And then came May 5th.
A truly big day for the shinobi world. After years of a long, drawn-out relationship, Uchiha Yōrin and Senju Tsunade finally—at long last—walked into the hall of marriage.
The Second Hokage, upon confirming this, let out a long sigh of relief, cancelled his Edo Tensei, and announced he was going back to the Pure Land to tell his brother the good news… and take a couple days off while he was at it.
He wasn't the only one who felt like something had finally been settled. The Third Hokage and a whole crowd of old Senju elders felt the same.
With Yōrin's rise, the revival of the Senju clan was only natural.
More and more Senju who had been living under false names reclaimed their original surname and gathered around Yōrin, throwing themselves enthusiastically into the Shinobi Republic's cause.
The economy was thriving, and the Republic's open, inclusive clan policy had broken the old restrictions that clans could only marry internally. In the future, the Senju were guaranteed a baby boom.
Sure, it wouldn't be anything as absurd as "the whole world uses a Senju-themed chimera technique and suddenly everyone becomes Senju with Sharingan," but even so, the rebound in numbers benefited Yōrin enormously—and gave him more confidence for the coming final showdown.
Just a few days earlier, Yōrin had received confirmed intelligence:
The Three-Tails had revived.
That giant turtle had every intention of slipping away—disappearing back into the ocean.
If it managed to escape, finding it again would be a nightmare.
So Yōrin decided: before the wedding, he would capture the turtle. If it behaved, it could live peacefully. If it didn't, he'd subdue it and seal it away.
Decision made.
…
Yōrin's decision sent Black Zetsu into a spiral of excitement mixed with anxious dread.
Excitement, because this pushed the "revive Mother" plan one giant step forward.
Capture the Three-Tails, and that meant all tailed beasts were finally complete. After that, find someone to cast Infinite Tsukuyomi, and Kaguya could be revived at last.
After countless ages of grinding toward that goal, Black Zetsu almost felt tears welling up.
That terrifying Uchiha…
No one knew why, but his strength had truly climbed into "Six Paths" territory.
No—"Six Paths-tier" was just a provincial classification invented by shinobi villagers.
Using the Ōtsutsuki's more "advanced" scale, Yōrin was something like an elite combatant.
Even among the Ōtsutsuki, that was rare.
Black Zetsu hated admitting it, but if it were Yōrin vs. Kaguya, he suspected Kaguya might actually lose.
And to make things worse, Yōrin was absurdly handsome, and—again, Black Zetsu hated admitting this—Kaguya was… kind of looks-oriented.
Yōrin's looks were "top-tier" in any humanoid species, and Black Zetsu honestly felt his face was even more unfair than his combat power.
A pure, sheltered girl like Mother would probably fall right into the trap.
That thought left Black Zetsu feeling powerless.
…
Yōrin, of course, didn't know or care about Black Zetsu's inner crisis.
He had "adopted sons," sure—but Naruto, Sasuke, and Kabuto were clearly the premium tier.
Black Zetsu was the bargain-bin version.
Yōrin's standards for him were simple: as long as the guy didn't suddenly pull out a halberd and start fantasizing, Yōrin would count it as a win.
…
"So," Yōrin asked, shortly before the ceremony, pulling Black Zetsu aside for a quick talk, "your mom's about to come back. Happy?"
With the final stage nearing, Yōrin wanted to "sync up" with someone who might be an ally… or might become a problem.
Black Zetsu wore a face that looked like it wanted to cry and laugh at the same time, said nothing, and just shot Yōrin a look that basically screamed: Figure it out yourself.
Yōrin didn't waste time trying to interpret it.
Even if he wanted to, Tsunade wouldn't let him.
Tsunade had her own very loud, very confident statement:
"Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting for this day?"
"It's finally my turn!"
"If anyone tries to stop it, I'll beat them into the ground—grandpa included!"
If Senju Hashirama could hear his granddaughter's "devotion," who knew what he'd think.
Still, the one who would suffer most from this chaos was definitely Yōrin.
These idiots who had no concept of gender equality were a major contributor to the world's disorder, honestly.
Tsunade: "Heh… hahaha… hehehe…"
She looked dangerously close to being high on excitement.
Yōrin started to worry.
What if she gets so excited she faints?
…
"So," Tsunade asked, bright-eyed and practically vibrating, "can we finally… you know?"
Yōrin almost went speechless.
He understood her frustration—but still, you had to follow the steps, right?
So he said, "Not immediately."
"We have to do the ceremony properly. Walk through it, receive the blessings, finish the formalities, send off the guests… and then we move on."
Tsunade didn't answer, but her face clearly said:
Is all this really necessary? Why so complicated?
Yōrin wanted to sigh, but forced himself not to.
Fine. I'll just treat it like I'm raising a dopey daughter.
The thought itself was wildly disrespectful.
Then he did his part and started entertaining guests.
The wedding ceremony began. Every important name in the world showed up. In terms of "status," it was more than enough.
But Yōrin ran it in an almost shockingly simple style.
Some foreign diplomats had been fantasizing about extravagant luxury—rare delicacies, dramatic performances, that sort of thing.
Instead, Yōrin hired a crew of countryside banquet cooks and served huge portions of simple, hearty meat dishes at lightning speed.
Each table got a big bottle of cola and a big bottle of lemon-lime soda, and that was that.
And of course, everyone still had to praise it as "excellent," and applaud the spirit of thrift and simplicity.
Because "having face" came in two forms:
Either you did something impressive…
Or you were already the kind of person who didn't need to.
Tsunade looked impatient the entire time. She glared at basically everyone, clearly counting the seconds until it ended.
And yes—her "bridesmaids" being Yōrin's other women was… a lot.
But no one dared nitpick Yōrin's choices.
So the wedding concluded smoothly.
"…Finally," Tsunade exhaled when everything was done, then stared at Yōrin with undisguised anticipation.
Yōrin couldn't help feeling helpless.
A wife like this was, objectively, a bit embarrassing.
But honestly?
He was excited too—just for different reasons.
Even if they'd already shared everything except the official "final step," that last missing piece still mattered in a weird way.
Like eating a feast of hot and cold dishes… but somehow still craving rice.
"…Alright," Tsunade stretched once the guests were gone, sounding satisfied. "Now it's really 'over.'"
Yōrin wanted to complain.
"I'm the one who's been running around handling everything—why are you the one acting exhausted?"
Tsunade smiled.
"I didn't mean the ceremony. I meant our eight-year-long relationship arc, you idiot."
Yōrin blinked. "Has it really been that long?"
Tsunade tapped his cheek with one finger, smiling like the exact fantasy of a confident, mature older woman.
And then Yōrin swept her up in his arms.
She hooked her arms around his neck naturally, and the two of them—finally—headed toward their room.
~~~
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