Like Naruto and Sasuke in the anime, Torifu believed they had only temporarily reached Six Paths level and returned to their original strength after sealing Kaguya.
It wasn't a complete breakthrough.
This wasn't the realm Torifu wanted to achieve. He desired true Six Paths power, not merely becoming a Six Paths temporarily through some sacrifice.
For now, he seemed to be overthinking it.
Torifu shook his head. He didn't even know what the catalyst was yet, so thinking so much wouldn't do any good.
Just as the three of them were chatting happily, Yahiko and Konan emerged from the house.
"Master, Big Brother, Mistress, what are you all talking about?"
Only after they drew closer did they realize there was a little kid, Uchiha Jiro, who had been hidden from view.
"Oh, Akihara is here too."
Torifu waved his hand. "Just us chatting. A heavy snow fell last night. Akihara was playing in the snow in the yard just now. It's a shame you didn't see it."
Snow, huh? Yahiko hadn't really noticed. And indeed, looking at it now, the rooftops were a vast expanse of white, so it must have snowed.
When was the last time it snowed in Konoha? Two years ago? He couldn't quite remember.
Anyway, the weather was entirely up to Master's whims. Whatever he wanted, came to be.
"Brother Yahiko, Sister Konan!"
"Akihara, be good. We'll go eat in a bit."
Konan's voice was very gentle.
She and Yahiko graduated from the Ninja Academy last year. After that, they had been consistently going on missions with Jiraiya's team. They were now Konoha chunin, and considered genius ninja.
Torifu had arranged for Jiraiya to mentor them, allowing them to continue that fated teacher-student relationship in a subtle way.
"Where's Amado? Is he still asleep? How about we don't wait for him for now? We can bring him something back later."
Torifu's suggestion was approved by everyone. Amado had indeed kicked his bad habit of staying up late after Torifu got married, but it wasn't long before it flared up again.
Torifu had no choice but to exchange many supplements for him from the shop, for him to eat when he stayed up late, to prevent him from suddenly dying.
Hearing that they were going out for breakfast, Akihara immediately bounced off his chair and extended his little hands. "Who's going to carry me?"
Minato smiled and shook his head. "Uncle will carry you."
Then he scooped Akihara up and placed him on his shoulders.
"Let's go!" After saying that, he held Akihara with both hands and quickly ran out of the Kumotsuru Clan compound.
Seeing this, the others also wore helpless expressions.
Akihara was truly the pampered darling of the Kumotsuru Clan. Everyone adored him immensely.
The key was that this little guy was also very good at charming people. He never threw tantrums, and was quite well-behaved and sensible.
However, he would only be carefree for these next few years. Once he reached the age for training, Torifu would train him rigorously.
This was an agreement the couple had made.
Akihara's talent was undoubtedly extremely powerful. But even with such formidable talent, he still needed to train diligently to truly succeed.
Torifu's talent was so strong, and he had the system's enhancement. Even so, didn't he still wake up early every day to train when he was young?
Therefore, the couple would absolutely not spoil their child.
However, Akihara was only three years old now, so a little play was fine.
In a blink of an eye, the family arrived at Konoha Village's morning market.
The entire street had already been thoroughly cleaned, and there were no snow piles along either side.
It was likely that the morning market vendors had collaboratively cleaned it. It wasn't easy for them, all for the sake of doing business.
Although this intentionally created snow had caused quite a bit of trouble for the villagers, Torifu felt no mental resistance whatsoever.
After all, he had been managing the weather for so many years, and no natural disasters had ever encroached upon Konoha Village.
It was perfectly reasonable for him to let his son play in the snow, wasn't it?
"Oh! Minato-sama, and young master Akihara!"
The morning market vendors, seeing Akihara riding on Minato's shoulders, immediately greeted them warmly.
Although Akihara wasn't very familiar with these uncles and aunts, he still waved his little hands to greet them.
Torifu actually rarely took him out. The reason was still the same old one: the villagers' enthusiasm was a bit overwhelming.
They almost snatched the child away from him.
But he couldn't always be cooped up at home. From time to time, he still needed to be brought out for a stroll.
After Torifu and Naori entered the morning market, they received the same enthusiastic welcome.
It was as if the Hokage had arrived at Konoha Village's breakfast market to inspect the dining situation and provide detailed guidance.
"The villagers are still so enthusiastic, even though I've been Hokage for nine years now."
Naori nodded in agreement. "Yes, every time I come out for breakfast with you, I have to mentally prepare myself."
Naori wasn't usually afraid of such grand occasions. As the Uchiha Clan's young lady, she was sought after wherever she went.
But in the years since marrying Torifu, she had finally understood why Torifu always kept his Concealment Jutsu at the ready.
The group strolled around the morning market for a bit. After each bought some food they liked, they prepared to head home.
Torifu also brought a portion for Amado.
Akihara, meanwhile, was browsing and picking things out at the morning market, unsure of what to buy. In the end, a proprietress forcefully gave him two large meat buns, and only then did he stop his shopping.
It was worth mentioning that the wonton shop Torifu used to frequent was no longer in business.
The stall owner was old and planned to retire at home. Her son was a Konoha ninja, so naturally, no one inherited the wonton stall.
This made Torifu feel upset for quite a while. Her family's wontons were the best in all of Konoha Village. It was a pity there would be no more.
A business that could have ensured her family's prosperity for a lifetime was thus abandoned. It was indeed a bit of a shame.
However, he naturally respected their choice.
"Let's go home. It's too icy and snowy here to eat comfortably."
The heavy snow still had some impact on the villagers. The most direct impact was that there weren't many people at the morning market today.
The cold was one factor. More importantly, the villagers were probably all busy clearing snow, with no time to come out and eat.
These stall owners would likely pack up and go home soon if business was poor, otherwise, it would be truly unbearable in this bitter cold.
"Oh, right, Minato," Torifu suddenly said, realizing he had forgotten something. "How's that jutsu you've been creating coming along? Any breakthroughs?"
"Yes, yes! A few days ago, I went to find Big Brother Hiruzen... I guess I can call him 'Big Brother,' right? Anyway, I went to observe the Tailed Beast Ball with him, and it gave me a lot of inspiration!"
Big Brother Hiruzen... that address truly felt a bit... inappropriate.
Hiruzen was already in his forties now, wasn't he? Minato, on the other hand, was only fifteen.
The age difference was quite significant; Hiruzen's eldest son was even older than Minato.
It was just that Minato was Torifu's younger brother, and Torifu called Hiruzen 'Big Brother.'
Looked at this way, Minato calling Hiruzen 'Big Brother' wasn't really a problem...
"Good. If you can successfully create your own jutsu, your strength will greatly increase. Most importantly, your methods won't be limited to the Flying Thunder God."
The Flying Thunder God was powerful, indeed, but it wasn't that powerful. This move was excellent for clearing out minor enemies.
Few ordinary shinobi could evade Minato's light-speed Flying Thunder God.
However, when facing powerful enemies, such as Kage-level or even higher-ranked foes, if there weren't powerful means to subdue the enemy, the Flying Thunder God's effectiveness would be much diminished.
Tobirama, while using the Flying Thunder God, would also combine it with his own slashes, developing a jutsu like the Flying Thunder God Slash.
This was primarily because his personal swordsmanship was formidable.
Minato hadn't really learned anything else besides the Flying Thunder God over the years. Torifu had even worried that if Minato hadn't become Jiraiya's disciple, it would affect his development of the Rasengan.
But there was no need to worry now. It seemed Minato's development of the Rasengan had nothing to do with Jiraiya after all.
"Yes, Big Brother, I thought so too. The Flying Thunder God still felt somewhat lacking when facing powerful individuals."
In the original world, Minato practiced the Flying Thunder God to better protect Kushina, who was the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki.
However, in this world, the Nine-Tails was securely sealed and guarded by Uzumaki Mito, a powerful sealing jutsu shinobi.
There was no way any danger could arise.
The other Tailed Beasts were the same. Unlike ordinary jinchūriki, after these Tailed Beasts were sealed by Torifu, the jinchūriki could easily use their energy, without needing to achieve unity of mind and heart.
Furthermore, many jinchūriki had developed the kekkei genkai mastered by their Tailed Beasts.
And these could be continuously passed down. This led to Konohagakure gaining several new kekkei genkai clans.
Speaking of which, the Cloudy Stone that sealed the Six-Tails seemed to still be sitting in Torifu's ring. Torifu had personally captured that Six-Tails fellow.
It was just that the Water Release and acid it wielded didn't match Torifu at all. Torifu also didn't care for the small amount of chakra within it, so he had never merged with it.
Yahiko, however, was proficient in various Water Release ninjutsu. It should be a perfect fit for him. He should be rewarded with it when the opportunity arose.
After the large family returned to the clan compound, they entered the room where they usually ate meals.
After all, in the dead of winter, they couldn't very well dine in the pavilion.
"You're back."
As soon as Torifu entered, he saw Amado sitting on the sofa inside the room, yawning, as if he hadn't quite woken up yet?
"Hm, just in time, you're awake. We brought your food. Come eat quickly."
Everyone successively placed the food on the table. Some of the items had gotten cold on the way, so they were taken to the microwave to be heated.
This was also something Amado had produced from blueprints over the past few years.
Besides that, things like induction cookers, rice cookers, ovens – all those daily cooking necessities that could improve quality of life had all been created by Amado in these past few years.
Konohagakure's reputation had once again risen because of these appliances.
Other nations were also secretly developing technology. It was just that they lacked talent like Amado, and Torifu wasn't providing blueprints.
They could only grope their way forward bit by bit, and progress was very slow.
Akihara obediently brought Amado's breakfast to him. "Uncle Amado, here's your breakfast. I made sure they didn't put cilantro in it."
Amado ruffled Akihara's hair. "Well done, Akihara. You must firmly uphold the declaration of the Anti-Cilantro Cult."
"Yes! Leader!"
Everyone burst out laughing at Akihara's antics.
In reality, the child was a two-faced little fellow. When Amado wasn't around during mealtimes, he would eat everything, cilantro or not, with great relish.
But when Amado was present, he wouldn't touch cilantro.
It was normal for a child to be playful. Amado knew about this, but he never exposed him, and always played along.
"By the way, Amado," Torifu said, "there shouldn't be anything urgent for you to research lately, right? It's a good opportunity, with the two-week annual leave, to properly adjust your routine."
Torifu's biggest fear was Amado suddenly dropping dead one day. So now, he wouldn't give Amado too many blueprints to research at once.
He would give him one at a time, let him rest for a while after producing it, then give him the next one.
Doing this, Amado's health clearly improved significantly.
Coupled with the constant stream of tonics Torifu provided him, his body was finally no longer frail.
"You're almost thirty now," Torifu continued, "you can't keep acting like you're still young, staying up all night every day."
Amado paused in surprise after hearing this, then smiled in realization. Indeed, in the blink of an eye, he was almost thirty too.
No wonder he started feeling sleepy before two in the morning every night. His overall energy had drastically decreased.
It seemed he truly couldn't keep burning the midnight oil. He still wanted to live a few more years.
"Alright, I'll listen to Big Brother," Amado said. "No more late nights. I'll properly adjust my routine during this period."
Torifu felt much more relieved upon hearing this.
Breakfast time was joyful throughout the entire family. They finished their breakfast amidst laughter and cheer.
With warm food in their stomachs, they didn't feel cold even in winter.
After the meal, Torifu took out two long, wide strips of red paper from his ring, with some characters written on them.
"Big Brother, what are these?" Minato was the first to ask.
"Spring Couplets," Torifu explained, "they're used during the Spring Festival."
Torifu stood up, holding the Spring Couplets, and showed the characters written on them to everyone.
The first line read: "May the morning sun welcome vast riches to your door." The second line read: "May the spring breeze bring abundant blessings to your home."
Seeing these auspicious phrases, everyone probably understood their meaning. It was for good luck, of course.
So these were the things needed for the Spring Festival.
Just seeing these auspicious words made people feel happy, as no one disliked blessings.
He then handed the couplets to Yahiko and Konan. "You two go and paste these couplets on either side of the Kumotsuru Clan's main gate. Make sure they're aligned; don't paste them crooked."
Konan took the couplets, Yahiko took a stool, and the two walked towards the main entrance.
Naori said, "So these are the things prepared for the Spring Festival. They look quite ordinary."
"It's for celebration," Torifu replied. "Tomorrow, I'll have people distribute them in the streets, and every household will put up Spring Couplets."