Even those who are already married can have a few more kids with their wives. Even if they give birth to more Uchiha of Konoha, she has enough funds to support all these newborns.
Thinking of this, Ruri shot a strange look at Hakushi, then glanced down at her own belly.
Forget it. Better to wait until things are completely stable before thinking about having children.
Right now, she's one of the few top-tier fighters. If she gets pregnant at a time like this, it's just asking for trouble.
"What's wrong?"
"Oh, nothing. I'll head out for a bit then."
"Alright, I'm counting on you. You know how to contact the informants outside using code words, right?"
Hakushi asked her this way.
"Yeah, I know."
"Do you want to take a Perception Ninja with you?"
People who train in natural energy generally have some ability in sensing.
But depending on what they focus on, their sensory abilities can be stronger or weaker.
Ninjas like Ruri, who focus on combat, are a bit weaker in the sensing department. Her perception isn't as sharp as some others, so she'd have a tough time dealing with tricky stealth-type enemies.
"No need, I have a better choice."
Ruri declined Hakushi's suggestion and walked out of the office alone.
◎
Beside the pond squatted an orange cat, as tall as an adult man.
It was fat and looked like it had a lot of greasy fat. For a giant cat like this, most people would imagine it to be really slow.
Its cat eyes were glued to the plump, delicious fish in the pond. Just as it was about to leap in and feast—
"Ubi, what are you doing here?"
"Ah!"
Apparently not expecting anyone to speak up from behind, it got so startled its foot slipped, tumbling straight into the pond. When it surfaced, there was a big, fat fish sitting on its head.
"L-Lady Ruri?"
Ruri just stared intently at the orange cat, making it feel all kinds of pressure.
"That's a feng shui fish. It's not to be eaten."
"O-oh, I see."
Orange cat Ubi put the feng shui fish back into the pond, climbed out, and shook himself violently, tossing off the water clinging to his orange fur.
"I've got something to take care of outside. You're coming with me on this one."
"Are we having an all-you-can-eat fish banquet, Lady Ruri?"
Ubi already had drool sparkling in the corner of his mouth.
"If we get things done, I'll have someone cook you a full fish banquet afterward."
"I'll do my best, Lady Ruri!"
Ubi replied seriously, full of promise.
As a Summoning Beast who trained in natural energy too, Ubi's combat power ranked near the top among the Ninja Cat Clan.
Lately, he had also been trying to fuse Sage Art Chakra. Compared to the strength he displayed back in Konoha a few months ago, he should be even stronger now.
And Ubi also had pretty good sensory abilities. Although he could be a bit reckless at times, he was usually reliable—a battle partner Ruri could trust.
And there was one more thing—this guy could really take a beating.
Even after being smacked around by the Third Hokage's Adamantine Staff, he seemed totally fine now, bouncing around like nothing happened.
"So, who's the enemy this time…"
"Someone with Wood Style… and we might even run into someone with the Sharingan. How exciting."
Ruri's lips curled up in a smile, full of fighting spirit.
◎
Land of Mountains.
A nameless country squeezed between the borders of the great nations.
As you'd expect from the name, this country is full of mountains; all that terrain means there aren't exactly bustling cities here.
And most of these mountains are just wastelands nobody cares about.
At the base of one particular mountain, a massive base of operations had been built, surrounded by throngs of White Zetsu.
They guarded every angle, creating the illusion that this was the enemy's main headquarters.
"Hey, Deidara, do you really think any enemies will come looking for trouble here?"
A bunch of White Zetsu were chatting there, bored out of their minds.
Most of the White Zetsu were just ordinary grade. Special ones like Deidara were rare exceptions among all the White Zetsu.
But even among special White Zetsu, their individual abilities varied a lot.
Deidara ignored the White Zetsu, instead scribbling pictures on the ground with a branch by a rock wall, mumbling to himself.
"Deidara, what are you doing?"
One White Zetsu walked over, curious.
"I'm trying to draw all kinds of poop. After all, from my observations, people's poop always comes in slightly different shapes and colors."
Deidara said, absolutely serious.
As if he thought this was some earth-shattering thesis for the entire Ninja Realm.
"..."
Madara-sama said Deidara's head isn't right, and maybe that wasn't a joke. This White Zetsu just felt speechless inside.
"Isn't that nice though? At least Deidara can find something meaningful to do. We're stuck here, bored out of our minds, wasting our lives away for no reason. The more I think about it, the bleaker it sounds."
Another White Zetsu sighed about their tragic fate.
Since birth, their wills had been controlled by someone else.
It felt like their single greatest purpose in life was to have no purpose at all.
So White Zetsu like Deidara, who had dreams and loved to fantasize, actually made a bunch of regular Zetsu jealous.
Being an idiot must be nice.
"I wonder how Madara-sama's doing now."
"Probably just sulking in the dark, plotting something."
One of the White Zetsu commented insightfully.