Senju Hashirama was a great man, incredibly powerful, and a good Hokage—a fine leader of the village.
But he was absolutely not a good husband.
That was the conclusion Arata reached after reading the original story.
In all of Hashirama's memories of the village, every recollection involved Madara.
Even after the founding of Konoha, his wife barely appeared in his reminiscences.
Even when Hashirama's granddaughter showed up in the narrative, his wife was still almost never mentioned.
It was clear their relationship lacked genuine intimacy.
And someone with a personality like Hashirama's was never the type to be tender or attentive to a woman—in fact, he seemed to lean suspiciously close to… other interests.
So all these years, Mito had likely never experienced true love at all.
As for how they married—considering the history between the Senju and Uzumaki clans—it wasn't hard to guess.
Nine times out of ten, it must have been a political alliance.
There was one sentence Arata wished he could say to Hashirama:
"You did right by everyone in the world—except Uzumaki Mito."
But Hashirama was already dead.
That chance would never come.
Seeing Uzumaki Mito slowly regaining her composure, Arata smiled gently.
"Feeling a bit better now?"
His actions moments ago had already dissolved the last bit of wariness Mito felt toward him.
Now, the only things preventing her from fully acknowledging Arata…
were his status and strength.
After all, she was once the wife of a Hokage.
Her insight and standards were not something ordinary women could match.
To earn her approval, Arata would need at least the status of Hokage—and strength on par with, or surpassing, that position.
"…Mm. Much better," she said mildly.
Returning from her vulnerable moment to her usual calm composure, she asked:
"But earlier you said you would shoulder Konoha's darkness. Without my sensory support, just how are you planning to monitor the village?"
Arata heard this and couldn't help rubbing his forehead.
This woman…
After all that emotional turmoil, she still had Konoha on her mind?
Was there really nothing else in that head of hers?
But he couldn't tease her this time—not when she had only just recovered.
He waved his hand dismissively.
"You don't need to worry about that. I have my own methods."
His method, of course, was the Mind Net—the advanced Observation Haki of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
With his lightning fruit nearing awakening, monitoring a radius of ten kilometers was trivial.
Enel could survey an entire sky island from kilometers away.
There was no reason Arata would be inferior.
Especially after months of training—his Haki had grown tremendously.
But Mito frowned at his evasive reply.
"So you don't plan to marry Tsunade, is that it? Because if that's the case, then I suppose I have no choice but to—"
"Hold on, hold on!"
Arata immediately surrendered.
After all, his marriage with Tsunade still depended on Mito's approval.
Without it, Tsunade—who respected her grandmother deeply—might refuse outright.
Besides, this secret wouldn't stay secret forever.
Even if others learned about his sensory ability, without the method to cultivate it, they wouldn't be able to replicate it anyway.
So Arata offered a half-truth:
"Actually, I have a sensory technique of my own. Before, it only covered about a kilometer.
Now, the range has expanded to more than twenty kilometers in diameter."
Mito's eyes widened in disbelief.
How was that possible?
Konoha's territory was vast, but the village proper spanned roughly a million square meters—barely two kilometers from north to south.
That meant Arata could already cover the entire village before…
And now his range extended well beyond Konoha's borders?
"Impossible," she murmured.
"I've never heard of a sensory ability like that…"
The Uzumaki clan were famed for their perception.
The Senju were no slouches either.
As the strongest of the Senju, both Hashirama and Tobirama could sense powerful chakra hundreds of kilometers away.
But that only applied to very strong chakra sources.
Weaker chakra—like that of elite jonin—would completely disappear at such distances.
To be able to monitor minute details…
That was something even two super-Kage couldn't do.
Arata saw her disbelief and continued:
"One minute from now, a squad at the west gate—exactly one kilometer away—will enter the village.
Another group of ten ANBU will approach from the north, entering through the back of the Hokage Rock."
Mito's expression froze.
Then she flicked her hand, and two images materialized before them—exactly the locations Arata had described.
It seemed her use of the crystal ball was only an act.
As a once-in-a-century Uzumaki prodigy, she didn't need a medium at all.
She could use the grand sealing array to observe the entire village at will.
And within the next minute, everything happened exactly as Arata had said.
Only then did Uzumaki Mito finally believe—
Arata truly possessed a terrifyingly vast sensory ability.