Uzumaki Kushina was the first to leave, carried away by flying Summoned Beasts.
White Spear Heron, Yatagarasu, and several other Summoned Beasts, including giant eagles.
After them came the Cloud Ninja pursuing Uzu Hidden Village's Forbidden Scroll.
Behind them were two Konoha ANBU squads.
Danzo followed as well.
The Yellow Dog Squad remained behind to cover the retreat.
Yagami stood atop the wall and looked back at Uzu Hidden Village.
Inside the village, Mist Ninja were surrounding and intercepting the last Uzumaki female ninja.
There were around fifty of those female ninja, desperately trying to break through the Mist Ninja blockade.
Uzu Hidden Village had fallen completely silent. Only scattered fighting remained near the northwestern wall.
After jumping down from the wall and slipping into the forest beyond the village, the Black Gorilla Squad Commander waved for his squad to stop.
Only five people remained in the squad: Kurozaru, three Squad Leaders, and one squad member.
"Change into Cloud Ninja gear. We have another mission."
The sole squad member carried a large pack, filled at some point with Cloud Ninja equipment.
Yagami discarded his ANBU iron vest, which bore countless blade marks, and put on a Cloud Ninja's one-shoulder vest.
He tossed away his half-ruined ninja sword and picked up an almost brand-new long blade.
There was also a bloodstained Cloud Ninja forehead protector.
Most importantly, he put on a mask.
A five-man Cloud Ninja team had appeared.
Kurozaru glanced at the lone squad member and decided there was no need to hide the mission from him. He said:
"Our mission is to ensure that the Uzumaki Clan's remnants do not interfere with the Uzumaki Princess entering Konoha."
There was no need to explain why. Everyone knew what they had to do.
Any Uzumaki clansman who approached the Uzumaki Princess had to be executed.
The five Cloud Ninja rushed out of the forest.
The Uzumaki Remnants had left the village and were advancing northwest, toward Konoha.
The long, narrow peninsula terrain of the Land of Whirlpools gave them little room to maneuver.
Most of the Mist Ninja remained in Uzu Hidden Village, searching every inch of it. Sealing Jutsu research notes, valuables, and intelligence from corpses were their main targets.
A small number of Mist Ninja continued pursuing the Uzumaki Remnants.
The Uzumaki Remnants continually split off into teams of three to hold the rear and buy time for the others.
All these women stared fixedly to the northwest. Konoha was their only hope.
The appearance of the five Cloud Ninja made that hope even dimmer.
The five Cloud Ninja carried long swords on their backs, each one standing tall and straight.
Kurozaru did not rashly approach. Instead, he led his subordinates forward in parallel with the Uzumaki Remnants.
Their slow approach put pressure on the Uzumaki Remnants.
Under such pressure, even simple actions like jumping, landing, and running became distorted by mental strain.
Only when someone among the Uzumaki Remnants moved awkwardly and landed unsteadily would Kurozaru lead his team in throwing Kunai.
That pitiful Uzumaki girl died beneath a barrage of more than a dozen Kunai.
Mist Ninja pursuers were behind them, while Cloud Ninja harassed them from the side. The Uzumaki Remnants grew more and more desperate.
Yagami frowned inwardly.
Something was wrong. A cornered enemy should not be pressed too hard.
The Uzumaki Ninja were not incapable of fighting back. They still had Sealing Scrolls and secret sealing techniques.
What if they were driven to desperation and chose to trade their lives one for one?
The Reaper Death Seal was not something Yagami could withstand.
Yagami saw several Uzumaki female ninja with vacant eyes, already resolved to die, deliberately approaching him and the others disguised as Cloud Ninja.
It was only the seventh day of the month, nowhere near a full moon. He had no revival chances. Trading his life for one of these cornered enemies was not worth it.
Yagami glanced at the Black Gorilla Squad Commander. The commander had only the ANBU mission on his mind and was determined to kill every Uzumaki Ninja.
An Uzumaki female ninja charged over.
Another squad leader met her, but he was immediately entangled by the iron chains of a Sealing Scroll.
The female ninja had no intention of living. She rushed in and detonated an Exploding Tag at close range, killing both herself and the squad leader.
Yagami clicked his tongue inwardly. The Uzumaki Clan had suffered countless casualties tonight. The fathers, brothers, and children of these female ninja were all dead.
No, he could not risk his life against these madwomen. He could not let them continue running toward Konoha.
Yagami looked at Uzumaki Yuka.
Uzumaki Yuka was in the center of the group, protected by the other Uzumaki female ninja.
She had been fortunate. White Spear Heron was fast, and the village had chosen it to carry Uzumaki Kushina away.
If Uzumaki Yuka died and the summoning contract was released, Uzumaki Kushina would not be able to escape either.
But how could he contact Uzumaki Yuka?
While he was thinking, the only remaining squad member of the Black Gorilla Squad also died.
Only three people remained in the squad: Kurozaru, Fox, and Leaf Monkey.
Seeing that the Uzumaki Remnants still possessed such fighting strength, Kurozaru hurriedly widened the distance.
He had left the village with an entire sixteen-man squad, yet now only two people remained, and Fox had even been transferred in from another squad.
Yagami sighed in relief. That was more like it. Let the Uzumaki Remnants fight the Mist Ninja to the death. Why should we Konoha ANBU join in?
The pursuit and escape continued.
The Black Gorilla Squad became observers. They no longer intervened and merely recorded the number of Uzumaki Remnants.
During one brief opening, Yagami picked up a shattered Wooden Clog.
He held a Kunai in reverse, pretending to be ready to throw it at any moment, while secretly carving several words into the wood.
There were fewer and fewer Uzumaki Ninja. These people became increasingly fearless of death, charging at enemies on sight as though every one of them wore an Exploding Tag meant to take someone down with them.
While Kurozaru was tied up by an Uzumaki Ninja, Yagami threw the wooden plank out along with a Kunai.
After throwing it, Yagami looked around. No one had noticed the plank.
Uzumaki Yuka saw a Kunai flying toward her and quickly dodged aside.
Beneath the Kunai was a small wooden plank.
The plank fell to the ground, and there were words on it!
Uzumaki Yuka picked it up and looked at it. Her expression changed drastically, and she quickly crushed the plank.
The plank read: Do not go to the Land of Fire!
Uzumaki Yuka looked toward the Cloud Ninja who had thrown the plank, then suddenly froze.
That figure... he had changed clothes, wrapped up his hair, and worn a mask, but why did he look so much like Fox?
She had never connected the Cloud Ninja with Fox before, but now that she looked again, he truly did resemble Fox.
Could that plank have been Fox's warning to her?
But why did Fox not 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 of why Konoha had yet to send reinforcements, and more importantly, why Konoha had not provided Uzu Hidden Village with intelligence about the Cloud Ninja and Mist Ninja invasion.
Konoha and Uzu Hidden Village shared intelligence.
The strangest thing about Uzu Hidden Village's disaster was that there had been no warning beforehand. It was as though every intelligence ninja had been eliminated tonight.
That was completely impossible.
During the Shinobi World War, the Uzumaki Clan had stationed many reconnaissance ninja along the coast of the Land of Whirlpools.
Unless... unless someone had handed the intelligence on the Uzumaki Clan's Reconnaissance Squads to the enemy!
Only by ambushing every Reconnaissance Squad at once could the enemy ensure that Uzu Hidden Village remained completely unaware.
The Uzumaki Clan could never have done such a thing. Then... was it Konoha?
Konoha shared intelligence with Uzu Hidden Village and also knew Uzu Hidden Village's defensive arrangements.
Uzumaki Yuka suddenly felt ice-cold all over.
Could it be?
Could Konoha have also taken part in the destruction of the Uzumaki Clan?
Before you continue