As soon as Sigurd stepped inside, the seven people there spotted him.
In an instant, the two people with chakra stepped forward and blocked his way.
As for the other four, who had no chakra, they immediately gathered up the children and hid inside the dilapidated wooden hut.
Seeing this, Sigurd spoke first, demanding, "Who are you, and why are you at the ruins of the Village Hidden in the Whirlpools?"
At his question, the younger man was the first to lose his composure. He shot back viciously, "Who are you, and why have you come to our territory?"
Hearing this, Sigurd gave a derisive laugh. "You're too hotheaded, young man. Otherwise, you'll learn your lesson the hard way."
As he spoke, Sigurd snapped his fingers.
In an instant, countless spikes formed from moonlight grew out of the ground, trapping the young man among them.
Two of them even pierced his flesh, making him yelp in pain.
Seeing this, the older man immediately knelt before Sigurd and kowtowed repeatedly, pleading with him.
"We surrender! We surrender! Please, sir, don't hurt him."
After demonstrating his power, Sigurd snapped his fingers again, and the spikes surrounding the young man vanished in an instant.
As soon as they disappeared, the young man clutched his wounds. The hostility he'd shown earlier was completely gone.
He followed the older man's example and knelt before Sigurd. "Thank you for sparing my life, sir!"
He knew the man before him was capable of killing every one of them. He wasn't afraid to die, but he was afraid his companions would die because of him.
The older man, however, was quite clever. He'd realized Sigurd probably wanted them to do something, which was why he hadn't killed them right away.
That was why he'd dropped to his knees at lightning speed, hoping to survive.
"Now, can you answer my earlier question?" Sigurd asked, sounding a little impatient.
At that, the older man answered immediately. "Yes, yes! Sir, we're all people who fled Kirigakure."
Sigurd sat casually on a rock and said, "Oh? Tell me exactly what happened."
The older man nodded respectfully and answered at once. "Yes, sir. We're ordinary members of the Hozuki Clan from Kirigakure. After the Fourth Mizukage began purging the bloodline clans, our clan was targeted and nearly wiped out."
"In the chaos, we split into several groups and tried to escape. We're the lucky ones who survived."
"Oh, you're from the Hozuki Clan? That surprises me," Sigurd said, scratching his chin with an amused expression.
Hearing Sigurd's remark, the older man continued, "We're just ordinary members of the Hozuki Clan. Most of us are common folk who can't even train in chakra."
Sigurd nodded. He'd already noticed as much while observing them from above.
"And you? What's your story?" Sigurd asked.
The older man replied, "Sir, I was a Chunin from Kirigakure, but the Mizukage's purge of the clans included me too, so I escaped with my clansmen."
Hearing this, Sigurd now understood the situation.
"You managed to get all the way here from the Land of Water, so I imagine you're all good swimmers?" Sigurd continued.
The older man immediately nodded. "Yes. We grew up by the water. You could say every villager in Kirigakure is an excellent swimmer."
Sigurd nodded. "Good. I'll give you two choices: loyalty or death."
"We choose loyalty!" the older man replied without a moment's hesitation.
"Good!" Sigurd clapped his hands, then tossed the young man a Space Scroll. "There's some food in here. Hand it out."
The young man caught it, overjoyed, then repeatedly kowtowed and thanked Sigurd.
"Thank you, sir! Thank you!"
Sigurd casually waved him away, signaling that he could go.
The young man hurried off to distribute the food to everyone.
Once he was gone, Sigurd turned back to the older man and continued, "You've probably been living here for quite a while. Have you noticed anything unusual about this place?"
The older man nodded at once. "Yes, sir. There is something unusual here."
Sigurd immediately grew interested. "Take me to see it."
"Yes, sir. Follow me."
With that, the older man began leading Sigurd onward.
Before long, they arrived at a very well-hidden, unusual stone door.
Sigurd reached out and ran his hand over it, discovering that it did indeed bear the Uzumaki Clan's distinctive sealing script.
"So this is the place."
Sigurd murmured to himself, then said to the older man, "All right, you can go. Tell the others not to disturb me."
"Yes, sir!" the older man replied respectfully, then withdrew.
Once he'd left, Sigurd set about breaking the seal.
The seal was complicated, but for Sigurd, breaking it was only a matter of time.
Konoha Year 50, October 3.
Land of Fire, Konohagakure.
After more than ten days of travel in a carriage, Tokiju and the others finally arrived at Konoha's main gate.
Since Uzumaki Miku was pregnant, they'd traveled slowly to accommodate her.
Looking at the gate bearing Konoha's emblem, Tokiju stretched and said excitedly, "Konoha, I'm back!"
Just then, Uchiha Hikari came up to Tokiju and said, "So this is Konoha? It looks pretty nice."
Tsunade walked over too and sighed. "Konoha... It's been years since I came back, but it's still the same as ever."
Then Tsunade looked at everyone and said, "Come on. I'll take you to the Senju Clan Compound first."
As she spoke, she headed straight for Konoha's gate.
As soon as they reached the entrance, Tokiju spotted the two Konoha Ninja stationed in the guardhouse.
One had spiky hair and a white bandage wrapped around the bridge of his nose.
The other wore a dark blue ninja cap, and his own hair covered his right eye.
Tokiju recognized them at a glance. They were the legendary gatekeepers of Konoha, Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane.
Seeing them, Tokiju couldn't help thinking, They're already on gate duty? That's pretty early.
Normally, even Konoha Ninja had to register with them when returning to Konoha.
But that rule clearly didn't apply to Tsunade, Konoha's princess. She led Tokiju and the others straight into the village without a care.
Kotetsu Hagane watched as a large group of people ignored the two gate guards and walked into Konoha without a second thought.
Their behavior was practically treating him like he didn't matter at all!
He flew into a rage, slapped the table, and was about to go confront them.
But just then, Izumo Kamizuki stopped him. "Have you lost your mind? Didn't you see who was leading them?"
At that, Kotetsu Hagane looked again at the person at the front. His eyes widened, and he felt a chill of fear.
"Th-that's Lady Tsunade?" Kotetsu Hagane stammered, pointing at Tsunade.
Izumo Kamizuki nodded, confirming, "It's definitely Lady Tsunade. I just don't know who the people with her are."
With that, Izumo Kamizuki turned to Kotetsu Hagane and said sternly, "Keep an eye on things here. I'll report this to Lord Hokage."
Kotetsu Hagane patted his chest and said, "Go ahead. I'll keep watch here. There's no way anything will go wrong!"
Before you continue