'An Uchiha elder wearing a mask?'
Mikoto pondered it in her mind, then suddenly felt a jolt in her heart.
Because Fugaku had secretly told her about this matter, so she knew, 'That man is Uchiha Madara?'
She didn't expect that Orochimaru had actually come for Uchiha Madara.
On the other side, Kushina had also heard this matter from Obito, and when killing Danzo, she had even seen Uchiha Madara in person.
So, the expressions of the two quickly became strange.
Orochimaru caught this detail and chuckled.
"Looks like both ladies know his identity. In that case, asking you is the same. May I request to arrange a meeting between me and him?"
Mikoto quickly shook her head and said, "Lord Orochimaru, I don't know that elder's identity either, I just heard Fugaku mention it in passing."
"What I'm curious about is, that elder, before long ago, said he didn't have much time left, went out traveling, and might not come back."
"Shisui should know the situation. Isn't he close to Anko? He probably wouldn't keep it from her. You should be able to get that information too."
Orochimaru was stunned, because when Anko had made this request to him, it was during the Chunin Exams, so indeed, it had been a while.
Later he rushed to the frontlines, then fought the great war at Mount Kikyo and with Sunagakure, so news from the village became quite blocked off.
Although he had now returned, because he had accepted a satisfactory disciple, Kabuto. Recently he had been busy teaching Kabuto, letting Kabuto follow him to advance some experiments, and had somewhat neglected managing Anko.
As a result, he hadn't received any further news from Anko.
'Seems like there is a misunderstanding.'
After understanding this, Orochimaru spoke, "So that's how it is, that elder has already gone out. Looks like this really wasn't the right time."
"Well then… I'll take my leave—"
However, before he could finish his sentence, that maid from earlier came over again to report.
"Madam Mikoto, the clan head has returned, and he brought two guests, saying he'll be having dinner with them."
Mikoto was stunned. She often invited Kushina over for meals, but Fugaku would invite people back for dinner? Was the sun rising from the west?
She curiously asked, "The two guests Fugaku brought back, who are they?"
The maid shook her head, "I don't recognize them, only know they are two Uchiha clansmen. One is called Uchiha Sasuke, and the other did not want to reveal his name, asking to be addressed as Uchiha Namuresu. The two are father and son."
"Did not want to reveal his name?", Mikoto found it a bit odd, 'For Uchiha clansmen, Fugaku can easily look up who they were. What's this about not wanting to reveal a name?'
'Also, Uchiha Sasuke, that's the name of my second son, isn't it? Fugaku has nagged about that name by my ear for a long time.'
'And who told Fugaku to be so disappointing? After trying for so long without results, someone else got ahead of him, huh?'
The maid respectfully replied, "Yes, that's what the guest said. As for the details, I don't know."
Mikoto nodded, "I understand. You may go."
'Perhaps Fugaku invited them because that Uchiha Sasuke took the name of his son?'
'Is he hoping the guest will give up the name? But won't that be a bit too overbearing?'
At this moment, not only Mikoto was curious about the name, even Orochimaru muttered, "Uchiha… Sasuke, huh? Sarutobi-sensei's father also had that name."
"The one who named Sasuke must be an interesting person too. These two people, may I meet them as well?", Orochimaru suddenly became curious.
Seeing this, Mikoto simply looked at Kushina and said, "Then Lord Orochimaru and Kushina should stay and eat dinner together. Just recently Konoha won a battle, but the house has been a bit cold. We should liven things up a bit."
Kushina seemed to remember something and muttered in a low voice, "I had plans tonight, but since you said so, Mikoto, I'll stay."
Uchiha Mikoto became curious, "Kushina, I remember you don't have anything going on recently?"
Kushina's face reddened, and she laughed it off, "It's nothing, really nothing."
She had realized that the voice-activated light she invented still had some flaws needing adjustment. What if it keeps flickering all night when Minato comes back?
But this matter… she definitely couldn't say it out loud, it would be too embarrassing.
Since there was still some time before dinner, Fugaku brought Sasuke and Big Obito to the living room, where they happened to encounter Orochimaru, Mikoto, and Kushina.
Sasuke and Big Obito didn't expect there to be other people in the Uchiha household, and at this moment, they felt a subtle strangeness in their hearts.
Because, to them, these outsiders had somewhat unusual relationships with them.
Fugaku, however, looked calm. He looked toward Orochimaru and greeted, "Lord Orochimaru, it's been a while. Thank you very much for your contributions to Konoha. Without you as commander, Konoha wouldn't have been able to win that battle."
Orochimaru merely glanced at Fugaku, then focused his gaze on a sixteen- or seventeen-year-old young man beside him with a somewhat cold aura.
Because this young man, in certain ways, really resembled him. He could even smell a trace of his own scent on this young man.
'How fascinating.'
Orochimaru suddenly had a thought. If he could take this youth who somewhat resembled himself as a disciple, that might not be a bad choice.
So he asked, "Fugaku, aren't you going to introduce the guests you brought back?"
Fugaku pointed at Sasuke and said, "Uchiha Sasuke."
Then he looked at Big Obito, "This one can be called Uchiha Namuresu. It's said that during the war he was crushed by a boulder, half his body was destroyed, and his eyes went blind. He is Konoha's Namuresu hero."
Orochimaru looked at Obito's half-disfigured face and couldn't help sighing, "One has to admit, life is sometimes extremely fragile, yet at times, incredibly resilient."
At the side, Kushina, who had thought Big Obito looked familiar from the beginning, was shocked upon hearing Fugaku's introduction.
Isn't this exactly how Obito had described himself before? Except for the point about being blind.
'What's going on here? Is this some trick Obito pulled? But it doesn't seem like it?'
While Kushina fell into confused thoughts, Mikoto felt that Uchiha Sasuke looked especially friendly, and couldn't help beckoning him.
"Sasuke, come sit over here."
Sasuke looked at the younger version of his mother, and obediently walked over, sitting down beside Mikoto.
Mikoto took Sasuke's hand and gently said, "Your father is like this now, so your life must have been hard, right? From now on, you can treat this as your home and treat me as your family."
"If you have any difficulties, just tell elder sister, and I'll help you."
A wave of emotion surged in Sasuke's heart. Clearly, he hadn't even been born yet, but his mother was still so kind to him.
'Is this the connection of blood?'
He stubbornly shook his head and said, "You're not my elder sister."
Mikoto was stunned, and at that moment, a huge sense of loss filled her heart.
She really wanted to treat Sasuke as her own family, and didn't even care what Fugaku thought anymore.
But did Sasuke not want to treat her as family?
However, in the next second, Sasuke threw himself into Mikoto's arms, "I treat you as my mother."
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