Chapter 61: The Calm Before
By early October, the oppressive summer heat had finally broken, replaced by the crisp, cool autumn winds that swept through the Hidden Leaf Village.
Inside the main Uchiha household, the sliding paper doors were open to the garden, letting the breeze drift through the courtyard. It was a picture of absolute, serene domesticity.
Until the peace was shattered by a very loud, very pregnant redhead.
"I swear, Mikoto, if Minato tries to feed me one more bowl of plain boiled spinach ’for the baby’s health,’ I am going to throw him off the Hokage monument!" Kushina Uzumaki practically shouted, waving a stick of sweet dango aggressively in the air.
Mikoto laughed softly, rocking a two-month-old Sasuke in her arms. "He’s just worried, Kushina. You know how he gets. First-time fathers are always terrified of doing something wrong."
"He can teleport across a battlefield in a literal flash of light, but he treats my diet like it’s an S-rank bomb disposal!" Kushina groaned, taking a massive, unapologetic bite of the sweet dumpling.
She paused mid-chew, her bright violet eyes catching movement on the wooden engawa.
Ren stepped out onto the porch, having just returned from a morning supply chain review at his private estate. He was wearing a crisp, dark-grey dress shirt, his posture relaxed but inherently commanding.
"Whoa," Kushina blinked, swallowing her dango. "Is this Fugaku’s kid? The one who practically owns the civilian sector now?"
Ren offered a smooth, practiced smile, stepping down into the courtyard.
"Guilty as charged," Ren said, approaching the low table. "Ren Uchiha. It’s a pleasure to finally formally meet you, Kushina-sama."
"Oh, drop the ’sama,’ kid," Kushina laughed, gesturing for him to sit. "I’ve heard all the rumors about you. The village elders practically grind their teeth to dust every time someone mentions your apothecary. I like you already."
"I aim to please," Ren chuckled. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, elegantly carved cedar box, placing it gently on the table in front of her.
"What’s this?" Kushina asked, her eyes lighting up. "Is it candy? Please tell me it’s not more spinach."
"It’s a prototype from my luxury division," Ren explained, tapping the lid. "A highly refined, organic shea butter infused with deep-pressed sandalwood and chamomile. It relieves muscle tension, hydrates the skin, and completely eliminates stretch marks. I figured the Hokage’s wife deserves better than standard medical-grade lotion."
Kushina popped the lid open. The rich, calming scent wafted over the table. Her tough, tomboyish exterior instantly melted into absolute delight.
"Oh, this is gorgeous," Kushina breathed, looking up at him with genuine gratitude. "You are officially my favorite Uchiha. Sorry, Mikoto, but your kid knows how to bribe a pregnant woman."
Kushina reached across the table and grabbed Ren’s hand to shake it vigorously.
The moment her skin made contact with his, Ren’s breath completely vanished from his lungs.
He didn’t visibly flinch. His face remained frozen in a polite, charming smile. But internally, every single alarm bell in his System-optimized chakra coils began screaming.
Through the physical contact, Ren could feel it. It wasn’t normal chakra. It was a suffocating, boiling, malicious heat resting just beneath the surface of Kushina’s skin. It felt like standing directly next to the open door of a blast furnace. The Nine-Tails’ chakra was immense, ancient, and filled with a hateful, primal rage.
But what terrified Ren wasn’t the fox itself. It was the sensation of the cage holding it.
Because she was so close to her due date, the legendary Uzumaki sealing matrix was currently stretched paper-thin. He could feel the chaotic red chakra violently pressing against the weakened barrier, desperately looking for a crack.
The seal is incredibly unstable, Ren realized, pulling his hand back smoothly and casually resting it on his knee to hide the slight tremor in his fingers. October 10th isn’t just a date on a calendar. It’s a biological ticking time bomb.
Before Ren could say anything else, the air in the center of the courtyard distorted.
With a faint crackle of ozone and a flash of yellow light, Minato Namikaze materialized on the grass. The Fourth Hokage was wearing his crisp white and red robes, though he looked entirely exhausted. The dark circles under his blue eyes betrayed the sheer weight of managing a village while preparing for a highly classified, top-secret birth.
"There you are," Minato smiled warmly, stepping up to the porch. "I was wondering where you snuck off to, Kushina. You know you’re not supposed to be walking around the village unattended right now."
"I was visiting Mikoto!" Kushina defended, crossing her arms playfully. "And securing contraband lotions. Don’t start hovering, Minato."
Minato laughed softly, his eyes shifting to Ren. The Hokage’s gaze was kind, but it carried the sharp, analytical edge of a man responsible for national security.
"Ren," Minato greeted, offering a polite nod. "It’s good to see you again. The hospital quartermaster tells me your supply deliveries have been flawless this quarter."
"Reliability is the foundation of good business, Lord Fourth," Ren replied evenly.
"We appreciate it," Minato said. He gently placed a hand on Kushina’s shoulder. "Come on. The ANBU escort is waiting to take us to the secure compound. It’s time to get settled."
Kushina groaned, but she stood up, waving goodbye to Mikoto and baby Sasuke. She tucked the cedar box into her robes and gave Ren a bright grin. "Thanks again for the bribe, kid. See you on the other side!"
With another flash of yellow light, the Hokage and his wife vanished.
The courtyard fell silent once more. Mikoto sighed fondly, rocking Sasuke in her arms. "She is going to be a wonderful mother."
Ren stared at the empty space on the grass where they had just been standing. The domestic warmth of the afternoon entirely faded from his chest, replaced by a cold, calculating dread.
"I need to get back to my estate, Mom," Ren said quietly, standing up. "I have some... long-term investments I need to audit."
Ren’s private estate was located on the premium border between the civilian sector and the Hokage Mountain. From the outside, it looked like a sprawling, peaceful noble’s manor. On the inside, it was a highly fortified corporate citadel.
At midnight, the underground vault beneath the estate was freezing.
The heavy iron door was deadbolted from the inside. The room was lit by a single, harsh chakra-lamp swinging gently from the ceiling.
Ren stood at the head of a heavy metal table. Sitting across from him were the two most lethal people on his payroll: Kakuzu, wearing his tailored black suit, and Pakura, leaning against the concrete wall in her sand-gold guard uniform.
"We are officially initiating a red-level security protocol," Ren stated, his voice completely devoid of its usual corporate charm. It was sharp, cold, and strictly tactical. "Effective immediately, we are moving to high alert."
Pakura’s posture straightened. "What’s happening?"
"The Hokage’s wife is pregnant," Ren said flatly. "She is due any day now."
The vault was silent for three seconds.
Kakuzu slowly looked up from his ledger. His glowing green eyes locked onto his eighteen-year-old boss.
"So?" Kakuzu rumbled, his voice dripping with profound annoyance. "You didn’t get her pregnant, did you? Because if we have to pay hush-money to the Hokage to cover up a paternity scandal, it is coming directly out of your end-of-year dividend."
Pakura immediately kicked Kakuzu’s shin under the table. "Read the room, big guy," she muttered.
Ren let out a long, deeply exhausted sigh, giving his CFO a withering look. "No, Kakuzu. I did not sleep with the Hokage’s wife. She is the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki."
At that, the atmosphere in the vault instantly changed. The casual annoyance vanished from Kakuzu’s eyes. Pakura pushed herself off the wall, her combat instincts immediately flaring to life.
They both knew exactly what that implied. A Jinchuriki’s seal is at its absolute weakest during childbirth.
"A Tailed Beast," Pakura said, her voice tight. "But why do we need to be on high alert? The village administration isn’t stupid. They will have the birth location locked down with their absolute best ANBU squads. What does this have to do with us?"
"Because I have confirmed intel that a targeted attack will happen the exact moment she goes into labor," Ren stated, leaning his hands on the table.
Pakura frowned, deeply skeptical. "How can that be? The location and timing of a Jinchuriki’s birth should be the most highly classified secret in the entire country. How does anyone outside the Hokage’s inner circle know?"
"Because someone inside that inner circle leaked it," Ren lied smoothly, using his meta-knowledge to weave a flawless, believable narrative. "There is a certain elder in the upper ranks of this village who desperately wants to be Hokage. And he is more than willing to let the current Hokage die in a catastrophic ’accident’ to get the hat. Power rots people."
Pakura stared at Ren for a moment before letting out a dark, bitter chuckle. "So it isn’t just the Sand Village elders who are absolute garbage. Good to know."
Kakuzu, however, was not amused. He snapped his ledger shut.
"I still do not understand why this requires our intervention," Kakuzu said, his voice a low, gravelly rumble. "This is a Konoha political dispute. We do not even operate our primary headquarters here anymore. We are just here for your brother’s birth. If the village burns, we evacuate to the Capital. Let the Hokage deal with his own traitors."
"You don’t understand, Kakuzu. It’s more complicated than that," Ren said, his dark eyes hardening. "The attacker is an Uchiha."
Kakuzu froze.
"Do you remember the intelligence dispatch we received from Kazama three years ago? Right before the war ended?" Ren asked. "The Kannabi Bridge report."
Kakuzu’s eyes narrowed as his perfect, encyclopedic memory retrieved the document. "An Uchiha casualty. Obito. Crushed by a rockfall, his eye transplanted to a teammate."
"He isn’t dead," Ren revealed softly. "He survived. And the trauma awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan."
The temperature in the vault seemed to plummet.
Pakura’s breath hitched. But Kakuzu’s reaction was entirely visceral. The immortal killer, who had faced down entire armies without flinching, actually took a physical step back from the table.
"Mangekyō," Kakuzu whispered, genuine, unfiltered dread bleeding into his voice.
He had seen those eyes before. Decades ago, he had seen Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju in battle. Kakuzu had thrown a single kunai from a mile away, turned around, and ran for his life, and the sheer terror of that memory was still burned into his stitched biology.
Kakuzu immediately reached down and grabbed the handle of his briefcase.
"Boss, this is entirely above my pay grade," Kakuzu declared, turning toward the heavy iron door. "I quit. We are liquidating the local assets and returning to the Capital immediately."
"I agree with the accountant," Pakura said, stepping quickly away from the map. "I am not fighting a mythical ninja god. We need to leave."
"Hey! Calm down!" Ren snapped, slamming his hand on the table to stop them.
Kakuzu paused, his hand on the doorknob.
"He has a Mangekyō, yes, but he is not Madara," Ren said, his voice radiating absolute authority. "He is a traumatized teenager. He can’t even wipe Madara’s boots. The only problem is his specific ocular skill—it’s a space-time jutsu. It makes him intangible, which means he is incredibly good at running away. In terms of raw, destructive combat power, he is much weaker than you guys."
Pakura gave him a highly suspicious look. "And exactly how do you know the specific ocular mechanics of a dead boy?"
"I’m the boss," Ren replied smoothly, not missing a beat. "I have my own channels. You think I built a continental monopoly by staying blind to my own clan?"
Kakuzu slowly took his hand off the doorknob, though he still looked deeply unhappy. "Even if he is weak, the question remains. Why entangle our corporation in a village blood-feud?"
Ren walked around the table. He didn’t look like a teenager anymore; he looked like a ruthless, cornered CEO fighting for his empire’s life.
"You don’t understand, Kakuzu," Ren said, his dark eyes hardening. "It’s a family matter. Think about the political climate. The village leadership has been eyeing the Uchiha with suspicion since the Second Hokage. The Konoha elders already view our clan as a potential threat to Konoha’s stability. If a Tailed Beast attack happens—or if our name is even remotely linked to the instability of the Hokage’s household—the village won’t just ’react’—they will execute a full-scale purge of the Uchiha."
Ren pointed a finger at the map. "They will blame the entire clan. The Uchiha will be marginalized, cornered, and investigated for treason. And even if I am legally a civilian merchant, my surname is still Uchiha."
Ren looked his CFO dead in the eye.
"If my name becomes synonymous with domestic terrorism, the Daimyo will drop our royal contracts. The nobles will boycott our apothecary. Our entire continental monopoly will collapse overnight," Ren stated, his voice lethal. "I am not losing billions in revenue because some edgy teenager wants to play villain."
Ren reached under the table and pulled out the heavy, lead-lined lockbox containing the Tier 4 System purchases. He popped the latches, revealing the Kage-level suppression tags and the barrier anchors.
"We are not fighting the Nine-Tails. Minato can handle the beast," Ren ordered, sliding the box across the table. "You two will deploy these suppression anchors around our estate, the hospital, and the Uchiha compound. Secure the perimeter and protect our brand."
Kakuzu looked at the heavy, incredibly expensive sealing tags. He slowly let go of his briefcase, his capitalist instincts finally overriding his PTSD.
"And the space-time user?" Pakura asked, picking up a tag.
"If he breaches my perimeter," Ren said, his obsidian eyes flashing red for a fraction of a second, "I will audit him myself."
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