"This should be the place… right?"
The ANBU shinobi of Konohagakure had finally located the small town hidden near the Land of Fire's border.
"Hidden" might not be the most accurate word.
The town hadn't been deliberately concealed, nor was its lack of outside contact intentional. Rather, isolation had occurred naturally over time.
With less than ten years of history, the town sat in a remote location. Its residents were all immigrants from other countries, living a largely self-sufficient life—hence its detached atmosphere.
The buildings were ordinary wooden houses, indistinguishable from those elsewhere in the Land of Fire. The only unusual detail was the clothing of the townsfolk, which carried traces of foreign customs.
According to Konoha's intelligence, that man had been staying here for several months.
After some thought, the ANBU decided to enter openly.
Whether the intelligence was accurate still required confirmation—but this was a civilian town. Acting properly would be better than skulking about.
With the Konoha forehead protector clearly visible, his appearance immediately put the townspeople on alert.
In a place where everyone knew one another, any outsider stood out—let alone a shinobi.
To them, ninja were fundamentally unwelcome.
Still, because he bore Konoha's insignia, the men of the town only watched him from afar, not daring to approach.
So it was true.
Outside of the hidden villages, there was still a deep rift between ninja and ordinary people.
The ANBU sighed inwardly. In the eyes of civilians, shinobi were probably nothing more than emotionless killers lurking in the shadows.
As he scanned the area, a red-haired little girl suddenly entered his field of vision.
She walked straight up to him—without the slightest hint of fear.
"Are you a ninja from Konoha too?" she asked bluntly, her eyes filled with curiosity.
Four or five years old.
A girl.
Red hair.
In that instant, the ANBU connected her appearance to a certain identity.
So this is her…?
Which meant—
That man really was here.
Though the child was very young, her identity was anything but ordinary. Even a veteran ANBU felt it appropriate to use honorifics.
"Yes," he replied solemnly.
"I am a ninja of Konohagakure. May I ask—Is Jōnin Shiraishi Hagoromo here? I am here on the Third Hokage's orders to deliver a message."
Speaking so directly without confirming her identity was, in a sense, a breach of protocol.
But—
Given her distinctive features, further confirmation seemed unnecessary. Combined with the intelligence he had received, this was almost certainly correct.
She was one of the people he was looking for.
So there was no harm in stating his purpose.
And at her age, she should be able to understand him.
"You're looking for Hagoromo?" the girl brightened instantly.
"I know where they are!"
The moment she heard his words, her tone became cheerful. Anyone who knew Hagoromo was automatically classified as one of us in her mind.
"Follow me!"
She turned and ran off.
Behind his ANBU mask, the shinobi smiled.
As a little girl, she was undeniably adorable.
But as a young ninja?
Far too careless.
Even at her age, some degree of vigilance should have been taught.
White Yaksha's education still had gaps, it seemed.
Led by the girl, the ANBU soon arrived at a relatively isolated house on the far side of town.
On the open grass outside, two children—around seven or eight years old—were engaged in a taijutsu spar.
At a glance, the white-haired boy's attacks were sharper and more aggressive, while the black-haired boy favored defense and restraint.
Regardless—
For their age, this was an impressively high-level exchange.
And nearby, calmly offering guidance—
Was Hagoromo.
Target confirmed.
The mission was effectively complete.
"Thank you very much, Uzumaki Mirai-sama," the ANBU said politely to the girl.
"…Mirai?"
The girl tilted her head in confusion. After thinking for a moment, she shook it.
"No, ninja uncle, you've got the wrong person. I'm not Mirai."
Uncle or not, one unfortunate fact was now clear—
The ANBU had made a mistake.
All Uzumaki had red hair—but not all red-haired people were Uzumaki.
Red hair alone was neither a necessary nor sufficient condition for identity confirmation.
This town was called Lōran.
And this red-haired girl was the daughter of the former Queen of Lōran.
Naturally, she had inherited that appearance.
From the naming convention alone, the lineage was obvious—
Queen Sāra's daughter was named Rōra.
Mistaking a child like that was deeply awkward for a ninja.
Then—
Another red-haired girl emerged from the house, carrying something. She raised one hand and passed a cup of water to White Yaksha.
"Mirai! There's a Konoha ninja looking for Hagoromo!"
The girl shouted loudly.
Thankfully, she didn't seem upset about the mix-up and immediately ran off to play with Mirai instead.
Hagoromo had already noticed the ANBU.
He gestured for Haku and Kimimaro to continue training, then walked over.
"Jōnin Shiraishi Hagoromo," the ANBU said.
"Message from the Third Hokage."
Clearly realizing that diplomacy wasn't his strong suit, the ANBU decided to get straight to business and handed over the letter.
Hagoromo accepted it calmly and opened it at once.
After leaving the daimyo's capital, he had wandered the Land of Fire with the children for some time—still finding nothing.
Mirai was beginning to tire of long journeys, and since they happened to be near this town—and Hagoromo knew someone here—
They had decided to stay temporarily.
Mirai had finally found a true playmate, too. After all, this was the first time she'd met someone with the same hair color.
Still—
The worlds of ordinary people and ninja were fundamentally different.
"I understand the Hokage's intent," Hagoromo said after reading.
"Is it urgent?"
He glanced at the two red-haired girls playing together before asking the ANBU.
"If possible, immediately," the ANBU replied.
In truth—
Immediately would have been more accurate.
"You are…?" Hagoromo asked.
"I mean—your codename?"
"ANBU, Third Direct Division, Captain. Codename: Tenzō."
"I see. Then, Tenzō—wait a moment. We'll depart shortly."
Understanding the implication, Hagoromo called Mirai, Haku, and Kimimaro to begin packing.
He hadn't wanted to return to Konoha just yet.
There were matters he didn't want to be involved in.
But an order left him no choice.
The Third Hokage was summoning Jōnin Hagoromo back to Konoha.
One might as well add—
Immediately. Mandatory.
Because Konoha needed to check the Uchiha's power.
At this moment—
The White Yaksha had to return.
After tearful goodbyes, Mirai's brief friendship came to an end.
The four left Lōran and returned to Konoha together with Tenzō.
Though it wasn't exactly surveillance, Tenzō's presence clearly served to urge them along.
Still—
Was it really that urgent?
They arrived in Konoha late at night.
They hadn't yet had time to get entangled with the Uchiha—
When trouble found Hagoromo first.
"Why are there ninja from another village inside Konoha?"
Because of their rushed return, they stumbled straight into something suspicious.
Foreign ninja.
Sneaking through Konoha at night.
Had Konoha's defenses really become so lax?
After some thought, Tenzō said,
"They're likely from Kumogakure. We had intelligence that Cloud would send envoys to negotiate a peace treaty."
"Oh?" Hagoromo replied calmly.
He looked at the Cloud ninja standing opposite them—carrying something over his shoulder and clearly attempting to flee Konoha under cover of night.
Then he patted Mirai's head.
"Mirai," he said gently,
"I taught you this before. What should you do in a situation like this?"
"I know."
Mirai gave a mischievous I've got this look.
She took a deep breath, cupped her hands around her mouth, and screamed at the top of her lungs—
"HELP! SOMEONE'S KIDNAPPING WOMEN AND CHILDREN!"
Her eyesight was excellent.
She could clearly see that what the Cloud ninja was carrying was a little girl—about her own age.
As mentioned before—
Kidnapping women and children was a Cloud specialty.
Using peace talks as a pretext to openly enter Konoha—
Cloud's so-called sincerity toward "peace" spoke for itself.
In any case—
Mirai's shout was the most effective weapon possible.
Her shrill, childish voice instantly woke up half of Konoha.
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