The council chamber of Kusagakure had rarely felt so suffocating.
Several elders sat around the long wooden table, their expressions grim beneath the dim light. No one spoke unnecessarily. Even the guards standing beside the walls seemed to understand that the report they had just received was far beyond an ordinary border incident.
At the head of the table, an elderly man with snow-white hair and a beard leaned forward. Deep wrinkles covered his face, but the fury burning in his eyes made him appear considerably younger.
"So what you're telling us is that shinobi from Kumogakure infiltrated Kusagakure, abducted Uzumaki Kana, and killed nearly twenty of our ninja in the process?"
His voice remained controlled, but everyone present could hear the rage beneath it.
The jōnin delivering the report swallowed.
"It's worse than that, Elder."
Silence descended over the chamber.
The old man slowly raised his eyes.
"Worse?"
The jōnin's forehead was already covered in cold sweat. Being the person forced to deliver disastrous news to the village leadership was never a pleasant position.
"We finished counting the bodies and compared them with the personnel currently missing from their posts. Based on those numbers…"
He hesitated for half a second before forcing himself to continue.
"The number of Kusagakure shinobi killed by the attackers may exceed thirty."
"Thirty?!"
A chair scraped violently against the floor.
A broad-shouldered elder shot to his feet and slammed his fist onto the table.
BANG!
The heavy wooden surface trembled beneath the impact.
"This is outrageous!"
His face had turned red with fury.
"Do those arrogant bastards from Kumogakure think Kusagakure is something they can trample whenever they please?! They sneak into our village, slaughter more than thirty of our shinobi, steal people from beneath our noses, and then simply walk away?!"
The elder's chest rose and fell heavily.
"I say we mobilize every available unit immediately!"
He swept his furious gaze across the room.
"Gather our forces and march straight to the Third Raikage's throne! If Kumogakure wants war, then we'll show them that Kusagakure still has teeth!"
For several seconds, nobody responded.
Then one of the other elders coughed quietly.
"Elder Takeda."
"What?"
"You may be getting slightly carried away."
Takeda's expression darkened.
The other elder continued carefully.
"With what, exactly, do you intend to march on Kumogakure?"
Takeda opened his mouth, but no words came out.
"The Third Raikage is not an ordinary shinobi. His Lightning Release Chakra Mode grants him both extraordinary defense and attack power. His reputation as possessing the strongest spear and strongest shield is not empty boasting."
Another elder slowly nodded.
"There are reports that he once fought an army of thousands almost single-handedly. Whether those reports are exaggerated or not, there is no question that he stands among the strongest shinobi alive."
His gaze moved around the chamber.
"Even if Kusagakure mobilized every combat-capable ninja in the village, what would happen once we reached Kumogakure?"
Nobody needed to answer.
They already knew.
Takeda's fist remained clenched against the table.
"So we simply swallow this humiliation?"
His voice was quieter now, but no less furious.
"They kill thirty of our people, take our resources, and we pretend nothing happened?"
"No."
The white-haired elder finally spoke again.
"We cannot ignore this."
His fingers slowly tapped against the table.
"But rage cannot be allowed to dictate Kusagakure's survival."
Unlike the Five Great Shinobi Villages, Kusagakure possessed neither overwhelming military power nor a legendary Kage capable of frightening neighboring nations into restraint.
One reckless decision could destroy everything.
"The attackers have escaped, but they cannot have gone far. Organize several elite tracking squads immediately. Search every major route leading away from Kusagakure."
He narrowed his eyes.
"If possible, capture them."
A brief pause followed.
"If capture is impossible, then confirm their identities."
Everyone understood what he meant.
Whether those attackers truly belonged to Kumogakure would determine everything that came afterward.
Another elder nodded.
"We should also send a diplomatic messenger to the Land of Lightning."
"Yes."
"An official letter will be delivered directly to Kumogakure. We will demand an explanation from the Third Raikage concerning the infiltration and deaths of our shinobi."
Takeda snorted.
"And if he denies everything?"
"Then at least we will know something is wrong."
The white-haired elder turned toward the reporting jōnin.
"Security inside the village is to be doubled immediately. Every remaining special prisoner and resource is to be moved to more secure locations. No outsider enters restricted areas without direct authorization from the council."
"Yes!"
The jōnin bowed quickly.
After receiving the remainder of his orders, he almost fled the chamber.
The door closed behind him.
Silence returned.
This time, however, the anger had slowly transformed into something heavier.
Helplessness.
Kusagakure had not always been like this.
Ancient records spoke of an era when the Land of Grass had possessed strength enough to influence the entire shinobi world. Some texts even contained extravagant claims that their predecessors had once stood close to controlling the continent itself.
Whether those stories were truth or embellishment was impossible to know.
But compared with those legends, Kusagakure's present circumstances were humiliating.
The Land of Fire towered over them from one direction.
The Land of Earth pressured them from another.
Even the distant Land of Lightning possessed enough military power to threaten them whenever it wished.
And to make matters worse, Amegakure occasionally caused trouble along their borders as well.
Kusagakure survived not through strength, but through carefully balancing itself between giants.
One wrong step could result in annihilation.
After a long silence, one elder finally spoke.
"What if…"
Everyone looked toward him.
The man hesitated before finishing his sentence.
"What if we reactivate that?"
Several expressions changed instantly.
Takeda's eyes narrowed.
The white-haired elder stopped tapping the table.
Nobody needed to ask what he meant.
The chamber had suddenly become deathly quiet.
"If the records are accurate," the elder continued in a much softer voice, "then perhaps Kusagakure does not need to remain trapped between the Great Nations forever."
His gaze hardened.
"Perhaps…"
"Perhaps we can reclaim the power our ancestors once possessed."
No one answered.
But for the first time since receiving the report, something other than anger or fear appeared in the elders' eyes.
Greed.
And buried beneath it—
Ambition.
---
Nearly a hundred miles from Kusagakure, deep within an isolated forest, Ren finally decided they had traveled far enough.
Little Green lowered its enormous body beneath the shadow of several ancient trees. After checking the area for any sign of pursuit, Ren placed a hand against the giant lizard.
"All right. Let them out."
Little Green opened its jaws.
One after another, five unconscious prisoners were carefully brought outside.
Despite how strange the method of transportation looked, Little Green's internal space had proven remarkably useful. Combined with its camouflage ability and Shikuro Aburame's insects suppressing the noise of their movement, they had slipped out of Kusagakure without triggering a full-scale pursuit.
Ren crouched beside the two red-haired captives.
Their condition was far worse than he had initially realized.
Both were thin. Their clothes were worn and stained, while old scars covered their exposed skin. The woman's arms, in particular, were filled with bite marks in various stages of healing.
Some were old.
Others were fresh.
Ren's expression cooled slightly.
Minato noticed it as well.
He released a quiet breath before kneeling beside them.
"Wake them carefully."
Ren nodded.
After checking their condition, he used a small amount of chakra to stimulate their consciousness.
The red-haired woman stirred first.
Her eyelids trembled before slowly opening.
The moment awareness returned, fear flashed through her eyes.
She tried to move away instinctively, only to discover that her exhausted body barely responded.
"Easy."
Minato deliberately softened his voice.
"We're not going to hurt you."
The second Uzumaki awakened moments later.
He immediately shifted closer to the woman, clearly intending to protect her despite his own weakened condition.
Minato gave them several seconds to calm themselves before speaking again.
"You're both members of the Uzumaki Clan, correct?"
The two exchanged wary glances.
Finally, the woman answered.
"My name is Uzumaki Kana."
Her voice was rough, as though she had not spoken properly in days.
She gestured toward the man beside her.
"He is Uzumaki Naoto."
Kana hesitated.
Then, noticing the Kumogakure forehead protectors still worn by Minato and the others, she lowered her head slightly.
"Thank you… shinobi of Kumogakure."
Her fingers unconsciously tightened around her sleeve.
"If you don't mind, may I ask who you are?"
Minato did not answer immediately.
Instead, he asked, "How did Kusagakure capture you?"
Kana fell silent.
It was clearly not a pleasant memory.
"I came to the Land of Grass more than ten years ago."
She stared toward the ground.
"After Uzushiogakure fell, surviving members of our clan scattered everywhere. Some went into hiding. Some changed their names. Others simply tried to disappear."
Her lips tightened.
"I thought I had succeeded."
Ren quietly listened.
"A little over a year ago, Kusagakure discovered my identity."
Kana raised one arm.
The sleeve slid downward.
Dozens of bite marks covered her skin.
"They discovered my ability shortly afterward."
Minato's expression hardened.
The Uzumaki Clan possessed extraordinary vitality, but Kana's ability was rare even among them.
Her chakra and blood carried tremendous healing properties.
By biting into her flesh and absorbing chakra directly, an injured person could recover at an astonishing speed.
An ability that should have saved lives had instead turned her into a tool.
"What about him?" Minato asked.
Kana glanced at Naoto.
"He was captured two months ago."
Naoto gave a bitter laugh.
"My hair exposed me."
Unlike Kana, Naoto had been born after Uzushiogakure's destruction. His mother had been an Uzumaki survivor who eventually settled in a remote village and married a civilian.
His bloodline was therefore less concentrated than Kana's.
But Kusagakure had not cared.
Once they discovered his heritage, they had captured him anyway.
Ren quickly understood why.
"They wanted you two to have children."
Kana's body stiffened.
Naoto's expression turned dark.
Neither denied it.
Minato's eyes became cold.
Ren continued quietly.
"They wanted descendants who might inherit Kana's healing ability."
Kana slowly nodded.
"They said my body wouldn't last forever."
Her voice trembled slightly for the first time.
"So they needed replacements."
Something dangerous flickered through Minato's eyes.
Kusagakure had not merely imprisoned her.
They had intended to create generations of living medical supplies.
Ren knew exactly where such a path could have led.
In another possible future, another red-haired Uzumaki girl would eventually inherit that same terrifying healing ability.
Karin.
And just like Kana, her body would become covered with scars left behind by people who treated her existence as nothing more than medicine.
But that future had already begun to change.
Minato slowly reached up.
His fingers touched the Kumogakure forehead protector.
"Miss Kana. Mr. Naoto."
He pulled it free.
Then the Transformation Technique dissolved.
The false appearance disappeared in a swirl of chakra, revealing Minato's familiar blond hair.
Ren and the others followed.
Kana and Naoto stared at them in shock.
"We're not from Kumogakure."
Minato smiled gently.
"We're shinobi of Konohagakure."
Neither Uzumaki spoke.
Their expressions were caught somewhere between relief and disbelief.
Minato continued.
"The Kumogakure identities were only disguises used during the operation."
His expression became serious.
"You're safe now."
Kana's lips parted slightly.
Safe.
Perhaps it was such an ordinary word that she had forgotten what it meant.
Minato glanced toward the wounds covering her body.
"Konoha will not ignore what Kusagakure has done here. For now, however, your injuries come first."
Ren had already opened the medical supplies they had brought along.
He cleaned the wounds with alcohol before wrapping the worst injuries with fresh gauze. Afterward, green chakra gathered around his palm.
Mystical Palm Technique.
Warm chakra slowly seeped into Kana's injured flesh.
She flinched at first.
Then she froze.
For perhaps the first time in years, someone was healing her without demanding that she sacrifice part of herself in exchange.
Kana stared at Ren.
Her expression became strangely complicated.
After several seconds, she quietly lifted her wrist.
"There's actually… another way."
Ren glanced at her.
"My blood and chakra can heal injuries very quickly."
She hesitated.
"If any of you are injured, you can bite—"
"No."
Minato interrupted immediately.
Kana went still.
His tone had not been harsh.
Yet there was no room for negotiation.
"Konoha does not treat people as medicine."
Kana stared at him.
Minato crouched so that their eyes were level.
"Your ability is valuable. Extremely valuable."
His expression softened.
"But that doesn't mean people have the right to tear apart your body whenever they get hurt."
Ren finished wrapping her wrist.
"You're a person first."
Kana lowered her eyes toward the clean bandages.
Her shoulders trembled almost imperceptibly.
Minato continued.
"When we return to Konoha, I'll arrange for you to meet Hokage-sama. More importantly…"
A smile slowly appeared on his face.
"There are other Uzumaki living in Konoha."
Kana's head snapped upward.
"Other… Uzumaki?"
"Yes."
Her breathing suddenly quickened.
"You mean…"
She hesitated, almost afraid to say the name.
"Kushina?"
Minato blinked.
"You know Kushina?"
Kana nodded rapidly.
A spark appeared in eyes that had seemed lifeless only minutes earlier.
"When Uzushiogakure still existed, I saw her several times."
Her voice became noticeably more emotional.
"She was younger than me, but everyone knew her. Later, I heard she had been sent to Konoha."
Kana leaned forward without realizing it.
"Is she… is she doing well?"
Minato's smile became genuine.
"She's doing very well."
His eyes softened with unmistakable affection.
"And if she learns that someone she knew from Uzushiogakure survived…"
He chuckled softly.
"She'll probably come running before anyone can stop her."
Kana covered her mouth.
Her eyes became wet.
Naoto turned his face away slightly, but the tension in his shoulders finally began to disappear.
For the first time since their rescue, neither looked like prisoners waiting for the next nightmare.
They looked like survivors who had suddenly discovered that somewhere in the world, a piece of home still remained.
After Ren finished treating their wounds, Minato quietly signaled Shikuro.
"Take them farther into the forest and let them rest."
Shikuro nodded.
Kana glanced back once before leaving.
"Thank you."
Two simple words.
But the emotion behind them made Minato's smile fade into something more solemn.
Once the two Uzumaki were safely out of hearing range, Minato picked up the Kumogakure forehead protector again.
The warmth vanished from his expression.
Ren immediately understood.
Their rescue mission was over.
The next phase had begun.
Three unconscious captives still lay on the ground.
Unlike Kana and Naoto, these three had not been imprisoned because of their bloodline.
They possessed information.
And information was exactly what Minato wanted.
He secured the forehead protector once more and restored his Kumogakure disguise.
Ren followed suit.
Minato crouched beside the nearest captive.
A small amount of chakra flowed through his fingers.
The man's eyes suddenly opened.
Confusion appeared first.
Then terror.
The last thing he remembered was Kusagakure descending into chaos.
Now several supposed Kumogakure shinobi were standing over him in the middle of an unfamiliar forest.
Minato smiled.
It was the same warm smile that had reassured Kana only moments earlier.
Somehow, in this situation, it looked considerably more frightening.
"Good morning."
The captive swallowed.
Minato leaned slightly closer.
"We're going to have a conversation."
Behind him, Ren quietly folded his arms.
They had already stolen Kusagakure's prisoners, left more than thirty shinobi dead, and successfully planted suspicion on Kumogakure.
But Ren knew Minato well enough to understand one thing.
Their mission had never been limited to rescuing two Uzumaki.
And judging by the look in Minato's eyes…
Kusagakure's real nightmare was only beginning.
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