July 10, Konoha Year 42.
For the shinobi world, it was a completely ordinary day.
For the major hidden villages, it was simply the Chunin Exam season.
In Konoha's Chunin Exams, the first written test had already ended, and the second phase—wilderness survival—was underway.
Other than showing up for the first exam to see Team Two and give them a few words of encouragement, Gojo Yoru hadn't paid any more attention to the Chunin Exams.
Aside from Yahiko and his trio of walking cheat codes, the only ones who could really count as Team Two's opponents were the prodigies who had also graduated from the elite class. In other words, they were all on the same side.
Since the wilderness survival phase required signed life-and-death waivers, Hiruzen Sarutobi would naturally look after his own son in his own way. There was no need for Gojo Yoru to interfere.
Rin Nohara was the girl Obito Uchiha had a crush on, so Madara Uchiha would definitely never let Yahiko make a move on her.
And besides, Team Two was carrying Flying Thunder God kunai from Gojo Yoru himself. The moment the ANBU came to him in alarm, he could appear at their side instantly.
For Konan and Nagato's safety, Yahiko—who was only using a Wood Clone—would never dare act recklessly.
Under normal circumstances, Gojo Yoru would still have taken some interest in this kind of kids-playing-war game. He might even have wanted to see how the butterfly effect he had caused would change the strength of geniuses like Kakashi Hatake compared to the original story.
But right now, Gojo Yoru had no interest in it at all.
Because... he had something far more important to do.
At the Gojo house, ever since he had moved into the grand mansion on the Senju side and started living with Tsunade—after also cleaning Princess Tsunade out so thoroughly she was practically broke—Gojo Yoru rarely came back here anymore.
Whenever he did return, it was usually just to clean the house. He hadn't spent a night here in years.
This detached three-story home, complete with its own little yard, hadn't shown any lights at night in a very long time.
But today, the second floor was already lit up before dusk had even arrived.
And by the time night fell, the lights inside were switching constantly between warm household lighting and colorful neon tones.
Standing outside the front door, Kushina Uzumaki tilted her head up and looked at the shifting lights above, her eyes full of anticipation.
Today was Kushina Uzumaki's birthday.
Every year around this time, Gojo Yoru would prepare a special birthday party just for her.
And when it was Gojo Yoru's birthday, Kushina Uzumaki did the same for him.
Though neither of them had ever said it aloud, they seemed to share a silent understanding: on their birthdays, the only guest was each other.
Whether it was Kushina Uzumaki's birthday or Gojo Yoru's, they always spent it as a world for two.
Even after so many years, Kushina still looked forward to this day with all her heart.
And this year was especially special. Her anticipation far surpassed any previous year.
She walked into the yard, took out the key she always carried with her, opened the Gojo house door, changed shoes at the entryway, and quietly made her way upstairs.
The moment she stepped out from the stairwell and into the living room, the first thing she saw was that it had been decorated in a warm, homey style. The lighting was mostly soft and golden, while strings of tiny neon-colored lights had been draped across the walls and ceiling, alongside balloons, ribbons, and festive banners.
One wall had been turned into a photo collage.
Every picture on it was a selfie of Gojo Yoru and Kushina Uzumaki from over the years, recording moments from childhood all the way up to now.
In the center of the living room stood a huge round table, and on it sat an eight-tier cake.
Each individual layer wasn't that large, but every single one was full of Gojo Yoru's care.
The scent of food drifted from the kitchen into the living room.
As if he had heard Kushina's footsteps, Gojo Yoru—wearing a white apron and holding a spatula—leaned halfway out from the kitchen and smiled at her.
"The birthday girl's here. Two more dishes and I'm done. Sit for a bit."
"Hehe, I'll help."
Smiling brightly, Kushina walked into the kitchen.
There was no dramatic surprise routine, just the easy warmth of two people talking and moving around each other like family.
They had long since passed the stage where they needed flashy surprises.
With Kushina helping, the last two dishes were finished quickly.
A meal of five dishes and one soup—absolutely lavish for just the two of them—was soon set out across the table.
"Cheers!"
Since neither of them was twenty yet, and neither was much of a drinker anyway, Gojo Yoru and Kushina merely clinked their glasses of juice together.
Then they ate and chatted.
Even though they had grown up together, and over the years had become inseparable whether on missions or at home, Kushina still had endless things to say.
Gojo Yoru was much the same.
During the time Gojo Yoru had been serving as a jonin instructor, Kushina Uzumaki hadn't been idle either.
Back in February, with the help of Gojo Yoru's space-time spirit body, she had successfully mastered a version of the Kagura Mind's Eye that could sense good and evil.
But Kushina still hadn't stopped training.
She had signed a contract with Shikkotsu Forest years ago, and lately she had been traveling frequently between Konoha and Shikkotsu Forest. She had already begun training in Shikkotsu Forest's Sage Mode.
In truth, Kushina Uzumaki had qualified to train in senjutsu many years ago.
After all, even someone like Jiraiya, with his enormous chakra reserves, had begun training in Sage Mode before he was fifteen. Kushina, whose chakra was even more outrageous than his, had met the requirements even earlier.
But besides needing immense chakra, senjutsu had all kinds of other conditions as well. And the Sage Mode of Ryuchi Cave was different from Mount Myoboku and Shikkotsu Forest—it required being bitten by the White Snake Sage, and failure meant death.
That was why Gojo Yoru had never rushed to have Kushina sign a blood contract with Ryuchi Cave. He had planned to wait until his own strength became completely untouchable before taking her there to meet the White Snake Sage.
In the end, before Gojo Yoru could do anything, Tsunade had taken Kushina as her student and had her sign a blood contract with Shikkotsu Forest instead.
Compared to Ryuchi Cave and the White Snake Sage, Gojo Yoru felt that Shikkotsu Forest suited Kushina far better. The Slug Sage, with her gentle temperament and remarkably mature personality, would absolutely help Kushina master Shikkotsu Forest Sage Mode with everything she had—just like the two toad sages at Mount Myoboku had helped Naruto Uzumaki.
The moment Kushina mastered Sage Mode would be the moment her entire level rose to a new plane, formally pushing her from Kage-level to beyond-Kage-level.
Once Kushina mastered Sage Mode, she would be able to develop a Rasenshuriken that could actually be thrown.
For someone like Kushina, already a sealing master on the level of the entire shinobi world, her chakra control was so refined that even without Sage Mode she could still have developed the Rasenshuriken. Her mastery of Wind Release nature transformation and shape transformation already more than met the requirements.
The only reason she hadn't was because Gojo Yoru had always forbidden it.
Gojo Yoru knew perfectly well that the incomplete Rasenshuriken's side effects would destroy the user's cells.
And chakra came from the body's 130 trillion cells.
That side effect wasn't just damage—it was eating away at one's own upper limit.
Gojo Yoru didn't want to gamble on the possibility that physical healing might be able to fix that kind of damage.
So, under Gojo Yoru's insistence, Kushina still hadn't mastered the Rasenshuriken even now.
And for that exact reason, she also hadn't formally challenged Kurama on her own yet.
Once Kushina truly mastered Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, and then upgraded it into Sage Art: Wind Release: Massive Rasenshuriken—combined with Adamantine Sealing Chains, the Uzumaki clan's sealing techniques, the monstrous strength of the Senju line, and the natural power of Sage Mode—she would absolutely beat Kurama into submission.
Once she defeated Kurama, Kushina would be able to forcibly seize its chakra and activate Nine-Tails Chakra Mode.
In the original story, Naruto Uzumaki only activated Nine-Tails Chakra Mode with half of the Nine-Tails, yet he could still create shadow clones to support every battlefield at once. Every single clone remained in Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, could unleash multiple Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, and still had enough chakra left to enter Sage Mode.
As the jinchuriki of the complete Nine-Tails, Kushina Uzumaki would be Naruto multiplied.
By then, the chakra she could command would truly be as vast as the sea.
No one in the entire shinobi world would have more chakra than her.
Forget Nagato, even with both Uzumaki and Senju bloodlines awakened. Even Tobi, the boss of the White Zetsu army, who could hit beyond-Kage-level combat power just by possessing some trash Wood Release experiment, and even the Eight-Tails' jinchuriki, wouldn't have even half as much chakra as Kushina.
She would become the ultimate stat monster of the shinobi world.
Aside from Nagato, who could absorb ninjutsu, anyone facing Kushina Uzumaki would feel despair.
She wouldn't need to gather intelligence or devise some fancy strategy.
All Kushina would need to do was use the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, create tens of thousands of shadow clones wrapped in Nine-Tails chakra and naturally boosted in both offense and defense, and have every single one of them launch either Wind Release: Rasenshuriken or Wind Release: Massive Rasenshuriken at the enemy.
Unless the opponent could fly, or dive instantly into the deepest underground, then even if they tried to burrow beneath the earth, they would still be blasted to death by the storm of energy unleashed from one Rasenshuriken after another.
That was raw power crushing every trick.
And if her chakra control reached a truly unbelievable level, Kushina could even do something like the Uchiha clan's Perfect Susanoo—molding that oceanic Nine-Tails chakra into the shape of Kurama itself and entering a fully tailed-beast transformation under her own control.
Even if she couldn't use a Tailed Beast Bomb, she could still bring out an enormous battle avatar of her own, or condense a gigantic Rasenshuriken on the level of a Tailed Beast Bomb. Its power would be no weaker.
And the key to all of that power was Sage Mode.
Gojo Yoru didn't tell Kushina how important Sage Mode really was.
He simply listened quietly as she talked about her training.
Unlike Jiraiya, who had no special bloodline and little natural talent for Sage Mode and had to rely on the two great toad sages just to keep it going, Kushina had mastered Sage Mode in only three months.
The reason she still kept going back to Shikkotsu Forest was to use its dense natural energy to improve her proficiency, extend her stamina, sharpen her ability to sense natural energy, and maybe even reach the point where she could enter Sage Mode instantly.
For members of the Uzumaki and Senju bloodlines, mastering Sage Mode was only the beginning.
And Shikkotsu Forest wasn't just suitable for Sage Mode training—it was also perfect for learning Sage Arts.
Trying to practice that kind of S-rank ultimate technique inside Konoha would create far too much of a disturbance, and it would risk leaking information. It was far better to train in Shikkotsu Forest instead.
That sacred place had only the Slug Sage there, and Kushina could even receive guidance from a sage who had lived for over a thousand years.
By the time Gojo Yoru finished listening to Kushina, he knew she was only a single step away from becoming a powerhouse beyond Kage level.
And that step could be taken at any moment.
Coincidentally, the same was true for him.
There was only one month left before his third evolution.
When the two of them rose together, then even if Madara Uchiha's side had Nagato and Tobi-in-Yahiko's-body as two beyond-Kage-level fighters, along with an Edo Tensei army whose strength was infinitely close to what they'd had in life, Gojo Yoru and Kushina still wouldn't be put on the back foot.
After dinner, Gojo Yoru began washing the dishes.
This time Kushina didn't help. Instead, she quietly slipped downstairs for a while, seemingly to do something on her own.
If there had been a Hyuga clan member outside using the Byakugan to look toward the Gojo house—or anyone using eavesdropping or scent-based sensory techniques—they would have found that they could neither see, nor hear, nor smell anything from inside.
Likewise, no sound from within would reach the outside either.
At some point, a device had appeared in the Gojo house's basement. It could release an invisible barrier like the one that covered Konoha itself, completely blocking all forms of perception.
Such a sensory barrier could be broken through—but the intruder would absolutely be noticed.
And once that happened, it would be far more than simple offense.
This kind of sensory barrier was the exclusive domain of shinobi clans, and only the great clans at that.
Because the cost of building and maintaining such a barrier was enormous.
By the time Kushina came back upstairs from the basement, every light in the living room had already been turned off.
Only the candles on the cake still burned, their flames flickering softly.
Gojo Yoru had just finished closing the balcony curtains.
He turned and walked toward Kushina, who stood bathed in candlelight. Slipping both arms around her waist, he lowered his forehead to hers and said with a quiet laugh, "Happy birthday."
"Thank you."
A radiant smile bloomed across Kushina's face. She looped her arms around his neck, rose onto her toes, and kissed him first.
Gojo Yoru answered the red-hot girl's affection in kind.
Only when the candles were nearly burned down did they finally part.
His embrace shifted from face-to-face to from behind, and he blew lightly against her ear with a grin.
"Go on. Make a wish."
"Mhm."
Kushina nodded again and again, then clasped her hands together in prayer.
A few seconds later, the girl with astonishing lung capacity blew out all eighteen candles across the cake's many tiers in a single breath.
Darkness swallowed the living room instantly—only for warm lights and neon-colored string lights to come on again a second later.
"Smart-mouth Yoru, where's my present?"
Looking at Gojo Yoru after he turned the lights back on, Kushina held out her hand toward him with complete shameless confidence.
"I prepared your present ages ago."
Gojo Yoru wrapped one arm around her shoulders while reaching into his pocket with the other.
Then, in the very next instant, he switched tactics entirely—grabbed a chunk of cake, and firmly smeared it right across Kushina's face.
"Surprise, Tomato," Gojo Yoru burst out laughing. "Birthday girl eats first—hahaha..."
"Yoru, you jerk! You broke the rules! I'm going to smash you!"
Kushina instantly lost it and shouted back, though she still took a bite of the cake before grabbing some herself and hurling it at him.
The cake fight that happened twice every year soon erupted across the Gojo family living room, and every year it grew bigger than the last.
The cozy, carefully decorated room quickly became a complete mess.
Gojo Yoru and Kushina Uzumaki were both smeared with cake and cream from head to toe.
Looking at each other in that ridiculous, messy state, both their gazes softened.
Then they stepped back into each other's arms, foreheads touching once more.
"I already activated the barrier."
Kushina's cheeks were flushed, her breath warm as she spoke.
Gojo Yoru gave her a wicked grin. "Then what does my little Tomato want to do to me, hmm?"
"Idiot."
Kushina shot him a look, then closed the distance on her own.
At some point, even the warm lights had gone out, leaving only the neon string lights blinking in shifting colors.
In the dim, messy living room, cake and cream were everywhere, and pieces of clothing had been left scattered across the floor.
The cozy atmosphere had quietly turned fever-warm.
The soft sounds that escaped the girl's lips were sealed away behind the barrier.
After growing up side by side for so many years, the two adults who had known each other since childhood finally saw their feelings fully come to fruition.