There are words on the wooden board

The first to leave was Uzumaki Kushina, carried away by a Flying Summon.

White Spear Heron, Yatagarasu, and giant eagles—several types of summon beasts.

After them came the Cloud Ninja, hot on the trail of Uzu Hidden Village's Forbidden Scroll.

Further back were two squads of Konoha Anbu.

Danzo followed as well.

The Yellow Dog Squad stayed behind to hold the rear.

Yagami stood atop the wall, glancing back at Uzu Hidden Village.

Mist Ninja within the village were hunting down the last Uzumaki Female Ninja.

Those female ninja, about fifty in number, struggled desperately to break through the Mist Ninja's encirclement.

The entire Uzu Hidden Village was dead silent, with only sporadic fighting near the northwestern wall.

Leaping down from the wall and slipping into the forest outside the village, the Black Gorilla Squad Commander raised a hand to signal the squad to halt.

The squad now had only five members left: Black Gorilla, three Squad Leaders, and one regular member.

"Change into Cloud Ninja gear. We have another mission."

The sole regular member carried a large pack, having somehow gathered Cloud Ninja equipment at some point.

Yagami discarded his own Anbu iron vest, scarred with blade marks, and donned the Cloud Ninja's single-shouldered vest.

He tossed aside his half-worn ninja sword and picked up an almost brand-new long blade.

There was also a bloodstained Cloud Ninja forehead protector.

Most crucially, he put on a mask.

Thus, a five-man Cloud Ninja squad took shape.

Black Gorilla glanced at the sole regular member, deciding there was no need to hide the mission details from him, and said:

"Our mission is to ensure that the remnants of the Uzumaki Clan do not interfere with the Uzumaki Princess entering Konoha."

No explanation was needed; everyone knew what to do.

Any Uzumaki clan member approaching the Uzumaki Princess was to be executed.

The five Cloud Ninja burst out of the trees.

The Uzumaki Remnants had left the village, heading northwest toward Konoha.

The Land of Whirlpools' long, narrow peninsula left them little room to maneuver.

Most of the Mist Ninja remained in Uzu Hidden Village, scouring every inch—sealing jutsu research notes, valuables, and intelligence from corpses were their primary targets.

A smaller group of Mist Ninja continued pursuing the Uzumaki Remnants.

The Uzumaki Remnants kept splitting off three-woman squads to hold the rear, buying time for the others.

These women fixed their gazes on the northwest, Konoha their only hope.

The appearance of five Cloud Ninja dimmed that hope further.

The five Cloud Ninja carried long blades, their figures tall and straight.

Squad Leader Black Gorilla didn't rush in recklessly; instead, he led his men running parallel to the Uzumaki Remnants.

They closed in slowly, applying pressure.

Under such weight, simple actions—jumping, landing, running—became distorted by psychological strain.

When someone among the Uzumaki Remnants faltered, landing unsteadily, Black Gorilla would order the squad to throw Kunai.

That poor Uzumaki girl died under a barrage of over a dozen Kunai.

With Mist Ninja chasing from behind and Cloud Ninja harassing from the side, the Uzumaki Remnants grew increasingly desperate.

Yagami frowned inwardly.

The situation was off. You don't press a cornered enemy too hard.

The Uzumaki Ninja weren't defenseless; they still had Sealing Scrolls and secret sealing techniques.

If pushed too far, what if they traded their lives one-for-one?

The Reaper Death Seal was something Yagami couldn't withstand.

He spotted several Uzumaki Female Ninja, eyes vacant, already resigned to death, actively moving closer to him, disguised as a Cloud Ninja.

It was the seventh day of the month, not yet the full moon—no respawns left. Trading one-for-one with these cornered foes wasn't worth it.

Yagami glanced at Black Gorilla Squad Commander, whose mind was fixed solely on the Anbu mission: kill every Uzumaki ninja.

One Uzumaki Female Ninja charged forward.

Another Squad Leader met her, but was immediately entangled by chains from a Sealing Scroll.

That female ninja had no will to live; she closed in and detonated Exploding Tags, blowing both herself and the Squad Leader to pieces.

Yagami clicked his tongue inwardly. The Uzumaki Clan had suffered countless deaths tonight—these female ninja had lost their fathers, brothers, and children.

No, he couldn't fight these madwomen to the death. He couldn't let them keep running toward Konoha.

Yagami looked at Uzumaki Yuka.

Uzumaki Yuka was in the center of the formation, protected by the other Uzumaki female ninjas.

She was lucky—White Spear Heron was fast, and the village had chosen her to send Uzumaki Kushina away.

If Uzumaki Yuka died, the contract summon would be undone, and Uzumaki Kushina wouldn't escape either.

But how could he get in touch with Uzumaki Yuka?

As he pondered, the last member of the Black Gorilla Squad also died.

Only three remained in the squad: Black Gorilla, Fox, and Leaf Monkey.

The Black Gorilla Squad Commander saw that the Uzumaki Remnants still had such fighting strength and quickly pulled back.

He had left the village with an entire squad of sixteen people, and now only two were left, with Fox being reassigned from another squad.

Yagami breathed a sigh of relief. That's right. Let the Uzumaki Remnants and the Mist Ninjas fight to the death. Why should we Konoha Anbu get involved?

The pursuit and escape continued.

The Black Gorilla Squad became observers, no longer interfering, only recording the number of Uzumaki Remnants.

In a brief gap, Yagami grabbed a piece of a shattered wooden clog.

He held a kunai in reverse, pretending he was about to throw it at any moment, but secretly used the kunai to carve a few words.

The Uzumaki ninjas were dwindling, and those remaining grew more reckless, charging at enemies as if each one had an Exploding Tag for a mutual death.

While the Black Gorilla Squad Commander was tangled with an Uzumaki ninja, Yagami threw the wooden board along with the kunai.

After throwing it, Yagami looked around. No one had noticed the board.

Uzumaki Yuka spotted a kunai flying toward her and quickly dodged.

Beneath the kunai, there was actually a small wooden board!

The board fell to the ground, and there were words on it!

Uzumaki Yuka picked it up, glanced at it, and was shocked. She immediately crushed the board into pieces.

The board read: Don't go to the Land of Fire!

Uzumaki Yuka looked at the Cloud Ninja who had thrown the board and suddenly paused.

That figure... changed clothes, wrapped up his hair, wore a mask, but why did he look so much like Fox?

She had never connected the Cloud Ninja with Fox before, but now looking again, she realized he really did resemble Fox.

Could that board be a hint from Fox to her?

But why wouldn't Fox want her to go to the Land of Fire?

And why was Fox disguised as a Cloud Ninja?

Uzumaki Yuka suddenly thought of Danzo. She thought about why Konoha hadn't sent reinforcements yet, and more crucially, why Konoha hadn't provided intelligence about the Cloud and Mist Ninja invasions to Uzu Hidden Village?

Konoha and Uzu Hidden Village shared intelligence.

The most bizarre thing about this disaster at Uzu Hidden Village was that there had been no warning at all. It was as if all the Intelligence Ninjas had been wiped out tonight.

That was completely impossible.

During the Shinobi World War, the Uzumaki Clan had deployed many Reconnaissance Ninjas along the coast of the Land of Whirlpools.

Unless... unless someone had given the enemy the intelligence on the Uzumaki Clan's Reconnaissance Squads!

The enemy had to ambush all Reconnaissance Squads simultaneously to ensure no one escaped, leaving Uzu Hidden Village completely unaware.

The Uzumaki Clan couldn't have done something like this. So, was it Konoha?

Konoha shared intelligence with Uzu Hidden Village and also knew the village's defensive arrangements.

Uzumaki Yuka suddenly felt a chill run through her body.

Could it be?

Could Konoha have also participated in the Uzumaki Clan's annihilation?