As if he had genuinely guessed their thoughts, Yahiko and Konan smiled. Seizing the opportunity, Torifu continued, "Your chakra reserves are almost sufficient. I don't plan to let you stay at home indefinitely, so I'm arranging for you to go to the Ninja Academy starting tomorrow."
"Ah?" Neither of them expected this day to arrive so suddenly. However, they didn't feel resistant to the idea. They were getting a bit bored staying at home anyway.
All they did every day was train, and it felt a little tedious. The main reason was that no one was ever truly home; it was just Yahiko and Konan. Amado being there or not made no difference. If Torifu could be home all the time, they could talk and play with him. Unfortunately, Torifu had been quite busy lately, dealing with all the big and small matters inside and outside the village, and he'd also managed to squeeze in a proposal. He was so busy preparing for the proposal that he hadn't even personally sent Mifune off yesterday; his secretary had done it, offering a large gift to avoid seeming rude. Fortunately, Mifune was a true samurai and didn't dwell on the matter too much.
"Big Brother, if they go to the Ninja Academy now, will they be able to keep up?" Yahiko and Konan shared this concern; they were a little confused. Not much time had passed since they started training. They had mainly focused on chakra extraction and hadn't learned much Ninjutsu knowledge.
"I asked Sarutobi Suiga. The first-year classes have just begun, so they won't have any problems. I'll also help them catch up when they get back in the evening." Yahiko and Konan were quite looking forward to going to school; their only fear was not being able to keep up with the teachers. Since Sensei said so, they were naturally quite happy.
"Then, Sensei, will you take us to school tomorrow?"
Torifu put a wonton into his mouth. "Of course. I'm your guardian. You two are essentially like my son and daughter, and I naturally have to take full responsibility for your lives."
For some reason, Yahiko and Konan felt a warmth in their hearts when they heard this. Yahiko couldn't help but grin foolishly. "Hehe, okay, Sensei. We'll get up early tomorrow!"
The four of them ate and chatted, and soon their bowls of wonton soup were empty. After leaving the money on the table, they left.
By the time the four returned to the compound, the morning market was coming to an end. Since they didn't know when Amado would wake up, they didn't bring him breakfast. If necessary, they could just have someone send over a bowl of ramen. It wasn't a big deal.
Today was the second day of the weekend. During this rare holiday, Minato still chose to immerse himself in gaming. Torifu, on the other hand, didn't really have a day off, but since he had his Intelligent Puppets, he chose to slack off for the day. The main reason was that there were no major issues in Konoha recently. So, Torifu was focusing entirely on wedding preparations.
Konoha naturally didn't have professional wedding planners, so Torifu had to handle all the arrangements himself. He would likely set the exact date and announce it to the Konoha villagers tomorrow or the day after. Such a significant event certainly couldn't be announced at the last minute, or schedules might not align. There were many things Torifu needed to manage, and it was giving him a headache for a moment. Fortunately, Naori had offered to help, but he didn't know when she would arrive.
"Big Brother, someone's outside. It looks like Kagami."
Well, well. He hadn't seen his fiancée yet, but his prospective brother-in-law had shown up. Torifu immediately got up to greet him.
"Kagami, why are you free to visit me? Wouldn't a phone call be enough for anything you need?"
Kagami smiled when he heard this. "As soon as I heard you two were getting married, I couldn't sit still. I wanted to see if I could help with anything."
"Haha, Naori originally said she'd help me, but you're here instead. Where is Naori?"
"Mito-sama called her away early this morning. They're probably having a heart-to-heart talk."
So, Mito had called her away. That's why Torifu hadn't seen her yet. He led Kagami to the gazebo in the courtyard to sit down. Minato and Yahiko were playing quietly in the distance. They weren't making much noise, afraid of disturbing the conversation.
"Sigh, honestly, I really didn't expect you two to get married so quickly. I thought it might be another two years," Kagami's tone carried a hint of regret and sadness.
Torifu had expected that Naori's father would have the biggest reaction to his proposal, but he hadn't expected to find a hidden sister-complex here. Torifu took a sip of tea. "It's been long enough. Naori has waited a long time. I can't let her keep waiting. We're all getting older; you'll be close to forty in the blink of an eye."
Kagami felt a sudden stab in his heart. Why did Torifu have to bring up his age? His daughter was already ten years old! Wasn't it normal to be older? But seriously, he really couldn't keep waiting. Naori was almost thirty. That was considered super-aged and unmarried in Konoha.
"Alright. As her older brother, I can only wish you well. I've seen your relationship with Naori all these years. I won't say any threatening words. Having a good life is the real priority."
Torifu smiled when he heard this. "I really appreciate that. You're like this just for Naori's marriage. What will you do when Aihana gets married in the future?"
Are you okay? Why are you always picking on me!
He came here early this morning intending to help, but instead, he was called old and had his daughter's future marriage brought up. He was intentionally being given a hard time! Good thing Kagami was good-natured, or he would have gotten angry.
"Hahaha, I'm just kidding. Don't take it too seriously."
Kagami waved his hand. "No, what you said is actually true. I can't keep Aihana by my side forever. She'll get married one day, too."
Most men were like this: they wished for their sons to marry early but for their daughters to marry later. Hashirama was a great example. When Tsunade first started dating Dan, he was very unhappy and consequently didn't give Torifu a kind look either. It wasn't until Torifu gave them the fruit and made them young again that their mindset changed. When Kagami acts up in a few years, should Torifu give him one too? But Kagami would only be in his early forties by then. Would taking the fruit suddenly regress him back to infancy? That would be a bit alarming.
"Alright, alright. I see you don't have much going on here, so I'll head back. Honestly, I came to help and ended up getting annoyed."
Torifu was now at a loss whether to laugh or cry. He repeatedly apologized to Kagami before finally easing his frustration.