Nara Yoshihiro, who was carrying Akimichi on his back, glanced at Yamanaka beside him and smiled bitterly. "This time, I'm afraid there's no escaping our fate."
Yamanaka's lingering anxiety suddenly settled, for he had already spotted the flamboyant red-haired figure waiting ahead.
"The legendary Ino-Shika-Cho? If all three of you were in top form, I might be willing to play with you. What a shame!"
He stared at Nara Yoshihiro. "You little brat from the Uchiha Clan, what are you still hiding at a time like this?"
"As an Uchiha, don't you even have the courage to die wearing your own face?"
At those words, a smile of relief appeared on Nara Yoshihiro's face as well.
Before he could speak, a flicker of confusion crossed the red-haired ninja's swaggering face. Then came surprise, followed at last by humiliation and anger.
Without another word, he raced straight in the direction Uchiha Izuna had fled earlier, unwilling to spare even the time it would take to kill the three of them.
Watching him leave, Nara Yoshihiro shook his head. "I hope you make it out safely!"
The red-haired ninja was, of course, a member of the Uzumaki Clan.
His name was Uzumaki Xiangnong. He was Uzumaki Ashina's nephew, as well as his adopted son.
He was also the strongest of the Uzumaki Clan's younger generation. Even Mito Uzumaki fell short of him in raw strength.
A little over half an hour later, Uzumaki Xiangnong caught sight of Uchiha Izuna running at full speed.
"Your time's up, brat! How dare you make a fool of me!"
"Secret art: Adamantine Sealing Chains!"
Four golden chains streaked across the sky. Before Uchiha Izuna could react, they had bound his limbs and begun draining the chakra from his body.
In just five minutes, Izuna's chakra was completely drained, and his appearance changed from "Uchiha Izuna" to "Nara Yoshihiro."
By then, Uzumaki Xiangnong knew full well that he had fallen for their trick.
He looked at Nara Yoshihiro, who was barely clinging to life as the forbidden drug's backlash ravaged him. "I've heard of you. I even considered recruiting you once."
"You and your older brother, Nara Yijiu, are known as the Nara Clan's twin stars. You're the most outstanding talents the clan has produced in a century."
"What exactly did the Uchiha give your clan to make you serve that fool Uchiha Izuna with such blind devotion?"
A smile tugged at Nara Yoshihiro's lips. The last trace of life was slowly ebbing from his frail body.
"I'm guessing you're Uzumaki Xiangnong of the Uzumaki Clan! Have you ever wondered what the shinobi world would look like without war?"
Uzumaki Xiangnong froze for a moment, then sneered and clutched his stomach as he burst into laughter. "Hahaha! Nara Yoshihiro, everyone says you're incredibly clever!"
"So you're actually an idiot! Not just an idiot, but an utterly hopeless fool."
"How could this shinobi world ever be free of war?"
A faint flush now colored Nara Yoshihiro's pale face. He looked at Uzumaki Xiangnong with unwavering conviction. "Yes! When peace spreads throughout the shinobi world, war will come to an end!"
"And young master Izuna is the man who brings hope for peace to the shinobi world!"
At Nara Yoshihiro's words, Uzumaki Xiangnong doubled over with laughter again. "Hahaha! That fool? You've got to be joking. This is too funny!"
"You must be trying to make me laugh myself to death so you can get revenge before you die!"
Seeing that Uzumaki Xiangnong could not understand his feelings at all, Nara Yoshihiro stopped arguing. He merely murmured to himself, "Young master Izuna may still be immature, but he has an open heart."
"He also has a generosity of spirit few can match, and extraordinary insight."
"In his eyes, I saw the future..."
Watching Nara Yoshihiro continue to murmur as his eyes began to lose focus, Uzumaki Xiangnong let the smile fade from his face.
Is this guy actually serious?
Nara Yoshihiro felt as though he had returned to the Nara Clan's grounds, where vast stretches of forest grew, with several enormous trees towering into the clouds.
The thickest of them took more than a dozen children joining hands to encircle its trunk.
Yoshihiro and his older brother Yijiu had built a hidden little tree house in its canopy. It was their secret hideout.
Ever since childhood, whenever something troubled them, the two would retreat to that little tree house without needing to say a word.
He felt as though he had returned to that peaceful forest, with adorable fawns gathered around him.
A few of the bolder ones even stretched out their soft pink tongues to lick him.
Step by step, he climbed the great tree and lay down on the bed in the tree house. It was a little hard, but wonderfully comfortable.
The cheerful fawns' occasional calls reached his ears.
He closed his eyes, savoring the ease and tranquility of that moment.
The summer breeze was gentle, and the sunlight was just right. "If only it could always be like this!"
As Uzumaki Xiangnong gazed at Nara Yoshihiro's utterly blissful smile, a moment of uncertainty stirred in his heart.
"With your intelligence, perhaps you glimpsed a corner of the future. But let me tell you this: peace will never grace this land!"
He sealed Nara Yoshihiro's body inside a scroll.
Even though his mission had failed, the Nara Clan was still part of the Seven-Clan Alliance, and the Uzumaki Clan remained on friendly terms with the alliance.
He had to return Nara Yoshihiro's body to the Nara Clan. Though he scorned their practice of hedging their bets, small clans had their own ways of surviving.
Even as a member of the Uzumaki Clan, there were many things beyond his control.
He looked toward the place where the Ino-Shika-Cho trio had been. "Don't think you're safe just because you shook me off!"
"Rather than fall into that guy's trap, you'd be better off dying by my hand. At least I'd make it quick!"
The Ino-Shika-Cho trio-or rather, Uchiha Izuna, Yamanaka, and Akimichi-now seemed to have escaped the Uzumaki Clan's pursuit.
Yet after evading one checkpoint after another set up by the Uzumaki Clan, the three found themselves back at the shore.
Standing before them were two people: a beautiful woman with silky red hair, and a silver-haired boy whose eyes were full of scorn and mockery.
"Uchiha Izuna, welcome to the burial ground I prepared for you: Whirlpool Island!"
"This is the only safe place in the Whirlpool Sea of the Cursed Land!"
"See? Aren't I good to you?"
Poof!
Uchiha Izuna released his Transformation Technique, murderous intent boiling in his bloodshot eyes.
If looks could kill, Tobirama Senju would have died thousands upon thousands of times.
"Was all of this your plan?"
The corners of Tobirama Senju's mouth lifted. He was still young, after all-not yet the future Second Hokage who would hold the entire shinobi world in the palm of his hand.
He, too, wanted others to recognize his brilliance, so he explained everything to Izuna without concealment. "Originally, you couldn't have made it across the Land of Whirlpools and into the Land of Hot Water alive."
"But for some reason, quite a few Uzumaki Squads out on missions were assassinated over the past few days. That gave you an opening."
"I thought your mission would take you to the Land of Crafts. I never expected your destination to be the Land of Hot Water."
"It seems I'm not the only one who doesn't want you brothers to meet."
"But none of that matters. Even with that most evil Uchiha Jing Xiu helping you, all it would mean is one more corpse here!"
"Wouldn't you agree, Evil God High Priest?"