When those crimson Three-Tomoe Sharingan came into view, Mrs. Yukinoshita felt her heart skip a beat.
But she quickly adjusted her breathing, turned her head without changing expression, and instructed:
"Haruno, go tell the kitchen to prepare dinner."
Haruno froze for two seconds, then stiffly nodded: "...Understood."
Makoto looked with interest at this dignified and elegant woman before him, the corner of his mouth slightly raised: "Madam isn't afraid?"
Meeting those ominous blood-colored eyes, Mrs. Yukinoshita's heart trembled again.
She tried her best to suppress her instinctive fear, used the folding fan in her hand to cover the corner of her mouth, and when she revealed it again, it was already a perfectly composed smile.
"Bearing the name Yukinoshita, I cannot afford to be rude."
Hearing this, Makoto couldn't help but laugh… it reminded him of Namikaze Minato's catchphrase.
Half an hour later, one exquisite dish after another was brought to the table. They were clearly made with top-tier ingredients, presented as meticulously as works of art.
Makoto's table manners weren't exactly elegant, but they weren't rude either.
It was just the speed and quantity of his eating that made the three Yukinoshitas at the table put down their chopsticks in unison.
The Yukinoshita Family's head had already woken up and was now looking at this young man with a face full of fear.
From his wife's brief whisper, he had learned the word 'supernatural power', a concept enough to overturn his understanding.
After all the plates were empty, Makoto patted his stomach contentedly and let out a long, satisfied burp.
Mrs. Yukinoshita timely lowered the folding fan covering her face and asked with a smile: "Are you full?"
"Yes, eighty percent full is just right."
Makoto looked around, his tone as casual as if he were in his own home. "Oh right, which room will I be staying in tonight?"
As soon as he said this, the expressions of Haruno and the Yukinoshita Family's head froze simultaneously.
'—Not only mooching a meal, but also mooching a bed?'
But what Mrs. Yukinoshita said next made the father and daughter doubt their own ears:
"If Nishikawa-kun doesn't mind, you can stay in our room. It's the best room in our house. We'll stay in the guest room."
The Yukinoshita Family's head stared wide-eyed at his wife with a 'have you gone mad' expression.
'The master bedroom? Let a strange man sleep in our marital bed?'
But Mrs. Yukinoshita just gave them a look, signaling them to be quiet, then stood up and said gently: "Nishikawa-kun, please follow me."
Watching the graceful figure ahead, Makoto's gaze paused slightly.
Even having lived two lives, he had to admit… the woman before him was truly a stunner. Her face held both the brightness of the eldest daughter and the coolness of the younger, and her charm was far beyond what the two inexperienced girls could match.
"We're here."
Mrs. Yukinoshita stopped in front of a door, turned around, and smiled. "This is the best room in the Yukinoshita Residence. If Nishikawa-kun needs anything else, just ask."
"Alright."
Makoto wasn't polite. He smiled, pushed the door open, and walked straight in, lying down on the soft bed.
In the living room, the Yukinoshita Family's head and his daughter were discussing in low voices.
Seeing his wife return, he immediately went up to her:
"Ayano, are you planning to wait until he's asleep? Then call the police?"
Haruno also chimed in: "Mom, the people from the First Investigative Division already suffered at his hands this morning. If we're going to call the police, we need to warn them to be prepared."
In the father and daughter's view, Mrs. Yukinoshita was playing a game of 'catch the turtle in the jar'… stabilize the person first, then catch them when they let their guard down.
Mrs. Yukinoshita raised an eyebrow slightly: "Why call the police?"
The father and daughter were stunned again.
"This is our Yukinoshita Family's,"
she said, enunciating each word, "Opportunity to rise to the ranks of top-tier families in one go."
As an ambitious and powerful woman, making her family join the ranks of top-tier giants like the Shinomiya and Suzuki Families was a long-cherished wish of hers for many years.
The Yukinoshita Family might seem like a high-class family in the eyes of ordinary people, but in front of real financial cliques, they were just a roadside weed.
Not to mention the Shinomiya Family, even second-tier families like the Kashiwazaki and Nakano Families were more than a step ahead of them.
And in Japanese society, class solidification was as solid as an iron plate.
Conventional business wars and marriage alliances couldn't budge the foundations of those century-old clans.
But the appearance of Makoto made her see another possibility—
Since conventional business wars won't work, then this lady will use money power to take a shortcut.
After listening to his wife's analysis, the Yukinoshita Family's head was silent for a long time.
He understood the logic, but...
"Ayano, this... this is too risky."
He lowered his voice, his eyes full of worry. "That person committed murder in public, and he also hit Yukino..."
Letting his wife invite a strange man into the master bedroom… this was a great humiliation for any man.
Mrs. Yukinoshita just glanced at him briefly.
With just one glance, the Yukinoshita Family's head involuntarily lowered his head.
"Not daring to take this risk, yet you want to challenge the Shinomiya and Suzuki Families?"
Haruno opened her mouth, but was stopped by her mother's gaze.
She could only swallow the words on the tip of her tongue, a trace of unease rising in her heart—
'Really... nothing would happen, right?'
…
The next morning.
Her husband was still sleeping soundly, but Mrs. Yukinoshita had already quietly risen.
She decided to prepare breakfast for Makoto herself.
As the legitimate daughter of the Yukinoshita Family, she should not have to lift a finger.
But her parents, in order to raise her to be a 'Renaissance woman', had made her learn everything from music, chess, calligraphy, and painting to tea ceremony, flower arranging, and even cooking.
But the number of times she had actually cooked could be counted on one finger.
The last time she cooked personally was, as she recalled, at her younger daughter's one-month celebration banquet.
But today, she had to make an exception.
This was sincerity… it was the first pledge of allegiance she would hand to that young man.
Walking through the corridor, passing by the courtyard, her steps suddenly paused.
In the morning mist, a tall, slender figure stood quietly in the center of the courtyard, his eyes slightly closed, as if meditating.
Mrs. Yukinoshita was about to call out to him when she saw his state suddenly change—
Cross hand seal.
Bam—
With a burst of white smoke, she widened her eyes, her red lips parting involuntarily.
One, two, three... a full six 'Nishikawa Makotos' appeared simultaneously in the courtyard!
Then, all six figures rushed towards the original in the center at once!
Fists howled, leg strikes whipped like chains.
The six figures coordinated perfectly, their attacks as fierce as a storm.
And the original, fighting one against six, moved so fast he almost left afterimages.
Block, evade, counterattack!
Every single move was something beyond Mrs. Yukinoshita's understanding of what humans could do.
Mrs. Yukinoshita stood frozen in place, feeling as if the worldview she had built for over twenty years was collapsing in this instant.
However, after the shock, what surged into her heart was uncontrollable ecstasy—
'Here it is!'
'The opportunity for the Yukinoshita Family to rise to the top in one step has finally arrived!'