Kurama and Araki were going towards the direction of Uzushio.
Before having come to the war here, Araki had already given the instruction to the entire Senju Clan to relocate to Uzushio.
Tsunade was naturally shocked to hear that. She didn't have any idea that these were all Uzumaki Clan members. But after they removed their seals and showed off their vibrant red hair, she started believing it.
She also heard from them about how they survived from the attack of the Three Great Villages using Blood Clones.
At this moment, they were already inside Uzushio. Kushina was waiting for Araki, she was entirely confident about his strength and knew that no one in the world could defeat him at this point.
Araki also didn't want her to see the massacre he was about to commit, so he forced her to remain at home.
While Araki and Kurama were on their way, Araki had finally changed his appearance and returned to the way he originally was. The cloak and the Truth-Seeking Orbs were absorbed into his body, and it would be visible once he used this mode again.
The Rinnegan disappeared as well, and his eyes returned to normal…
Upon seeing his appearance return to normal, Araki nodded his head with a hint of satisfaction. This was good enough…
Kurama sweatdropped upon seeing Araki trying so hard to return his appearance to how it was before. He really didn't understand humans…
After returning to Uzushio, Araki met up with Kushina first and then all the Uzumaki Clan Members. He informed them about how Kurama had volunteered to protect Uzushio from external threats.
He also gave them strict instructions to not just depend on Kurama. At the end of the day, Uzushio was their own home. They were the ones who were obligated to protect it by putting their lives on the line…
Only when it was an enemy that they had no chance of defeating should they ask Kurama to help them out.
The Uzumaki Clan members understood what he wanted to say and obeyed his instructions. They didn't even ask him why he wouldn't protect them. They understood that he wanted them to stand on their own feet. To truly become independent and solve their own problems…
After having met up with the Uzumaki Clan members, he spent the rest of his day with Kushina.
They walked around the whole island while he informed her of the fact that he had fused with the ten-tails now.
Upon Kushina's request, he showed her his Six Path's Mode. Kushina was surprised to see his Six Path's Mode, but she thought it was really cool.
Well, it was quite a contrast to how Araki was disappointed with his new appearance. He turned off the Six Path's Mode before he said to her, "Alright, let's go to Konoha. We need to take care of some loose ends there…"
"Alright…Let's go." Kushina agreed readily…
There were indeed some things that they needed to take care of.
Araki felt that it was better to inform Keshiro about this matter. After all, he was the acting Hokage, and Minato, Nagato, and the rest of the Akatsuki members were staying in Konoha.
Minato was working hard to become a Kage. While Nagato was preparing to leave for Ame with Yahiko, Konan, and the rest of the Akatsuki members. It seemed that they believed they were ready to take care of any surprise attacks from Hanzo.
Besides, the last time Hanzo had taken action against the Akatsuki members, Araki had given him a great trauma. He certainly wouldn't be taking any action against them any time soon.
After returning to Konoha, Araki first went to the Senju Clan Manor which had 30 or so servants, and Minato had been left to take care of it.
After talking with Minato for some time and hearing that he was still determined to become a Hokage, Araki had a smile on his face. He was somewhat happy that Minato's determination hadn't broken after all this time… Even after he came to know that Araki had appointed Keshiro as the Acting Hokage.
As if making a decision, Araki started walking towards the Hokage's office along with Kushina.
"So, what are you going to do now? Are you going to ask Keshiro to hand over the Hokage's seat to Minato?" Kushina asked Araki, a little curiously.
"Heh…Aren't you curious?" Araki spoke with a smile on his face.
Kushina nodded her head and replied, "A little…"
He then added, "Well, to answer your question. No… I won't ask Keshiro to hand over his seat to Minato. That would be utterly disrespectful to both of them. It would also mean I don't believe in Minato's capability to grab the Hokage's seat by his own merits or Keshiro's merit in leading Konoha. To be, both of them somewhat equal though I prefer Minato more since he is the Senju Clan Member."
"All I would do would be to make it fair for the two of them," Araki informed Kushina, and before they realised it, they had reached the building.
Araki entered the Hokage's office through the window, taking Kushina along with him.
On the Hokage's seat, Keshiro was seated while he was reading many documents. His life had gotten quite busy since acquiring this job.
He saw Araki entering the office through the window and wasn't surprised to see him or Kushina.
A smile appeared on his face as he said, "I have been waiting for you…"
Araki raised his brow and said with an amused smile, "It appeared that you were counting on my victory rather than my defeat."
"I already knew the result before you departed to fight against them. The question was… How long will you take? A day? Or longer…" Keshiro said with a shrug.
"I think even Kushina wouldn't have such confidence in my ability… Oww…" He winced a little as Kushina pinched his arm.
"Hey! I am not wrong… You were worried about me!"
Kushina's face reddened a bit more, and she used more strength to pinch him, "No, I wasn't!" She fiercely denied it, but the reddish glow on her face seemed to say anything story.
Upon seeing their interactions, Keshiro chuckled and said, "It's always refreshing to see your interactions. I feel like it's time I marry someone as well…"
"That's great…Be sure to send me an invitation!" Araki said to Keshiro with a smile.
"Yup! We will definitely come to your wedding. Dattebane!" Kushina also agreed and stopped pinching Araki.
"Alright, I guess we should talk about the serious matter now. So, why did you come, Araki? Is it that you want to inform me that you are the head of the Uzumaki Clan and that you have already left Konoha and will live in Uzushio from now?" Keshiro asked Araki with a knowing smile on his face.
Araki blinked a few times before he let out a sigh, "I won't ask how you know that. It's probably another ability of those eyes…"
"Well, you aren't wrong about that," Keshiro said while chuckling at Araki's words.
After some time, Araki said, "I guess that was one thing I wanted to inform you, but there is another thing. I guess you probably know, but I still believe I should inform you… Minato is a member of the Senju Clan. I am the one who personally asked him to join it. So, you can consider Minato to be a full-fledged member of the Senju clan…"
Keshiro remained quiet and let Araki continue ahead, "Minato wants to become Hokage, so he will be living in Konoha and manage the Senju Clan Manor while working towards his dream."
"I see…" Keshiro muttered with a calm look on his face. There was not a hint of anger or any other emotion on his face. Just a relaxed look…
"You are a lot calmer than I expected you to be," Araki said while observing Keshiro's facial expression.
"Since you haven't told me to give away the Hokage's seat, it means that you don't plan on giving your support to Minato just because he is a member of your clan," Keshiro explained calmly…
To this, Araki nodded his head and replied, "Yes… That is why from now, Minato will be talking with the other clan heads and request their support to become Hokage. If half of them or more than half agrees, you must fight against Minato and defeat him to retain your position as a Hokage."
"I see… That's interesting. But it gives me an edge over Minato. After all, I am pretty much a Hokage, and I have been the Uchiha Clan Head for much longer as well. As long as I don't make a blunder, he won't gather enough support." Keshiro informed Araki with a frown…
He naturally didn't want to back away from this challenge. But he felt that the challenge was somewhat unfair for Minato. This was not how he wanted to win against Minato…
To this, Araki shrugged, "If Minato cannot gather enough support, then that means that Konoha is doing good under your reign. I believe that's a good conclusion as well."
"I see… But I still feel it's unfair to Minato. I will inform him that he can fight me any time he wants… If he defeats me a single time, I will give him the position of Hokage." Keshiro said with full confidence.
"Whatever you want… I am washing my hands off this matter now…" Araki said as he placed his arm around Kushina and flew away from the Hokage's office.
Just as Keshiro had informed Araki, he called out for Minato and informed him of their deal. Minato was somewhat surprised but agreed to the deal.
He didn't challenge Keshiro. It wasn't that he wasn't confident in his ability. He was naturally confident in his power and ability, it was just that, he felt that he should have the support of the clans. If he couldn't have the support of at least 30% of the clans in Konoha, it means that his own ability was lacking against Keshiro. If that was so… It was better to let Keshiro administer Konoha…
Araki and Kushina returned to their house in Uzushio…
"Hmm… I wonder what we should do now?" Araki asked Kushina offhandedly…
"Have some kids first! Dattebane!" Kushina chirped immediately, and before Araki could reply, his mouth was sealed by Kushina's lips.
After their lips broke contact, Kushina's hands started to take off Araki's clothes. Araki was a bit embarrassed for some moments before he reacted with the same passion as Kushina…
~~The End~~
[A/N: Well, this is the official end of this fanfic. I may write some special chapters later, but not now.
Next, I would like to announce two things. First is to check out my Original Novel on Amazo.n named Rising Warriors. You can consider that world to be a mix of Naruto and Cultivation world I guess. There will be beast related bloodlines, political situations, elemental powers, mystery, and awesome main characters. The preview has been put up, you can check it out by going over to my profile as well…
The second thing is that I will be taking a break for a week or two before starting a new ATG fanfic. I will keep the details a mystery for now…Give it a read and support it if you like it.
Thank you to all.]