Mysterious Woman

Moonlight flowed like water, silent and serene, broken only by the rustle of the night wind through the leaves.

Outside the Uzuki Clan grounds in the Land of Fire, two Uzuki clansmen on night watch were chatting idly. Naturally, they were discussing what had happened during the day; even now, they had yet to fully process the overwhelming amount of information.

One of them sighed. "I never thought we'd just join the Flame Hidden Village like that. Still, leaving the Land of Fire feels a little hard to accept."

His companion sounded rather unconcerned. "What's there to be reluctant about? Living anywhere is still living. Besides, compared to Konoha, I'd rather go to the Flame Hidden Village. The Kurama Clan joined Konoha too, and I get annoyed just looking at them."

"Ah, forget those irritating things. I heard the hot springs in the Land of Flame are pretty good. If I get the chance, I definitely have to try them."

"Hot springs? Are you sure you don't mean the Hot Springs Country? The Land of Flame used to be the Land of Waterfalls. Aren't there only waterfalls there?"

"Really? Hahaha... It's not like I've ever left the Land of Fire since I was born. I just heard people talking nonsense."

"You idiot..."

Tap, tap, tap...

As the two chatted and joked around, light footsteps approached from afar. They immediately fell silent and warily looked toward the moon-dappled woods. Only after recognizing the newcomer did they finally breathe a sigh of relief. "Boss, you're back. You must've had a hard time on the mission."

Whoosh—

The night wind swept through the forest, lifting the woman's long purple hair. Her graceful figure was concealed beneath a teal robe, while her beautiful features carried a hint of heroic spirit. A three-foot-long blade hung at her waist. She nodded slightly at their enthusiastic greetings, then parted her red lips.

"What were you just saying about the Flame Hidden Village?"

Her voice was mature and gentle, with a touch of etherealness that made one feel as though bathed in a spring breeze.

Yet that pleasant voice left the two guards momentarily speechless. They exchanged glances, each seeing a trace of awkwardness in the other's eyes. After another look, one of them spoke. "Well, some major things happened in the clan recently. Uh... we don't know the details either. Boss, you should ask the clan head."

The woman frowned, but did not press further. She brushed past them and entered the clan grounds.

After she left, the two finally relaxed. "The boss's presence is getting colder and colder."

"Stop talking. I'm afraid she can still hear us. Let's just keep watch properly."

Inside the clan grounds, Uzuki Riten was laying out his bedding in preparation for sleep when he suddenly felt a chill down his back. He spun around and saw that someone had appeared behind him at some unknown time, silent as a teal-clad ghost wandering the night.

"Gah!" Uzuki Riten was truly startled, and even his voice cracked slightly. "When did you get back? Why did you suddenly appear in my room? Do you know how scary that is?"

The woman merely gave Uzuki Riten an indifferent glance and got straight to the point. "At the gate, I heard Ayi and the others say something major happened in the village. What was it?"

"Shouldn't you be asking the clan head about that?"

"The clan head is old. He should be resting by now, so I came to ask you."

"..."

Uzuki Riten sighed inwardly, knowing that what was coming could not be avoided. "Let me say this first: don't do anything rash after you hear it. The clan head has already made his decision."

The woman simply looked at him quietly.

"Well, today, someone named Uchiha Yan Hong came from the Flame Hidden Village. You should know him—he's the younger brother of Uchiha Madara, the Flame Shadow. He discussed having our Uzuki Clan join the Flame Hidden Village with the clan head. In the end, we agreed to join the Flame Hidden Village."

Uzuki Riten blurted everything out in one breath, then closed his eyes, terrified that the woman before him would fly into a rage. But after waiting for a long time without hearing anything, he nervously opened his eyes and saw that she was already walking out without looking back.

"Hey! What are you going to do?" Uzuki Riten shouted in panic.

"Find someone and ask a few questions."

"Don't do anything reckless! This concerns our entire clan!"

The woman did not answer and soon vanished into the night.

"No! I still need to find the clan head." All sleepiness gone, Uzuki Riten hurriedly ran outside.

It was deep into the night, yet a flickering candle still glowed in the guest room window.

Having completed the task of this trip, Yan Hong had finally relaxed. At the moment, he was studying a scroll of ninjutsu in his hand.

Back then, Yan Hong had led the Chinoike Clan to seize six ninjutsu from the Senju Clan grounds. Two of them were the Reaper Death Seal and the Super Barrier Technique: Four Crimson Yang Formation, which the Uzumaki Clan had gifted to the Senju Clan.

The rest were ninjutsu invented by Tobirama Senju, including the Shadow Clone, the Flying Thunder God, and the advanced Water Release ninjutsu Water Severing Wave.

Unfortunately, Tobirama apparently had yet to develop the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu. Otherwise, Yan Hong would never have passed up such an immensely powerful S-rank ninjutsu.

"Reaper Death Seal. Use one's own soul as a sacrifice to communicate with the Reaper, thereby sealing the enemy's soul... Hiss... Could I do it without using my own soul? I remember Orochimaru found a loophole in this Reaper ritual."

Yan Hong racked his brains, but unfortunately, his talents did not lie in inventing ninjutsu. It was like solving a math problem: although he knew the answer beforehand, he could not reverse-engineer the process. He could only helplessly put down the scroll.

"Ah, how exactly was Tobirama Senju's brain built? Too bad Orochimaru hasn't been born yet. Otherwise, that guy would've been a top-tier partner for a transmigrator." Yan Hong quietly grumbled to himself. Seeing that it was getting late, he rose, intending to get some rest.

Whoosh—

A faint breeze gently struck the window lattice. Yan Hong paused halfway through standing, lifted his gaze slightly, and fixed his eyes on the figure outside the window wearing a white mask.

"Putting on airs." Yan Hong shook his head, turned and pushed open the door, then walked outside. He stopped ten paces from the figure and looked her over. Discovering that she was a woman, he asked, "You came looking for me in the middle of the night. Did something happen in the clan?"

An ethereal voice rang out. "You are Uchiha Yan Hong? Since you're a high-ranking member of the Uchiha Clan, do you know Uchiha Qingyan?"

Yan Hong's brows furrowed slightly. "Did Clan Head Tokuma send you?"

The woman gently shook her head. "It has nothing to do with the clan. This is merely my own matter."

Yan Hong glanced at her beautiful purple hair and said indifferently, "Since it's a private matter, I have nothing to tell you. If there's nothing else, please leave."

The woman fell silent for a moment, then suddenly raised her head. "I'm sorry. This is very important to me."

"What does that have to do with me... Hmph!"

In an instant, red light flashed in Yan Hong's eyes. His entire body flew backward five steps as he stared at the masked woman in astonishment. "That feeling... It's genjutsu! And such powerful spiritual energy!"

"Hm?" The woman also gave a soft sound of surprise, not expecting Yan Hong to resist her genjutsu.

"Tch, miss, you actually tried to use genjutsu on someone from the Uchiha Clan." Yan Hong sneered. "I don't know what you're trying to do, but right now, all I want is to capture you and ask what the Uzuki Clan means by this."

"I said this has nothing to do with the clan."

"Heh." A cold snort was his only response.

In the desolate moonlit clearing, the heavy scent of gunpowder drifted through the air...