The war had begun.
The Rain Ninja had launched an undeclared attack, sending an elite force into the Land of Fire and crushing the Border Defense Force along the northwestern frontier.
However, Konoha had not been completely unprepared. Ever since that "demigod" had risen to the pinnacle of Amegakure, he had repeatedly revealed his grand ambitions: to elevate Amegakure to the level of the Five Great Ninja Villages and change the tragic fate of the Land of Rain, which had served as a battlefield for the three great nations of Wind, Fire, and Earth.
After deliberating for a long time, the demigod decided that compared with the impoverished northern mole-diggers and the turbaned lot in the southwest who ate sand, the prosperous Land of Fire was clearly a more worthwhile target. Besides, whether it was the Land of Earth or the Land of Wind, their combat environments were simply too harsh. Rain Ninja accustomed to water would struggle to fight effectively in such places.
Still, the Rain Ninja's movements had not entirely escaped Konoha's notice. The Ninja Hero was in the prime of his life and had kept a close eye on the Rain Ninja's little schemes, secretly making preparations. When the Rain Ninja charged into the Land of Fire and defeated the northwestern defense force, before they could even celebrate, Konoha's swiftly arriving army struck them head-on. Their rear supply stations were attacked as well.
Thus began the Second Shinobi World War.
News of the war spread throughout the village, and its former prosperity immediately faded. Security forces could be seen patrolling everywhere in the streets, guarding against enemy spies slipping into the village during wartime to carry out sabotage. And honestly, with pairs of Sharingan wandering all over the place, the espionage business took a nosedive. The heads of intelligence departments in the other ninja villages were frantic, cursing those damned red-eyed Uchiha nonstop in their offices.
As for having the even more perceptive Byakugan patrol the village? Ha, you had to be joking!
Let those "white-eye freaks" activate their eyes and wander around the village? Did anyone still want privacy? A 360-degree field of vision, with a broad view reaching over a kilometer away... Hiss, they would see everything!
There was probably a reason the Hyuga Clan lived together as a clan. Having a Hyuga clansman as a companion on the battlefield was extremely welcome, but having one as a neighbor... well, no thank you.
That was why Hyuga Clan members only patrolled outside the village, never within it.
"Katsuki, why do people always have to fight wars?" On the way to school that morning, Kushina kicked at pebbles beneath her feet as she chatted idly with Katsuki. She stared intently at a member of the security force standing by the roadside, feeling that he looked familiar, as though she had seen him at Otome's home.
"Probably because they're too poor!" Katsuki forcefully swallowed the rice ball in his mouth before continuing, "I heard it rains all year round in the Land of Rain, so they can't grow crops at all. They have to import all their food from abroad... Say, didn't Teacher Takashima explain this yesterday?"
"Hehe, I just took a little nap in class. Besides, this stuff doesn't sound fun at all. Teacher Takashima just goes on and on whenever he teaches cultural studies." Kushina smiled innocently and deftly shifted the blame onto Teacher Takashima.
Katsuki looked speechlessly at his sister and felt sorry for Teacher Takashima. Teacher Takashima's cultural studies were actually quite good. They might not have been thrilling and captivating, but they were witty and humorous, and he would occasionally weave in personal experiences from the battlefield. They were quite entertaining.
But seeing the faint dark circles beneath Kushina's eyes, he sighed and decided not to say anything, continuing to gnaw on the oversized rice ball in his hands.
Kushina slept during lessons in the daytime, yet once she returned home, she seriously immersed herself in studying her family's Funjutsu. Katsuki had once been unable to resist the temptation and wanted to see the Uzumaki Clan's renowned Funjutsu for himself, but whenever he reached out, he remembered Sakumo's warning.
Before earning Sakumo's approval, he could at most practice the Three Basic Ninjutsu. He was not allowed to touch even a C-rank ninjutsu.
All he could do was look regretfully at the scrolls arranged in Kushina's room.
These scrolls containing the Uzumaki Clan's Funjutsu had been transferred onto Sakumo's ship by the Great Elder before the Mist Ninja raid. They simply had not had time to get Katsuki and Kushina aboard before the Mist Ninja attacked. Fortunately, the items had still safely reached Konoha along with the Uzumaki siblings.
It was not as though no one coveted the Uzumaki Clan's Funjutsu, but Mito Uzumaki was still alive. Before bullying the Uzumaki Clan's orphaned survivors, they had better consider whether they could bear the consequences.
Of course, in any world, there would never be a shortage of fools blinded by greed. But fools were fools, which meant they could not break through the tight security net maintained by the Anbu around the Uzumaki Clan residence.
Thus, the siblings' lives had remained peaceful so far.
"Katsuki, morning." At the corner of the long street, Minato appeared "by coincidence" and waved at Katsuki.
"Morning..." Katsuki called out indistinctly, continuing to work hard on his rice ball.
Minato naturally walked over to Katsuki's side, and the three of them headed toward school together. As they walked, Minato casually chatted with Katsuki.
"Katsuki, your appetite has grown again lately. Even Dōton Akimichi from the class next door isn't as outrageous as you, right?" Minato looked amusingly at the watermelon-sized rice ball. That thing could probably be kicked around like a ball.
"Can't help it. My training volume has been pretty high lately, and it's also... a time when I'm growing. Before long, I'm... hungry again." Katsuki finally swallowed the rice ball in his mouth and caught his breath. "If I don't eat more in the morning, I can't make it to lunch break. At home now, my sister has to cook five or six meals a day."
"Eh! That sounds really nice." Minato sighed wistfully, then suddenly noticed Katsuki's expression and immediately flashed a sunny smile. "I mean, your sister really cares about you!"
Katsuki curled his lip and did not pursue the ill-intentioned guy any further. In any case, with his sister's carefree personality, she had no interest in a "pretty boy" for the time being.
At the school gate.
"Otome, morning!" When Kushina saw a pair of siblings approaching from the opposite direction, she immediately ran over excitedly.
After Kushina had visited the Uchiha Clan many times, Uchiha Otome, the talented girl who had been training within the clan, had also entered the Ninja Academy and joined Katsuki's class. They had gained another classmate.
The two little girls, a year apart in age, instantly became a stunning sight at the Ninja Academy whenever they stood together.
"Yo, why do you look so miserable this early in the morning?" Katsuki looked at the listless Otoha and mocked him mercilessly.
"Get lost, get lost. Stop bothering me, I'm feeling awful." Otoha rolled his eyes irritably and slapped away Katsuki's hand, which was covered in rice grains.
Katsuki grinned without pressing him for answers. He stuffed the last bit of rice ball into his mouth, then licked the rice grains from his fingers.
Otoha was the sort who could never keep things bottled up. Perhaps because he had been alone for too long, after becoming familiar with Katsuki and Minato, he developed a tendency to talk nonstop. Of course, that only applied around people he knew. Before strangers, he remained the aloof Uchiha.
Before you continue