Inside Chinatsu's room, she was already nestled comfortably in her cozy little bed.
Her bed and bedding weren't particularly luxurious. When she had ordered them, she had only made one request.
Big!
That was it.
Chinatsu lay sprawled across the enormous bed, arms and legs stretched out in every direction. No matter how much she tossed and turned in her sleep, there was practically no chance of falling off.
She didn't even bother covering herself with the blanket. Instead, she pulled it against her chest like a giant pillow, closed her eyes, and comfortably drifted into sleep.
In the past, whenever Chinatsu closed her eyes, there was always a possibility that she would enter some strange mental world.
But now that Kaguya had completely left her mental space, Chinatsu could finally experience genuine sleep.
Her consciousness sank deeper and deeper.
Dreams layered upon dreams, forming an almost surreal dreamscape.
Meanwhile, outside her room…
Naruto, Sasuke, and the members of the Akatsuki stood in the living room.
Nobody spoke.
Instead, they established a mental connection and communicated silently.
Naruto & Sasuke: Our sister is finally back! We have to surprise her. Any suggestions?
The Akatsuki members exchanged glances.
After a moment of silence, they began offering suggestions one after another.
Hidan: How about we hold a ritual
He immediately corrected himself.
No, no. I mean a party!
Kakuzu: A party… I suppose that's a good idea. But does anyone here actually know how to organize one?
Kisame: Nope. I've only ever attended banquets. I've never organized a party.
Sasori: Same.
Deidara: Wait, Sasori, didn't you once throw a party for Granny Chiyo?
Sasori: That was… merely your imagination.
Konan: How about we cook something for her?
Nagato: I agree.
The suggestions continued.
Unfortunately, most of them were either impractical or simply too ordinary.
Cooking?
Everyone looked at one another hesitantly.
Konan's suggestion wasn't bad.
But it was too ordinary.
After all, when couldn't Chinatsu eat delicious food?
And considering their culinary skills…
What kind of masterpiece could they actually produce?
Even if they somehow managed to cook something delicious, it wouldn't be special enough.
This was supposed to be a historic moment!
They needed something that would go down in history.
At least… something impressive enough to deserve that description.
Everyone became increasingly serious.
And precisely because they were taking it so seriously, they became increasingly troubled.
Among the group, Naruto, Sasuke, and Hidan were the most active.
Hidan continued throwing out suggestions, but Sasuke rejected every single one.
Most of Hidan's ideas were either completely ridiculous or simply too difficult to implement.
Finally, Sasuke sighed.
"Is cooking really the best we can do?"
He sat on the sofa, resting his chin on his hand.
His posture almost resembled the famous Thinker statue.
"My sister does love food, but preparing a meal just feels… too hasty."
"Ahem."
A soft cough suddenly broke the silence.
Everyone immediately turned toward Chinatsu's bedroom.
After confirming that there was no movement inside, they turned back.
The cough had come from the opposite end of the sofa.
Kaguya was sitting there with her legs crossed, her hands tucked inside her sleeves.
Seeing everyone staring at her, Kaguya waved her hand awkwardly.
"Sorry. I couldn't help it."
She yawned softly.
Although Kaguya was the progenitor of chakra, an existence that could practically be described as a god, spending so many years with Chinatsu had gradually caused her to pick up habits that ordinary humans possessed.
For example, she didn't need to eat.
She could survive perfectly well without food.
But that didn't mean she didn't want to eat.
Especially when she had nothing else to do.
Then there was the habit of crossing her legs.
All of these little habits had been inherited from Chinatsu.
Kaguya had always been somewhat innocent and naive, but she certainly hadn't been this carefree in the past.
"Kaguya… Miss?"
Kaguya raised her head.
"What do you think about this?"
Her first instinct was to reply, I see it with my eyes.
Fortunately, she managed to stop herself.
I've really become more unserious after spending so much time with Chinatsu.
After thinking for a moment, Kaguya spoke hesitantly.
"You really want my opinion?"
"Yes."
"Then I'll warn you first. My idea might be a little outdated."
"That's fine. We just want more suggestions."
"Alright."
Kaguya closed her eyes and began thinking.
The room fell silent.
After a long while, Kaguya finally opened her eyes.
"You could make a statue of Chinatsu."
"Someone once made a statue for me. I remember being quite pleased when I saw it."
"A statue?!"
Everyone was stunned.
As expected of Kaguya.
She really had come up with something completely unexpected.
But before anyone could say anything else
"A statue!"
Hidan suddenly jumped up.
"That's it!"
His eyes practically lit up.
"This suggestion is brilliant!"
A magnificent statue of their beloved evil goddess should be erected so that the foolish masses could properly admire her greatness!
Sasuke lowered his head and began imagining it.
A gigantic, majestic statue of his sister standing proudly in the center of the Land of Whirlpools.
Every passerby would be forced to look up at it.
Everyone would remember the greatness of Uchiha Chinatsu.
The more Sasuke imagined it, the more excited he became.
"Excellent!"
He slammed his hand against the table.
"That's perfect!"
Naruto, standing beside him, looked slightly confused.
But since Sasuke said it was a good idea…
"Yeah! I think it's great too!"
The others quickly became excited as well.
The more they thought about it, the better the idea seemed.
When Chinatsu woke up and saw a gigantic statue of herself standing in the center of the Land of Whirlpools…
Wouldn't she be completely surprised?
"Let's get started!"
Everyone immediately began discussing the details.
After all, although Chinatsu was currently asleep, nobody knew exactly when she would wake up.
From the side, Kaguya casually added,
"Chinatsu is exhausted this time. She probably won't wake up for at least two days."
Everyone nodded.
Then Kaguya suddenly seemed to remember something.
"Ah, and one more thing."
Everyone looked at her.
"If Chinatsu doesn't like the statue, don't tell her it was my idea."
She crossed her arms.
"I only made the suggestion. You're the ones who decided to actually build it."
Everyone stared at her.
They had clearly heard the first half of her sentence.
But somehow, the second half sounded suspiciously like Kaguya was already trying to escape responsibility.
Kaguya ignored their gazes.
She simply closed her eyes again.
Chinatsu had been busy for so long.
And, in her own way, so had she.
It was time to rest.
Watching everyone begin making preparations for the statue, Konan remained where she was.
She didn't immediately join them.
Instead, she frowned slightly.
For some reason…
She had a very bad feeling about this.
"A statue?"
Konan murmured softly.
"It just doesn't feel like a good idea…"