Uzumaki Ayako

Whether Hideki had done it on purpose or by accident, the black flames first blazed across Seiichiro's coat without touching his skin directly.

The Senju Clan had a comprehensive way of dealing with Amaterasu. The specially made robe Seiichiro was wearing had been designed specifically to defend against it.

The robe was made from special materials that could withstand extreme heat and burning. Even Amaterasu's sunlike heat couldn't turn it to ash in an instant.

The coat also had a unique design that made it easy to take off. As soon as the black flames began to burn, Seiichiro released pale blue chakra, jolting the coat off and tossing it into the water.

The coat burned away quickly under Amaterasu's flames. The black fire began spreading across the sea, and even the seawater couldn't put it out.

By the time Seiichiro had dealt with Amaterasu and turned his attention to Hideki, all he could see was Hideki's retreating figure.

With no opponent left, Seiichiro shouted in frustration, "Get back here! Don't you have any honor?!"

Hideki kept up his high-speed escape and called back, "We're ninja, not samurai. We've never had any such thing as honor! If I don't want to fight, of course I'm going to run!"

Seiichiro had fought Hideki many times before and knew that if Hideki focused on escaping, he would never catch him.

With all his pent-up frustration, Seiichiro could only take it out on Uchiha Ryuji and Uchiha Sawa.

Ryuji and Sawa had already been struggling to keep up with Senju Arashi's endless Water Dragon Bullets. Once Seiichiro joined the fight, the outcome was decided in an instant: he trapped them with the Water Prison Technique.

Qiancao stared at Ryuji and Sawa, trapped and unable to move in the water prison, his expression complicated.

After transmigrating, Qiancao's soul had never adjusted to his new body, and he had grown up in a daze, with little memory of the outside world.

But ever since Ryuji and Sawa had hunted down his family of three that day, his soul had begun to merge with his body, and he had awakened the memories of his previous life.

Now, as he looked at their faces, a nameless fury gradually stirred inside him.

They were the ones who killed my parents and took away my freedom. Qiancao thought, clenching his fists without realizing it.

Wuming stood nearby, looking worried as she watched Qiancao. She didn't know what to say, so she simply took his hand to comfort him.

Seiichiro and Senju Arashi didn't notice anything unusual about Qiancao. They waited until the two Uchiha ninja were gasping for air before releasing the water prison.

Seiichiro even drew two kunai and held them to their throats. "I ask, you answer."

Ryuji took several deep breaths. Seeing Qiancao behind Seiichiro, he noticed the look on his face and realized he was unlikely to survive this. So he smiled and said:

"Don't bother wasting your time! You know we won't tell you anything!"

Sawa, standing beside him, nodded slightly. He even wore a faintly mocking smile as he said to Qiancao, "Your parents deserved what they got! We were only carrying out a mission."

Qiancao couldn't hold back any longer. He rushed forward and punched Sawa in the face, sending his whole body flying far out into the water.

Seiichiro's expression changed. Ryuji still wore a smile, but blood was already flowing from every orifice. He stopped breathing, and his eyes seemed to have been corroded by something, turning into two pools of blood.

Seiichiro hurried to where Sawa had fallen into the water. After searching for a while, he found that Sawa was dead too.

"It seems these two ninja were sent on a mission they weren't expected to survive," Seiichiro reasoned. "Otherwise, they wouldn't have had poison in their bodies that killed them as soon as the mission failed."

Watching his enemies die on their own, Qiancao was plunged into confusion. Without strength, is even taking revenge with my own hands just a pipe dream?

Seiichiro burned their bodies to ashes in midair. The ashes drifted into the sea, which was as fitting a burial as any ninja could receive.

Nearby, the black flames of Amaterasu that Hideki had left behind still blazed across the sea, showing no sign of dying out.

The temperature across the whole area kept rising. Fish in the sea were cooked by the heat and floated to the surface, carrying a faint scent of grilled fish.

Senju Arashi had seen Amaterasu's black flames before, but usually they went out on their own once they had burned through everything combustible.

Now even seawater couldn't extinguish the flames. If they kept burning, who knew how many lives in the sea would be harmed?

Just as everyone was at a loss, another ship came speeding toward them from the direction of the Land of Whirlpools.

A woman who looked to be about twenty-five stood at the bow. Her vivid red hair danced in the sea breeze like blazing flames, marking her as an Uzumaki.

She wore a white robe patterned with red flames, which reminded Qiancao of the Hokage's cloak from Naruto.

The loose robe couldn't hide her curvaceous figure, and she carried herself with more mature charm than the young Senju Arashi.

As the ship drew closer, an old man came to the woman's side and handed her a huge scroll.

The woman unfurled it in the wind. It was already covered in rows upon rows of tiny writing.

After forming a series of Hand Seals, the woman pointed one hand at the black flames of Amaterasu on the sea. Pale blue chakra streamed from her hand and enveloped every last flame.

The chakra surrounding the flames slowly returned to the scroll she had unfurled, gathering up all the black fire like a vacuum cleaner.

After tying the scroll shut with a thin cord and handing it to the old man beside her, the woman leaped from the ship's deck and walked over the waves to the group.

When she came closer, Qiancao got a clear look at her face, and he couldn't help being dazzled.

Her eyes were deep as the sea, with what seemed like a galaxy swirling inside them. Those eyes alone radiated astonishing charm.

Her skin was flawless and fair as porcelain, and her figure was tall and graceful. Just standing there, she made people wonder about her noble status.

Senju Arashi was delighted to see her. She introduced the woman to Qiancao and Wuming. "This is my aunt, Uzumaki Ayako. She's the youngest Sealing Jutsu expert in the Uzumaki Clan!"

Qiancao and Wuming hurried to greet her. Ayako nodded in return, then looked at the two members of the Uchiha Clan. "These two are Uchiha Chigusa and Uchiha Nanashi, right?"

Senju Arashi was surprised that her aunt knew their names before she had even introduced them. She quickly asked, "How did you know who they were, Aunt?"

Uzumaki Ayako smiled. "Sister Ryoko wrote to me several days ago and explained why you were coming. She didn't trust you to come find me on your own, so she insisted I come meet you."

Nearby, Seiichiro looked rueful. "No wonder that kid Hideki ran off so quickly. His Sharingan must have spotted Aunt Ayako's ship in the distance, so he figured out a way to escape."