Ti continued to flow seamlessly. The world, for the most part, was in a state of calm—broken only by the occasional chaos caused by missing-nins from various villages, small-scale conflicts, and minor wars here and there. Outside of these scattered disturbances, the world remained largely peaceful.
And like this, twelve years had already passed since the night of the Nine-Tails incident in Konoha.
At this ti, Shanks was seated in his study, focused on several matters related to the village. Scrolls and docunts lay arranged before him. Just then, a Shadow Guard appeared directly in front of him, dropping to one knee.
"Lord Uzukage," the Shadow Guard reported, his voice steady, "there is an envoy from Konoha approaching. They will reach Uzushiogakure within a few hours."
Hearing this, Shanks lifted his head and looked toward the kneeling guard. "Very well. When they arrive, treat them the sa way you do all other envoys from different villages. There's no need for any special arrangents or preferential treatnt."
The Shadow Guard nodded once and imdiately vanished from the room.
Shanks let out a slow breath and stretched slightly while still seated. "That's enough paperwork for today," he muttered. "I should go take a look around."
With that, Shanks rose from his cushion and walked out of his study. The mont he stepped into the wooden corridor outside, the sound of light laughter reached his ears. Two children were giggling as they ran along the corridor—and Shanks just happened to be standing directly in their path.
As they ran toward him, Shanks looked at them, recognition flashing in his eyes. A smile spread across his face as he spoke their nas. "Chihiro. Mitsuka."
They were the children of Benimaru and Todoroki. Todoroki had married i Terumi, and their son was Chihiro, while Benimaru had married Kurenai, and their daughter was Mitsuka. Shanks had understood—or rather, had long been prepared—for Benimaru and Kurenai to end up together. That pairing had never surprised him. However, when he first learned that Todoroki and i Terumi had fallen in love with each other, he had been completely flabbergasted. In the end, he could only accept that things had simply happened—Todoroki and i had fallen in love, gotten married, and eventually had a child together.
At present, within the Uzumaki clan, only Yoko remained unmarried. Even Renji had already tied the knot, his wife being Shizune. That union had co about largely because Tsunade still maintained her habit of gambling and wandering from place to place. From ti to ti, she would visit Uzushiogakure, and during one of those visits, Renji and Shizune had crossed paths. One eting led to another, feelings gradually ford, and before long, they had fallen in love and married.
Yoko's situation, however, was sowhat different. With his naturally romantic disposition and undeniable charm, Yoko already had a girl in his heart—and she loved him in return. Yet she refused to marry him. Or, to be more precise, she was deeply hesitant and resistant to the idea. That girl was Samui.
Samui hailed from Kumogakure, and the ninjas of Kumogakure harboured considerable hatred toward Uzushiogakure. Although Yoko's charisma and romantic nature had been enough to make Samui fall in love with him, her resentnt toward Uzushiogakure—and the Uzumaki clan itself—prevented her from taking that final step. No matter how strong her feelings were, that lingering hatred continued to stand between her and Yoko.
This was because one of the ninjas who had died in the battle at Uzushiogakure against the Kumogakure–Kirigakure alliance was Samui's father. He had been part of Kumogakure's forces, and Benimaru himself had killed him on the battlefield. That kind of hatred could not simply be extinguished from Samui's heart. The fact that she had even managed to resist the pressure from Kumogakure's higher-ups was already significant.
They had wanted her to marry Yoko and act as a spy within Uzushiogakure—waiting for the perfect opportunity to cause massive damage to the village from within.
But Samui had rejected the plan outright. After all, she loved Yoko with all her heart. Even though she harbored deep resentnt toward Uzushiogakure and the Uzumaki clan, she could not bring herself to do sothing that will make Yoko hate her. Because of that, she chose not to marry him at all, refusing to beco a blade aid at his back.
And since Samui refused to marry Yoko, Yoko, in turn, refused to marry anyone else. It left them locked in a quiet stalemate. There was nothing Shanks could do about it. He couldn't forcibly erase mories from Samui's mind or compel her into a marriage with Yoko—and Yoko would never allow such a thing anyway.
So Yoko continued on his chosen path, relying only on persistence and sincerity, determined to one day earn Samui's trust.
Shanks also knew that unless so major event arose—one powerful enough to force the entire world into an alliance—it would be nearly impossible for Samui's hatred to fade away. In his mory, there is only a single event capable of completely extinguishing her resentnt toward Uzushiogakure: the Fourth Shinobi War. Yet even that is uncertain. With the Uzumaki clan still standing strong—with him and his siblings present—Shanks didn't even know whether such a war would ever co to pass.
Let fate decide that, Shanks thought to himself.
By then, Chihiro and Mitsuha had already run up close to him. Shanks bent down and wrapped both children in a gentle hug. They imdiately leaned into him and, standing at his sides, called out together, "Uncle."
A smile tugged at Shanks' lips as he asked, "What are you two playing?"
Chihiro answered enthusiastically, "We're seeing who's faster. We're playing tag. I'm trying to catch Mitsuha, and Mitsuha is trying to run away from ."
At that very mont, Chihiro reached out and grabbed Mitsuha's hand. "I won," he declared proudly.
"No…" Mitsuha protested at once, her voice full of reluctant disbelief.
…
Shanks smiled as he listened to their playful banter, the wooden corridor filled with their voices. Just then, i arrived, clearly looking for the two children. She first bowed toward Shanks and said respectfully, "Brother-in-law."
Shanks nodded in response.
i then turned to Chihiro and Mitsuha and spoke in a lightly reprimanding tone, "You two, why are you disturbing your uncle? Go outside and play."
Shanks shook his head gently and said, "No need to worry. Let them play. They're kids, after all."
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