"Chizan-sensei, are you looking for my dad about something?"
"Uh... no, nothing. I just thought your dad might not want to see me. But Itachi, how have you been lately?"
Gekko Chizan looked at Itachi standing before him, who had already begun to show faint nasolabial lines, and the little calculations in his heart stirred again.
Seeing the other party's smile, Itachi cautiously stepped back half a step. Why half a step?
This was a move Itachi had carefully considered. Stepping back a full step would be too deliberate, not stepping back at all would be deadly—so half a step was best.
"Chizan-sensei, you'd better not have bad intentions. Shisui-niisan and Kakashi-senpai both told me."
"Your bad intentions are like the leaves of Konoha."
"Even my father told me to stay on guard against you at all times."
Gekko Chizan's smile froze directly on his face.
Well done, Kakashi, Shisui, Fugaku—you're all really something!
Seeing how guarded Itachi was against him, Gekko Chizan didn't say anything. He simply put on another smile and walked toward the village.
Uchiha Itachi watched Gekko Chizan's departing back, not daring to relax in the slightest.
Kakashi-senpai had said that Gekko Chizan loved sudden sneak attacks the most—he had to guard against it!
With that mindset, Itachi's gaze never left Gekko Chizan.
Only when the figure disappeared from his sight did he finally let out a breath.
But it was often at moments like this that danger was greatest.
"Kakashi and Obito, those two bastards, didn't tell you that besides liking sneak attacks, I'm also unpredictable and elusive?"
"Itachi!"
Suddenly, a voice full of teasing rang out behind Itachi, instantly making every hair on his body stand on end.
Before he could react, the voice appeared again, and at the same time spoke the three words that made people tremble at the mere mention of them.
"One Thousand Years of Death!"
Itachi's expression froze instantly. Pain—why did it hurt this much?!
"Ah!"
He couldn't help it, really couldn't help it. Feeling the pain, Itachi let out a miserable scream.
Little did he know that this was already Gekko Chizan holding back. This One Thousand Years of Death didn't even have half its power.
Otherwise, with his current strength—tsk tsk—unimaginable!
Gekko Chizan looked at Itachi, who had already been launched into the air, with great satisfaction. The only good thing about him was that he didn't discriminate between young and old. If possible, he'd really like to use One Thousand Years of Death on that old Sarutobi man—after all, that old man had exploited him for many years.
"Itachi, feel the pain. Only pain can make people grow."
"Look at Kakashi. Look at Obito. They've both experienced this."
"I believe you'll grow up."
Leaving behind a string of encouragement—well, encouragement of a sort—Gekko Chizan directly used the Flying Thunder God to leave.
The poor Itachi's entire face had turned red from holding it in.
"Kakashi-senpai, Obito-niisan, I understand now. I really understand."
"No wonder you told me to be especially careful..."
"Just who the hell invented this kind of technique?!"
...
Using the Flying Thunder God to return home, Gekko Chizan had barely landed when a huge fireball flew straight at his face.
"Dōnin! Didn't I tell you not to play with fireballs at home?!"
"If you want to play, go to your Minato-san's house! Or your Fugaku-san's house!"
"If that doesn't work, Nara Shikaku and Akimichi Chōza's places are fine too!"
"Just look at what our house has become!"
Dodging the fireball by tilting his head, veins bulged on Gekko Chizan's forehead.
He was furious! Back when Konoha had been damaged, how much effort had he spent to rebuild the house—and build it so perfectly.
And now, in just two short years, his house was already starting to look unstable.
Yamato: ...Sensei, the way you say that kind of makes me want to rebel...
Hayate: Rebel, Yamato. I'll be the first to support you!
"Ah~~~ Dad~~"
"Hey, hey, hey... hey! My precious son!"
The two-year-old Gekko Dōnin saw his dad and warmly called out "Dad." Gekko Chizan instantly lost all his anger, not caring at all what his house had become.
He stepped forward and scooped up his big precious son in one motion, his face full of joy.
If Uchiha Fugaku were here, he'd definitely say: Look—that's a textbook good father!
Doesn't matter what the kid did—just one call, and that's it! The best!
"Where's your mom?"
"Pakura went to the hospital."
What could you get out of asking a two-year-old? He was only two!
Sayo, who was resting nearby, answered him, with a trace of disdain between her brows.
"The hospital? Could it be...?"
"Yeah, it's already the due date. You bastard have been out on missions all the time. Pakura's had it pretty hard on her own."
Hearing this, a rare hint of guilt appeared on Gekko Chizan's face. Over the past year, although he'd been on missions, most of the time he was running all over the place, having a great time.
Pakura had been pregnant with their second child for over half a year already. To let her rest at ease, he had temporarily suspended her classes at the academy.
As for substitute teachers—Kakashi and Obito.
His two good disciples had no objections at all.
Kakashi: Right, absolutely no objections. It'd be even better if the Kusanagi Sword weren't gleaming and the surrounding crystals weren't so dazzling.
Obito: Nonsense! Kakashi, that's disrespectful to Sensei. It's obviously just a single Tiger hand seal, okay?!
At the same time, he had invited Tsunade back again, having her stay at his place. Judging by things, Tsunade had probably gone to the hospital as well.
"Alright, then I'll go to the hospital to find her."
"Oh, right."
Suddenly, Gekko Chizan thought of something. He took out a scroll from his chest, found an open space, spread it out, and activated it with chakra.
"Bang!"
Everything inside the scroll was instantly released.
That pile of items left Sayo completely dumbfounded.
"These are all specialties I bought from various countries—like face masks from the Land of Wind, scrubbing stones from the Land of Earth, snacks from the Land of Lightning."
"Oh, oh, right—and this. Didn't that kid Ebisu say before that he wanted a set of black clothes? Here, this one."
After saying that, Gekko Chizan hugged his son and used the Flying Thunder God to leave, leaving Sayo behind to start cleaning up, muttering to herself:
"That little bastard—he does have a heart. Face masks from the Land of Wind?"
...
Konoha Hospital.
"Pakura, you still need to pay attention to your diet. I've said this many times."
"That bastard buys all kinds of things—you can eat them or not, but too much nutrition is a problem!"
"That bastard really brought the Flying Thunder God to life. Look at Minato—he only uses it to fight. Then look at Chizan—sigh, there's just no comparison!"
Tsunade looked at Pakura before her, who radiated a strong maternal aura, and shook her head helplessly.
Hearing this, Pakura smiled awkwardly. Although Gekko Chizan hadn't been in Konoha these days, he still came back every few days, always bringing back things she loved to eat.