Nether Escape (Part 1)

"Alright, it's getting late," Yahiko said. "Ye, go get some rest. We have things to do tomorrow."

"I know, it's always like this," Ye Wuji muttered before heading to the adjacent room to prepare for sleep. For Ye Wuji, "rest" was simply the time to practice his chakra.

With Ye Wuji gone, only the three of them remained. "I'm sorry, Brother Yahiko. I said something that upset you," Konan apologized.

"Konan, what made you say that to Ye?" Nagato asked curiously.

"Yeah, Konan. The Fuma Clan has already declined; perhaps no one will even mention it in the future," Yahiko said in a low tone. However, he added a thought to himself: Assuming the main branch doesn't emerge. Unfortunately, no one heard this internal remark, as if the Fuma Clan actually possessed a main branch.

"It's just that I feel Ye might become an incredible ninja in the future," Konan explained. "If he does, he could carry on the title of the Fuma Clan for you, Brother Yahiko."

"Whether it's carried on or not doesn't matter. No matter how powerful a ninja is, they eventually decline in the face of time. Look at the once-mighty Fuma Clan, the Hanzo Clan, and the Sarutobi Clan—haven't they all declined just the same?" Yahiko told Konan and Nagato.

"Besides, the war is constant. Don't forget our dream: to end this chaotic world and build a peaceful one. This isn't something one clan of ninjas can achieve; it requires everyone's effort.

"Anyway, enough of that. We've been hiding here for a long time. Even if the Kirigakure ninjas started searching, they should be finishing up by now. It is strange, though—we haven't seen any other ninjas moving about these past few days. Perhaps something has happened. Let's do this: I'll go out tomorrow to take a look and gather some intelligence. Maybe we won't have to hide here anymore."

"We should go out. I'll go with you, Yahiko, so even if we run into danger, it won't be a problem. But Konan, you'll be left here with Ye. Be careful; although Ye is decent, he is still too young," Nagato said.

"I understand. I'll keep watch outside and hide if anything happens. Then it's settled. I'm going to check on Hua; she might be hungry by now," Konan said before leaving.

"I'm going to rest as well," Nagato said to Yahiko before walking away.

In the blink of an eye, only Yahiko remained in the room. He stepped out and leaped onto the roof, looking up. The sky had darkened, revealing a scattering of stars, and the moon was nothing more than a sliver. Yahiko sat there on the roof, staring at the sky.

Father always told me to find the main branch of the Fuma Clan, but there isn't a single clue. I don't even know how to begin looking. Perhaps the Fuma Clan has completely withered away, with no one left. And with the world in such turmoil, civilians suffering, and orphans everywhere—if the Fuma Clan truly had a main branch, why hasn't anyone ever appeared? I wonder if Salamander Hanzo is from the Hanzo Clan. If I get the chance, I should look into that. I also heard there's someone in Konoha named Sarutobi something... could they be from the Sarutobi Clan? I'll ask about that too if I get the chance.

Father said that long ago, the Fuma, Hanzo, and Sarutobi clans supported one another. But later, the members of all three clans suddenly vanished. Only those operating abroad remained, and the main branches of all three lost contact and disappeared before they could even notify their kin. But if all three were wiped out at once, that's unrealistic. Father once said that even if the Sage of Six Paths were alive, he couldn't have made three clans vanish without a single message getting out. And even if some force had the power to annihilate them, why would they ignore the ninjas operating abroad? With that kind of strength, they could have finished them all off.

It's a pity that after the main branches vanished, the remaining members abroad kept in touch at first, exchanging information to see if they could find any news. But as the older generation passed away, the rest seemed to forget that a main branch even existed. Slowly, they stopped contacting each other, as if they had forgotten their shared connections.

I don't know if what Father said is true. After all, he only heard it from his father, and it's been passed down for over a dozen generations—that's at least several hundred years. Even if the main branch exists, what does it matter? So much time has passed; who knows what went wrong.

Damn it. If these people really exist, I must ask them why they ignore the current situation. Aren't the three clans supposed to be powerful? War, it's always war. It's been so long, and there hasn't been a single period of peace.

Unfortunately, our Fuma Clan isn't a combat-oriented clan. From the secrets passed down, the Fuma are only skilled in researching ninjutsu, chakra, and hand seals. But what use are those things in an era of war? At least Hanzo and Sarutobi still have powerful ninjas left to carry on. The Fuma Clan is almost finished.

It's useless to think about this now. Hanzo and Sarutobi seem to have forgotten about their main branches entirely. Perhaps it's only because the Fuma aren't skilled in combat that these things were preserved, but now, no one believes such a thing exists.

Looking at the facts, the three clans existed in the past and still exist today—that much is certain. If that's true, then this story should be real. So why have I never heard anything about it?

At this moment, Ye Wuji was fast asleep and unaware of Yahiko's thoughts. If he knew what Yahiko was pondering, his head would surely be spinning. There wasn't a single trace of these things in the original Naruto story. Whether these elements existed all along or were the result of the butterfly effect caused by Ye Wuji's arrival, everything remained unknown.

A few days after Ye Wuji went into hiding, in a forest, the area was filled with ninjas. Judging by their headbands, they were all from Kirigakure. There were nearly twenty people standing or crouching in the center of the woods, with at least fifty or sixty more on guard in the perimeter. In the final stages of the Second Shinobi World War, no one expected Kirigakure to gather such massive combat power here.

"Have Hétián and his team arrived yet?" one of them asked.

"Not yet. There's been no response to our messages. I wonder if something happened," another replied.

"That shouldn't be possible. With the strength of their squad, no one here should be able to stop them from even sending a message," a third added.

"That's not necessarily true. If it were Konoha, they might be able to do it. It seems Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade are all in this area. If they teamed up, along with a few others, it would be enough," someone questioned.

"Impossible. They are currently in a standoff with Hanzo of the Rain. How could they have time to deal with us? Besides, didn't they reach a preliminary peace agreement a while ago?"

"That was just a verbal agreement. Does it count for anything? They might be pretending to settle things with Hanzo while actually ambushing us. You never know."

Within moments, seven or eight people were arguing, and half of them believed that Konoha was behind the ambush. The rest remained silent.

"Enough," the first person said, silencing the bickering. He turned to someone else. "Has the scout team returned?"

"Reporting to Lord Ueda, not yet." Before he could finish, a figure came sprinting toward them from the distance. He quickly corrected himself: "They're back, Lord Ueda."

As he spoke, the figure reached his side.

"What's the situation?" Ueda asked directly.

"Reporting, Lord. There is no news of Lord Hétián and his team, but we found several signs of battle in a forest. Judging by the scene, the number of participants wasn't small, and there were traces of various Water Style techniques. It's possible Hétián and his team fought someone there. However, no bodies were found at the scene," the scout reported in one breath.

"Where?" Ueda asked.

"In a forest near here." The scout pulled out a scroll, opened it to reveal a map, and pointed to a location.

"The Jinlun Mountain Range near the Land of Earth," Ueda whispered, then added, "Taro, according to the intelligence we received a while ago, that person seems to have fled there, right?"

"Yes. But with his individual ability, it shouldn't be possible for him to have..." Taro stopped mid-sentence, looking at the others with a knowing expression.

"So it was the work of the Land of Earth? That's possible. They've always been aggressive regarding the war, and their quick agreement this time was indeed suspicious," a ninja who had been keeping his head down suddenly looked up.

"That makes sense. Otherwise, how would Chukichi have the guts to steal our village's Scroll of Sealing? It's fortunate the Mizukage discovered it early, or that guy would have gotten away with the whole thing instead of just half."

"Chukichi has forgotten who he is. To betray the village is one thing, but to target the Scroll of Sealing? Everyone, don't forget the Mizukage's secret order: at all costs, we must retrieve that half of the scroll," Ueda declared.

"You can't really blame Chukichi. His entire clan was slaughtered by the Daimyo. If he hadn't fled, he would have been dead long ago," someone whispered.

Ueda glared at the speaker, who stared right back. "Kazuki, Yuki Kazuki, I hope this is the last time I hear you say something like that. I know the Daimyo's actions may have been unjust, but you should think of yourself and your clan. It doesn't matter here, but if you speak like that outside, even if the Mizukage wanted to protect you, it would be difficult."

"I actually think Kazuki is right. This time it was Chukichi who betrayed us, but who knows who will defect next? The way the Daimyo treats those with Kekkei Genkai is simply... simply..." The man stopped when he saw Ueda's eyes.

"Exactly. The Daimyo shouldn't be targeting the clans with Kekkei Genkai in the village just because he was once assassinated by one of them. Although I don't possess a Kekkei Genkai, look at this—we could have achieved results in this war, but the Daimyo insisted on interfering.

"So far, several clans with Kekkei Genkai have already been wiped out. It would be one thing if he sent their experts to the battlefield to fight for the village, but look at what he's doing. As soon as they leave, he sends people to kill everyone left behind, not even sparing the children. He even leaks intelligence on the battlefield so they get wiped out by the enemy. And the Mizukage does nothing. At this rate, I fear there won't be any Kekkei Genkai left in Kirigakure."

Once this was said, several others chimed in. If Ye Wuji had heard this, he would have known this was the beginning of the era known as the "Bloody Mist," when Kirigakure began its systematic extermination of Kekkei Genkai users. That Yuki Kazuki must have been from the Yuki Clan, a clan possessing the Ice Release Kekkei Genkai. Unfortunately, they would eventually be wiped out, and the Daimyo of the Land of Water who ordered it would eventually be assassinated by a Kekkei Genkai user—an assassin sent by Kirigakure itself.

"Ueda, I think we should just focus on retrieving the Scroll of Sealing. As for Chukichi..." someone said quietly.

"Exactly, Ueda. Besides, Chukichi didn't truly want to betray the village. Otherwise, he could have just taken the scroll and left without going through the trouble of copying it, which is what led to the Mizukage discovering him. If not for that, he would have vanished long ago."

"Do you think I don't know?" Ueda looked around, then lowered his voice and said, "You should keep these things to yourself; don't go around saying them out loud. Otherwise, do you think Chukichi could have escaped from the hands of the Third Mizukage? And look at the people sent this time—there are four clans with Kekkei Genkai. Do you really think they would go for the kill? I know you and Chukichi are close, but just keep it to yourself."

Upon hearing Ueda say this, the person who had spoken slapped his forehead, looking as if he had suddenly realized the truth.

"But Ueda, what about Hétián and the others? It looks like they might have been completely wiped out." Someone raised a question.

"Forget it, let's see how things develop once we get there," Ueda said. Then he shouted, "Now, move out!"

These people attributed the deaths of those killed by Nagato and his group to the Land of Earth. Moreover, due to Zetsu's final cleanup, these were merely suspicions held by the Mist ninjas on the scene; without evidence, it was impossible to confront the Rock ninjas of the Land of Earth. It could be considered a coincidence that these Mist ninjas, preoccupied with their own village's internal affairs, handled the matter this way. It was fortunate for Nagato and Ye Wuji.

If these Mist ninjas had truly pursued the investigation, they might have actually discovered Nagato and the others, and at that point, Nagato, the others, and Ye Wuji would have been in danger.