Two weeks had passed since they found Yota.
According to the law of kids congregating, just a few days in, Kiba ran into them while walking his dog and joined the child-raising team.
In the sweltering summer, a kid their age who could make it snow was bound to be popular.
The little brats had not gone to the Uchiha Clan Grounds for a party in two weeks. Sasuke was quite satisfied with that, and his guard against Yota had relaxed considerably. He hoped Yota could keep this bunch of little monsters tied down forever.
After a while, he could not even be bothered to send a Shadow Clone to watch over them every time. All those Anbu were not getting paid to loaf around. They had salaries; he did not.
Besides, everyone in the later plot survived just fine, did they not? A single Shadow Clone could handle only so many things every day.
A few cheap meals bought him peace and quiet and free time. It was practically like sending his own kid to kindergarten or elementary school—far too worry-free.
Like trading stocks, happy times never lasted long. Flat fluctuations and relentless downward spirals were the true main theme.
Then, finally, at noon that day, Yota disappeared. The treehouse had been ransacked, with signs of a violent search everywhere.
The kids bringing Yota food searched the surrounding forest and found nothing. Then masked men stopped them and ordered them to obediently go home and wait to be summoned.
Go home just because they were told to?
Of the six ordered to stay home—the Great Clans, Naruto, Kiba, and Sakura—four were enthusiastic class-skippers. How could they possibly be so obedient?
"Sasuke, this is bad! Yota was taken away by masked men!"
The kids began gathering people, so they found