Chapter 259: The Surprise That Shocked Obito

At this moment—

Both Naruto and Itachi, who had fainted, were in their respective consciousness spaces, "activating their external buffs."

The Sage of Six Paths was present in both spaces simultaneously, asking them the same question.

"So, what is your answer?"

Without hesitation, Naruto and Itachi spoke in unison within their consciousness.

"I will fight alongside—"

"I will stand with Naruto—"

"To protect this world together!"

Hagoromo smiled with satisfaction, raising both hands.

"Good! Then I shall entrust both the power and the responsibility of safeguarding this world to you, my two young warriors."

Itachi and Naruto each placed a hand on Hagoromo's outstretched palms.

An immense force of Yin and Yang surged into their bodies.

Looking at their youthful faces, Hagoromo saw the reflections of Indra and Asura.

"What you do from here, and what fate awaits you, will be entirely up to you."

He murmured softly.

"I have always been proud of you two. Do not disappoint me again..."

Then, the chakra belonging to the Sage of Six Paths abruptly vanished, and he once again embarked on his solitary journey.

(I shall walk from south to north, through light and darkness. No one will see me, no one will know my name...)

"Crack!"

The sound of shattering glass echoed.

Naruto and Itachi regained consciousness at the same time.

Both of them opened their eyes instantly and locked gazes.

"Naruto!"

"Itachi—what the hell?!"

It was then that Naruto realized—

For some reason, he was lying on top of Itachi, his arms tightly wrapped around him.

Startled, he quickly let go and pushed himself up with his hands, flipping off the temporary stretcher in a swift motion.

Fugaku, who had been standing nearby, let out a sigh of relief.

"You two finally woke up. Minato and I were worried sick just now."

(Not just about your safety, but also about... well, your preferences.)

Naruto scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

"Sorry for worrying you, dattebayo!"

Then, he glanced around, searching for his father.

"Wait, Fugaku-sama, where's my dad?"

Fugaku pointed toward a nearby tent, lowering his voice.

"Your father is currently in negotiations with the three Kage regarding the ceasefire agreement. He asked me to stay here and watch over you two."

Then, his gaze flickered to Itachi, his voice trailing off.

"By the way, what exactly happened to you two just now...?"

Turning fully toward Itachi, Fugaku examined his son carefully—

And that was when he noticed the faint blush on Itachi's face—

No!

More importantly, he noticed his son's left eye, now deeper and more intricate, the number of tomoe having doubled.

Fugaku's expression turned to shock, and he couldn't help but blurt out:

"Itachi! Your eyes—what happened?!"

Itachi calmly touched his left eye and replied in an even tone:

"Father, it's a long story..."

...

Inside the Hokage's Grand War Tent

Obito sat cross-legged on a cushion, his chin resting lazily in his palm, looking utterly bored.

He watched as the high-ranking figures around him argued fiercely over the terms of the agreement, their heated debates turning their faces red.

"Now that I think about it..."

Obito suddenly sat up straight, his eyes widening in realization. He covered his face with his hand, sighing in exasperation.

He had just remembered the promise he made before leaving for the battlefield.

"I'm just going to scout the situation. It's not like anyone will even notice I was there."

Muttering to himself in a low voice, he groaned.

"Damn... I totally jinxed myself."

Just then—

"Impossible! Ten billion ryo in reparations? That's outrageous! You're trying to strong-arm us!"

The Raikage's furious roar snapped Obito out of his thoughts.

Obito smirked, his tone laced with mockery as he interjected:

"Seriously, Lord Raikage? Don't tell me Kumogakure can't even afford a measly ten billion ryo?"

The Raikage's expression flickered between shame and rage—

But surprisingly, he didn't refute the claim.

Seeing this, Obito raised an eyebrow in genuine surprise.

"Wait... this brute's reaction... Kumogakure really can't afford it? No way!"

In Obito's mind—

Even his newly established Yoru Village had already built up a near ten-figure revenue.

He had assumed that—

"Tch. No wonder they were so eager to start a war... Turns out they were running out of money. How pathetic."

"Not only did they fail to make a profit, but now they're going broke from paying reparations... Hahaha!"

After a long and heated debate, the major figures reached a preliminary agreement on three key terms:

All villages shall maintain eternal peace and friendship with Konoha (which is, of course, just lip service—until they regain power).Within three years, each village must pay Konoha five billion ryo in reparations, with a minimum annual payment of one billion ryo.Each village must publicly apologize to Konoha, and the three Kage responsible for this war must step down within six months.

At this point, the core framework was finalized.

Though the three Kage had some grievances, they could barely accept these terms.

As for stepping down—

That was just a formality. Once they returned to their villages, they could simply install a puppet leader and continue ruling from behind the scenes.

(Just like a certain "strongest" Hokage...)

Without wasting another second, the three Kage stormed out, clearly unwilling to stay a moment longer.

As for the finer details of the agreement, the bureaucrats could handle those.

Watching the three of them leave in disgrace, Hiruzen puffed on his pipe with a smug expression.

"After this battle, Konoha will be the most powerful hidden village in the world!"

"Tobirama-sensei, my students and their students have not failed your expectations!"

"Speaking of which, I still need to ask Obito about how he developed—"

Scanning the room, Hiruzen suddenly realized—

Obito was gone.

All that remained in his seat was an empty outline of where he had been sitting.

Hiruzen's face twitched slightly as he took another slow puff of his pipe.

"When did that kid leave? I didn't sense a thing..."

...

Back in Konoha—Obito's Home

A certain street punk suddenly burst through the door, calling out:

"Grandma! I'm home!"

The old woman stepped out of the house, but instead of smiling at her grandson's return, she grabbed his hand with a worried expression.

"Obito, you came back just in time."

"It sounds like a war is about to start. Hurry and go help your Uncle Kawa!"

"Damn, that scared me!"

Obito internally sighed in relief, his tense face instantly relaxing.

"So that's why Grandma wasn't smiling when she saw me—she was worried about this."

"Phew! At least she doesn't know I went out there and picked up another grandpa..."

Patting his grandmother's hand, Obito puffed out his chest and declared proudly:

"Grandma, that's exactly why I came back—to tell you the war is over!"

"We won! Your grandson single-handedly scared them all away!"

Hearing that Konoha had emerged victorious, Grandma finally beamed with joy.

As for Obito's last sentence—

She dismissed it as just another one of his tall tales.

She chuckled, ruffling his hair affectionately.

"You little rascal, still bragging as always."

Obito pouted.

"I'm not bragging, Grandma, it's true!"

Just then, she casually dropped another bombshell.

"Oh, by the way, Obito, you're going to be a father."

Obito's eyes widened in shock.

"Wha—?! I'm gonna be a dad?!"

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Pls Drop some Power Stones

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