At this moment, according to Konoha's ninja calendar, more than half of April had already passed. It was now the twenty-third, nearing the end of the month.
Baixing's nineteenth birthday—and Mikoto's birthday as well—were drawing closer and closer.
He still remembered the last birthday, which happened around the time Team Eleven was formed. Back then, it had been nothing more than a hurried, simple meal together. This year, however… there was no telling whether Mikoto would even be able to return from the battlefield.
"Everyone, the chief invites you."
When dealing with outsiders, the Uzushiogakure ninjas strictly referred to their clan head as "the chief."
That voice interrupted Baixing's thoughts. He looked ahead at the Uzumaki ninja who had appeared—a young chūnin wearing a special green flak jacket unique to the Land of Fire.
Following the team forward, Baixing glanced at the two other chūnin beside and ahead of him who were dressed the same way, and noticed something subtle—
Both their forehead protectors and flak jackets were slightly different from Konoha's. Beneath the symbol, one triangular notch was missing.
Also—
"Uzushiogakure looks pretty nice."
Walking along the main street, Baixing saw many civilians of the Land of Whirlpools coming out with their families. Some carried children in their arms; some were young couples; and quite a few groups of kids stared at them with sparkling eyes.
"They're Konoha ninjas!"
"I heard Konoha is a great ninja village in the Land of Fire—the strongest in the ninja world. I really want to go see Konoha someday~"
"Don't even think about it, Kyōya. We're from the Land of Whirlpools. In the future, we're definitely becoming Uzushiogakure ninjas!"
"But… but…"
"Stop it, Ryūsuke. When we officially become Uzumaki ninjas someday, going to see Konoha will be easy~!"
"Kaori, only members of the Uzumaki clan would dare say something like that. For us small-clan ninjas, it's not even certain we'll make chūnin someday."
The children's chatter drifted into the ears of the Konoha team. Baixing glanced at the girl named Uzumaki Kaori and noticed her short hair and delicate features—she looked oddly familiar…
"Baixing, don't tell me you've fallen for that kid," Nawaki said, having noticed Baixing's gaze. He nudged him with his elbow.
Baixing immediately rolled his eyes. You've graduated for a year and been through all this, and you're still thinking about youthful romance?
This wasn't a slice-of-life series. If you wanted romance, go transmigrate into Rascal Does Not Dream or My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected.
"It's nothing," Baixing said.
"I just think there are fewer Uzumaki ninjas than I expected."
Among the crowd, red hair was relatively rare—almost as if they had followed the Senju's example, with the clan nearly assimilated into the village as a whole.
But soon, Baixing realized he was mistaken.
After passing through the central architectural district of Uzushiogakure, they arrived at a massive northern passageway. It was wide enough to hold many people, and heavily guarded by ninja units—much like Konoha's Uchiha Police Force.
And among those guards, the vast majority had red hair.
At the entrance ahead, a red-haired middle-aged man who bore some resemblance to Kushina slowly approached, accompanied by two young men—one with long red hair, the other with short black hair.
"Ninjas of Konoha, Uzushiogakure warmly welcomes your arrival.
"I have already prepared a banquet. Please, take your seats."
Uzumaki Ryōta's enthusiastic attitude surprised everyone. As someone who had visited before, Nara Shikaku appeared much more at ease. After exchanging a few polite words with Ryōta, he led the group toward the core administrative district of Uzushiogakure.
Night quietly swept across the sky as the setting sun cast its glow over this peaceful and tranquil land.
Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the Land of Whirlpools' borders, a Kirigakure ninja tasked with surveillance suddenly felt a strange, massive fish repeatedly ramming into his backside. Furious, he spun around—only for the fish to lift its mouth and spit out a mission scroll that hadn't even gotten wet.
"So it's a scroll from the village."
The Kirigakure jōnin wiped the sweat from his brow. If the village found out he had almost reflexively attacked and killed one of the village's precious ninja beasts, the higher-ups would skin him alive.
After quickly reviewing the contents of the scroll, the jōnin immediately understood the village's intent.
"All units,"
"Tonight, we surround the entire Land of Whirlpools. No one is allowed to enter or leave!"
"Yes!" ×N
On the surface of the sea, in addition to the Kirigakure jōnin, a ten-man chūnin squad emerged.
To prevent the people of the Land of Whirlpools from escaping, the first target was naturally the Uzushio Harbor—the port that had been developed for many years and housed numerous ships.
Although for ninjas, whether or not there were ships didn't necessarily determine if they could flee across the sea—
Chakra was not infinite. Constantly running on water over the open ocean was something even jōnin couldn't sustain over long distances—here, "jōnin" referred to ordinary jōnin.
And once you ran out of chakra and encountered enemies who still had plenty, you'd be killed easily—especially those who didn't train much in taijutsu and relied primarily on ninjutsu, genjutsu, or fuinjutsu.
The place hosting Konoha's team was a seafood restaurant in Uzushiogakure, where all seafood was freshly caught each day.
"Wow~ lobsters, crabs, octopus, salmon, sea urchin… there's no way we can finish all this~"
"This is the reward we got after making up for the last mission! We can't betray our youth—if we can't finish ten plates of seafood, then we'll eat a hundred!"
"I'm digging in!" ×2
One brown-haired boy drooling at the sight of the food, and one goofy youth raising his fist and boasting about devouring a hundred plates—Baixing, seated nearby, felt he didn't want to know either of them.
"This is too embarrassing."
"Seriously."
The members of Kazuya's team weren't much better than Baixing's own teammates. Sitting beside Baixing, Nara Shikaku exchanged a glance with him, and a shared sense of mutual understanding arose between them.
"Life is hard~"
Meanwhile, inside a private room of the restaurant, elite barrier specialists guarded the area. Among them were the red-haired and black-haired Uzushiogakure jōnin from earlier.
Ripple-like chakra patterns covered the walls, blocking any sound from leaking outside.
Standing beside Nara Shikaku was Yamanaka Kazuya. Shikaku looked solemnly at Uzumaki Ryōta.
"Chief Ryōta."
"Last time I came, I didn't disclose the full intelligence. But this time, we're here in sincerity."
"Please, take a look."
Shikaku produced a nearly complete transcription of the intelligence scroll Baixing had compiled, explaining the current situation of the Land of Whirlpools.
Across from him, Uzumaki Ryōta nodded slowly, his expression growing serious as he took the scroll. He trusted Shikaku's character—at the very least, far more than that certain someone with the surname 'Dog'.
After a long while, the young man—nearing thirty—turned alternately pale and flushed, until finally his face drained completely of color.
He understood who had taken Kushina.
"Gentlemen, before you arrived, something major happened in Uzushiogakure this morning."
Kazuya and Shikaku exchanged glances, and Shikaku asked,
"What happened? Could it be that the Land of Water launched an early attack?!"
Ryōta shook his head and spoke of a truth he did not want to accept.
"My daughter Kushina, along with two playmates—and even a jōnin assigned as their escort—have all gone missing."
"It happened on the outer edge of the capital."
"What?!" ×2
Their mission was to protect the Uzumaki bloodline—yet four people had already been taken by Kirigakure ninjas of the Land of Water!
Just as the three were about to discuss further details and prepare to reexamine the scene, an Uzumaki ninja rushed in from outside. His arrival also caught Baixing's attention from the dining area.
"Report!"
"Uzushio Harbor has been attacked by Kirigakure ninjas!"
One piece of bad news followed another, hitting Uzumaki Ryōta so hard his vision swam.
Shikaku inwardly cursed—their ship had been rented, and they were supposed to return it. Now it was gone. "Have you dispatched support teams?"
The Uzumaki ninja nodded, then shook his head.
"By the time we discovered it, it was already impossible to stop them.
"All harbor facilities and every single ship have been destroyed."
"Kirigakure's ninjas were far too cunning. Under cover of night, their Hidden Mist Technique made pursuit impossible…"
"Bastards! They've gone too far!" Uzumaki Ryōta roared in fury. "They steal my daughter and destroy my harbor—I'll make those Kirigakure ninjas pay the price!"
"I agree to Konoha's request."
"But I'm sorry."
"I can't command everyone's will, so…"
"I understand," Shikaku said, nodding calmly.
"The most urgent matter now is to work together to build a large ship as quickly as possible, for those of the Land of Whirlpools who are willing to leave."
"The enemy has already begun moving. That means we must escape at the absolute limit—before the main forces of the Land of Water and the Land of Lightning arrive!"
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