Shindai, satisfied with a toothpick in his mouth, left the barbecue restaurant when suddenly he realized a problem—he had nowhere to sleep tonight.
Shindai hurriedly turned toward the Hokage Building, having forgotten that Sarutobi hadn't assigned him a house yet.
Minato saw Shindai looking anxious and asked, "Shindai, where are you going?"
"To the Hokage Building to find Lord Hokage! He hasn't given me my house yet!"
Hearing this, Minato and Jiraiya immediately each grabbed one of Shindai's arms.
"Kid, the old man's been through enough. Let him have some peace."
Jiraiya tried to stop Shindai, at a loss for words.
As one of Hiruzen's students, he could clearly see how stunned his master had been after being praised—actually praised—by Shindai.
After all, even when Shindai had said something like, "Lord Hokage, your pectorals are more developed than Tsunade's," Hiruzen didn't even bother to object.
If Shindai went bothering Hiruzen again, Jiraiya genuinely feared that Hiruzen might end up with mental exhaustion.
"But peace?" Shindai asked confusedly. "What do you mean? It's still early. The Hokage shouldn't have finished work so soon, right?"
Minato replied, "We'll take care of the housing situation later. For now, you can… stay at Master Jiraiya's place temporarily."
Originally, Minato wanted to say he could stay at his own home, but then he remembered what Shindai had done to his appliances before—and changed his mind.
He hadn't even repaired them yet; if Shindai did something similar again, they'd be completely ruined.
Jiraiya's place was big, with plenty of empty rooms. His apartment was only two bedrooms and a living room, so letting Shindai stay there would definitely be more comfortable.
Jiraiya glared unhappily at Minato. "Minato, you've changed! You weren't like this before! I want some peace too, so… see ya!"
With that, Jiraiya directly vanished using the [Shifting Body Technique].
Minato stood frozen, staring at the spot where Jiraiya disappeared.
He ran off?
Unbelievable!
Helpless, Minato turned his gaze toward Obito, Kakashi, and Rin Nohara.
"I'd love to have Shindai stay with me, but sensei, you know, I live within the Uchiha clan compound. Since Shindai isn't an Uchiha, he can't stay over there."
"I'm used to living alone. He's way too loud."
"Sensei, I'm a girl—it wouldn't be appropriate…"
Sighing, Minato looked at Shindai. "Until we get your housing sorted out… why don't you just stay at my place first?"
Shindai smiled innocently at Minato and said, "Minato-sama, I swear I won't cause you any trouble at all! And besides, I already stayed at your place once before—don't you trust me now~?"
Minato really wanted to retort back, saying exactly because Shindai had stayed before, that's precisely why he *didn't* feel reassured anymore!
Stepped out for just a moment, and all the gadgets had already been taken apart. If he had come back even a minute later, Minato Namikaze feared Shindai might have torn the whole place apart.
Minato Namikaze had originally planned to meet Kushina Uzumaki later, but now he decided otherwise. He'd go tomorrow instead.
After everyone parted ways, Minato brought Shindai back to his house.
"Whoa, this place hasn't changed at all! That pile of parts is still right here!"
Shindai was greatly surprised to see the huge pile of components on the table.
Minato's lips twitched slightly. After they left Konoha that day, they hadn't returned home at all. Of course, nothing had changed.
Minato glanced around his house. It had been six months, and now everything was covered in dust.
"Shindai, help me clean up a bit. We can't live like this with so much dust everywhere."
"No problem!"
Minato and Shindai began cleaning the house.
After a while, the whole house looked completely brand new.
There was just one problem: only the lightbulb still worked—everything else was broken.
Minato planned to visit Kushina Uzumaki tomorrow, then get those appliances repaired afterward.
That night, Minato didn't sleep well at all.
Because he kept worrying that Shindai might do something bad to those already pitiful appliances. But it turned out he was overthinking—Shindai actually slept quite peacefully.
The next morning, Obito and the others came looking for Shindai early.
After washing up, Shindai said goodbye to Minato, "Lord Minato, I'm going to explore Konoha with Obito and the others!"
"Okay, have fun, and come back earlier when you're done."
"Got it!"
After Shindai left, Minato packed up all the appliances needing repairs, left home, dropped off the items at the repair shop, then entered the barrier area and headed toward the building where Kushina Uzumaki stayed.
Meeting Minato Namikaze again, Kushina Uzumaki was extremely delighted.
And when she heard she could take a break in Konoha for a while, she got even more excited.
"That's great! Minato, since you've got some free time, let me teach you the [Uzumaki Sealing Technique] while I'm here! Isn't that what you've always wanted?"
Minato's expression appeared somewhat awkward.
Indeed, Minato wanted to learn the [Uzumaki Sealing Technique] badly, but currently he was more focused on developing Rasengan.
Yet seeing how excited and expectant Kushina looked, Minato couldn't bear to refuse. He smiled and agreed, "Sure! Then I'll count on you, Teacher Kushina!"
Hearing Minato address her as "Teacher Kushina," Kushina felt flattered and proudly puffed out her chest.
As usual, Minato began telling her about everything that had happened lately.
However, Minato Namikaze didn't mention the clash with the two Jinchuriki of Iwagakure to Kushina Uzumaki, as he feared it might worry her.
While Minato and Kushina were enjoying some quality time together, Shindai was also having a great time exploring Konoha.
"Wow, no wonder they say Konoha's thriving!"
Shindai had been to Konoha before but never got to explore it properly. But now, being shown around by Obito, Kakashi, and Rin Nohara, he finally got to experience the true Konoha.
Despite the ongoing war, the people of Konoha carried on with their daily lives as if nothing had changed.
Suddenly, Obito shot ahead.
Shindai turned to Kakashi and Rin standing beside him and asked, "What's gotten into Obito all of a sudden?"
Kakashi pointed ahead. "He must be heading to help Granny Tsuchimura."
Rin smiled. "Obito's kind-hearted and always eager to help. If he sees someone struggling, he'll jump right in."
The elderly woman ahead held a basket of vegetables and leaned forward, rubbing her back — clearly exhausted.
Obito gently supported the elderly woman as they walked.
"That's far enough, thank you, dear."
"Granny Tsuchimura, it's me — Obito! Don't you recognize me?"
"Eh, you're Obito?"
Without his usual goofy goggles or worn-out clothes, Obito looked completely different. He now sported sleek sunglasses, a sharp pompadour, and a crisp black Uchiha outfit — altogether giving him a much more striking appearance.
Granny Tsuchimura, who had always been especially fond of Obito, didn't recognize him at first glance.
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