“Why isn’t Kushina home yet?” Sitting inside the house, Tsunade frowned in confusion.
The little girl had never been this late before.
Could she be out on a date with her little boyfriend?
Uzumaki Mito smiled at first.
Initially, she had thought the same thing.
However, when she activated her Kagura Mind’s Eye to survey Konoha, her expression changed instantly.
“This is bad!” “Kushina is gone!” “What?” Tsunade froze.
“What do you mean?” “The Hidden Cloud delegation is gone as well.” Mito shot to her feet.
“Go find her!
Kushina has most likely been taken by those Hidden Cloud bastards!” “So that was their real objective…” Unfortunately, she couldn’t leave the village.
Otherwise…
She would personally teach Hidden Cloud what true terror looked like.
“Understood!” Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Tsunade vanished without hesitation.
She rushed straight to the Hokage’s office and reported everything to the Third Hokage.
“What?!” The Third Hokage flew into a rage.
“ANBU!” “Move immediately and pursue them!” “I’ll go.” Sakumo Hatake glanced at Tsunade, nodded once, and disappeared.
“Good.” Watching Sakumo leave, the Third Hokage turned back toward Tsunade.
“Arrest every member of the Hidden Cloud delegation still inside the village.” “If I remember correctly…” “There are still several civilians among them.” “The Raikage certainly planned this well.” “I understand.” Tsunade looked at the Third Hokage with a complicated expression before vanishing with the Body Flicker Technique.
Once she had left, the “furious” Third Hokage’s expression became equally complicated.
… Akira moved through the forest at astonishing speed.
Using the String-String Fruit, he created invisible strings between the trees, allowing him to travel silently through the canopy.
This time…
He was going to teach those bastards a lesson they would never forget.
You like ambushes?
Then let me show you what it feels like to get stabbed in the kidney.
Meanwhile…
The Hidden Cloud ninja fleeing through the forest were no longer as tense as before.
“Hmph.” Fū sneered.
“As expected.” “Those Konoha idiots haven’t noticed anything.” Raikō’s sensory abilities hadn’t detected a single pursuer all this time.
That probably meant no one had realized what had happened.
He snorted with contempt.
“How does a village like this deserve to occupy such fertile land?” “Exactly.” Even the usually cautious Arashi felt the same way.
Just a few more hours…
And they would have escaped the Land of Fire.
By then…
Even if Konoha wanted to chase them, it would already be too late.
“Don’t let your guard down.” Aoki reprimanded them.
“We haven’t left the Land of Fire yet.” Although he said that…
His own vigilance had noticeably relaxed.
At the same time, a question lingered in his mind.
Could Konoha really be this incompetent?
If that’s true…
How did they achieve the outcome they did in the Second Great Ninja War?
At that very moment— Fū, who had been laughing arrogantly only seconds earlier, suddenly froze.
His entire body became as stiff as a corpse.
“W-What’s happening?!” His pupils filled with terror.
“Why…
can’t I control my body?!” Then…
To his horror…
He watched his own hand pull the sword from his waist.
The blade turned toward his teammate, Raikō.
Then…
It plunged straight into his kidney.
Slash!
The blade pierced flesh.
Raikō immediately coughed up a mouthful of blood.
The two men ahead instantly stopped and turned around.
They were completely stunned.
“Have you lost your mind?!” Arashi stared at Fū in disbelief.
“Why are you attacking Raikō?!” Could…
Could this guy actually be a Konoha spy?
Damn it!
He’d hidden himself incredibly well!
“I…” “I don’t know!” Fū’s face was pale with terror.
“I can’t control my body!” “Get away from me!” “Damn it!” “What’s happening?!” “Is this some Konoha technique?!” Meanwhile, Kushina, who was still slung over Aoki’s shoulder, froze for a moment.
Then overwhelming joy filled her heart.
She recognized this ability.
Akira had told her about it before.
It’s Akira!
Akira came to save me!
Tears immediately welled up in her eyes.
No matter how strong a person was…
When the one they trusted most finally appeared…
It was impossible to hold back the tears.
“Hmph.” After noticing Kushina’s reaction, Aoki sneered coldly.
“Don’t think you’re getting rescued.” “Even if we fail to take you back…” “We’ll kill you.” “If we can’t have you…” “Neither will Konoha.” Then everyone would be back at the same starting line.
What was there to fear?
Kushina’s pupils shrank to pinpoints.
She had completely forgotten that possibility.
Just as Aoki was about to continue speaking— Fū suddenly moved again.
It was as though he had already adapted to his “new” body.
He smoothly pulled the sword free.
Then kicked Raikō away.
Bang!
Already on the verge of death, Raikō crashed heavily into the ground.
Another mouthful of blood sprayed from his lips.
“Cough!” Despair filled his eyes.
His sensory technique had remained active the entire time.
He could detect anyone within a kilometer.
So why…
Why hadn’t he sensed the enemy before the attack?
Had Konoha become this terrifying?
Then…
He seemed to sense something.
With great difficulty, he raised his head.
“There’s…” Before he could finish speaking— Fū hurled the sword in his hand.
The blade shot straight into Raikō’s throat.
The unfinished words died with him.
His head slumped to one side.
His breathing stopped.
“Could it be someone from the Yamanaka Clan?” Aoki’s expression became extremely grim.
He knew quite a bit about Konoha’s secret clan techniques.
The Ino-Shika-Chō clans, for example.
Especially the Yamanaka Clan.
Their techniques were incredibly strange.
“I don’t think so.” Arashi drew his weapon and kept a wary eye on Fū.
“If it were a Yamanaka clan member…” “He wouldn’t even be able to speak right now.” “Heh.” Aoki narrowed his eyes.
“Not necessarily.” “What if that’s exactly what the enemy wants us to think?” His combat experience far exceeded Arashi’s.
After all…
He was a Jonin.
Arashi fell silent.
That wasn’t impossible.
But they couldn’t kill Fū simply because of suspicion.
After all…
He might be the next one controlled.