Set Out!

At the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rain stood a fairly peaceful village.

In a small, detached wooden house on the outskirts of the village, Sigurd and Uzumaki Miku had settled in.

After buying the house, Sigurd handed Uzumaki Miku all the banknotes he had taken from the bandits nearby.

He had her buy some of the daily necessities she needed from the villagers.

After that, Sigurd fell silent.

To be precise, Tokiju had withdrawn the consciousness he'd spread across Sigurd from faraway Yugakure.

The day after Tokiju bestowed the Starlight Blessing on Tsunade and Shizune, he had told them about Uzumaki Miku.

Why hadn't he said anything yesterday?

Don't ask. He'd been so excited to reunite with his big sister that he'd forgotten. Hands on hips.

The main reason, actually, was that the night before, Tokiju had gotten the Shadow Clone Technique training scroll from Tsunade.

He'd spent the whole night studying it and forgotten all about Uzumaki Miku.

When Tsunade learned that the Uzumaki Clan member was pregnant, she immediately decided they had to hurry over and meet up with her.

After all, malnutrition was serious. A little carelessness could leave someone with lifelong health problems.

"Tokiju, where is this woman named Uzumaki Miku now?" Tsunade asked.

"She's in a small village at the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rain," Tokiju replied.

At that, Tsunade murmured, "The Land of Rain... It's not too far. If we travel at full speed, it'll only take five or six days."

As she thought, Tsunade slapped her thigh and said to Tokiju, "Hand over all the money you have. I need to prepare some medicinal herbs to help her recover."

Tokiju had no objections, of course. He felt a little reluctant to part with the money he'd earned from the bandits, but Uzumaki Miku's situation mattered more, so he readily handed Tsunade the banknotes—more than a hundred thousand ryo in all.

He knew his big sister's bad habit: whenever she had money, she wanted to gamble. But when it came to something important, she wouldn't mess around.

After taking the banknotes from Tokiju, Tsunade said to Shizune, "Shizune, come with me. You know what herbs we need to help her recover, so let's split up and buy everything as quickly as we can."

"Yes, Lady Tsunade!" Shizune answered, immediately preparing to leave with her.

Before leaving, Tsunade also instructed Tokiju and Uchiha Hikari, "Pack up our things from the inn, then wait for us at the entrance to Yugakure."

With that, Tsunade left the inn room with Shizune.

Tokiju and Uchiha Hikari each went to pack their things.

Tokiju didn't fuss over it. He took out a Space Scroll and stuffed everything inside in one go.

Once they were done, Tokiju and Uchiha Hikari immediately set off for the entrance to Yugakure.

On the way, Uchiha Hikari glanced at Tokiju and asked, "Was it really wise to reveal your puppet trump card like that?"

Tokiju sighed.

"Ah... She's from the Uzumaki Clan, after all. I got carried away and rescued her without thinking about the consequences."

"I'd planned to have her stay with Sigurd and help him, but I didn't expect her to be pregnant."

"On top of that, her body is severely weakened. I can't do anything about that. I can only rely on my big sister."

"So now we can only take her back to Konoha with us. Konoha is the only place that can offer her a reasonably stable environment."

Tokiju had thought it over carefully these past few days. Sigurd was definitely going to infiltrate Akatsuki. There was no question about it.

If she were a healthy member of the Uzumaki Clan, having her help him would be perfectly reasonable.

And since they were both survivors of the Uzumaki Clan, she might also win Nagato's sympathy. It would be a win-win.

But if she was pregnant, taking her along on an undercover mission would hardly be a wise choice.

So it was better to have her come back to Konoha with him.

And since Karin was already pregnant, Naruto probably wouldn't be far behind.

Tokiju remembered that Naruto and Karin were around the same age. They were both born next year, in Konoha Year 51.

He thought Naruto's birthday was sometime in October. It was the only birthday of a Naruto character he could remember.

It was now late September of Konoha Year 50. Judging by the timeline, Naruto hadn't been conceived by his parents yet.

Going by his birthday, he should be conceived around December this year.

In other words, the Nine-Tails Rebellion was only a little over a year away.

That wasn't a short time, but it wasn't a long one, either. They could only take things one step at a time.

Although Tokiju was highly skilled in Sealing Jutsu, he didn't have any particularly effective way to deal with a Tailed Beast.

After all, he hadn't fully awakened Adamantine Sealing Chains, a technique especially effective against Tailed Beasts, and still couldn't use it very well.

Right now, he could only manifest two chains from his lower back. They couldn't extend very far, either—at most a hundred meters or so.

The main reason was that he wasn't a pure-blooded member of the Uzumaki Clan, so he didn't have enough chakra.

Although Tokiju had Senju and Uzumaki blood, it was still diluted.

Besides, not every Senju was Senju Hashirama.

Take Tsunade, for example. Even though she was Senju Hashirama's biological granddaughter, she still had far less chakra than he did.

That was why she developed the Yin Seal to supplement her abilities and make up for her insufficient chakra.

If Tsunade had Senju Hashirama's immense chakra reserves,

she wouldn't have needed to develop the Yin Seal to store chakra. She could've simply charged in with the Strength of a Hundred Technique and gone wild.

So even though Tokiju's chakra reserves increased every day thanks to his absorption of starlight,

at this rate, he would need several more years of effort just to reach Senju Hashirama's level.

That meant even if Tokiju awakened Adamantine Sealing Chains now, he still wouldn't have enough chakra to restrain the Nine-Tails.

Seeing the worry on Tokiju's face, Uchiha Hikari pursed her lips and teased him, "What, do you regret saving that woman?"

At her words, Tokiju paused, then shook his head and replied firmly, "No. I won't regret saving someone."

Uchiha Hikari smiled helplessly. When the little guy before her got serious, he was rather handsome.

After waiting a while at the entrance to Yugakure, Tsunade appeared in sight with Shizune.

They nodded to one another, confirming that nothing had been left behind. Then Tsunade swept her hand through the air and shouted, "Let's go!"