Uchiha Yuan's expression was complicated as he watched Uzumaki Mito's soul dissipate.
As the First Hokage's wife, even in death, Mito still cared deeply about Konoha. Her love for the village ran very deep.
But Yuan could tell—Mito harbored some resentment toward the Third Hokage and his generation.
It wasn't hard to understand. When the Land of Whirlpools was destroyed, the Third gave all kinds of reasons not to send help.
There was no way Mito could've let that go entirely.
Still, for the sake of the village, she had buried that resentment deep in her heart.
Yuan sighed and teleported to the outskirts of the village, where he collected the White Zetsu body used for the Reanimation Jutsu.
The next day, Namikaze Minato had Kakashi summon Uchiha Yuan to the Hokage's office.
"Yuan, last night Kushina told me she dreamed of Lady Mito. She said Mito spoke to her at length—even mentioned you and Uchiha Madara.
Also, a lot of villagers reported seeing a glowing figure hovering over the village last night. That was probably Mito's soul, right?"
Yuan nodded and admitted it.
"How did you do it?" Minato asked.
"I used a ninja tool that can temporarily summon a soul from the afterlife," Yuan replied, not wanting others to know he used Edo Tensei.
"What did you want from Lady Mito?"
"I wanted to know what her labor experience was like and also ask about Uchiha Madara."
"You asked about Madara?"
Yuan nodded and took out the White Zetsu corpse from the night before.
Minato immediately sensed something unnatural about the body.
Yuan repeated to him everything he had discussed with Mito.
After listening, Minato's expression grew serious. "So Madara really might still be alive. Do you think he'll try something during Kushina's childbirth?"
"I don't know. But we have to prepare for that possibility."
Minato sighed. Even for him, the name "Uchiha Madara" was a heavy weight.
After the conversation, Yuan returned to the Uchiha district and began modifying the soul inside the Rat Talisman.
The copy of Mito's soul didn't retain her form—only as a ball of light. Yuan deleted everything in it except sealing techniques, combat skills, and chakra knowledge. He then implanted a new set of memories:
In them, she was the consciousness born during the creation of Yuan's miniature Ten-Tails. Yuan was her creator, and she must obey his commands.
When the talisman merged with the mini Ten-Tails, the copied soul would take over and make it fully controllable.
Time passed day by day, and the "Konoha 12" began to be born one after another.
On July 23 of Konoha Year 48, the Uchiha clan was unusually lively.
The clan head's family had gone early to the hospital. Fugaku's loyal subordinate, Uchiha Yakumi, even came to the Police Department to ask if any of their family members specialized in childbirth.
Yuan heard the commotion and knew—it must be Sasuke's birth.
Sure enough, the next day, joyous news spread: Lady Mikoto had given birth to her second son, named Uchiha Sasuke.
A month later, Sasuke's one-month celebration was held with a grand feast in the Uchiha compound.
Yuan used this opportunity to meet one of Naruto's future main characters: Uchiha Sasuke.
Seeing Yuan staring at Sasuke, Fugaku thought he simply liked children and even offered to let Yuan hold him.
Of course, Yuan didn't decline. He carefully took Sasuke into his arms.
Looking at the sleeping baby, Yuan curled his lips. Honestly, Sasuke's looks were already impressive—it was no wonder so many girls would fall for him later.
After admiring his cuteness, Yuan began to sense whether Sasuke had Indra's chakra inside him.
Unfortunately, after a long search, he found nothing and had to give up.
He handed Sasuke back to Fugaku and took his leave. Before leaving, Yuan gifted Sasuke a kunai forged from a special chakra-conducting metal.
With Sasuke's birth, Naruto's was now drawing near.
Kushina's belly grew larger by the day, and the baby inside thrived.
On September 22, Nara Shikaku's son, Nara Shikamaru, was born.
The "Ino-Shika-Cho" trio had always been closely allied. Yamanaka Inoichi and Akimichi Choza personally visited the Nara clan to offer congratulations.
Coincidentally, the next morning Inoichi's wife felt unwell. By noon, the Yamanaka clan's little princess, Yamanaka Ino, was born.
At this point, all the Konoha 12 had been born—except Naruto and Hinata.
Time flew, and October of Year 48 arrived.
One day, the Third Hokage met with Minato. The two stayed in the Hokage's office for a long time.
On October 5, the Third's wife, Biwako, personally escorted Kushina to the delivery site.
As the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki, Kushina's pregnancy was a tightly held secret, known only to a few.
To maintain secrecy, she hadn't left home since becoming pregnant. So this trip was her first time outside in months.
Kushina's personality had always been wild, but after marrying Minato, she toned it down for his Hokage image.
Still, being cooped up for so long, she couldn't help but enjoy the outing—taking her sweet time, looking around, and moving slowly.
Biwako got increasingly annoyed and kept urging her, but Kushina ignored her.
Along the way, they ran into Mikoto holding baby Sasuke. Since she and Kushina were on good terms, and Kushina was about to become a mother herself, she stopped to chat.
Biwako's face turned green with frustration. She ended up dragging Kushina away by force.
After arriving, Biwako immediately informed the ANBU to activate the barrier around the house.
She then told Kushina that they would remain in that building until the baby was born.
Kushina had already been told this by Minato, so she had no objections.
Meanwhile, Minato teleported into Yuan's office.
"Yuan, the Third wants me to assign Shisui's ANBU squad to a mission outside the village. What's your opinion?" Minato asked bluntly.
(To Be Continued...)