The Eve of Founding the Clan, Lightning Release Breaches the Wall
Konoha, in the construction area of Uzumaki Estate.
The night was as dark as ink, and there wasn't a single star in the sky.
The craftsmen had just finished work, and the Sealing Squad had also left.
Only scattered pieces of wood and iron nails that hadn't been moved yet remained in the yard, and the air was filled with the damp smell of newly built mud walls.
Sasuke stood against the outer wall of the sealed warehouse, leaning against a newly erected wooden pillar, his eyelids drooping slightly.
He didn't sleep.
With his Sharingan activated, his gaze swept over every shadow.
Naruto had instructed them to keep a close eye on the sealed vault these next few days and prevent anyone from sneaking in.
He remembers it very clearly.
The wind blew, and the leaves rustled.
Sasuke frowned, his hand resting on the Kunai at his waist.
Wrong.
The wind was blowing from the west, but the sound came from the east.
He turned to the side, his Sharingan fixed on the corner of the wall.
In the darkness, a very thin blue light flashed.
Sasuke's pupils contracted.
Lightning Release!
Without hesitation, he raised his hand and flung out three Shuriken, simultaneously leaping backward and shouting:
"Someone's there!"
Boom--
No sooner had he finished speaking than a hole suddenly blasted open in the outer wall of the sealed vault.
Stone fragments flew everywhere, and dust billowed into the sky.
Sasuke slipped and nearly fell when he landed, but he kept his eyes fixed on the crack, his hand already gripping the Kunai tightly.
A dark figure flashed out from the crack.
The speed is ridiculously fast.
Sasuke gritted his teeth, pushed off with his foot, and tried to give chase.
But after taking only two steps, Naruto's words from that day suddenly flashed through his mind—
"If you see a thief, don't rush to chase him. Sound the alarm and wait for me."
He abruptly stopped, turned around, grabbed the gong hanging on the wall, and swung it down with a vengeance.
Ding ding ding--
A piercing sound rang out, waking the entire courtyard.
Bai was the first to rush out, still holding a teapot in his hand. When he saw the hole in the wall, his face instantly turned cold.
Tenten, he would run over carrying a big sledgehammer, glance at the scorch marks on the ground, and curse.
Karin ran out of the house, her hair still disheveled and her glasses off. Seeing the blasted-open wall, she screamed.
"My sealed vault!"
Sasuke, panting, pointed east. "They ran away, that way."
Bai didn't speak, but raised his hand and waved it, causing ice crystals to condense into more than a dozen thin needles, which shot towards the woods to the east.
The needles all missed.
The other party had already run far away.
Naruto appeared at the gate of the courtyard.
He was wearing a bathrobe, his hair still wet, clearly having just finished showering when he was woken up.
But he didn't panic; he even smiled.
He walked to the blasted wall, squatted down, and rubbed his fingers on the charred ground a couple of times.
"Lightning Release."
He stood up, clapped his hands, and said, "Paralyzing the iron nails, severing the sensory lines. Very professional technique."
Tenten's face was grim. "He saw through the defensive structure I designed?"
Naruto shook his head. "It wasn't that I saw through it, it was that I scouted the place beforehand."
He looked up at the crack in the wall, his eyes turning cold.
"He didn't come to steal the money."
Karin rushed over, pointing to the seal diagram on the wall with half a corner torn off, her voice trembling:
"The structural diagram of the Uzumaki Sealing Technique! He stole half of it!"
Bai's expression also changed.
Although that picture wasn't a top secret, it was enough to allow people to deduce the underlying logic of the Uzumaki Sealing Technique.
If it gets it from another village--
The consequences would be unimaginable.
Tenten gripped the hammer handle tightly. "I'm going after them."
"Don't chase."
Naruto raised his hand to stop her. "If they dared to steal from us, they must have been prepared to be discovered. If you chase after them, you might just be offering yourself up for death."
He turned to look at Sasuke.
"You did the right thing. No impulsiveness, that's good."
Sasuke paused for a moment, then turned his head away, his ears turning slightly red.
Naruto looked away, staring at the scorch marks on the ground, a slight smile playing on his lips.
"He thought he had stolen the treasure, but he had only picked up some bait."
Konan emerged from the shadows.
She stood not far away, arms crossed, her eyes scrutinizing.
"You left Tracking Seal in the blueprints?"
Naruto nodded.
"That picture on the wall was something I deliberately hung up. The real scroll is in my hands."
He raised his right hand, and a golden Uzumaki pattern appeared on his palm.
The patterns slowly rotated, pointing northeast.
Karin's eyes widened. "This is...?"
"The Tracking Seal of the Uzumaki Clan."
Naruto withdrew his hand. "As long as the fragment is still there, I can find it."
He turned and walked out.
"Sasuke, Kakashi, Karin, come with me."
Bai stopped him. "I'll go too."
Naruto shook his head. "You stay here and watch the house."
He opened his mouth, but in the end, he nodded.
Carrying a hammer Tenten: "Then I--"
"You're in charge of repairing the wall."
Naruto didn't turn his head. "I want to see this wall intact before dawn."
I gritted my teeth Tenten, but I didn't argue back.
Kakashi jumped down from the roof, holding a book in his hand, clearly having just been woken up as well.
"Time to get back to work?"
He yawned. "Could I finish reading this page?"
Naruto glanced at him. "Come back after you've finished watching. I'll be waiting for you."
Kakashi swiftly stuffed the book into his pocket.
"Let's not watch anymore, let's go."
The group of four disappeared into the night.
Konan stood there, watching the direction they left in, her eyes filled with complex emotions.
She remembered what Nagato had once said—
"The Shinobi World needs absolute power to inflict pain, for only pain can bring peace."
But Naruto did it differently.
He neither inflicts pain nor relies on fear.
He simply beat everyone who dared to mess with him until they dared not mess with him again.
What's this?
She didn't know.
But she wanted to keep watching.
Northeast of the Land of Fire, near the border of the Land of Lightning.
A dark figure darted through the woods.
He was wrapped in bandages, wore Forehead Protector from the Kumogakure, and clutched the half-seal map tightly in his hand.
It's done.
It really happened.
What Lord Raikage wanted, we finally got.
He was panting, his feet never stopping, his mind already racing with ideas on how to claim credit when he got back to the village.
But as he ran, he suddenly realized something was wrong.
The picture in my hand is a little hot.
He looked down.
A pale golden Uzumaki pattern appeared at the edge of the paper.
The texture is becoming increasingly bright.
His expression changed drastically, and he wanted to throw away the blueprints.
But it was too late.
The patterns exploded, transforming into countless golden threads that instantly wrapped around his wrist.
It doesn't hurt.
But it can't move.
He gritted his teeth, intending to use Lightning Release to cut the threads.
But the Chakra was absorbed by the threads as soon as it condensed.
It's over.
He collapsed to the ground, his back instantly soaked with cold sweat.
Footsteps could be heard outside the woods.
Naruto emerged from the shadows, hands in his pockets, a smile playing on his lips.
"You run pretty fast."
He walked up to the spy and squatted down.
" From Kumogakure?"
The spy remained silent.
Naruto didn't care, reached out and pinched his chin, forcibly lifting his head.
"Did the Raikage send you?"
The spy gritted his teeth.
Naruto smiled.
"It's fine if he doesn't tell me. I'll go to the border myself and ask him in three days anyway."
He let go and stood up.
"Take away."
Kakashi stepped forward and used Chakra Threads to tie the spy up like a dumpling.
Karin picked up the half of the picture from the ground, examined it, and breathed a sigh of relief.
The map isn't broken.
Sasuke leaned against a tree, looking at the bound spy with a cold gaze.
Naruto turned and walked back.
"Return to the village before dawn. The clan initiation ceremony must not go wrong."
The four disappeared into the woods.
The spy, bound to the ground, stared at the night sky, his face deathly pale.
He knew.
Something big is going to happen at the border in three days.