Return to the Village and the Red-Haired Little Girl

The summit between the two Kage concluded amid wrangling and compromise. Just as Dada had predicted, Konohagakure accepted this method of compensation. Not only did it proactively add several items to the list, it also actively substantiated their value.

The point values assigned to some items were also compromised and adjusted, but following Dada's line of thought, Kumogakure carefully and quietly pushed forward the things it wanted most, without alerting Konohagakure.

Although the talks had ended, the process of fulfilling the compensation would continue. By Dada's estimate, it would last half a year. After all, the people were being held by Kumogakure; Kumogakure was not the side in a hurry. At most, they had a few more mouths to feed.

The one truly in a hurry was Hiruzen Sarutobi. Shimura Danzō was one of Konohagakure's upper echelon, while Hatake Sakumo and Tsunade Senju were both in periods of rising strength. If too much time passed and their power stagnated or even declined, it would be Konohagakure's future that suffered.

Both villages would have people handling the matters that followed. Konohagakure would most likely send one of its advisers, while Kumogakure's representative was naturally Dada, hidden behind the scenes. On the surface, however, everything was being handled by Dodai.

A few days later, once neither side had objections to the first installment of compensation or the point assessment, the Lightning-Fire talks came to an end. Konohagakure would quickly pay 500 points, intending to first exchange them for some of the captives. Although the important figures would come later, redeeming ordinary ninja early on would ease the internal pressure within the village and let everyone know that matters were progressing steadily under the Hokage's wise leadership.

Dada finally began his return journey ahead of the Third Raikage, while his older brother, Yotsuki Ki, remained at the Raikage's side.

At his request, however, the group made a slight detour through the Land of Frost. It was home to a famous iron and coal production region, which would be important to the future "Blacksmith Shop" plan, so they could inspect it along the way.

Once the first group of core personnel finished their training at the "Blacksmith Shop," an important "branch office" would be established there.

Along with Dada asking about everything and being curious about anything he saw, the return trip took nearly half a month before the group finally returned to Kumogakure.

The excitement of leaving the village for the first time felt like a lifetime ago. Back then, he had never expected to be gone for nearly two months, much less that so many things would happen.

The first thing he did upon returning was visit his mother, Satomi. Her youngest son had finally come home after so long, and the mother who had spent this time worrying herself sick burst into tears on the spot. When she had heard Dada had been captured, Satomi had been as frantic as an ant on a hot pan.

After dinner with his mother, Dada finally returned to his little room. Sister Meizi sat beside him on her knees, meticulously brewing tea, while Dada organized everything he had seen and heard during this time. He recorded it in a little notebook using Chinese characters along with pinyin. Surely it would not be deciphered this time.

If it got deciphered again, that would be ridiculous.

Because of this incident, the Shinobi World had gradually begun to diverge from its original course. Or rather, the divergence had always existed and continued to grow, but Dada had never noticed it before because he rarely left home.

At the very least, in the original course of events, Danzō, Tsunade, and Sakumo had never been captured. After this, who knew whether it would affect their personalities?

Danzō in particular was an extremely special figure. In the original story, if all the filth and corruption in the Shinobi World amounted to one stone, Danzō and Black Zetsu would probably split eight dou between them.

Now that someone of that caliber was in Kumogakure's hands, Dada could not help considering how he could use Danzō to make moves against Konohagakure.

No trace of the Tongue Root Extirpation Technique had been found among the confidants Danzō brought with him this time. Dada guessed that Danzō had either not yet established Root, or had not built it up for long enough to reach its future scale. That meant Danzō was still mainly serving as an adviser in Konohagakure, much like Mitokado Homura and the others.

There was plenty of room to maneuver here.

The next morning, Dada went to the Orphanage early. The Orphanage's reforms had been underway for some time now, so there should have been some changes already. Dada was greatly looking forward to them.

Sure enough, as soon as he reached the entrance, he saw Morita Keiko seeing off a pair, one adult and one child. Morita Keiko was also delighted to see Dada.

"Young Master Dada, you're back in the village? How was your trip outside?" As someone with only genin-level strength who had long since left the mainstream ninja ranks, Morita Keiko had not heard about the recent conflict between the Lands of Lightning and Fire.

Dada pursed his lips. "It was a complete mess. So many troublesome things happened, but the result was good..."

Morita Keiko covered her mouth and smiled. "That's good, then. What matters is that you returned safely. The children at the Orphanage all missed you very much."

Watching the departing figures of the adult and child, Dada asked, "Was that a ninja who accepted a 'childcare' mission?"

"Childcare" was a name Dada had coined himself. The Mission Assignment Office certainly would not phrase it that way.

Morita Keiko nodded. "That was Mr. Kuroki. He has come almost every day recently. He seems to have been one of Ninomiya's father's teammates before he died."

Dada nodded. This was probably what bonds meant. There would be more and more people like Kuroki. They would become windows through which the Orphanage children could open their hearts, while the children would become warm campfires in their lives.

"Dada is back!" Arriving at the Orphanage, Dada finally showed a bit of childishness. He loudly announced his return and was instantly surrounded by the children's enthusiastic welcome.

In the distance, Meizi and Morita Keiko exchanged smiles.

After spending the entire morning playing wildly with the children, Dada spoke with Morita Keiko again.

"Are there many people coming for 'childcare' every day now?"

"At first, there would only be one every few days, but lately there have been people every day. On busy days, there are two or three."

"Not bad. We'll need to publicize it more later. Once there are more people, we can begin the next step of the plan."

The Orphanage was, after all, only a social care institution. Once the children accepted and recognized Kumogakure, their best destination would still be adoption. Only then could they have a complete childhood and a complete future.

The Orphanage could also maintain a flow of people, allowing it to take in more orphans.

Thinking of how other orphanages in the Shinobi World operated, the Kumogakure Orphanage Dada had personally transformed was practically paradise.

He had already made up his mind. The large and powerful Yotsuki Clan also had many ninja who had lost children. The Yotsuki Clan needed to set an example and take in orphans first when circumstances allowed. Only then would others in the village follow suit.

The long-missed daily life made Dada feel as though he had endless energy, so that afternoon he went to find Uzumaki Hirohiko. Since he did not know Hirohiko's address, Dada went straight to the Ninja Academy. Sure enough, amid the crowd leaving school, he spotted a flash of red hair.

"Dada, why are you here? Didn't you leave the village?" During this time, Hirohiko had also gone to the Yotsuki Clan Territory to find Dada, but each time he was told that Dada had left the village and had not returned.

Dada chatted with Uzumaki Hirohiko along the way, telling him about what he had seen during this trip. He did not mention the matter with Konohagakure. Those things were still too far removed from Hirohiko, and there was no need to make him worry.

As the two talked, they arrived at Uzumaki Hirohiko's home. After they came to the village, Kumogakure had readily fulfilled every condition it had promised when persuading them to come.

It not only provided Hirohiko's family with a place to live, but also gave Hirohiko's father a job, allowing them to support themselves. Though they had only just arrived and had not yet found their footing, it was far better than their previous life of wandering and sleeping rough in the Land of Grass. Kumogakure also covered Hirohiko's Ninja Academy expenses. Hirohiko's family was deeply grateful, because since the Land of Whirlpools had fallen, they had never had a permanent home.

"Mom! Kagari! I'm back, and I brought a friend with me!"

Dada saw a gentle-looking red-haired woman and a little red-haired girl.

The red-haired girl shyly hid behind the woman, secretly peeking at Dada.

"This is my little sister, Uzumaki Kagari," Hirohiko introduced.

"Big brother, hello! Big brother, hello?!" Little Kagari called out in a crisp voice, but her limited vocabulary seemingly did not know how to distinguish between two brothers with different meanings...

"Just call me Onii-chan." Dada stepped forward as he spoke.

Uzumaki Hirohiko: "..."

He had a feeling he had made the wrong decision...