Every intelligence operative felt their scalp prickle as a bone-deep chill swept through them.
The intelligence spread through the Four Great Shinobi Villages in an instant, finally confirming the identity of the one who had destroyed Kirigakure.
The culprit was not some mysterious, unknown powerhouse, but an elder of the Uzumaki Clan with a full head of red hair and an uncanny aura.
He stood tall, weathered by time, with a specially crafted long blade strapped tightly to his back, its length wrapped in densely coiled chains.
The moment the major shinobi villages received the intelligence, everyone was shaken to the core. All their suspicions had been confirmed.
The village-destroying catastrophe that had overturned the balance of the shinobi world really was a war of vengeance waged by a survivor of the Uzumaki Clan!
In Konoha, Naruto stared at the detailed intelligence in his hands. Reading the description of that all-too-familiar red hair, his expression grew complicated, his heart heavy with emotion.
"The Uzumaki Clan... I never imagined one of our elders would still be around after all these years."
He had thought his clansmen were all long gone. He had never expected a powerful elder to have endured until now, carrying an obsession born of his clan's blood-soaked tragedy.
Sasuke's gaze was sharp and grave. He wasted no time on sentiment, speaking with firm resolve.
"There's no time to dwell on it. His target is Kumogakure, and nothing has stopped his march north."
"No matter how tragic his past was or how deep his hatred runs, letting him keep slaughtering villages for revenge will only bring the entire shinobi world crashing down. We have to stop him."
Naruto nodded firmly, instantly casting aside his distracting thoughts as his gaze turned utterly serious.
"**Let's go! We have to intercept him