'But Itachi…'
Even though he had come back to life, Uchiha Izumi still found it hard to accept that the usually reserved Uchiha Itachi could have done something like killing his own relatives and clansmen.
"The past is the past, from now on… just live well," Uchiha Mikoto didn't know how to comfort the girl in front of her.
'She liked Itachi, but in the end, was…'
"Yes…"
A bit uneasy, a bit restrained.
But more than that, there was a sense of aimlessness.
Whenever Uchiha Izumi thought of what had happened before her death, her mind went blank.
She didn't want to recall the tragedy of the clan extermination night, nor the image of Uchiha Itachi wielding a long blade, mercilessly assassinating clan members.
But the more she tried not to think about it, the more those memories surfaced in her mind.
"Honey, isn't she really pretty?"
Circling around and inspecting the resurrected Uchiha girl, Kushina grew more and more satisfied the more she looked.
"No matter how pretty, she's no match for Mikoto,".Uchiha Kage gave Kushina's perky butt a pat.
Signaling her not to think about such nonsense.
"Then what about me?", While covering her rear, Kushina leaned back into Uchiha Kage's side, rubbing her body against his arm.
"You… you're just average."
"Liar!", Kushina was no longer the little girl who would be fooled by Uchiha Kage.
Just by looking at his eyes, she could tell he was teasing her again.
So she happily hugged the man beside her even tighter.
"You…", Uchiha Kage gently stroked Kushina's beautiful hair.
"Who knows how you changed so much. Clearly, when you were a kid…"
She had been totally averse to him and didn't trust him at all.
Only occasionally, when she fell asleep, would she show the slightest bit of dependence on him.
The current Kushina, so proactive and with her heart and eyes full of him, almost like a love-struck fool, was not even the same species as the old her.
"Honey, did you really see the little me? Was I super cute?"
"You were pretty cute."
'Except for being stubborn, narcissistic, always causing me trouble, and talking back to me.'
"That's good! I knew you fell in love with me at first sight too, right?"
"..."
Maybe there was a filter.
But love at first sight… not really. He wasn't into little girls.
"Honey, stop rolling your eyes. The one who made you mad back then wasn't the current me…"
"Same difference."
"I… I even found you a little wife, how did I make you mad?"
"Don't say weird things."
Uchiha Kage really wasn't interested in this Uchiha girl, but making her a maid for Mikoto and Kushina wasn't a bad idea.
Indeed, quite pleasing to the eye.
Delicate features, a slim figure with curves.
The key was the persistent melancholy in her brows and eyes. If she weren't holding a kunai but a book, Uchiha Izumi would definitely have the aura of a literary girl.
"Kushina…", Mikoto helplessly glanced at her best friend in front of her.
"Izumi was Itachi's… classmate."
"Ah! Is that so?"
Kushina quickly bowed her head and apologized to Uchiha Izumi.
'Classmate? Most likely a classmate with a romantic inclination, right?'
'So this girl has that kind of relationship?'
'Then that's really…'
"No, I…"
Uchiha Izumi couldn't quite grasp the current situation, but instinctively didn't want to have anything more to do with Uchiha Itachi.
The Itachi she had believed in before was ultimately just a dream. She had never really known him.
"But, how did you die? So young, did another war break out in Konoha?", Kushina had already been curious before about why so many Uchiha souls were wandering here.
"She was killed by Itachi," At this point, Mikoto could only tell Kushina about the extermination of the Uchiha clan.
"What? That's…", Kushina covered her mouth in shock.
She had seen Uchiha Itachi before, a polite young boy, somewhat like the old Minato.
'How did he turn into someone like this?'
"It's because I didn't teach him well," Thinking of Itachi's determination that night, Mikoto fell into sorrow again.
"This isn't your fault. He chose the wrong path on his own," Uchiha Kage quickly comforted her and pulled Mikoto into his arms.
"Besides, that child was too influenced by Fugaku, Hiruzen, and Danzo, it's not that you didn't teach him well."
If he remembered correctly, Uchiha Fugaku had taken Itachi onto the battlefield when he was just a few years old to train him.
That kind of forced upbringing not only stunted natural development but also planted the seed of disregard for life in Itachi early on.
Combined with Itachi's own personality, that led to this tragedy.
"Aunt Mikoto… he, he is?", Seeing the man who had resurrected her hugging Itachi's mother with such intimacy like a married couple, Uchiha Izumi couldn't help but ask.
"He's my husband… you should just settle down and live here from now on."
"Mm…"
'This man is Aunt Mikoto's husband, then what about Clan Head Fugaku?'
Well, there had been "rumors" in the clan before, saying the Clan Head's wife had someone else. Looks like it wasn't a rumor after all.
Uchiha Izumi could only accept the fact with a shocked face.
'But, if he's Itachi's father, then I…'
'How should I address him?'
The girl once again fell into deep thought.
'But this man… doesn't seem much older than me?'
'Still have to call him uncle?'
———
"Still can't bring Kushina and Mikoto over to this side…"
But now that he could already see the real world from the dreamscape, the day when he could bring Kushina and the others back to reality shouldn't be far off.
However, resurrecting people really consumed chakra.
With his current power, it was absolutely impossible to revive all the souls.
'Still have to grind…'
'Still need to collect more ninja fragments or absorb tailed beasts or other massive chakra sources.'
The dreamscape had absorbed chakra from Kaguya before, maybe it required special chakra to evolve.
"Why are you still sleeping?", Back in the real world, Uchiha Kage saw that Samui was still lying in bed.
"What do you want now?", Woken by Uchiha Kage, Samui quickly sat up, clutching her blanket.
"Time to work."
"W-Work…?"
Because she had tossed and turned all night and only just fallen asleep, Samui was still a bit dazed.
'Work… This guy can't mean that kind of work…'
Samui instinctively hugged herself tightly.
"It's the final round of the Chunin Exams. Most of the village's attention is on the competition, perfect for us to fish in troubled waters."
Not to mention there was a great show between Orochimaru and Hiruzen.
This was undoubtedly the best time to promote the Paradise Plan.
"Aren't you going to finish what you left undone?"
"I… got it."
It was actually a proper task.
'This guy…'
Samui's tense body suddenly relaxed.
But just like before, seeing that Uchiha Kage had no intention of doing that, her heart felt an odd trace of disappointment.
"Good. No matter how many people you can persuade, as long as you bring them to me, I'll have ways to make them believe," With the dreamscape, with resurrected loved ones, Uchiha Kage believed the Paradise Cult would soon spread like wildfire through Konoha.
"Yes," Seeing Uchiha Kage so full of confidence, Samui couldn't help but respond perfunctorily.
"You…"
But just as Uchiha Kage was about to lecture the big-breasted blonde who for some reason seemed half-hearted in her work, an unexpected visitor appeared outside the door.
"Kage-nii! Bad news! Big sis is in trouble!", Early in the morning, little Hanabi appeared before Uchiha Kage.
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