By the Leaf's ninja calendar, most of April had already slipped by. The date was the twenty-third—meaning Kaito's nineteenth birthday, and Mikoto's birthday, were drawing closer.
He remembered the previous year's celebration: a hurried meal shared with his Team Eleven comrades.
This year… he didn't know if Mikoto would even make it back from the battlefield.
"Everyone, the Chief will see you now."
The call came from a Uzushio shinobi ahead of them, formally addressing the Uzumaki clan head as "Chief" when outsiders were around.
The voice snapped Kaito out of his thoughts. He lifted his gaze and saw the approaching guide—a young chūnin wearing a green flak jacket similar to Konoha's, but not quite the same. The difference was subtle: both the hitai-ate and the vest insignia were missing the lower triangular stroke found on Konoha's emblem.
And more importantly…
"Uzushio… looks nicer than I expected," Kaito murmured as they walked.
Families bustled down the main street—children in tow, couples chatting, youngsters staring wide-eyed at the Leaf delegation.
"Look! Konoha ninja!"
"I heard Konoha is the strongest hidden village in Fire Country… I wanna visit someday!"
"Forget it, Kōya! We're citizens of Whirlpool Country—we're gonna be Uzushio shinobi when we grow up!"
"But— but—!"
"Stop whining, Ryōsuke! Once we're real shinobi, visiting Konoha will be a piece of cake!"
"You guys from the Uzumaki clan always say that. My family's just a small clan—we might not even make chūnin…"
Their childish chatter drifted into the ears of the passing Konoha squad.
Kaito's eyes narrowed at the girl called Uzumaki Kaori—short-haired, pretty, familiar in a way he couldn't quite place.
Shenju elbowed him.
"Kaito, don't tell me you've fallen for that girl already."
Kaito shot him a deadpan look. You graduated a year ago, survived war zones, and your brain is still stuck in romance mode?
This isn't a slice-of-life romcom, he thought dryly. If you want that, go reincarnate into "Rascal Does Not Dream" or "My Teen Romantic Comedy."
"Nothing like that," he replied flatly.
"I'm just noticing how few Uzumaki are left."
Red hair was sparse among the street crowds—almost as if they'd blended into the greater population, the way the Senju clan once had.
But after they passed through Uzushio's central district and reached the northern corridor, Kaito realized his assumption was off.
The wide passage resembled Konoha's Police Force checkpoints—full of stationed guards.
And here, almost everyone had red hair.
At the gate, a muscular man with long red hair—bearing a resemblance to Kushina—approached, flanked by two younger shinobi.
"Konoha's honored guests," Uzumaki Ryōta said warmly, "Uzuchō Village welcomes you. We have prepared a banquet—please, take your seats."
His enthusiasm surprised even the Konoha jonin, though Nara Kagiyoshi—who had been here once before—accepted it with graceful ease.
Sunset dipped low as peace momentarily warmed the land.
Meanwhile, far off at Whirlpool Country's borders, a Mist-nin monitoring the coastline yelped as a massive fish smashed into his backside. He spun around—only to see the creature spit out a perfectly dry scroll.
"Oh— a message from the village."
He wiped his brow in relief. If he'd killed the Mist's cherished messenger beast by reflex, the higher-ups would've skinned him alive.
After reading the instructions, his expression hardened.
"All units," he commanded loudly,
"Tonight we surround Whirlpool Country. No one enters or leaves. Understood?"
"Yes, sir!" multiple voices answered.
Behind him, ten Mist chūnin surfaced from the sea—ready to move.
The first target was obvious: Whirlpool Harbor.
If the Uzumaki could not flee by ship, the noose would tighten cleanly.
Even for shinobi, running across open sea cost enormous chakra. A non–taijutsu specialist couldn't possibly outrun pursuit.
And Mist knew it.
Inside Uzuchō Village – The Banquet
The Konoha delegation was seated at a lavish seafood banquet.
"Whoa—lobster! Crab! Octopus! Salmon! Sea urchin! We can't finish all this!"
"This is our reward for last time's mission! We can't waste the youth of our stomachs! If ten plates aren't enough, we'll eat a hundred!"
"I'm digging in!!" x2
Kaito covered his face, pretending he didn't know them.
The two from Yamanaka Kazu's squad wore the exact same "please ignore us" expression.
On the opposite side of the table, Nara Shikaku exchanged a glance with Kaito—both silently mourning their teammates' existence.
How difficult… how embarrassing…
In the Private Meeting Room
A sealed chamber—chakra barriers shimmering along the walls—held a private council between Nara Kagiyoshi, Yamanaka Kazu, and Uzumaki Ryōta.
Kagiyoshi produced a scroll—a near-perfect transcription of Kaito's intelligence report.
"Chief Ryōta," he said gravely,
"Last time, I withheld certain information. This time, we come with complete sincerity.
Please—look."
Ryōta accepted the scroll, trusting Kagiyoshi's character more than he trusted certain other Konoha officials whose names started with "Danzō."
As he read, his face shifted from shock… to anger… to a pale stillness.
He understood now.
He understood exactly who had taken Kushina.
"Truth is…" Ryōta's voice trembled,
"This morning, before you arrived—something happened in Uzuchō."
"What happened?" Kagiyoshi asked sharply. "Did the Mist attack early?!"
Ryōta shook his head.
"My daughter Kushina… her two playmates… and the jonin assigned to guard them—
…all vanished."
"Within Uzuchō's outer district."
"What?!" Kagiyoshi and Yamanaka Kazu echoed.
This mission was meant to protect the Uzumaki bloodline.
And yet—Mist had struck first.
As they prepared to inspect the scene themselves, a Uzumaki guard burst into the chamber.
"Report!!
Whirlpool Harbor is under attack by Mist-nin!"
Bad news followed bad news like crashing dominoes.
Ryōta staggered.
Kagiyoshi felt his stomach sink—their return ship had been rented… which meant—
"Did you send reinforcements?" Kagiyoshi forced out.
The guard nodded, then shook his head.
"When we arrived, it was already too late.
All harbor mechanisms… and every ship… were destroyed."
"Mist attacked under cover of heavy fog—we could not pursue!"
"Unforgivable!!" Ryōta roared.
"They steal my daughter, destroy our harbor—Mist will pay in blood!"
"As for Konoha's request—
I accept it.
But… I cannot force all of Uzushio to obey me. So—"
"I understand," Kagiyoshi said calmly.
"First priority is to construct a large escape vessel.
Anyone willing to evacuate must leave before the Mist main force… and the Cloud main force… arrive."
Time was almost gone.
The two-nation invasion had begun.
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