After exchanging ideas and discussing things for a while,
Kurenai tried attacking two more times.
On both attempts, she consciously adjusted her breathing and footwork, becoming lighter and more agile. During the practice, the girl's legs transformed into a dazzling blur, her fair skin appearing and disappearing with every movement, while the bandages around her hands fluttered in the wind. She looked as though she were performing a dance filled with deadly intent.
Mm… it was quite pleasing to watch.
Especially after Yuu repelled several of her attacks in succession, Kurenai's breathing became slightly hurried. Sweat gradually dampened her long hair, making it cling to her fair skin and giving her an even more lively appearance.
"…You were too slow there."
"The two illusions on the left are obviously fake. They won't confuse anyone."
"The intent behind that kick was too clear. You could consider using an auditory genjutsu to interfere with the opponent."
"Your physical strength is somewhat weaker than that of male ninja, so you might consider restraint techniques. I learned a move called Shadow of the Dancing Leaf from Uncle Might Dai. It uses bandages to bind an enemy's limbs. You could try something similar…"
Finally,
after one illusion-based combination attack was easily broken when Yuu caught her ankle, Kurenai stopped, panting heavily. She was covered in sweat, but a satisfied smile filled her face.
"Huff… huff… Thanks for the guidance, Yuu! I feel like I learned so much!"
"Mm. Think it over first. We'll practice again when we have time. Remember to tell Asuma and the others to prepare for departure."
Yuu glanced at the time and prepared to leave.
At that moment,
a familiar voice came from outside.
"Kurenai, I'm home. I saw that Konoha Raw Cola released a new flavor on the way back, so I brought you two bottles… Why are you here too?"
Yūhi Shinku pushed open the door while carrying two bags. The first thing he saw was Yuu. The second was his daughter beside him, lightly dressed and flushed from exertion. He could not help frowning.
Although he greatly admired Yuu as a junior, this scene…
Why did it look somewhat suspicious?
Before he came home, what exactly had these two children been doing in the courtyard? Why was Kurenai standing there barefoot, without even wearing shoes, while the bandages around her arms and legs had come loose as though someone had violently pulled them apart?
"Cough, cough. Dad, you're back. I was just asking Yuu to guide me in my training. I had only just started getting somewhere when you came home."
Kurenai coughed lightly, stepped forward to take the bags from her father, then looked at Yuu.
"Yuu, why don't you stay for dinner before leaving? I'll prepare it right away!"
"…No, maybe next time."
Seeing Yūhi Shinku's expression, which looked as though he wanted to draw a blade, Yuu smiled and politely declined the girl's invitation before walking toward the courtyard gate.
Although Kurenai was somewhat disappointed, she still escorted him to the entrance. She watched until Yuu's increasingly upright figure disappeared around the street corner, then softly exhaled, a shy curve appearing at the corner of her mouth.
"Stop looking. He's already disappeared, and you're still standing here staring."
Yūhi Shinku glanced at Kurenai again and said irritably, "Why didn't you wear more clothes in front of a boy? You let that brat take advantage of the view for nothing… How did your training go? Does that brat really understand genjutsu?"
"Of course! Yuu is extremely well-rounded. He has very high attainments in practically every area. The suggestions he gave me just now were all very insightful. I really don't know how his mind works. He's unbelievably smart!"
Kurenai praised Yuu almost without hesitation, looking thoroughly pleased. She did not notice that her father's expression had become somewhat unhappy, and that he was beginning to feel a strong sense of crisis.
But she was still his daughter.
Although Yūhi Shinku felt somewhat sour inside, he could only sigh helplessly in the end. Then he carried the vegetables he had just bought into the house and began preparing dinner.
Fortunately, Kurenai had not gone out to eat with Yuu and had instead stayed home to accompany him, her father. This allowed Yūhi Shinku to breathe a little easier. He planned to carefully ask Kurenai during dinner exactly what she had learned from Yuu.
…
The private training session with Kurenai was only a minor interlude.
There was also no need to say much about preparing their luggage.
What was worth mentioning was that, that evening, Yuu visited the Senju estate and caught Tsunade just as she returned from the casino. He told her that he was about to leave the village again.
"Huh? So soon?"
Tsunade was somewhat surprised.
"Didn't you only come back from the Sunagakure battlefield a few weeks ago? And now you have to head to another battlefield… That old man really is something. There are so many adult ninja he could use, yet he insists on working you children to the bone. Do you want me to go talk to him?"
"That won't be necessary."
Yuu shook his head.
Sending him to the southeastern battlefield was a joint decision made by Konoha's F4. Even if Tsunade pleaded for him, it probably would not be changed. Unless Tsunade could overcome her hemophobia and personally step forward as commander, then she might be able to replace him. After all, the weight of the Sannin still surpassed that of the White Reaper.
However, that was clearly impossible in the short term. Otherwise, Tsunade would have recovered long ago instead of drifting through life until now.
So,
the main reason Yuu had come to find Tsunade was to make her fulfill another matter—the promise she had made before.
"Teacher Tsunade, do you remember saying that you would teach me a new ninjutsu? Why don't we do it now? In case something happens to me on the way…"
"Pah! Shut up!"
Tsunade instinctively raised her hand and covered Yuu's mouth.
"Why are you saying such unlucky things for no reason? Originally, I wanted to teach you this technique later, but since the situation has changed…
"Follow me."
Tsunade shrugged and pushed open her courtyard gate.
"Come in. Go turn on the lights first. I'll explain the principles of the technique. As for whether you can learn it in such a short time… that depends on you. I certainly couldn't."
Mm… in truth, Yuu could not either. His genuine talent was not as high as Tsunade's.
But with the assistance of the galgame system, that was a different matter entirely.
…
The night passed without incident.
In the blink of an eye, it was the following afternoon.
After receiving Sarutobi Hiruzen's deployment order, the Southeastern Operation immediately began. A ninja force of thirty or forty people assembled at Konoha's gate, ready to depart.
Yuu's Minato Team and Asuma's team were naturally present. The two teams could already be considered longtime partners and were extremely familiar with one another.
In addition, there were nearly twenty Uchiha clan members led by Uchiha Fugaku, as well as three other ninja squads. Among them was the squad of Gekkō Shigure, with whom Yuu had worked in Kikyo City.
It was clear that these Uchiha were very excited about being able to participate in a mission outside the village. After all, they usually remained inside the Police Force and almost never had a chance to experience the air outside Konoha.
Uchiha Shisui was especially excited.
He had only just passed the chūnin exams and was around ten years old. The moment he saw Yuu, he enthusiastically waved.
"Hey! We meet again, Senior Yuu! I never expected to have the opportunity to carry out a mission with you. It's truly an honor."
"Not at all. This mission will require us to rely on the power of the Uchiha clan, especially Clan Head Fugaku."
Yuu responded with a smile.
Uchiha Fugaku, whose name had been mentioned, coughed lightly and also spoke modestly.
"You are too polite, Yuu. Your current strength is probably no weaker than mine… than ours. Since Lord Third appointed you as commander, I will restrain my clansmen and obey your orders."
"Then I'll thank Clan Head Fugaku in advance."
Yuu said.
Speaking of which, he had originally expected to see Uchiha Itachi among this group.
But after thinking about it carefully, Itachi was only around two years old right now. Most likely, Kirigakure had entered the Ninja World War earlier than it had in the original story. No matter how strange Uchiha Fugaku's thinking was or how desperately he wanted his son to succeed, he probably would not drag a two-year-old Itachi onto the battlefield.
That would be far too outrageous.
"Is everyone ready?"
Yuu looked around one last time, especially at Rin, Obito, and Kakashi beside him.
"If there are no other problems… move out!"
…
At almost the same time Yuu's group left the village,
inside Root's dimly lit base in Konoha's western outskirts,
a Root ninja wearing an animal mask silently appeared. He knelt on one knee before the one-eyed elder and respectfully reported,
"Lord Danzō, Mikami Yuu and the others have left the village. There are thirty-seven people in total. The Uchiha clan deployed eighteen members, approximately half of whom appear to possess the three-tomoe Sharingan, including the junior named Uchiha Shisui."
"…Hmph. More than ten three-tomoe Sharingan? It seems the Uchiha clan's foundation is still richer than we estimated. They have remained inside the village for so many years, yet they can still produce this level of force."
That was right.
In a sense, this operation was also an investigation into the Uchiha clan.
Ever since Senju Tobirama's era, the Uchiha clan had remained in a long-term closed state. In each generation, aside from a few special cases such as Kagami and Obito, most of them basically worked as public security officers in the Police Force. Therefore, Konoha only possessed a rough understanding of their strength and lacked detailed knowledge.
This was undoubtedly a major hidden danger.
So even if it carried some risk, they still needed to find a way to uncover the Uchiha clan's situation. Fortunately, these people were not very clever. The moment they heard there was an opportunity to leave the village, they directly brought out their clan's elites, saving Root a great deal of investigative time.
At this moment, Danzō stood up. His cloudy lone eye swept across the map of the Land of Fire hanging on the base wall. He gently traced it with one finger, stopping in the southeastern region near the Land of Tea.
"The areas where the intelligence reported Kirigakure activity are around here, correct…"
"Hmph. The Village of the Bloody Mist is nothing more than a group of clowns. The ones who truly need to be closely monitored are these Uchiha, and…"
And a certain white-haired brat who dared ignore his invitation.
"Kō, lead your people and focus on monitoring Mikami Yuu, Uchiha Fugaku, and their clansmen. If any of them—especially the Uchiha—harbor dissatisfaction toward Konoha or display suspicious behavior… record all their words and actions and report them immediately.
"When necessary, you may execute them first and report afterward. Purge these potential traitors to protect Konoha's foundation!"
"…Yes!"
The Root ninja codenamed Kō lowered his head and answered softly.
To him, whether the targets were Uchiha or Hyūga did not matter. What mattered was Danzō's order. If Danzō believed someone deserved death, then even a member of Konoha's leadership had to be killed.
As Kō's figure merged into the shadows, Danzō turned around and walked toward the stone table. He glanced at the scroll placed upon it, and his breathing gradually became heavier.
"Izanagi… I never imagined that the Uchiha clan's Sharingan concealed such a secret…"
"Strategic power of this level must be placed in Root's hands before it can display its greatest effect!"
…
"Hey, Yuu! Kakashi! How much farther is it? My legs are about to fall off!"
Inside a dense forest far from Konoha,
Uchiha Obito wiped the sweat sliding down from his temple and complained through gritted teeth.
Yuu glanced at him without speaking, while Kakashi had already curled his lip and said casually,
"A dead-last is still a dead-last. You're complaining after such a short distance. It seems awakening the Sharingan didn't improve you much."
"…Kakashi, don't say that. Obito has already been working very hard. Isn't that a little too hurtful?"
Rin softly tried to mediate. Then she turned toward Obito.
"According to the map we looked at earlier, Konoha's southeastern border base should be about twenty kilometers ahead. Hang in there a little longer. We'll arrive soon."
"…Alright!"
Obito had originally been hopping mad because of Kakashi. But after hearing Rin's words, he said nothing further and instead gathered his strength, increasing his speed somewhat. He seemed determined to compete with Kakashi and make Rin look at him differently.
Two days had passed since they left Konoha.
During these two days, Yuu and the others had shortened their rest periods and advanced continuously at a forced-march pace. After all, Kirigakure had already begun moving. If they did not reach the border quickly, the defending forces there might already have suffered severe casualties by the time they arrived, which would be troublesome.
The result of the forced march was that a journey that normally required around three days had been compressed into roughly two.
By the time they reached this forest near the border, nearly everyone's face showed signs of travel and exhaustion, but their eyes remained as sharp as ever.
The Uchiha clan members were especially energetic. Since most of them were leaving Konoha for the first time, and traveling this far at that, they all looked unusually excited. Like curious children, they continuously glanced around and quietly discussed the terrain, which differed from Konoha's surroundings.