Chapter 552: Yuno Uzumaki

A few years later, Yuna was currently sitting in her audience chamber with a slightly annoyed expression. She was so close to breaking her six-month record of not having to do any work, but just three days before succeeding, something came up that she had to attend personally.

“Karin, I’m a little annoyed that I have to work, so I’ll punish you after this.”

Karin, who was dutifully standing behind Yuna, smirked as her eyes flashed pink for a short moment.

“I understand, Yuna-sama. I’m here to serve.”

In Karin’s opinion, this was a win-win situation. Yuna could relieve her annoyance, and Karin could… well, she could get punished, which she enjoyed.

Moments later, there was a knock on the door, and after Yuna gave her permission, Karin activated a small seal which automatically opened it.

A young boy that appeared to be around six years old with crimson hair and a single blue strand entered the room. Just like Yuna, he had whisker marks on his face, while his eyes were similar to Hinata’s, allowing him to use the Byakugan.

This was Yuna’s first child with Hinata: Yuno Uzumaki.

After Yuno entered the room, another person swiftly followed. He had black hair and brown eyes and wore the standard Konoha flak vest.

While Yuna tried his best and failed to hide his expression, the second person to enter was clearly upset about something.

He was just about to go through the usual ritual of greeting the head of a clan when Yuna waved his notion away.

“Don’t bother with that stuffy nonsense. Since you are my child’s teacher, there is no need to go through all the motions. Anyway, I heard that my cute little son has caused some mischief in the academy?”

As soon as Yuna finished speaking, Yuno lowered his head, almost making Yuna chuckled in amusement.

‘Oh yeah, that boy is definitely guilty.’

Unaware of Yuna’s thoughts, the teacher corrected the position of his glasses while straightening his back.

“Yes, he has frequently been pranking his teachers, primarily by smacking cakes in their faces. Due to his high status, we didn’t dare to punish him, but things have gotten out of control, so I decided to plead to his mother to deal with this directly.”

A glint of pride flashed through Yuna’s eyes that neither her son nor his teacher noticed as she hummed in acknowledgment.

“Mhh, that sounds pretty bad and is definitely worthy of a punishment. So, what do you have to say in your defense, son?”

Yuno hesitated momentarily before putting on a severe mask while looking his mother in the eyes.

“It wasn’t me!”

‘Yep, he’s lying~’

“Nonsense! All these pranks definitely involve seals, and no one else in the class is proficient with seals except for you. It has to be you, Yuno.”

Yuna was about to judge her son guilty, but when he heard those arguments, she got a rather interesting idea.

“Mhh, although your arguments make sense, aren’t they a little flimsy? ‘definitely involve seals’ and ‘It has to be you’ aren’t exactly compelling arguments. Surely you didn’t come here without even a sliver of evidence, right?”

Yuno’s teacher almost choked when he heard Yuna’s words. In fact, he had absolutely no evidence for his claims, which is another reason for coming here personally. Punishing the heir or the Uzumaki clan is one thing, but doing so without evidence is too great a risk for the academy to take.

Seeing the teacher’s reaction, Yuna shook her head.

“I will not punish my child without any evidence. I’m willing to cooperate as soon as you show me any evidence. For now, you are dismissed.”

The teacher opened his mouth before closing it again. There was nothing he could do, and he certainly didn’t have the guts to talk back to Yuna, so all he could do was leave. While leaving, Yuna discreetly gave a signal to Karin, resulting in her activating some seals.

“Well, don’t be a stranger, Yuno, come here.”

A happy smile appeared on Yuno’s face due to his mother defending him from a teacher, so he immediately walked up to her and sat down on her lap, resulting in Yuna lightly hugging him while resting her chin on his head.

“So, did you play those pranks, Yuno?”

Yuno stiffened when he heard his mother questioning him once again. His first instinct was to deny it again, but he felt like that was a dangerous path to walk.

Yuna inwardly chuckled in amusement at Yuno’s hesitation. The fact that he was hesitating to answer was already evidence enough that he was guilty, but she decided not to point that out for now.

A few seconds later, Yuno hesitantly opened his mouth and answered his mother’s question.

“I-I’m the one who played those pranks. W-Will you punish me, mother?”

Yuna suppressed another chuckle of amusement as she resumed speaking.

“Well, you did play pranks on your teachers. Don’t you think you need to be punished for that?”

A pout appeared on Yuno’s face as he lowered his head, tears threatening to flow out of his eyes.

“Yes, mother.”

Yuna still didn’t move and continued hugging her son as she resumed speaking.

“Well, If you provide me with a good reason not to punish you, I might consider dropping your punishment.”

Yuno’s eyes gleamed when he heard that. His mother occasionally came up with challenges like that, and he knew that if his answer was compelling enough, she would drop the punishment despite him having done something wrong.

His mind quickly started thinking of a good reason, knowing that stuff like ‘because I’m your son’ and ‘because of my high position’ would only get laughter out of his mother, and he swiftly came up with something.

“You shouldn’t punish me because my teacher didn’t catch me.”

A smirk appeared on Yuna’s face, which her son obviously couldn’t see.

“Ohh? What a strange argument. Elaborate.”

Yuno smirked as he felt like he had a chance to get out of this punishment.

“Shinobi are supposed to be stealthy, so me being able to prank the teachers without being noticed is excellent training for my shinobi career. The problem isn’t me pranking the teacher; it’s the teachers’ inability to discover me.”

Yuna’s smile widened as she laughed out loud.

“Excellent answer! Yes, as long as you are not caught, there will be no punishment. However, if you are caught doing something, then I will have to punish you even if there isn’t any evidence. During a real mission, just getting caught is already a mistake, so you better prepare yourself.”

“Hahaha, don’t worry, mother. They will never catch me in the act.”

A glint passed through Yuna’s eyes when she heard the spark of arrogance in her child’s voice.

‘I will not permit my children to become arrogant. I will crush that arrogance with lethal force. Luckily, a good opportunity has already presented itself to do so.’

[No mercy, even when it is your own child, huh?]

‘Discipline is a necessity. All my children will be born in a position of power, so they need to learn how to conduct themselves. I will not allow a single one of my children to become a spoiled young master or miss.’

[A noble cause.]

‘I know, right? Feels pretty disgusting.’

As Yuna finished her small conversation with Kurama, she glanced at the position where Karin previously stood a smiled. Without her son noticing, Karin had vanished from her post and went after Yuno’s teacher.

Meanwhile, Yuno’s teacher couldn’t help but be slightly depressed due to failing to punish Yuno. It might sound weird, but he only wanted the best for him, and allowing him to run rampant like that would definitely become a problem later on. He couldn’t help but be a little disappointed that Yuna didn’t make a move.

However, just when he was about to exit the building, a maid appeared in front of him, almost scaring him to death.

‘What ridiculous stealth and speed. Why is someone beyond Jonin level serving as a mere maid?’

“Yuna-sama is fully aware that the young master is lying, so she decided to provide an opportunity for you.”

As the maid said that, she took out a book and tossed it towards the teacher, who swiftly caught it and read the title.

“How to detect seal activations for beginners? What the hell? Wait, SHE KNEW HE WAS LYING!?”

Seemingly not bothered by the teacher’s reaction in the slightest, the maid, Karin, continued talking.

“As long as you see the young master activating a seal to prank a teacher, Yuna-sama will take your side, so study that book carefully.”

It took Yuno’s teacher a while to register what he had just heard, but when he did, he couldn’t help but be dumbfounded.

“Just like that? No evidence? No nothing? Couldn’t I just lie to her that I have seen Yuno doing something?”

Karin sneered at him when she heard that question while simultaneously flaring her chakra, causing Yuno’s teacher to choke.

“Do you dare to lie to Yuna-sama?”

He vehemently shook his head when he heard Karin’s question, resulting in the pressure vanishing.

“Yuna-sama hates nothing more than people who think they are untouchable due to their staus and talent. Before the young master’s arrogance can fester any further, Yuna-sama wishes for him to experience failure. Controlled failure in a safe environment. If you manage to do that, you will be rewarded handsomely. Do you accept?”

The teacher’s eyes gleamed when he heard Karin’s words. He might be dedicated to teaching the next generation, but that doesn’t mean he would reject rewards from Konoha’s richest and most powerful person.

“I’ll do it. I’ll definitely become skilled enough to see Yuno activating one of his prank seals!”

At that, Karin simply nodded her head and vanished from her position. She had a punishment to cash in.