This was a necessary matter to consider. Torifu couldn't possibly transport everyone up one trip at a time, could he? If he did that, he wouldn't need to get married; he could just open a shipping company.
"I have naturally considered this point. I will have the Cloud Palace descend to just above the village, and then I will use Cloud Release to extend its staircase, allowing the villagers to walk up."
Naori thought about it and concluded that this was the only viable option.
"Alright, I understand. I'll keep this a secret, too, to give the villagers a surprise when the time comes."
With that, the decorating for the day concluded, and Torifu flew down from the Cloud Palace with Naori. The moon tonight was so bright that Naori couldn't take her eyes off it. But once they passed through the clouds, the moon was gone. What they saw instead was the sleeping Konoha Village. The streetlights were still on, and an occasional passerby walked the streets. Most people had already fallen into their dreams.
"Good night, Naori. I wish you sweet dreams."
Torifu took Naori back to the entrance of the Uchiha Clan Compound. The gates were locked by now, but there were still guards, so he wasn't worried about Naori getting inside. Besides, she was a Jōnin; her skill should not be underestimated. Even climbing over the wall would be effortless for her.
"You too. You've been busy all night. Hurry back and get some sleep."
Torifu gave a slight smile, then left the Uchiha Clan Compound gate, turning into a wisp of cloud vapor and flying away.
When he returned home, everyone was already asleep, leaving only Snowflake still wandering around the yard, seemingly suffering from a bit of insomnia?
"Snowflake, why aren't you sleeping yet?"
Snowflake flew to Torifu's side and sighed. "Alas, I watched you grow up, and now you're getting married soon. I don't know what gift I should give you."
The current Snowflake was a true Phoenix; her size was several times what it used to be, and she was already very similar to the Phoenix embroidered on the wedding attire. At this moment, Torifu had an idea.
"Snowflake, why don't you fly a few circles above our wedding on the day? That would count as a gift."
Snowflake asked, highly confused. "Fly a few circles? I can do that, but that's a gift? Even I think that sounds ridiculous."
Torifu couldn't help but laugh, and then told Snowflake about the Phoenix and the wedding attire. Only then did Snowflake understand that her current appearance was a symbol of auspiciousness in Torifu's clan! And she was only one step away from becoming the King of the Birds? She dared not even think about it. She had been through too much in her life, transforming from an ordinary old hen into the current Phoenix. There was no other word but luck to explain it all. It all started when Torifu chose her to hatch Aokumo and Ryūfū.
"In that case, fine! I'll fly around at your wedding and pretend to be a Phoenix."
There was likely no other being in the world more like a Phoenix than Snowflake, so having her fly was perfectly suitable. Moreover, she rarely showed herself to the villagers; even when she flew out to play, she stayed high up in the sky, where few people could see her. The villagers would probably be very surprised to see her and would immediately connect her to the Phoenix on the wedding attire. The once melancholy Snowflake instantly brightened up and stopped sighing. After telling Torifu good night, she flew to a branch to rest.
Torifu saw that she was fine and went back inside to sleep. It was already nearly half past twelve. It was true that the time he stayed up late was getting later each day. Sleeping at twelve tonight meant sleeping at one tomorrow, and gradually, it would turn into an all-nighter. Amado probably developed his bad habits this way. Fortunately, Torifu was quite disciplined, and his usual routine had only been disrupted recently due to the wedding preparations. Once the wedding was over, everything would return to normal. With that thought, Torifu lay down on the bed and fell into a deep sleep.
Two days before the official wedding ceremony.
Torifu woke up and stretched. He then immediately went to wash up. He had quite a bit to handle today. Guests from other nations should be starting to arrive in Konoha Village. Jiraiya and Shinku both gave a time frame suggesting they would arrive two days before the wedding. If the Kazekage and the Tsuchikage were on time, they should be arriving today.
After washing up, Torifu got dressed and came out to the yard. Today was still a day off, or rather, the next three or four days would be holidays. The entire village was preoccupied with the Hokage's wedding. Everyone had voluntarily taken leave, including the students at the Ninja Academy.
The entire Konoha Village had been decorated and refreshed. Some of the older houses on both sides of the streets had been freshly painted with everyone's collective help. The streets were also swept very clean, without any trash. Moreover, every household hung beautiful ribbons and red flowers. Because everyone had heard that the Hokage's wedding attire was red and was embroidered with a very beautiful divine bird, they all hung red flowers to complement the color of the wedding dress. They were all different and very beautiful. None of this was organized by Torifu; it was all done spontaneously by the villagers. This deeply touched both Torifu and Naori, as it showed that the villagers highly respected Torifu. That was why they were doing all these things. Furthermore, this was the first time Konoha Village was hosting a Hokage's wedding, and everyone wanted to make it grand to showcase Konoha Village's strength. Hashirama and Mito were married long before Konoha Village existed. And Tobirama never married, so Torifu's wedding was naturally the first in history.
"Minato, I should be out all day today. You two can just eat whatever or go play."
Minato was currently doing his morning exercises and immediately nodded upon hearing his Big Brother's words. He knew today was the day the Kazekage and the Tsuchikage would arrive, and the villagers had been looking forward to it for a long time. He just didn't know if anyone else, besides the two Kage, would be attending the wedding.
"Alright, Big Brother. Go ahead and take care of your business. Second Brother and I will handle things at home."
Torifu wanted to say that it was precisely because of his Second Brother that he wasn't reassured, but he held his tongue. He had recently given Amado more blueprints for electronics, which should be completed sometime soon. Although Amado had become addicted to staying up late these past few years, his skills were growing stronger, and Torifu had great faith in him in this area. But in other aspects, that might not be the case.
Torifu had notified Kakuzu half a month ago, asking him to bring his men to attend the wedding. Kakuzu had agreed, saying that his subordinates were extremely excited. Meeting their leader for the first time at his wedding was quite a coincidence.