The woman nodded obediently.
After stepping through Konoha’s gates, the last traces of vigilance in her heart finally began to fade.
Her name was Kaorui.
After the destruction of the Land of Whirlpools and Uzushiogakure, she had escaped alongside one of her companions.
The two concealed their identities and eventually settled in a hidden village within the Land of Grass.
There, they became husband and wife.
Life had been difficult, but at least they no longer had to wander from place to place.
That peace did not last.
When the Third Shinobi World War spread into the Land of Grass, Kaorui’s husband, Ryōto, was forcibly conscripted to transport military supplies.
During one of those missions, he was forced to reveal that he was a shinobi in order to protect the others travelling with him.
From that moment onward, peace disappeared from their lives.
Whenever the slightest disturbance occurred, outsiders like them were always the first to be sent to the front lines or assigned dangerous missions.
Eventually, an entire group dispatched from the village was wiped out.
Ryōto never lived long enough to see the birth of their daughter.
Because he had not been born in Kusagakure, nearly all the compensation owed to his family was withheld.
With no other way to support herself and her newborn child, Kaorui was forced to reveal that she possessed some knowledge of medical ninjutsu.
As she treated more villagers, she and her daughter gradually began to gain their acceptance.
However, before Kaorui could develop any true sense of belonging toward Kusagakure, a sudden incident changed everything.
About a month earlier, a rogue shinobi had infiltrated the village in an attempt to steal valuables.
Although he was discovered quickly, the ensuing battle left one of Kaorui’s neighbours gravely wounded.
The elderly man had always treated Kaorui and her daughter kindly.
Kaorui’s medical skills were sufficient for treating fevers, headaches, and minor injuries, but they could not save someone suffering from such a fatal wound.
After struggling with the decision, she found herself unable to stand by and watch the kind old man die.
She revealed the secret of the Uzumaki clan’s extraordinary vitality and allowed him to bite her flesh.
His wounds healed.
The man promised that he would never reveal what had happened.
Yet he turned around and spread the story that biting Kaorui could heal injuries.
At first, only severely wounded shinobi came to her.
Gradually, however, even those with minor wounds began appearing at her door.
Soon, shinobi suffering from nothing more than headaches, fevers, exhaustion, or soreness caused by excessive training were also demanding to bite her.
Kaorui wanted to flee.
But with a newborn daughter in her arms, she had no hope of escaping a village full of shinobi.
Every day, more people came to bite her.
Even the immense vitality of the Uzumaki clan could not endure that kind of relentless consumption forever.
Just as Kaorui had fallen into despair and resigned herself to death, a young shinobi came to see her.
She had assumed that she would once again be subjected to another round of frenzied biting.
Instead, the young shinobi told her that he had come to take her away.
Kaorui agreed without hesitation.
Leaving with a stranger might offer the faintest chance of survival.
Remaining in Kusagakure meant certain death.
Worse still, once she died, her infant daughter would most likely become the village’s next living source of healing.
Perhaps because Kaorui had never resisted, Kusagakure had placed almost no shinobi around her home.
Or perhaps the villagers living nearby had effectively become her guards.
Either way, the rescue proved far easier than Kakashi had expected.
He simply used the Transformation Jutsu to enter the village and then walked back out with Kaorui and her daughter.
No one questioned him.
Even the neighbours they encountered merely bowed and scraped as they watched them leave.
The ordinary people of Kusagakure were clearly too afraid to question a shinobi, even one disguised as a common villager.
Kusagakure did send pursuers after them.
However, they never managed to catch up.
Every group was delayed by the traps Kakashi had prepared along the escape route.
Aside from the first two days, the rest of the return journey felt almost like a vacation to him.
Had Kaorui not been carrying an infant, they would have returned to Konoha even sooner.
When Hiruzen Sarutobi saw Kakashi enter his office with a red-haired woman and child beside him, he was visibly taken aback.
“Kakashi, who is she?” “Hokage-sama, I encountered Kaorui-san on my way back,” Kakashi answered.
“When I learned that she was a member of the Uzumaki clan, I decided to bring her to Konoha.” “The Uzumaki clan?” Hiruzen’s eyes immediately brightened.
Kaorui instinctively hid behind Kakashi.
She had seen the same look in the eyes of the Kusagakure shinobi who had come to bite her.
Hiruzen, however, was not interested in her body for the same reason.
No matter how questionable some of his decisions might have been as Hokage, he was not comparable to the people of a small hidden village like Kusagakure.
His thoughts had already moved in another direction.
Kushina was the wife of the late Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.
It would be inappropriate for the village to interfere with her personal life.
Kaorui, however, was different.
She could be introduced to a suitable young man within Konoha.
If she remarried and had more children, the Uzumaki bloodline would once again take root within the village.
Then, should the day come when Kushina could no longer serve as the Nine-Tails’ jinchūriki, Konoha might have another suitable candidate available.
With that thought in mind, a warm smile appeared on Hiruzen’s face.
“Kaorui, was it?
I’m sure you are aware of the long friendship between Konoha and the Uzumaki clan.” His voice became gentle and welcoming.
“From this day forward, you may regard Konoha as your home.
Should you encounter any difficulties, you may speak with Kakashi or come directly to me.” His words eased much of Kaorui’s nervousness.
However, she soon remembered why she and her husband had not fled to Konoha after the destruction of Uzushiogakure.
Konoha had been the Land of Whirlpools’ closest ally, yet it had failed to answer its calls for aid.
Because of that, many surviving Uzumaki had come to believe that Konoha was no different from the other hidden villages.
Konoha had not attacked them, but perhaps that was only because the Land of Whirlpools lay too far away for its destruction to offer any immediate benefit.
Or perhaps Konoha had merely feared being branded a traitor for openly turning against an ally.
In truth, Konoha had received warnings before the other villages moved against the Land of Whirlpools.
Hiruzen had simply chosen not to act.
At the time, Konoha was still struggling to recover from the First Shinobi World War.
Tobirama Senju, the Second Hokage, had sacrificed himself to hold off the Kinkaku Force after his unit was surrounded, allowing Hiruzen and the others to escape.
Hiruzen had only recently inherited the position of Third Hokage, and Konoha itself had been facing a severe crisis.
Under those circumstances, he had been unable—or unwilling—to protect an ally located far across the sea.
Ensuring that Kushina alone reached Konoha safely had already been the limit of what the village had done for the Uzumaki clan.
After reassuring Kaorui, Hiruzen turned toward Kakashi.
He said nothing, but the question in his eyes was obvious.
Had Kakashi recovered the item mentioned in the mission?
Kakashi nodded and removed the scroll Kushina had given him before his departure.
Hiruzen accepted it and examined the seals covering its surface.
They were unmistakably fūinjutsu belonging to the Uzumaki clan.
Although Hiruzen was hailed as the Professor for his vast knowledge of ninjutsu and possessed considerable skill in sealing techniques, he could not compare to a true Uzumaki seal master.
That was especially true when the scroll had been protected by multiple layers of fūinjutsu that Kushina had deliberately reinforced to prevent him from opening it.
“Kakashi, take Kaorui to see Kushina first,” Hiruzen said.
“Meeting another member of her clan should help her feel more at ease.” He handed the scroll back.
“Give this to Kushina as well.” Kakashi nodded.
He accepted the scroll and led Kaorui out of the Hokage Building.
Once they were gone, Hiruzen took a slow draw from his pipe and removed the velvet cloth covering the crystal ball on his desk.
He formed the necessary hand seal and activated the Telescope Technique.
The figures of Kakashi and Kaorui appeared within the crystal ball.
Kaorui possessed strong sensory abilities and immediately realised that someone was watching them.
However, she had only just arrived in Konoha.
It was hardly surprising that the village would monitor an unknown outsider, so she did not dare mention it to Kakashi.
The image remained visible until the two reached Kushina’s home.
The moment they passed through the barrier surrounding the residence, the vision inside the crystal ball vanished.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Hiruzen struck the bowl of his pipe lightly against the table.
“Kushina should bring me the scroll once she has removed the seals…” At almost the same moment, Danzō Shimura received word that Kakashi had returned to the village accompanied by a red-haired woman believed to be a member of the Uzumaki clan.
Without hesitation, Danzō pushed open the door to the Hokage’s office and strode inside.