Chapter 259: Karin Gets a Clan Crest, Anko's Evil Releasing Method
Karin trembled, looking at the Akiyama Makoto before her in disbelief. She had never expected him to make such a direct request.
She had always considered herself a servant in this house; otherwise, she wouldn't have called him "Family Head."
Karin, who was used to being submissive, had never imagined she could enjoy the same treatment as the other girls. Her greatest fantasy was that he might take her on a whim one day. As for romance... she hadn't dared to even think about it.
But now, he had suddenly pushed such immense happiness onto her, overloading her brain and making her lean dizzily into his embrace.
Makoto pressed his advantage. "If you don't speak, I'll take that as a tacit agreement."
He picked her up, walked to the bathhouse, helped her undress, and then sat with her in the hot spring.
It wasn't until this moment that Karin hazily realized what was happening, and how close she was to him.
Her body temperature was practically hotter than the water. If it weren't for the amazing constitution of the Uzumaki clan, he would have suspected she was about to ignite herself.
He didn't make any extra moves. Although his current powerful constitution meant he didn't need much rest, his mental fatigue was still there.
Slowly, Karin gasped for air and finally returned to normal.
Although she was still mentally adjusting, compared to this bit of stubbornness, being able to sit openly beside him was enough to make her forget the rapid progress of their relationship.
So much so that she began to peek at him, hold his hand, and lie in the crook of his arm.
Only then did he focus his mind. "Have you thought about what kind of mark you want?"
Karin was slightly stunned, slowly shook her head, and then said, "You decide, Master."
"Still calling me Master?"
"Then what should I call you—Darling?"
"I don't mind."
Karin shivered. That "Darling" just now had almost made her laugh out loud.
But she still tried her best to maintain her last bit of reserve. "Then I'll call you Makoto-kun, just like everyone else."
He nodded and didn't rush her, letting her continue to think about the mark.
Then, Karin brought up something unexpected.
"Um, Makoto-kun, does our family have a clan crest?"
"That..."
He rested his chin in his hand and began to think seriously about this question.
Any decent clan in Konoha had its own crest. The most typical ones were the Uchiha clan's fan, or the Uzumaki clan's red swirl.
A clan crest was not just a symbol of the family, but also something that could unite the whole clan and enhance the sense of clan cohesion.
Now, as more and more people joined his household, he felt it was time to add a crest to his family.
But what it should be designed like... that needed consideration.
"Do you have any suggestions?"
Karin was flattered and quickly said, "How can I make suggestions on such a thing?"
"Since it's the Akiyama family crest, everyone naturally has the right to make suggestions. After all, you are already my family. Your children will also have the same crest in the future. Of course you should offer appropriate suggestions."
A huge sense of trust and happiness rippled in her heart, making her smile so wide she couldn't stop.
But she also began to think seriously about the question. Finally, she shook her head. "Makoto-kun has too many qualities. It's hard to describe them with a single crest."
"But if I really had to choose... why not use the character 'Zhen' (True/Truth, from his name) as the core, with lightning, branches, talismans, and other symbols nested outside as decoration, to describe your core status?"
"Use a character directly..."
Although using characters directly as clan crests was relatively rare, it wasn't unheard of. For example, the Akimichi clan's crest was the character for "Food" inside a circle.
And he felt that Karin made a good point. As his strength continued to grow in the future, a simple pattern would indeed be hard to summarize and describe him. But the character "Zhen" could represent him as a person.
He was confident that he would live forever, which meant the Akiyama family would never change its head. So the character "Zhen" was even more appropriate.
As for the detailed decorations, he could ask the other girls for their opinions, and they could be modified slowly in the future. But the core should be this character.
"Good idea. I'll ask for their opinions later."
Karin nodded happily. She hadn't expected him to possibly accept her suggestion, which made her so happy her soul almost took flight.
"Then have you decided on your True Spirit Seal mark?"
He put his hand underwater and gently rubbed her stomach.
Karin twitched as if electrocuted, but didn't hide. She just let out a soft hum and hugged his arm tighter, reluctant to let go.
A long while later, after she had slowly calmed down, she said, "Um, I want the character 'Zhen' too, just like Big Sister Kurenai."
"But around the character, I want a spiral pattern, representing that I come from the Uzumaki clan."
Karin already knew she was from the Uzumaki clan. Although she didn't have any sense of belonging to the clan or the destroyed Land of Whirlpools, she still wanted to use this way to prove where she came from.
"Alright. Shall we start now?"
He didn't refuse her proposal. He picked up her legs and had her sit on his lap, then began to apply the True Spirit Seal to her.
Karin murmured an apology, then gently bit his shoulder blade, preparing for the impact.
Soon, dense curse marks spread across her body and then retracted. Then, a thick life force poured into her body, making her cling tightly to his waist, not daring to make a loud sound.
Only her constantly twitching body showed what kind of impact she was enduring, and this was intentional on his part.
Unlike the others, Karin possessed massive chakra reserves and talent. He wanted to activate this talent in her now.
Of course, the reason he could do this was because he had obtained her Advanced talents. Otherwise, he wouldn't dare to use his life force like this.
"Eh? Another one—"
Anko, Kurenai, and Yūgao walked in wearing yukata. Seeing him infusing life force into Karin, they immediately let out undisguised sighs of sourness.
This couldn't be helped. Anko was his first woman, yet she had fallen so far behind in the matter of the True Spirit Seal.
Kurenai, however, appeared much calmer. She sat on the rock behind him, gently brushed her hand across Karin's forehead, and smiled. "This child suffered too much before. Now she's finally found a place to settle down."
"What about me? Where's my place to settle down?"
Anko simply sat on his other side and hugged his head, intending to suffocate him.
He could only say in a muffled voice, "If you want it, I can give it to you later. But first, we have to solve the trouble on your body."
Anko was startled, then immediately understood. She looked at the Cursed Seal of Heaven on her shoulder and said excitedly, "Is it possible—?"
"The crisis of the Chūnin Exams has been resolved, and Orochimaru has defected. Of course it's possible."
"Then let's hurry up and start—Ah, sorry, Karin first. I'm not in a hurry, hehe."
An hour later, he let out a long breath.
Karin's physical constitution was indeed absurd. She woke up in the blink of an eye.
She looked at the mark on her stomach and smiled happily. But the next second, Kurenai wrapped an arm around her neck. "Next, do you want to join our game?"
Karin looked at Kurenai and Anko hugging him from left and right, and her face immediately turned red.
Although she and he had nothing to hide anymore, she was still some distance away from truly taking up the post of his wife.
Just as she was hesitating on how to answer, he said, "I need to help Anko solve a hidden danger in her body. You go and rest first."
Karin let out a sigh of relief, nodded, and then trotted away.
Watching her shyly fleeing figure, Anko curled her lip. "Youth. How nice."
"If you really want to experience the feeling of youth, I can do that too."
He looked at Yūgao, who was quietly soaking in the water a few meters away from the three of them.
These days, his relationship with Yūgao had become very close, but it was more like lovers than husband and wife.
Today, Konoha had suffered heavy casualties in the Chūnin Exams, and her heart was heavy.
She had thought Kurenai and Anko would share her mood, but she hadn't expected them to let go completely after entering. This made her feel caught off guard and exposed to shame.
Now, with his gaze added, Yūgao immediately blushed, but didn't dare to make any big movements. She lowered her head and buried her whole body in the water.
This scene made Anko burst out laughing, and she understood what he meant.
He could seal Anko's memories so she could start over—but Anko didn't want to play that way. She had to bear the things she had done.
Besides, the feeling of a green, first love was nice to look at, but she preferred the real and unrestrained.
So Kurenai said, "If Yūgao isn't used to it, we can change places later."
"I understand your grief, but ninja who don't cherish the present might be dead tomorrow. So we need to walk out of it as quickly as possible."
Although Anko spoke grandly, both she and Kurenai knew that she was spouting sophistry.
Essentially, Anko and Kurenai didn't really care about today's dead.
If it were the Hiruzen of the past, one of them had received his help as a child, and the other was close to Asuma, so they would naturally have to show enough grief.
But now that they were by Makoto's side, and now that it was confirmed that Hiruzen had really done those dirty things, their feelings for him were only businesslike.
Hiruzen had indeed repelled Orochimaru and died in the line of duty, which was enough for the people of Konoha not to deny everything he had done for the village.
However, compared to Makoto's achievements of killing Danzō and Rasa, and turning the tide of the battle single-handedly by killing the enemies, Hiruzen's death was nothing.
If there was a hero in Konoha for this Chūnin Exam, that hero could only be him.
After all, no matter how worthy of respect the dead were, they were far less worthy of respect than the living strong.
In the future, Konoha would likely have to rely on him more than once, even if he wasn't even a ninja.
"No, I'm fine. I just... I'll get used to it slowly."
Yūgao sat up, her expression firm.
She had no other path to choose now; she could only truly become a part of the Akiyama family.
If, as an adult woman, her intimacy with him was even less than Tenten and the others, what was the meaning of her existence?
Just now, the three of them had run into Moegi and learned that her grandmother would become the housekeeper of the Akiyama family in the future. Yūgao needed to find her position even more.
"That's good. Having one more person to help is a good thing."
He naturally wouldn't refuse the chance to get close to Yūgao. After all, his intimacy with her hadn't reached +5 yet.
He had Anko sit cross-legged, Kurenai set up the formula, and he used the Evil Releasing Method.
Finally, he slapped Anko's shoulder. The dense curse marks began to spread and disappear, and finally, a snake head emerged from within.
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