Return to Konoha

As Sigurd walked inside, he was quickly discovered by the seven people within.

Instantly, the two individuals possessing chakra stood up and blocked Sigurd's path.

As for the other four people without chakra, they immediately grabbed the children and hid inside the dilapidated wooden shack.

Seeing this, Sigurd spoke first, demanding, "Who are you people, and why are you at the ruins of the Village Hidden in the Whirlpools?"

Hearing the interrogation, the younger one lost his composure first, viciously retorting, "And who are you? Why have you come to our territory?"

Upon hearing this, Sigurd let out a scoff and said, "Young man, don't be so hot-headed, or you might easily find yourself being taught a lesson."

As he spoke, Sigurd snapped his fingers.

Instantly, countless spikes condensed from moonlight erupted from the ground, trapping the young man firmly within them.

Two of the spikes even pierced into the man's flesh, causing him to shriek in pain.

Seeing this, the older man immediately knelt before Sigurd, kowtowing repeatedly in supplication.

"We surrender, we surrender! Please, my lord, do not hurt him."

After demonstrating his power, Sigurd snapped his fingers again, and the spikes surrounding the young man vanished instantly.

Once the spikes disappeared, the young man immediately clutched his wounds, the previous hostility in his eyes gone.

He followed the older man's lead and knelt before Sigurd as well: "Thank you, my lord, for sparing our lives!"

He knew that the person before him had the power to kill them all; he did not fear death himself, but he feared his companions dying because of him.

The older man was quite clever; he realized that Sigurd must want something from them, which was why he hadn't killed them immediately.

That was why he had knelt so quickly, hoping to gain some leverage for the future.

"Can you answer my previous question now?" Sigurd asked, his tone slightly impatient.

Hearing this, the older man immediately replied, "Yes, yes! My lord, we are all refugees from Kirigakure."

Sigurd heard this and sat down casually on a rock, saying, "Oh, tell me the specific reasons."

The older man nodded respectfully and immediately answered, "Yes, my lord. We are actually civilians from the Hozuki Clan of Kirigakure. Later, because of the Fourth Mizukage's purge of bloodline families, our clan was targeted until we were nearly extinct."

"In the chaos, we split into several groups, intending to escape while the situation was dire, and we are the lucky survivors."

"Oh, you are actually from the Hozuki Clan? That surprises me a little." Sigurd scratched his chin, speaking with amusement.

Hearing Sigurd's exclamation, the older man continued, "We can only be considered commoners within the Hozuki Clan; basically, we are all ordinary people who cannot cultivate chakra."

Sigurd nodded; he had already discovered this while observing from the sky.

"And you? What is your story?" Sigurd inquired.

The older man replied, "My lord, I was originally a Kirigakure chunin, but because the Mizukage's purge of the clans included me, I fled with my clansmen."

Hearing this, Sigurd now understood the situation.

"Since you were able to escape from the Land of Water all the way here, your swimming skills must be quite good, right?" Sigurd continued to ask.

The older man nodded immediately: "Yes, we grew up by the water since childhood. It can be said that every villager of Kirigakure is an expert swimmer."

Sigurd nodded and said, "Very well. Now, I give you two choices: loyalty or death?"

"We choose loyalty!" the older man answered immediately, without a second thought.

"Excellent!" Sigurd clapped his hands, then tossed a storage scroll to the young man, saying, "There is some food inside. Distribute it."

Hearing this, the young man took it with pleasant surprise and kowtowed repeatedly to thank Sigurd.

"Thank you, my lord! Thank you, my lord!"

Sigurd waved his hand casually, signaling for him to leave.

The young man ran off excitedly to begin distributing the food to the others.

Seeing the man leave, Sigurd looked at the older man and continued to ask, "You must have been living here for quite some time. Have you discovered anything unusual about this place?"

Hearing this, the older man nodded immediately and said, "Yes, my lord, there is. There is indeed one unusual place here."

Sigurd became interested immediately: "Take me to see it."

"Yes, my lord, please follow me."

With that, the older man began to lead the way for Sigurd.

Soon, they arrived before a very hidden and special stone door.

Sigurd reached out and touched the stone door, discovering that it indeed bore the unique sealing runes of the Uzumaki Clan.

"It seems this is the place."

Sigurd muttered to himself, then said to the older man, "Very well, you may withdraw. Tell the others not to disturb me."

"Yes!" the older man responded respectfully and then retreated.

Seeing that everyone had left, Sigurd officially began to break the seal.

Although the seal here was complex, for Sigurd, breaking it was only a matter of time.

October 3rd, the 50th year of Konoha.

Land of Fire, Konoha.

After bumping along in a carriage for over ten days, Tokiju and his group finally arrived at the main gate of Konoha.

Because Uzumaki Miku was pregnant, the journey had been kept at a slow pace to accommodate her.

Looking at the gate emblazoned with the Konoha emblem, Tokiju stretched his back and said excitedly, "Konoha, I'm back!"

At this moment, Uchiha Hikari walked up to Tokiju and said, "So this is Konoha? It looks pretty decent."

Tsunade stepped forward as well, sighing, "Konoha... I haven't been back in years, yet it remains exactly the same."

With that, Tsunade looked at the group and said, "Let's go. I'll take you all to the Senju compound first."

As she spoke, she headed straight toward the Konoha gate.

Upon reaching the entrance, the first thing Tokiju noticed were the two Konoha shinobi guarding the gatehouse.

One had spiky hair and a white bandage across the bridge of his nose.

The other wore a dark blue ninja cap, his right eye obscured by his hair.

Seeing these two, Tokiju recognized them instantly; they were the legendary gatekeepers of Konoha, Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane.

Seeing them, Tokiju couldn't help but marvel inwardly: Are these two already working the gate? That's quite early.

Under normal circumstances, even Konoha shinobi were required to register with them upon returning to the village.

However, this rule clearly didn't apply to Tsunade, the Princess of Konoha, as she strode right into the village with Tokiju and the others in tow.

Kotetsu Hagane watched as a large group ignored the two guards and walked into Konoha without a care in the world.

Seeing them act with such disregard, he felt as if they didn't consider him, Kotetsu Hagane, to be worth a damn!

Furious, he slammed his hand on the table and stepped forward to confront them.

But just then, Izumo Kamizuki held him back and said, "Have you lost your mind? Didn't you see who was leading them?"

Hearing this, Kotetsu Hagane looked back at the person in the lead, his gaze suddenly freezing as a wave of fear washed over him.

"Is... is that Lady Tsunade?" Kotetsu Hagane pointed at Tsunade, his voice stuttering.

Izumo Kamizuki nodded, confirming, "It is indeed Lady Tsunade, though I have no idea who those people following her are."

At this, Izumo Kamizuki looked at Kotetsu Hagane and said sternly, "You keep watch here. I'm going to report this to the Hokage."

Kotetsu Hagane patted his chest and said, "Go on then. I'll keep an eye on things here; there won't be any trouble!"