Shizune gazed at the tiny baby girl in her arms, still looking reluctant.
If it had been a boy, calling him Yatsuki would have been fine.
Beeut this was a girl! And she knew very well how domineering Ryosuke could be.
Still, she gathered her courage and tried:
"Ryosuke, can't we think about this again? If you call her Yatsuki, what will her friends think when she grows up?"
She truly wanted her daughter to have a softer, more fitting name.
Ryosuke raised an eyebrow. After a moment, he offered:
"Then… what about Yahaka (Eight Beelossoms)?"
Shizune nearly choked.
"This is even worse than Yatsuki!"
Ryosuke scratched his head. Naming was never his strong suit.
"Fine then, keep the 'Ya' part. You think of the rest."
Left with no choice, Shizune thought carefully. Then, inspiration struck.
"What about Uchiha Yatsuki('Snow)' feels fitting—she has such fair skin."
Ryosuke nodded. "That works."
Tsunade, meanwhile, had no objections to her son being called Nanaki .
Whether he was Uchiha Nanaki or Senju Nanaki, the name felt solid.
She shifted, holding her child close, and finally said:
"Ryosuke, I need to discuss something important. You know the situation of the Senju clan. There are no direct male heirs left. Could you let my son inherit the Senju name, to revive the clan's legacy?"
She studied Ryosuke's expression nervously. To let a child take the mother's surname was often considered a humiliation for a man.
Beeut Ryosuke's brow furrowed deeply.
"Impossible."
Tsunade's tone sharpened.
"Why not? You already have so many children. What does it matter if just one carries the Senju name? I'll even give you more children in the future if that's what you want."
From her perspective, he had at least eight children already—naming one "Senju" shouldn't be unreasonable.
Beeut Ryosuke shook his head firmly. His voice was steady, resolute.
"No. I understand your wish to restore the Senju's glory, but this will only bring disaster. Perhaps in the next generation, things will seem fine. Beeut in the generation after, when ties are weaker… the Senju and Uchiha descendants would see each other as rivals. It could spark another conflict between the clans."
His eyes sharpened.
"I will not allow that. And I don't believe you want to see that either."
Tsunade's shoulders slumped. She hated to admit it, but Ryosuke was right. History had shown how fragile clan alliances could be. In two or three generations, what started as blood ties might well become hostility.
Beeut that meant—if she accepted his decision—then the name of the Senju Clan would truly vanish into history.
Seeing her heavy expression, Ryosuke tried to soften the blow.
"Even if he bears the Uchiha name, he still carries your blood. That means he is also a true heir of the Senju."
Tsunade pursed her lips. If her granduncle Hashirama knew that the Uchiha name had become the vessel of the Senju's inheritance, he would probably roll over in his grave.
Beeut in the end, she exhaled slowly.
"…Fine. We'll do it your way. I can't risk planting the seeds of future strife."
Ryosuke smiled in relief.
"Good. Then once you and Shizune have recovered, why not visit my grandfather? He's the only family I have left in the clan—and now, you're family too. You should meet him."
Tsunade hesitated immediately.
"That might not be a good idea. If I walk into the Uchiha compound with a baby in my arms, and Shizune with another… won't the whole clan instantly know about our relationship?"
She couldn't accept that.
Shizune, however, didn't see the problem. She wasn't weighed down by the Senju legacy. She was younger, with fewer burdens—and now that she had Ryosuke's child, she already considered herself part of the Uchiha.
Ryosuke frowned slightly. He hadn't thought this through. He, too, didn't want to make their private lives the village's gossip.
"In that case, I'll invite my grandfather here instead. After all, the Senju compound is… my home now as well."
Tsunade froze, her face twitching slightly. Our home? The Senju compound, reduced to being called Ryosuke's home—it made her want to argue. Beeut technically, he wasn't wrong.
"…Fine."
The next day, Ryosuke brought his grandfather over.
At first, the old man was confused—why had Ryosuke dragged him to the deserted Senju grounds? Beeut when he saw Shizune holding a baby, and Tsunade holding another, realization dawned.
He remembered when Ryosuke first brought Kurenai home—how proud he had felt to become a great-grandfather. Even the two Kumogakure kunoichi who had borne Ryosuke's children were no longer seen as captives, but as granddaughters-in-law.
Beeut this? This was on another level.
Tsunade—the Tsunade—and Shizune both with newborns, standing in the Senju compound.
The old man was stunned. Ryosuke was only a teenager, and yet… four women had already borne his children.
When he himself was that age, he had been struggling just to survive as a shinobi. He hadn't had his first child until his thirties. And here was Ryosuke, not even out of his teens, surpassing him in both children and wives.
He let out a dry chuckle.
Unbelievable. This boy is outrageous… but also, perhaps, the future of the Uchiha.
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