Someone Handed Us a Knife

When the loved ones you cherish die, and someone tells you to let go of that hatred, don't hesitate—give them a good slap across the face.

Can a sword that's too sharp hurt its wielder as well as its victim?

No matter. As long as it breaks after you've finished cutting someone down, it won't hurt you.

It wasn't your wealth to begin with, so you wouldn't feel bad if it broke.

Just as Sarutobi Hiruzen was eagerly making plans to give those Cloud Village savages a good beating, two Anbu appeared outside the Hokage's office with a swish.

The Anbu's usual role was to protect the Hokage, but as their ranks grew increasingly bloated, they were assigned all sorts of missions.

Though they wore animal masks, Sarutobi Hiruzen recognized the two Anbu at a glance.

They were the two he had assigned to check on and secretly protect Kushina Uzumaki.

"Has something happened to Kushina?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen took a deep draw on his pipe, feeling the tobacco linger in his lungs.

No matter how angry or resentful he was before, when it came to the Nine-Tails—the Tailed Beast capable of destroying Konoha—he had no choice but to keep a cool head.

"Kushina Uzumaki has gone missing," one of the Anbu replied quickly.

Not long after arriving in Konoha, Uzumaki Kushina had become the second Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. But this information was a closely guarded secret, known only to the few people present and the late Shimura Danzō.

The security measures weren't especially strict. After all, making them too tight would only risk exposing the secret.

But how had she still managed to disappear?

"Immediately have the Anbu conduct a thorough search. Spare no expense—find her as quickly as possible."

"Yes!" The two Anbu vanished again with a whoosh.

"Why did she have to go missing now?" Utatane Koharu's brow furrowed so deeply it seemed ready to crease. "The Uchiha Clan just gave up its work in the Police Force. Isn't this all a little too convenient?"

"I also think it's too much of a coincidence."

Gazing out at the night sky, he realized that night had somehow already replaced day.

Sarutobi Hiruzen slowly shook his head. "The Uchiha didn't do this."

"Those people only have their wits about them on the battlefield. And with their personalities, they wouldn't team up with outsiders."

Both were worried about Kushina Uzumaki, but after Sarutobi Hiruzen pointed this out, they came around.

With those arrogant Uchiha, if they really wanted to kidnap Uzumaki Kushina, they'd have marched in a group straight to her home, then loudly announced that they were taking her away on behalf of the Uchiha Clan.

And their pride would only sour relations with outside forces.

It would probably go something like: "You useless lot think you can give orders to the Uchiha Clan? You think you're worthy of an alliance with us?"

Go drown in the Sharingan's genjutsu, you arrogant fools!

The outside forces: ???

Mitokado Homura was the sort of man who couldn't sit still. He spoke quickly. "Kushina is crucial. We absolutely cannot let anything happen to her. I'll contact the border guards and nearby outposts at once."

"Then I'll pay a visit to the clan with tracking abilities," Utatane Koharu said, unwilling to sit idle.

The Land of Fire's borders were embroiled in fighting, and large numbers of shinobi had been sent out. There were so few people left working in the village that even the senior advisers couldn't afford to sit around.

Sarutobi Hiruzen stroked his goatee and sat quietly for a while, gazing into the night. Then he suddenly said, "Zero, go pay a visit to the Uchiha Clan. Make sure to mention Kushina's original identity."

Though the Land of Whirlpools had already been destroyed, Kushina Uzumaki's identity remained: she was its princess.

At least to those who knew who Uzumaki Kushina was, she was still that princess—much like Tsunade.

If a princess from another country were kidnapped in Konoha, it would be a tremendous blow to the village's reputation.

"Also tell Uchiha Yuji that the Uchiha will always be Konoha's Uchiha, and Konoha will always be the Uchiha's Konoha."

As long as it didn't involve fighting or tracking, the Anbu were always efficient at relaying messages.

When Uchiha Yuji received the Anbu's message, his first thought was that Sarutobi Hiruzen had gone senile before he was even old.

But after thinking it over, he understood what the Hokage was getting at.

"Go back and tell the Third that the Uchiha Clan understands."

The Anbu named Zero disappeared in a flash.

Uchiha Yuji slowly rose to his feet, and his Three-Tomoe Sharingan connected to the others in an instant. "I won't waste words. You've all heard the intelligence."

"Move out at once. Let their corpses show the other shinobi villages the price of using the Uchiha Clan."

The night was deep, the moon bright. In the Uchiha Clan's training hall, countless pairs of blood-red Sharingan glowed crimson.

We'd only just given up our work in the Police Force, and you'd already come knocking to pull off a job.

Are you trying to slap Konoha in the face, or are you exploiting the chain of suspicion to make our Uchiha Clan take the blame? Or are you trying to frame us as conspiring with outside forces to kidnap a Konoha shinobi with a Kekkei Genkai?

Or is it both?

The bright full moon emerged from behind the clouds. Beneath its silvery glow, countless shadows scattered like ink dissolving into water. It took them hardly any time to find the idiots responsible for the kidnapping.

Uzumaki Kushina's bright red hair was everywhere along the way. They'd nearly plucked her bald, yet the fools hadn't noticed her little trick.

"A bunch of amateurs. They let their hostage leave such obvious marks."

"Yashiro, take the clan members and hold off the Anbu and everyone else."

"I'll deal with those guys."

Uchiha Yashiro didn't question him. He simply withdrew and went to carry out Uchiha Yuji's order.

After determining their direction, he alternated between teleportation and the Body Flicker Technique. His ridiculously fast pace far surpassed the forced march of an ordinary jonin.

While Konoha's shinobi were still preparing a rescue plan, and before Namikaze Minato realized something was wrong, Uchiha Yuji had already encountered the Cloud Village savages who had kidnapped her.

Or rather, he had cut off their path.

"This road is closed, you Cloud Village savages."

His blood-red eyes stood out in the darkness, dazzling and conspicuous. The extreme changes in Yin Release made the Cloud shinobi's hearts turn cold all at once.

"How did he find us so quickly?"

"There's only one Uchiha. We can take him."

"We still have a hostage."

There was a widely repeated saying in the Shinobi World about encountering an Uchiha: One on one, run like hell; two on one, attack from behind. There were so many of them now. They weren't afraid.

Still, they had enough sense not to meet an Uchiha's gaze.

"Do you really think it isn't a little late to lower your heads now?"

"The Mangekyo genjutsu was already activated the moment you encountered me."

"It's been active this whole time!"

Uchiha Yuji walked toward the Cloud shinobi at an unhurried pace, as though they weren't even there. He passed right by them, yet they remained utterly motionless.

In the cool night breeze, a little warmth came from the embrace. Kushina Uzumaki slowly opened her eyes. What she saw was a pair of Sharingan that seemed to embody evil.

The blood-red Mangekyo turned with an oddly beautiful grace.

"So beautiful," the girl said.