Northern Border, on the road back.
The four of them walked along the mountain road. Jiraiya strolled at the front, humming a tuneless little song, with Naori and Minato following behind him while Mirai walked in the middle of the group.
His eyes were closed, as though he were resting while walking, but in truth, the Mind's Eye of the Kagura remained activated.
He expanded his sensory range as far as possible, covering a radius of twenty kilometers!
It was not just for vigilance. More than that, he was taking a chance, hoping he might find Nawaki and Orochimaru.
Suddenly, his steps faltered.
"What is it?" Minato noticed his pause.
To the northeast, roughly twenty kilometers away, two familiar chakra signatures appeared at the edge of his perception.
One belonged to Nawaki—the warm, steady chakra unique to the Senju Bloodline.
The other belonged to Orochimaru—colder, sharper, and unmistakably distinct.
The two were about ten kilometers apart. Not far, but not close enough to be traveling side by side.
What made Mirai even more alert was that, around Orochimaru, there were several unfamiliar chakra signatures tangled together and moving—someone was clearly fighting.
"Jiraiya-sensei!" Mirai opened his eyes, his voice urgent. "I found Nawaki and Orochimaru!"
"There's a fight going on near Orochimaru, and there's more than one person involved.
"Nawaki is in another direction. They're about ten kilometers apart."
"Nawaki's in trouble! I'm going to help him first!"
He did not wait for Jiraiya's reply. He pushed off the ground, shooting forward like an arrow.
Minato and Naori exchanged a glance and immediately took off after him, but Mirai was too fast. In the blink of an eye, he had opened up a gap.
The easygoing look vanished from Jiraiya's face. Orochimaru was in trouble?
No one knew Orochimaru's strength better than he did. Any enemy capable of forcing him into a fight was no ordinary opponent.
He asked no further questions. With a powerful kick off the ground, he flashed forward, caught up to Minato and Naori in a few leaps, then grabbed the two kids and raced in the direction Mirai had vanished.
How was that kid so fast?
Watching Mirai Uzumaki's retreating back, a trace of doubt crossed Jiraiya's mind.
Boom—
Golden and Kurenai flames surged into the sky, and the blast wave sent shattered stones and dust flying everywhere.
When Mirai reached the clearing where Nawaki was, he saw from afar that the boy stood in the middle of the forest opening with his back to them, staring into the distance.
"Nawaki!"
Mirai froze slightly. That sounded like Tsunade's voice?
He looked up. At the other end of the road, Tsunade was hurrying over with Kushina.
Why were they out here?
Behind Mirai, Jiraiya landed with Minato and Naori as well.
His brows immediately drew together. "So many traps. Why would Nawaki be in a place like that? This is bad!"
In the middle of the traps, Nawaki heard the commotion too. He turned around, and his eyes lit up when he saw Tsunade. He opened his mouth, about to call out, "Sis"—
Then his peripheral vision caught sight of the ground beneath his feet.
A ring of Explosive Tags on the ground flashed with blinding Kurenai light. Their fuses had already begun to burn, hissing like snakes flicking their tongues.
His expression shifted from delight to confusion, then to despair.
The paper tags formed a dense circle around him. What bound him was not rope, but the distance to death.
"Big sis—" Nawaki called out instinctively. His pupils shrank to pinpoints, and his entire body stiffened as he stood there, not knowing whether to run or stay still.
Tsunade froze as well.
The instant she saw the burning Explosive Tags, shock flooded her eyes, and her whole face turned as pale as paper.
Her body reacted faster than her mind, wanting to rush forward, but she was too far away. There was no time.
Just then, a streak of golden light flashed in from the side.
It was so fast that the naked eye could barely follow its trajectory, like a meteor trailing blazing fire.
Within the light, the outline of a boy could vaguely be seen, his Kurenai hair whipping wildly within a golden Chakra Cloak.
It was Mirai Uzumaki!
He rushed to Nawaki's side, but there was no time to turn back. The Explosive Tags were about to detonate!
He could only reach out, seize Nawaki by the shoulder, and use all his strength to hurl him viciously into the distance.
Nawaki's body traced an arc through the air, and then, with a bang, the Explosive Tags exploded!
The blast wave slammed into the airborne Nawaki, throwing him onto the grass nearby. He rolled twice before stopping, then turned back in terror—
The flames of the explosion completely swallowed that golden figure.
The ground shook violently, and the blast wave bent all the surrounding trees nearly double.
The force of dozens of Explosive Tags detonating at once tore a crater several meters wide into the middle of the clearing. Thick smoke, shattered stones, and flames surged into the air.
"Mirai—!!" Kushina's scream was heart-wrenching.
She stood frozen as if struck by lightning. Her eyes turned Kurenai instantly, tears spilling out as her legs went weak, yet she still instinctively tried to rush forward.
Minato's pupils contracted sharply. He stepped forward to charge in, only for Jiraiya to grab him by the back of the collar. "Don't go over there! The explosion isn't over yet!"
When Naori saw the flames swallow Mirai, something seemed to explode inside her head with a buzz.
Her entire body went rigid. It felt as if an invisible hand had gripped her chest hard, hurting so badly that she could not breathe.
For the first time, intense emotion appeared on that ever-indifferent face—
Her lips parted slightly. She wanted to say something, but no sound came out.
She watched the outline of Kurenai hair in the flames get swallowed by the inferno. She watched that golden figure vanish into the center of the explosion.
At that moment, she felt as though something inside her had shattered.
"Mirai Uzumaki—!" Her voice was hoarse, trembling on the verge of collapse. "What right do you have to die—?! I haven't beaten you yet—!!"
Suddenly, her eyes grew hot, and warm liquid streamed down her cheeks. It was not tears, but Kurenai blood.
Izumi Uchiha's black eyes changed dramatically—the edges of her pupils turned Kurenai, and the color rapidly spread!
One, two, three tomoe appeared on her irises almost simultaneously, slowly rotating around her pupils.
She awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan in an instant!
"Naori, your eyes—" Minato noticed the bloody tears on her face.
But Naori had no time to care about her own changes. Her gaze was fixed on the cloud of smoke that had yet to disperse, and her legs had already begun moving forward beyond her control.
"Don't come over—!" A violent coughing fit suddenly came from within the flames. "Cough, cough, cough—this smoke is killing me..."
Everyone froze at that exact moment.
The thick smoke slowly dispersed, revealing the scorched ground at the center of the blast.
A figure draped in a golden Chakra Cloak slowly ran out. More than half of the cloak had been blasted apart, revealing the heat-scorched clothes beneath it.
His hair stuck up in a messy tangle, but there were no serious burns on his skin. He was merely covered in soot and dust, looking as miserable as if he had just crawled out of a coal pile.
Mirai Uzumaki braced his hands on his knees and stood up. He patted his chest twice, then coughed several more times. "Cough, cough, cough... Those Explosive Tags pack a fucking punch."
Before you continue