Important Events in Memory

Life in Konoha's forty-first year flowed onward like a calm stream, steady and uneventful on the surface. Uchiha Kyohaku continued his low-key, regimented life at the academy, burying every unusual edge deep within himself.

Yet peace was eventually broken.

It was an ordinary-looking afternoon. The cultural theory class had only just reached its midpoint when unusual clamor and hurried, dense footsteps suddenly rose from the street outside the classroom. The teacher stopped speaking in confusion, walked to the window, and looked outside. His expression changed slightly.

On the street, squads of ANBU ninja wearing animal masks and standard uniforms, along with large numbers of chunin and jonin bearing Konoha forehead protectors, darted about and took up positions at astonishing speed. Their expressions were cold, their movements swift and silent. In moments, they had secured every intersection and high point. An invisible yet oppressive killing intent spread through the air, and the once-noisy village seemed to have been muted.

"What happened?"

"Is it a drill?"

"Doesn't look like one..."

Whispers and restless murmurs immediately filled the classroom as unease began to spread. The teacher quickly shut the window and tried to calm them. "Quiet! Continue with the lesson! It may be a temporary village security drill." But the uncertainty in his own eyes could not be concealed.

The lockdown continued until school ended. When the children walked out through the academy gates, they found that the streets remained tense. There were far more patrol ninja than usual, and inspections had become much stricter. Leaning on his cane, Kyohaku silently observed everything, thoughts racing through his mind. Such a large-scale lockdown could not possibly be a minor matter.

Just as he returned near his family's small courtyard, he saw his cousin Uchiha Maiyi waiting there. Her face carried the fatigue of having completed a mission, along with a trace of lingering gravity.

"Maiyi?" Kyohaku showed just the right amount of confusion and timid concern. "What happened in the village? There are so many ninja uncles..."

Maiyi's expression softened somewhat when she saw him. Lowering her voice, she said, "It's fine now. It's been dealt with. Cloud Village spies infiltrated the village this afternoon. They've got some nerve!" Her tone carried the Uchiha clan's characteristic indignation toward anyone who dared provoke them.

"Cloud Village spies?" Kyohaku cooperatively put on a startled expression.

"Mm." Maiyi nodded. Since Kyohaku was also an Uchiha, she felt that some information could be shared with him. "Those people were too bold. They actually tried to secretly abduct someone in our village with a special bloodline limit!" Perhaps feeling that she should not say too much to a child, she summarized, "Fortunately, they were discovered and stopped in time, so they didn't succeed. Be careful these next few days too. Come straight home after school and don't run around outside."

"Okay, I understand. Thank you, Maiyi." Kyohaku nodded obediently, his face showing lingering fear and understanding.

Yet beneath his lowered gaze lay an entirely different scene. Maiyi's words were like a key, instantly opening the floodgates of his memories from his previous life.

Cloud Village spies... stealing a bloodline limit...

This was no ordinary espionage incident! This was that important plot point from the original story—Cloud Village ninja attempting to abduct Uzumaki Kushina, a member of the Uzumaki clan with special chakra, chakra sufficient to make her the Nine-Tails' jinchuriki!

Related memories immediately surfaced in his mind. Twelve-year-old Kushina had been abducted, but she cleverly left strands of her red hair behind as clues along the way. Thirteen-year-old Minato Namikaze, still an unknown youth at the time, relied on his extraordinary tracking ability and combat talent to catch up alone and swiftly eliminate three adult Cloud Village elite ninja, successfully rescuing Kushina. This incident not only revealed the budding potential of Minato's "Yellow Flash," but also picked up the red thread linking his fate to Kushina's, winning the young girl's heart.

So it's already reached this point in time... Kyohaku thought. Minato Namikaze, the future Fourth Hokage and user of the Flying Thunder God Technique, was still only a young genius beginning to make a name for himself. And Kushina, the future Nine-Tails' jinchuriki... The gears of fate were slowly turning somewhere beyond his sight.

Once again, he felt a strange sense of detachment, as though he were standing at the edge of a stage, watching scenes from a play whose script he already knew unfold one by one.

Not long after that incident, another event confirmed the passage of time and the advancement of the plot.

During a routine trip to Konoha Hospital for a follow-up examination of his right foot, Kyohaku keenly noticed that the atmosphere in the hospital was different. It had always been busy, but there had also been an orderly sense of professionalism. This time, however, the air seemed to carry a faint undercurrent of anxiety and loss.

The medical ninja examining him looked especially exhausted, and his eyes had lost some of their usual brightness. During a pause in the examination, the hushed conversation of two nurses faintly reached his ears:

"...Lady Tsunade's treatment plan really is effective, but this case is simply too complicated..."

"...If only Lady Tsunade were still here..."

"...Sigh, don't say that. Focus on your work..."

Lady Tsunade... the plan she left behind... if only she were still here?

Kyohaku's heart jolted. He immediately understood what had happened. Considering the timing, along with the atmosphere permeating the hospital—as though it had lost its pillar...

Tsunade, one of the Three Sannin, had suffered immense psychological trauma from the death of her lover Dan Katō and the early death of her younger brother Nawaki. She had developed severe hemophobia, unable to remain in a hospital that constantly reminded her of her pain, nor face everything in Konoha any longer. She had chosen to leave.

She had taken Dan Katō's niece, Shizune Katō, and left Konoha.

Tsunade has left too... Kyohaku lay on the examination bed, allowing the medical ninja to inspect the still-withered chakra pathways in his right foot, while turmoil surged in his heart. This means Konoha's medical system has temporarily lost its main pillar. It also means... certain future possibilities have become even more difficult for me, but perhaps... a crack has appeared as well?

His original plans had included making use of the medical ninjutsu system, especially the possibility of coming into contact with Tsunade or her legacy in the future. Tsunade's early departure undoubtedly added more uncertainty. Yet on the other hand, her departure might also leave gaps in knowledge or unmet needs.

The two incidents were like stones cast into a tranquil lake. The ripples they created lightly rocked Uchiha Kyohaku's little boat as it navigated with utmost care. They reminded him that predetermined fate was still rolling onward, and that he, an unforeseen variable, had to hide himself even more carefully while seeking those faint opportunities that belonged to him amid the cracks between these major events.

After the follow-up examination ended, he leaned on his cane and slowly walked out of the hospital. The sunlight remained bright, but in his eyes, Konoha's sky seemed to have grown a little dimmer—and... a little more real.