Fourth Hokage, where are your subordinates?

When Beiyuan arrived at the shelter near the Uchiha compound, he saw Uchiha Itachi resting with Sasuke in his arms, and a little girl dozing beside him, clutching his arm.

She looked familiar… her name was Izumi, wasn't it?

No, it should be Uchiha Izumi.

Her mother was an Uchiha, and her father was from another clan… Although the Uchiha were insular, love couldn't be stopped once it arrived, especially for the emotionally rich Uchiha.

Inter-clan marriage wasn't rare, but if the couple had children, the entire family had to return to the Uchiha… to prevent the bloodline limit from flowing out.

Fugaku had mentioned Uchiha Izumi's family before. It was said that both her parents had good talent, so he personally oversaw their re-integration into the clan…

The little girl's father became an in-name son-in-law, changing his surname to Uchiha Hazuki. As for whether they returned to the clan grounds, Fugaku didn't force it.

Honestly, if Konoha was filled with Uchiha sons-in-law, the clan head would be very happy. He was very accommodating towards such people.

Truly…

Some cubs are naturally beautiful.

Some cubs only know how to blow bubbles.

Compared to Uchiha Itachi's feat of bringing his brother to the shelter and saving Uchiha Izumi along the way… the first thing Sasuke did after waking up and seeing Beiyuan was to try his best to blow a bubble…

A flash of red light flickered in Beiyuan's eyes. Little brat, there will be plenty of opportunities to deal with you in the future. I'll dig a hole for you, and I guarantee you'll happily jump right in!

"Itachi…"

The little girl heard the commotion and woke up, groggily calling Itachi's name. Her voice sounded lazy, and tear stains from before sleep still marked her face. The way her little finger rubbed her eyes was exceptionally cute…

Is she attached to my cub now?

Uchiha Itachi didn't think too much about it. Having raised his brother himself, he understood the preciousness of life. On the way to the shelter, he lent a hand and brought them along, saving them.

After hearing that his mother was safe, the little boy's tense state immediately relaxed. Then, he saw crows flapping their wings and flying away…

"Beiyuan!"

"Itachi, it's dangerous outside…"

"Waaah…"

Sasuke in his arms suddenly started crying. Itachi had no choice but to coax him to sleep in a low voice. He didn't know when the chaos of the night would end.

"It probably went to find its mother…"

Uchiha Itachi comforted himself. Otherwise, what?

On his left was a child who hadn't been weaned, and on his right was a child who hadn't grown feathers… He himself was still a child!

Tonight, in addition to disaster, Konoha Village also experienced some heart-pounding events… like conspiracies brewing amidst the smoke.

Uchiha Fugaku received an emergency order from the Third Hokage: Shelter and rescue non-combatants on the spot.

"What does the Third Hokage mean by this? Maintaining the village's safety is also the responsibility of the Police Force!" Fugaku couldn't help but question.

The masked Anbu member had a distinct personality: "The Anbu is only responsible for relaying orders. The Police Force only needs to execute them!"

"...What about the Hokage's orders?"

Fugaku calmly posed a question, displaying his shrewdness to its fullest…

A hint of awkwardness filled the air.

Ah, as direct subordinates of the Hokage, we couldn't find the top leader, but we have the command of the former leader…

The Anbu ninja: "……"

They indeed hadn't gone to find Namikaze Minato, and probably couldn't find him.

In the entire Anbu, Namikaze Minato's direct subordinates consisted of only Hatake Kakashi, and he was a newcomer who had just joined the Anbu… The others were ninjas who had grown up under the Third Hokage's influence.

The Fourth Hokage would certainly not care about such trivial matters. His relationship with the Third Hokage was obvious, but Konoha's major clans, Jonin, and other advisors would definitely use this opportunity to question and challenge him.

Advisors? Other advisors?

"I am from the Anbu training class directly under Hokage Advisor Danzō, and I am directly responsible to Lord Danzō! The orders for the Konoha Police Force were jointly issued by the Third Hokage and Lord Danzō!"

The Anbu ninja gave himself a mental pat on the back. The group from the Anbu training class now called themselves the 'Root' unit, and other Anbu had been unhappy with them for a long time…

The 'Root' unit wasn't large in scale and didn't have specific positions. They relied entirely on Danzō to snatch opportunities. If they wanted to snatch the duties of the Police Force, what about the duties of the Anbu?

To put it nicely, they were snatching opportunities. To put it bluntly, weren't they just beggars…

"...You guys..." Uchiha Fugaku could only wave his hand and say, "I understand."

He didn't give a direct answer as to whether he was willing to comply with the order.

Before the Anbu ninja left, he said meaningfully, "Senior Fugaku should understand that the farther the Uchiha are from the Nine-Tails at this time, the safer they will be."

Whether it was the immense losses from fighting the Nine-Tails, or… the giant Sharingan in that tailed beast's eyes… the Uchiha clan indeed could only ensure their innocence after the battle by staying farther away.

"The Uchiha's honor must not be tarnished… I will dispatch non-Uchiha clan members to fight the Nine-Tails." This was Uchiha Fugaku's final reply.

The non-Uchiha clan members did not possess the Uchiha bloodline limit and did not belong to the Police Force. Most of them were sons-in-law of the Uchiha clan… This seemed like a result acceptable to both sides.

At the very least, it wouldn't give anyone grounds to accuse the Uchiha of ignoring the Nine-Tails' attack on Konoha, and it could also be an opportunity to investigate who was controlling the Nine-Tails…

"I will report this truthfully to the Third Hokage… and Lord Danzō."

The Anbu ninja disappeared into the moonlit night, while the Nine-Tails continued its rampage in the distance under the starry sky…

Meanwhile.

Beiyuan finally arrived at Namikaze Minato's battlefield by sensing the fluctuations of space-time ninjutsu. This battle concerned the fate of many in Konoha.

The only person in Konoha who could intervene, Hatake Kakashi… was perhaps caught up in a story with his lifelong rival.

The enemy before Namikaze Minato… wore a patterned mask.

Ambushes on the defensive Anbu, destroying the seal within Kushina, controlling and releasing the Nine-Tails to wreak havoc… all of it was his doing.

Finally, as he attempted to assassinate Namikaze Minato, he was tracked by Minato… or rather, Minato was being pursued by the masked man.

The mysterious masked man's right eye was a Mangekyo Sharingan with its own independent space… capable of entering it at any time, making him virtually invincible against anyone he faced.

Namikaze Minato appeared to be handling the situation with ease. He had just saved a considerable amount of chakra by not needing to set up a Flying Thunder God barrier to transfer the Tailed Beast Bomb.

However, considering the time, Minato had to end the battle quickly… Konoha, ravaged by the Nine-Tails, and his wife, who was on the brink of death, were still waiting for him!

"Caw..."

The crow's cry did not attract the attention of either of them. The battle between space-time ninjutsu and dōjutsu allowed for no room for distraction…

"Kamui!"

In the end, the masked man was a step ahead. The Mangekyo dōjutsu in his right eye activated wildly. The pinwheel-shaped Sharingan pulled in everything before it, narrowly about to draw Namikaze Minato into the Kamui dimension…

Flying Thunder God Technique!

The white shinobi robe instantly vanished… Namikaze Minato, having escaped using the Flying Thunder God Technique, reappeared in the distance, letting out a sigh of relief.

Now!

"Caw..."

The crimson crow's eye was exceptionally bright… What a perfect opportunity!

Beiyuan instantly formed a shadow clone and charged into the attack range of Kamui. The black shadow clone vanished in the blink of an eye, absorbed into the dimension by the residual power of the masked man's Kamui dōjutsu.

It seemed… a crow had entered Kamui. The masked man paid it no mind; his Kamui dimension was all-powerful, and a mere crow was nothing…

Heh, still too young… The remaining time would be spent waiting. Waiting until the masked man was forced into the Kamui dimension by Namikaze Minato's attack…

He would then see a shadow clone of a crow within the Kamui dimension, holding a Tailed Beast Bomb in its beak, shouting "Surprise!" at him.