the screen showed Mikoto had given birth and was resting, holding her newborn child.
Surrounding her bed were her husband Fugaku, Kakashi, Naraku, and Itachi, all looking at the infant in her arms.
In the next close-up shot, a card at the foot of the bed clearly stated: Baby's gender is male.
The scene switched. Upon hearing this news, Kushina sighed heavily, regretting that she hadn't guessed correctly.
[Hahahahahaha, Kushina's pregnancy style is so unique.]
[Minato, the best husband in the world.]
[I've experienced taste changes; when my sister was pregnant, she loved mushrooms, even though she wouldn't even look at them before…]
[Mikoto gave birth already? So fast!]
[It really is a boy, hahahahahaha.]
[Now Kushina has become a little shaman~]
[Three kids now, Fugaku and Mikoto's family is truly flourishing. Minato and Kushina still need to keep working hard, hahahaha.]
[Kushina, next time remember to guess the opposite, then it'll definitely be a girl.]
Time passed quickly in the animation; in just a few seconds, it was summer.
Kushina and Minato changed into lighter, more convenient short-sleeved clothes and prepared a table full of food to welcome Jiraiya, who was returning for the summer festival.
Though they said it was for the festival, everyone understood that Jiraiya's main purpose was to visit Kushina.
He even brought his first published work, "The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Ninja," as a gift.
Having finished his first novel, Jiraiya wasn't very confident yet, jokingly saying, "It's just a boring story, just glance through it."
Minato closed the book, exclaiming, "Not at all, I think this story is wonderful."
"All the stories in it are adapted from your legends, like an autobiographical novel."
"The protagonist of this novel, with his will to never give up until the very end, is truly admirable."
"This protagonist really resembles you, sensei."
Jiraiya was so flattered he scratched his head of white hair, "Is… is that so?"
"Yes," Minato nodded firmly in agreement, "So I have an idea."
"I hope my child can also become a Ninja like the protagonist."
"So, sensei, may I use the name of this novel's protagonist for my child?"
Hearing this, Jiraiya was stunned. He hadn't expected Minato to have such a thought and quickly tried to stop him.
"Hey, hey, is that really okay? This is just a name I casually thought of while eating ramen!"
"Naruto, huh…"
Kushina walked out from behind the door, met Minato's beaming gaze, and her tone was full of genuine admiration: "It's a wonderful name."
At this, Jiraiya was completely out of options, muttering both helplessly and joyfully.
"Seriously, if I do this, won't I become like a family member who named him? Do I really have that qualification?"
Minato emphasized again, "It's precisely because you are sensei that you have this qualification. You are an outstanding Ninja with true talent; no one is better than you."
This sincere praise made Jiraiya feel completely disoriented and he happily agreed.
[Minato and Jiraiya's shared aesthetic, of course he'd think the story was good.]
[Couldn't it be that Jiraiya's novel is actually very well written?]
[Compared to Jiraiya as a teacher, Minato's style of naming techniques is still very advanced.]
[Do you think he wouldn't give his own child a super long, super chuunibyou name?]
[Naruto, huh… It's actually quite good.]
[I also think it sounds pretty good.]
[I think Kushina was really afraid Minato would give the child a weird name, so she just went with "Naruto" hahahahaha.]
[Have you two considered, what if it's a girl and she's also named Naruto? Wouldn't that be a bit odd? ＼(*T▽T*)/]
[Don't worry about that, our Minato and Kushina have their ways.]
[Jiraiya is practically a grandfather now~ That's really nice!]
Naraku: So it was thought of while eating ramen, huh?… Oh right, there's an ingredient called Narutomaki… He hadn't paid close attention to this part in his previous life, and only now realized the specific origin of the name "Naruto."
He had to admit, Minato's decision was pretty good, at least much better than if he had named him himself.
After all, there shouldn't be any child in the world who would like to be called "Rasengan Flash Super Whirlwind Howl Style One," right?