"The enemy broke in?"

"Slurp—"

Inside Ichiraku Ramen, three people were heads-down devouring bowls of the char siu ramen that never got old.

Even Kushina, who had been a bit stiff at first, had gradually loosened up after several shared meals and was no longer so reserved.

Two honor students sat beside a seemingly carefree blond big brother—the scene looked just like good students being "led astray" by an outsider.

"Another bowl!"

By now, Namikaze Yoru had finished his fifth bowl of ramen. Kushina had already thrown in the towel, and Minato had conceded early—truly living up to his title of "Fastest in the Shinobi World."

After finishing his sixth bowl, Namikaze Yoru patted his half-full stomach and finally called it quits, satisfied with the meal.

As usual, he had Minato walk Kushina home, while he himself strolled through the village like he was taking a daily walk, secretly sweeping his attention over several key areas.

When his Mind's Eye of the Kagura scanned Uzumaki Kushina's home, he noticed several unfamiliar ninja presences with fairly strong chakra inside her small house.

"I knew it. 'Convenient' never beats 'right under your nose.'"

Amplifying his Mind's Eye of the Kagura perception, he matched the chakra signatures hidden in Kushina's house one by one and confirmed those ninja were members of the Cloud Village envoy.

Sure enough, the dark-skinned brothers' passive had triggered. Bloodlines always smelled sweeter in someone else's hands—grab one when you could. Even more so for a bloodline ninja like Kushina, who had lost her backing. She was prime prey in their eyes.

Truth be told, only Konoha could be so careless. Every other village—unless they had water in their brains like the Mist Village—placed great importance on bloodline ninjas.

With just a few bloodline ninjas, it was fairly easy to build a clan over time. After all, this land was pretty open-minded about that sort of thing.

A faint smile tugged at Namikaze Yoru's lips. But he knew that simply having the naive Kushina kidnapped wouldn't stir up enough chaos. He'd add another log to Konoha's fire.

Turning into a small alley, he quickly formed hand seals and split off a Shadow Clone, while his real body used "Earth Style: Earth Fish Camouflage" to move stealthily.

He arrived at the old Senju clan grounds. These days, the place was much quieter—the vast compound felt somewhat empty.

"Exchange Kaguya Clan Primary Bloodline."

Namikaze Yoru closed his eyes and felt for a moment. The mere primary Kaguya bloodline didn't grant much of a boost.

If he had to put it into words, his bone density had increased noticeably, but he couldn't yet pull bones out as blades and regenerate them instantly like Kaguya Kimimaro.

For now, all he could manage was to force chakra through his body and barely push bones out of his skin, forming Bone Spikes.

"Good enough."

Having confirmed what this primary bloodline could do, he didn't need the Kaguya bloodline for combat power. He just needed it to be separable from himself, to muddy the stagnant waters.

He slipped into Nawaki's residence with practiced ease. As a classmate and friend, Namikaze Yoru had been here plenty of times—but always through the front door.

After using the Transformation Technique to alter his appearance and donning a pre-prepared mask, Namikaze Yoru finally made his move.

He climbed in through the outer wall. The familiar layout greeted him. Several half-dried training clothes hung in the open yard, and Senju Nawaki was currently lounging sideways in the living room, relaxed.

Nawaki had no idea disaster was coming. He was sprawled out in the first-floor hall, chuckling over a manga, muttering something under his breath every now and then.

Namikaze Yoru quietly formed hand seals, deliberately controlling his chakra output.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough (Mini Reduced Version)."

A sudden gust of wind blew in, rattling the pages of Nawaki's manga. The night had already brought a chill, and Nawaki tightened his clothes around himself.

Maybe he was too absorbed, or maybe Nawaki's thick nerves just didn't care—he tightened his clothes but made no further move.

Namikaze Yoru was covered in black lines. If the timing weren't so bad, he'd have charged in and kicked him.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough (Reduced Version)."

He kept using Wind Release to blow at Nawaki, who was still sitting in the living room. Finally, Nawaki looked up toward the outdoor corridor and muttered to himself:

"Why did it suddenly get windy?"

His expression turned a bit serious. After thinking for a moment, he looked out at the corridor again and added, "It's not going to rain, is it?"

He set down his manga, got up, and walked to the corridor. He glanced outside, where the wind had died down a little, and blurted out, "I'll deal with it if it rains."

With that, he moved to close the sliding door, apparently planning to ignore it.

Hidden in the shadows, Namikaze Yoru had run out of patience. If he kept dawdling, the perfect opportunity would be wasted. This Nawaki really wasn't following the script.

"Ha-dah—"

He flashed out in one leap and slammed his foot hard into Nawaki's side, sending him flying sideways into the open yard.

Before Nawaki could recover his bearings, Namikaze Yoru pressed in, drawing a kunai and stabbing fiercely.

By now, Nawaki had snapped out of his daze and recovered his ninja instincts, though disbelief still lingered on his face.

As the young master of the prestigious Senju clan, someone dared to assassinate him inside Konoha? Had the village been breached? Or was Konoha planning to crack down on the landowners and start with him?

"Water Style: Water Turbulent Wave."

The moment he landed, he didn't have time to think further. Nawaki moved fast, unleashing a Water Style jutsu to intercept his attacker, while shouting for help without hesitation.

Being attacked in the Senju clan grounds, Nawaki couldn't be sure how many enemies there were. After all, coming alone would be too absurd.

In Nawaki's eyes, the attacker seemed to panic at his shout and frantically hurled the kunai at him.

Nawaki was in casual clothes at home and had been worried about not having any weapons on hand. Seeing the kunai thrown with such weak force, he reached out and caught it on the spot.

Next, the kunai spun in Nawaki's hand as he thrust it toward the unarmed enemy ninja.

Seeing the kunai coming, the opponent actually swung his hand to meet it. In Nawaki's bewildered gaze, the kunai clashed heavily against the man's palm.

"Clang—"

A metallic ring sounded as the kunai in Nawaki's hand was blocked, and a long bone spike had emerged from the opponent's palm. Perhaps due to the force of the impact, fine cracks now spread across the tip of the bone spike.

"Bone Spikes? You're a ninja from the Kaguya Clan!"

Namikaze Yoru, still in disguise, put on a flustered expression as he hastily withdrew the bone spike. The spike's tip, damaged from the collision, shed a few tiny fragments of bone dust that silently fell to the ground.

"Illusion Technique: Fox Heart Technique!"

Caught off guard, Nawaki was trapped by the illusion for a moment. Though he broke free quickly, the assassin before him had vanished without a trace.

It was only then that the clan compound's guards and the Konoha Anbu belatedly arrived on the scene.