Chapter 52: Kushina Wavers, Karin Is About to Be Born!
Terumī Mei was someone you could joke around with freely.
But it depended on the person and the situation.
Oborotsuki knew this girl definitely had feelings for him—otherwise she wouldn't have gotten jealous over Red and Konan.
It was just that those feelings weren't strong enough yet for him to easily win her over.
So he deliberately used a push-and-pull tactic.
Sure enough, the moment she saw Oborotsuki turn to leave, Mei froze:
"Hey!!"
She stomped her foot in frustration and shouted after him.
"What?"
Oborotsuki turned back with an innocent look.
Seeing him stop and respond, Mei's heart involuntarily fluttered. A smile she couldn't hide spread across her face:
"Nothing… I just wanted to remind you—my house is that way. You're going the wrong direction."
She pointed to the right.
"Oh…"
"I haven't been back in so long—I forgot the way."
Oborotsuki nodded casually and turned around.
Watching his figure gradually disappear down the street, Mei's smile slowly faded. A faint sense of disappointment welled up inside her.
She now felt a subtle torment.
On one hand, she could clearly feel that she really had started to like this rotten guy.
On the other hand—she didn't dare take things further.
"Damn it!"
"He already brought back so many women and he's still this much of a playboy—and he thinks he can chase me?"
"Dream on… I'm definitely not letting you win me over that easily. Let's see how anxious you get!"
Mei stood under the tree, sulking to herself for a while.
After taking several deep breaths, she made up her mind and quickly headed in the opposite direction.
She still had to continue inviting other missing-nin back to the village—she didn't have time to waste on Oborotsuki alone right now.
…
Oborotsuki returned to Mei's house.
He found that—aside from Kushina—Konan, Red, and Mayumi were all sitting in the living room waiting for him.
"What's going on?"
He asked in confusion, looking at the three beautiful women. They exchanged glances, as if each was waiting for someone else to speak first.
Finally, Red broke the silence:
"You should go check on Kushina, Oborotsuki."
"Yeah… it's probably best if you go see her. I think she's carrying some emotional baggage…"
Mayumi immediately added.
Konan remained silent, simply nodding at Oborotsuki with an encouraging look.
Hearing them all say this, Oborotsuki's eyes flickered:
"What's wrong with Kushina?"
With that, he turned and headed upstairs.
He soon reached Kushina's door. Just as he raised his hand to knock, her voice came from inside:
"Come in."
"…"
Oborotsuki gently pushed the door open.
He saw Kushina sitting by the window, holding little Naruto and staring blankly at the scenery outside.
"What's wrong?"
He closed the door behind him and walked over to her side.
"Nothing…"
"Missing home?"
Oborotsuki asked again.
This time, Kushina didn't respond.
Seeing her like this, Oborotsuki sighed inwardly.
It seemed she still hadn't let go of Minato Namikaze.
Oborotsuki fell silent as well. The two of them stood quietly like that for a full three or four minutes.
Finally, Kushina withdrew her gaze from the window and looked up at Oborotsuki:
"I'm sorry, Oborotsuki…"
"Why are you apologizing?"
Oborotsuki asked with a casual smile.
Kushina only shook her head silently.
Clearly, she felt indebted.
She and her son were eating his food, living under his roof, and now even relying on his connections to receive Kirigakure's protection.
Yet she couldn't give anything back in return.
This made Kushina feel deeply uncomfortable—like something was stuck in her throat.
Oborotsuki slowly placed a hand on Kushina's shoulder and smiled:
"There's no need to feel this way. Just treat this place as your home."
"When you put pressure on yourself, you're also putting pressure on everyone else…"
His hand began to slide downward and easily found its way to simple happiness.
Kushina's body trembled slightly. She instinctively shrank back—but only a little.
A flush quickly spread across her face and soon reached her fair, slender neck.
"Oborotsuki…"
Kushina stood up in a slight panic, taking half a step back.
Her heart pounded rapidly, blood pressure rising, eyes flickering with unease and confusion.
Oborotsuki simply spread his hands casually:
"Don't put so much pressure on yourself. You can do it, Kushina."
"I'll wait for you downstairs. Finish packing and get ready—we're going out to eat."
"Little Naruto is probably hungry too."
With that, Oborotsuki turned and left the room.
That had been a relatively good start.
He had made a move.
From instinct alone, Kushina hadn't completely resisted.
She just hadn't adapted yet.
"Give her a bit more time… she'll come around sooner or later!"
Oborotsuki thought to himself as he left the room.
Behind him, Kushina silently shed two quiet tears. She looked down at little Naruto in her arms.
…
The group waited downstairs for a while.
Kushina finally came down holding Naruto, looking calm on the surface.
"I heard there's a new yakiniku place in the village. How about grilled meat for lunch today?"
Oborotsuki smiled as he walked over and casually pinched Naruto's chubby cheeks.
"Grilled meat? I don't mind, but I'm not sure it's suitable for Mayumi…"
Red turned to look at Mayumi.
The latter nodded immediately—right now, greasy food probably wasn't the best idea.
Oborotsuki slapped his forehead:
"Sorry, I forgot about that. Then let's go for something lighter…"
"Oh no—I'm not that familiar with the village anymore. It'd be great if Mei were here."
Just as he finished speaking, Mayumi suddenly clutched her belly and let out a pained groan.
"What's wrong?!"
Everyone immediately rushed forward to support her in panic.
"It hurts… my stomach… I think… it's time."
"Oborotsuki… you're about to become a father!"
Cold sweat had already begun to appear on Mayumi's face.
"What? So soon? Didn't you say there was still at least a week left?"
"Maybe the timing was off. Never mind that—what do we do now?"
Everyone immediately panicked. Neither Konan nor Red had ever experienced childbirth.
Oborotsuki, being a big rough guy, naturally knew even less.
"Don't panic. Red, take care of Naruto for me."
"Konan, please help me out."
"Oborotsuki—go get a basin of hot water!"
Kushina, having just gone through childbirth herself, was relatively familiar with the process. She calmly took charge.
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