Although Uchiha Setsuna seemed even more hostile than before, Seisui could tell that the old man simply didn't like him.
Seisui scratched his head, then suddenly remembered Uchiha Haru, who had awakened her Mangekyo Sharingan.
It clicked immediately.
So he's stopped treating me like some random brat, huh?
Looking at Uchiha Setsuna, Seisui took out the mission scroll and said, "Is Haru not home?"
"Hokage-sama gave me a mission," he added, waving the scroll in his hand.
Uchiha Setsuna fell silent.
After a long pause, he gave a dry cough and muttered, "Ah… I must have remembered wrong. Haru hasn't gone out yet."
Then, without another word, he turned and went back inside—slamming the door firmly behind him.
"You wait here," he said through the door, "I'll call Haru."
"This old geezer…" Seisui muttered, pouting slightly. If this world had motorcycles, I'd dye my hair blond and ride one just to annoy him.
He thought about that with a smirk, already scheming ways to tease the cranky old man next time.
Just as he was thinking, Uchiha Haru came out.
When she saw Seisui, she jogged over and grabbed his hand with a bright smile.
Then she turned toward Setsuna and waved with her free hand. "Bye, Grandpa!"
Before the old man could respond, the two of them turned and walked off together.
Behind them, Uchiha Setsuna's face darkened.
Then, as if realizing something terrible, he smacked himself across the face.
This is all my fault!
I brought this on myself!
I handed my precious granddaughter to a wild boar with my own two hands!
The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. He gave a cold snort and slammed the door again with a bang!
Hearing the sound from behind, Seisui rubbed his chin and turned to Haru.
"Why does your grandpa act just like Elder Danzo?"
"I think your family should switch to metal doors."
"That way you won't have to keep replacing them."
Haru blinked, then thought about it seriously.
She had heard the door slam too—it did sound a lot like Danzo's.
"Then… once this mission's over, I'll have someone change it to metal," she said.
"Good," Seisui nodded. "We're out on missions most of the time, and your grandpa's all alone at home. You should care for him more."
"For example… by changing the door."
He said it while trying his best not to laugh.
Haru frowned at him, sensing something was off, but she couldn't quite tell what.
"What's our mission this time?" she asked curiously.
"It's not catching cats or dogs again, is it?"
Seisui shook his head. "Of course not. We're past those kinds of missions."
"It's a B-rank mission."
"We're hunting down a missing-nin."
"The mission says he's the son of a spy who lived in Konoha for twenty years. Recently promoted to chunin—but fled the village after getting his hands on classified intel."
He briefly explained the details.
Haru nodded but still looked puzzled. "He grew up in Konoha. Why would he run?"
"You don't get it," Seisui said, shaking his head. "His father was a spy sent by another village. If someone threatens him with that truth, he'd have no choice but to run."
"For example—like this." He looked at Haru.
"Haru, you wouldn't want your grandpa to die, right?"
He smiled faintly. "If someone threatened you with his life, what would you do?"
Haru thought for a moment, then answered calmly, "Kill them."
"And if you couldn't beat them?"
"Then that would be… troublesome," Haru admitted thoughtfully.
They continued walking as they talked and soon reached the village gate.
Just as they arrived, Minato's impatient voice greeted them. "What took you two so long? I've been waiting here forever!"
Seisui gave him a quick once-over, then sighed dramatically. "Minato, as a guy, it's better not to be that fast."
"Kushina won't like it if you finish too quickly."
"Huh?" Minato froze, then realized the implication. "You bastard!"
"Damn it, Seisui! Once I perfect my new jutsu, I'm definitely beating you!"
"Minato, wake up," Seisui said with a straight face. "It's daytime—you can't dream right now."
The two bickered as they walked out of the village.
Neither of them noticed the gate guard giving Seisui a resentful look.
We were just talking earlier—and now you're ignoring me?
Maybe this is what being a man means…
Seeing the guard's expression, Haru's eyes flashed red as her three-tomoe Sharingan spun to life, glaring sharply at him.
It was a silent warning not to even think about Seisui.
The guard froze, stepping back nervously. Why is this Uchiha girl staring at me like that?
After a tense moment, Haru turned away and left.
Only then did the gate guard exhale, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
"Uchiha are terrifying… even a young girl's that strong. I can't imagine what the adults are like," he muttered.
A few miles later, Seisui glanced at the sun. "The missing ninja is the son of a spy from Kumogakure. He's probably heading toward the Land of Lightning."
"We should move fast—he left two days ago, so he can't be far."
"Right." Minato and Haru both grew serious.
Seisui pulled out a map and pointed. "We'll intercept him here—in the Land of Frost."
"Got it!"
Without hesitation, the three of them sprinted toward Land of Frost.
Meanwhile, in the opposite direction, a rogue ninja wearing a Konoha headband slashed through with a horizontal line was hiding smugly inside a hollow tree.
"Those idiots will never guess that Zekawa-sama didn't go toward the Land of Lightning!" he chuckled.
"That's what you call reverse thinking!"
"While they chase the wrong way, I'll circle around through another country and enter Lightning from the side!"
He had no idea Seisui's team wasn't chasing him at all.
Their plan was nothing like a typical pursuit.
Elsewhere, Seisui, Minato, and Haru raced across the plains toward the Land of Frost.
"Seisui, are you sure it's okay not to chase him directly?" Minato asked.
"It's perfect," Seisui replied with confidence. "We just wait for him in the Land of Frost."
"But what if he trades the intel midway?" Minato scratched his head.
"Impossible," Seisui shook his head again.
"He grew up in Konoha. Even if his father was a spy, he's not loyal to the Cloud. If he doesn't make it into Lightning, he'll be hunted for life."
"He'll definitely use that intel as a bargaining chip to seek asylum."
"If he trades it too early, he'll have nothing left to survive on."
"Unless he doesn't want to live, he won't risk it."
Minato slowly nodded, realizing the logic.
"I see," Haru added softly.
Seeing their expressions, Seisui smirked and turned to Minato. "Pay attention and learn, my disciple."
"You're insufferable."
"That, Minato," Seisui said proudly, "is why I'm the team leader."
"Isn't that just because you're stronger?" Minato countered.
"Exactly. My strength and my wisdom are both top-tier."
From the Land of Fire to the Land of Frost, the three of them traveled at full speed, reaching their destination in just two days.
The Land of Frost maintained good relations with the Cloud, so they didn't wear their Konoha headbands to avoid attention.
After scouting, Seisui found a route every traveler to the Land of Lightning would pass through—a perfect ambush point.
Before setting up, though, he decided to buy some food in a nearby town.
No one knew how long they'd have to wait.
As they walked through the modest streets, Minato couldn't help but complain, "Man, this place is so backward."
"No kidding?" Seisui rolled his eyes. "The wars haven't hit here much, but it's far from other nations. Only bordered by Lightning and Land of Hot Water, and the rest is just ocean. Of course it's underdeveloped."
"This isn't some seafaring world like my last life. Being next to the sea only means fishing."
While they shopped for supplies, elsewhere in the Land of Hot Water, Zekawa was soaking in a hot spring.
"Those fools probably gave up by now and crawled home!" he laughed.
"Hahaha!"
"None of them can catch Zekawa-sama!"
He leaned back lazily.
"Still, guess I should make the exchange soon."
"Once that's done, I'm quitting the shinobi life for good."
"My damned father didn't even tell me he was a spy before he died. Bastard!"
He had only wanted an easy life as a mediocre chunin—eat, sleep, maybe marry someday. But recently, people from the Cloud had shown up, threatening to expose his secret unless he cooperated.
He'd had no choice but to abandon his peaceful dream.
"Damn that Kumogakure!" he cursed, slamming the water.
At that same moment, in Kumogakure, a young man named A was running toward Land of Frost with his adoptive brother, the young Killer B.
"Big bro, why're we goin' to some dump like Land of Frost?" B asked, rapping out his words. "Yah, fool, ya fool!"
A glanced down at the little boy barely reaching his waist and chuckled. "We're picking up some intel."
"There's a rogue from Konoha who wants to sell us something valuable."
In his words, Zekawa was nothing more than a traitor from the Leaf.
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