Retreat to the Village

By habit, they would usually search the bodies after a battle. But since this involved a Jinchūriki, he didn't want to leave his fingerprints on either of the two Cloud Village shinobi's equipment pouches.

It might only have been Year 33 of Konoha, but fingerprint detection technology was already in use in the Shinobi World, and it was fairly widespread. He didn't want to end up being interrogated by the Torture and Interrogation Force.

Still, not searching the bodies didn't mean he'd come away empty-handed.

He'd gotten plenty of entries when he fought the two Cloud Village shinobi, and the entries scattered across the ground were all related to Lightning Release Ninjutsu and Lightning Release Chakra.

With these entries, he could gain Lightning Release Chakra out of thin air, along with several C- and D-rank Lightning Release Ninjutsu.

Of course, what he valued most were the attribute entries.

"Pure-Blooded Dark Skin (Blue)"

"Cloud-Thunder Gorge Conqueror (Blue)"

"Thunder Within (Purple)"

"Cloud Style Swordsmanship Seed (Purple)"

Touma hadn't expected two Cloud Village Chunin to drop purple entries. Clearly, red wasn't the highest rank; there had to be other ranks above it.

"Thunder Within (Purple)" let the Lightning Release Ninjutsu he used carry some of the violent destructive power of heavenly thunder. It also increased Touma's resistance to electricity.

This was the hidden potential that Shoku had awakened when he received the cleansing power of heavenly thunder after completing the Cloud Village's Cloud-Thunder Gorge trial. Now, however, it belonged to Touma.

As for "Cloud Style Swordsmanship Seed (Purple)," it had dropped from the Cloud Village shinobi whose head had been blown apart. It would let Touma grasp the true essence of Cloud Style Swordsmanship.

Combined with "Cloud Style Swordsmanship (Blue)" among the Ninjutsu entries, Touma could quickly learn the style and rapidly become proficient in it. With enough practice, he'd have a very good chance of reaching the so-called master level.

However, Touma had no intention of absorbing the "Cloud Style Swordsmanship (Blue)" entry.

It wasn't just a matter of how it would look for a Konoha Genin candidate to neglect Konoha-style swordsmanship and waste his effort on Cloud Style Swordsmanship.

His entire fighting style was built around an iron staff. Suddenly picking up a Ninja Blade would attract far too much attention.

If his swordsmanship improved at a frightening pace, people would be even more suspicious. Living in the same village as that bandage-wearing man Danzo, Touma didn't dare casually reveal such a suspicious detail.

After waiting for about twenty or thirty minutes, the three of them finally received reinforcements.

It wasn't really the fault of the shinobi responsible for border patrol.

Earlier, when the three Cloud Village shinobi had taken Kushina away, they'd run into joint harassment from Cloud Village and Iwagakure shinobi.

Most of their forces had been sent to fend off the allied shinobi harassing the border.

By the time they saw Namikaze Minato's distress signal and started heading over to help, explosions were already ringing out. Minato had already engaged the Cloud Village shinobi.

Even at top speed, they'd had to cover more than twenty kilometers. These border guards couldn't match Namikaze Minato's Body Flicker speed, so getting there at all had taken everything they had!

Seeing that the three of them had only suffered a few scrapes and hadn't lost any limbs, the guards secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

After all, if word got out that they'd been drawn away by a diversion and nearly lost a Jinchūriki candidate, they'd face severe punishment.

At best, they might have their shinobi status revoked and be reduced to paupers or wandering shinobi. At worst, they could be interrogated by the Intelligence Division's Torture and Interrogation Force and end up thrown into Konoha's prison.

The prison itself wasn't that frightening. It was the Torture and Interrogation Force that terrified them. One of their former teammates had once been interrogated after a failed mission. When he came out, he was a complete imbecile. They certainly didn't think they were any more resistant than he'd been!

A little over ten minutes after the guards arrived, Anbu and Root members began arriving one after another. Each side sent as many as two squads, six people in all.

Kushina clearly recognized one of the Anbu: an older sister who had once looked after her. She had striking silver-gray hair and wore a crow mask.

Touma also recognized the person beneath the mask. She was Hatake Sakumo's wife, Hatake Inami, whom he'd married only recently.

He knew her because the wedding gift Hatake Sakumo had sent had been a box of wagashi ordered from his mother, Takako. It hadn't been cheap—a single box cost around five thousand ryō, which was quite extravagant.

When he ordered the wagashi box, Hatake Sakumo had also sent invitations to Takako and Touma, inviting mother and son to his wedding.

What Touma hadn't expected was that Hatake Inami's public identity was as an internist at Konoha Hospital. He hadn't known she also served in Anbu, or that she could even be assigned to guard a Jinchūriki. It showed just how highly the Konoha High Command regarded her loyalty!

But that was perfectly normal in Konoha. Most Anbu had another job in their civilian lives to conceal their identities.

Hatake Sakumo, for example, publicly served in the Jonin Squad as a jonin responsible for commanding large-scale operations, while secretly leading an Anbu combat squad.

He not only got plenty of combat missions, but also collected two salaries. The Jonin Squad, which was responsible for making decisions, received a regular salary; its members didn't need to take missions to earn mission pay.

Hatake Inami sensed Touma watching her, so she nodded to him but said nothing more.

Although she wondered why he was there, she didn't ask aloud. It wasn't her job, and she couldn't overstep her authority.

The most important rule of Anbu work was that saying less meant making fewer mistakes, and saying nothing meant making none. After all, Anbu's own Torture and Interrogation Force was even harsher than the Intelligence Division's. Even the wife of the combat squad captain wouldn't be exempt from interrogation.

The border guards led the way, the Anbu protected the three children in the middle, and Root sensibly took the rear. In this formation, they hurried toward the village.

The top floor of the Hokage's office building, in the center of Konoha.

The whole room was thick with the smoke Sarutobi Hiruzen exhaled. The crystal ball in front of him still showed no sign of Kushina inside the barrier.

Seeing how anxious their companion was, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu sat quietly to one side, waiting for news.

Suddenly, a sharp whoosh sounded in front of Sarutobi Hiruzen's desk. An Anbu had arrived to deliver a report.

"Third, Team Sancho has found the Jinchūriki, Kushina, and is withdrawing toward the village!"

"According to the initial report, the ones who abducted the Jinchūriki were three Cloud Village Chunin. Their jonin leader wasn't beyond the border. Of the three Cloud Village shinobi, two are dead and one is injured. They're being escorted back to the village!"

After hearing the Anbu's report, Sarutobi Hiruzen lowered his pipe and reactivated the crystal ball. He caught sight of the group entering the village through a special Anbu passage on Konoha's western side.

Seeing that bright red hair, the weight finally lifted from Sarutobi Hiruzen's heart, and he slumped back in his seat.

He wasn't afraid that losing Kushina would allow another great nation to create a Perfect Jinchūriki. What worried him was facing the doubts of his own Perfect Jinchūriki.

After all, he owed much of his ability to hold on to the position of Hokage to Uzumaki Mito's support, both open and behind the scenes. If he fell out with Uzumaki Mito, the hard-won peace in Konoha would be thrown into turmoil once more.

Aside from the Ino-Shika-Cho Clans, the other shinobi clans in Konoha couldn't stand seeing him in that position. The Hyuga and Uchiha in particular—two clans with dōjutsu powerful enough to command attention throughout the Shinobi World—had never taken him seriously as Hokage.

And then there was Shimura Danzō, who had always coveted the position from the shadows. Sarutobi Hiruzen felt exhausted. He quietly wondered if he could find an excuse to retire early...

Just as Sarutobi Hiruzen was sinking into his lethargy, the door swung open with a bang. Shimura Danzō suddenly walked in, his chin marked by a crossed scar and his right eye wrapped in bandages!

The instant he saw his companion, the lethargy that had been slowly creeping over him vanished without a trace!