Senju Clan District.
Inside a large traditional Japanese-style mansion, on the polished wood hallway floor…
lay three dead-fish-eyed, motionless slackers.
For the record: Might Duy had already repaid the 200,000 ryō he borrowed from Kaito,
and thanks to their previous S-rank mission reward, Kaito's coin pouch was now pleasantly full again.
"Sigh…"
Nagashi stared blankly at the ceiling.
"There are barely any D-rank missions lately."
Kaito muttered beside him:
"Yeah. Suddenly a whole horde of hard-working Uzumaki talent arrived in the village…
Just bury us alive already."
Might Duy, radiating pure post-training sweat fumes, nodded seriously:
"Luckily we saved enough money. Even if we don't work for a while, we won't starve."
After a moment of silence—
Kaito pinched his nose and scooted away.
"Duy, you stink! At least shower before coming here to lie around!"
Duy scratched his cheek apologetically.
"If I go home… I won't be allowed to come back out."
Nagashi blinked.
"Uncle Duy, how is married life? Are you happy with your wife and raising a kid?"
Kaito: "…"
Instant critical damage to the single man.
Also—Nagashi is single too, so why the hell is he asking this?!
Duy sighed softly, looking at the rafters.
"It's good overall… Rin talks a lot recently. After missions and training I'm exhausted, but I still try to comfort her patiently.
And then I never manage to leave the house again."
"Being irritable isn't like you," Kaito remarked.
Even Nagashi looked surprised.
Duy scratched his head.
"It's not her. I'm stuck.
I hit a bottleneck in the Eight Gates. I can only open the Fifth Gate for about ten seconds without collapsing.
If I try the Sixth or Seventh Gate, I can feel my muscles tearing instantly."
Kaito fell silent.
(Being able to OPEN Five Gates at all is already insane, Duy… That's cheat-code-level power.)
Nagashi murmured:
"If only Orochimaru-sensei were here… we could ask him."
Kaito suddenly remembered—
There was someone in the village who understood the human body frighteningly well.
Not the mediocre combatant, the researcher Nonō's colleague, but—
Tsunade.
"Tsunade-sama might know something. I'll check with Nonō at the hospital."
"Speaking of Nonō…" Nagashi scratched his cheek.
"We haven't visited her in a while… I hope she's doing alright."
"And Mikoto—why is her mission still not done?" Duy wondered.
"I passed the Police Force earlier, and their reaction was… weird. Like they were avoiding the topic."
Kaito: "…"
Nagashi added innocently:
"Mikoto? The Uchiha prodigy in my class?
I think my sister said—"
"COUGH!! COUGH!!"
Kaito rocketed upright, violently cutting him off.
"Alright! Mikoto's situation is being handled by the Uchiha clan.
We don't need to worry."
"Let's just go to the hospital!"
"Right!" ×2
Nagashi sat up with determination.
Duy leapt to his feet with sparkling teeth.
"Let's race to the hospital!!"
"I'm definitely winning this!" Nagashi declared.
"I won't lose either!" Kaito said—
while fully accepting he would finish in last place as usual.
Running Through the Village
Walls and rooftops blurred as the trio sprinted toward Konoha Hospital.
Kaito's thoughts drifted to two weeks earlier, when he overheard Tsunade and Nonō discussing Mikoto:
Tsunade had discovered…
that Mikoto—
the one who completed an S-rank mission and two A-rank missions on the battlefield,
the "Nightmare Uchiha" feared by Iwa and Ame—
…had already been promoted to Special Jōnin for her achievements.
The youngest Special Jōnin ever.
Even future Kakashi might not surpass that record.
(And Special Jōnin were still technically Jōnin.)
At Konoha Hospital
First Squad entered the resting lounge and found—
Nonō Yakushi nearly dead, collapsed face-down on a table,
beside an equally exhausted nurse: Inuzuka Meiko.
"You okay, Nonō?" Kaito asked.
"I'm fi~~~~—"
"Nope, good enough," Kaito interrupted quickly.
"We're here to ask if Tsunade-sama has time."
Meiko lifted her head slightly, her ninken also giving a tired little "woof."
"You think… if the nurses look like this…
the Hospital Director still has spare time?"
Nagashi nodded heavily.
"Fair point."
"I'm starting to think being a genin is actually pretty relaxing, Kaito-nii…"
After the recent war, Nagashi had recognized Kaito as a hidden powerhouse—
at least chūnin-level strength.
Otherwise, defeating a Mist chūnin head-on would've been impossible.
Kaito rolled his eyes.
NOW you realize it's easier to stay a genin, kid?
Outside the hospital, groans echoed from injured ninja—
mostly those aspiring to be chūnin… or already chūnin.
Ninja are not gods.
They bleed. They die.
Just like Mito—
who hadn't left the Senju compound since the battle.
Even Uzumaki yin-seal users would age eventually.
The new Nine-Tails Jinchūriki had already been selected:
a student entering Academy Year 3.
Minato's current class—seven-year-olds.
And based on glimpses from the original timeline,
plus her awakened Uzumaki attributes,
Kaito concluded:
Uzumaki Kaori
was almost certainly the mother of future Karin.
Meanwhile, he chatted with Nonō, Nagashi, Duy, and Meiko while thinking of the future—
Is Kushina dead?
If so, what about the future protagonist?
If she's alive… where is she?
The questions only knotted further, so he abandoned them.
Nonō's Reality
They soon learned:
Nonō was far too busy to learn advanced medical arts,
and therefore couldn't be promoted to chūnin-level medic yet,
and Tsunade had even LESS free time than she did.
Meaning—
First Squad got absolutely nothing out of this trip.
So they shuffled back to the Senju estate,
returned to lying down like salted fish,
and resolved not to disturb Nonō's rare resting hours again.
At the Hokage Building
Jiraiya, fresh from completing an A-rank mission, rushed into the office—
then rushed right back out.
When Hiruzen asked why, Jiraiya only said:
"Mount Myōboku sent an emergency summons!"
He used Reverse Summoning at once and arrived at the sacred mountain's inner sanctum,
where the Great Toad Sage awaited him.
To read advanced Chapters, head over to p@treon:
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