Outwitting Thin Air~

The main hall of Genmyoji had originally been a place to worship the Buddha. Now it had been converted into the Hokage's temporary office. The only people coming and going were Konoha's shinobi. The monks who had once lived at Genmyoji had all been sent away to take shelter.

Uzumaki Kuming had no idea that the day before he was attacked, the Land of Earth had dispatched shinobi units to strike the borders of the Land of Grass and the Land of Rain. The formidable Iwagakure had needed less than half a day to completely rout the Land of Grass's defenders. Meanwhile, the shinobi unit Iwagakure had sent to the Land of Rain had also scored a major victory.

With the Land of Grass collapsing so quickly, Iwagakure had already completed its infiltration of the Land of Fire before Konoha's reinforcements, sent to the border, had even arrived. The Stone Ninja who entered the Land of Fire had been tasked with destroying its roads and bridges and, whenever they had the chance, harassing Konoha's rear.

After Iwagakure's sudden attack, the Third Hokage—who had gone to Genmyoji merely to make a show of presence—responded at once. He mobilized a large number of Anbu and shinobi from Konoha, turning Genmyoji into a forward command post. He left Konoha's main base in the hands of his three most trusted disciples.

At the center of Genmyoji's main hall, Hiruzen Sarutobi was carefully reading a scroll. Two masked Anbu stood guard behind him, one black-haired and one white-haired. Their masks made their identities impossible to discern.

Two desks stood on either side of Hiruzen. Behind one, several clerks sorted the various reports coming in. Behind the other were shinobi from Konoha's Barrier Team.

"Urgent report! The Demigod of the Land of Rain, Hanzo of the Salamander, has sent an envoy. He hopes to form an alliance with Konoha and join forces against Iwagakure's invasion."

An Anbu suddenly appeared in the center of the hall and reported on one knee.

"There's an intrusion!"

At the same time, a shinobi from the Barrier Team cried out, his voice drowning out the Anbu's report.

"An intrusion?" Hiruzen raised an eyebrow, then turned slightly toward the black-haired Anbu guarding him. The Anbu behind him caught the signal and vanished in an instant.

"Tell me more about Hanzo of the Salamander's offer of an alliance."

After the black-haired Anbu left, the Third Hokage asked about the situation in the Land of Rain.

Uzumaki Kuming quietly vaulted over the tall wall. The moment he realized he had entered the barrier, he knew they had probably detected him. He didn't recognize the barrier, but he could roughly tell what it was for from the Chakra rippling across it.

Since they've already spotted me, I might as well see who's in charge here.

As soon as Kuming landed, he raced toward the strongest Chakra signature within his sensory range, wanting to see who was running the place. But he hadn't gone far when he sensed an exceedingly eerie Chakra rushing toward him.

Who's coming? Their Chakra is so strong—and so strange!

Curious about the newcomer's identity, Kuming gripped the scroll containing the Reverse Four Symbols Seal.

"Intruder?!"

A masked shinobi suddenly appeared in front of Kuming. He quickly drew a short blade from behind his back and slashed at him. But when he saw that his opponent was a child, he turned the blade around and swung its back toward Kuming's neck instead.

"Who are you?"

Caught off guard by the sudden blow, Kuming had no time to react. All he could do was leap lightly, so the slash that had been aimed at his neck struck his arm instead.

"He has the Sharingan?"

The immense force still sent Kuming flying sideways. When he hit the ground, he vanished in a puff of smoke. But before the Shadow Clone disappeared, Kuming caught sight of the Three-Tomoe Sharingan behind the attacker's mask.

"Shadow Clone Technique?"

"A child!"

"What was that?"

As Kuming's Shadow Clone vanished, a scroll fell from its hand. Uchiha Seishin walked over curiously and used his blade to open it. The instant the scroll unfurled, black ink began spraying out.

"Fuinjutsu?!" Uchiha Seishin sprang into action the moment the ink burst forth, swiftly retreating.

The ink gushed out wildly, soon covering an area dozens of meters across. It swallowed up Genmyoji's tall walls and side hall. A few seconds later, a blinding white light engulfed half of Genmyoji.

"What happened? The barrier's been breached!"

"What's going on?"

"Was it an intruder?!"

After the flash, the entire area it had engulfed had vanished. Even the ground had been left with a huge hemispherical crater, and the vast sensory barrier that had surrounded all of Genmyoji had been completely shattered.

Several figures appeared at the edge of the crater after the flash, watching it warily.

"Seishin, what happened?"

The Third Hokage had also felt the enormous surge of Chakra and immediately ran out of the hall to investigate. Several Jonin who had noticed the commotion were around him. At Hiruzen Sarutobi's question, they all looked toward the man he had called Seishin.

"It was a sealing technique. The intruder was a little boy, about five years old, with red hair and some injuries."

"I defeated a Shadow Clone. A scroll fell when it disappeared, and I opened it out of curiosity. I didn't expect to trigger the seal."

"I'm sorry. I let my guard down because he was a child."

After hearing Uchiha Seishin's explanation, the Third Hokage lowered his head slightly, lost in thought. A possibility crossed his mind.

"A seal this powerful should be unique to the Uzumaki Clan. Could that child be...?"

As the Third Hokage pondered, a figure appeared through the hole in the wall, which had been blasted open by the sealing technique.

"Thank goodness! They really are people from the village! Hahahaha!"

Uzumaki Kuming appeared at the base of the broken wall, staring excitedly at the people inside. At his shout, everyone who had been watching the crater turned to look at him.

"Lord Hokage, that's the child from earlier."

Uchiha Seishin recognized Kuming as the intruder the moment he saw him and immediately reported it to the Third Hokage beside him.

"..."

As I thought. Seeing Kuming, the Third Hokage was at a loss for words. He then waved to everyone and said, "All right, go back to what you were doing. This child is from the village."

"Check whether anyone was injured in the attack just now."

The Third Hokage lightly rubbed his forehead. What a huge misunderstanding. If Kuming had caused any casualties, he wouldn't have known how to explain it to everyone.

"Report! Everyone is safe. No one was in the surrounding area when the incident occurred!"

Before long, an Anbu returned with a report. Hearing the results, the Third Hokage let out a quiet breath of relief.

"Good. We didn't suffer any casualties."

"A blessing in disguise."

In the distance, Kuming saw the Third Hokage and the two Anbu behind him, and felt a wave of relief. After receiving the information from his Shadow Clone, he had realized that this place was probably under Konoha's control.

After all, the Uchiha Clan only existed in Konoha, and Uchiha who became Anbu were exceedingly rare. Every Uchiha who joined the Anbu had one obvious thing in common: they were loyal enough to the village.

So the moment he saw an Uchiha here, Uzumaki Kuming was sure this place was safe, and that it was probably controlled by the Third Hokage's faction. Given Danzo's attitude toward the Uchiha, there was no way they would work for him.

"Lord Hokage!"

Uzumaki Kuming cheered and ran toward the Third Hokage.

After all that, I've been outwitting thin air this whole time~