"Uzumaki!?"
The Special Forces members paled in shock.
At this point in Konoha Year 39, Kushina Uzumaki was barely twelve, and Mito Uzumaki was still alive.
The Land of Whirlpools had only fallen a few years ago. Konoha had shocked the Shinobi World by sending no reinforcements, but it had been searching for survivors of the Uzumaki Clan all along.
Of course, only the Third Hokage knew whether that was merely for show.
Konoha's failure to aid the Land of Whirlpools back then had nearly caused a crisis of trust among its rank-and-file ninja.
After all, their mutual defense alliance had existed since the village's founding. The Third Hokage had acted dishonorably, but there was nothing to be done.
Even Mito Uzumaki, a princess of the Land of Whirlpools, had compromised, showing just how far Konoha had declined.
"What's all the fuss about? Can't you see she doesn't want us getting involved?" Takahashi Yū fanned beside his ear with his palm-fan-sized hand.
"But Captain, the Uzumaki Clan are our allies!" Standing on a branch, Aya Yamanaka held on to the tree trunk, a trace of confusion and guilt in her eyes.
"Allies? Then why didn't Konoha send troops back then? Ah, no, why didn't they send ninja, instead of letting them get surrounded and attacked? Well, great. Now their country's gone, and their clan's been wiped out." Takahashi Yū replied with a look of disdain.
The elderly Uzumaki woman swallowed the curses on the tip of her tongue and glanced at Takahashi Yū with a strange look.
"Don't look at me. I'm not a Konoha ninja. I just live there." Seeing the old woman hesitate to speak, Takahashi Yū reached out as he spoke, giving his killing intent physical form and stabbing it toward the Grass Ninja struggling on the ground.
After swiftly ending the Grass Ninja's life, Takahashi Yū asked the old woman, "Are there any others? How did an old woman like you end up in the Land of Grass with two kids?"
The old woman gradually calmed down, and her frail body slowly straightened. A faint trace of her former dignity appeared once more on her wrinkled, somewhat haggard face.
"Ah." The old woman looked at the children clinging tightly to her legs, tears glistening in her eyes. "My name is Uzumaki Shui Ling. There's one more of our clan. They captured them."
Takahashi Yū spat, then waved at Hyūga Ryūhei. "Ryūhei, bring them along at an easy pace."
"Takeshi, lead the way. I've been sick of those bastards for ages. Today, we're taking them down!"
They had encountered Konoha's allies and actually failed to report it to Konoha. Kusagakure's ideological awareness clearly wasn't up to much. Now Takahashi Yū had finally caught an opportunity.
Hearing this, Uzumaki Shui Ling let out a soft breath of relief. The Uzumaki Clan's fate had truly been far too troubled.
Her heart was full of reproach and resentment toward Konoha, but with things as they were, what could she do? Faced with the situation before her, she felt powerless. Though she could not accept it, she understood that she had no other choice now. She did not want any more of her clanspeople to suffer misfortune or lose their lives.
Takahashi Yū and his companions followed closely behind Hyūga Gōshi as he led the way, moving nimbly through the dense woods.
"Captain, we should be within Kusagakure's territory now. There are several sentry posts about three kilometers ahead," Hyūga Gōshi said without turning around.
Takahashi Yū stopped immediately upon hearing that. Sentry posts generally had sensory ninja. He had wanted to catch Kusagakure off guard. If they discovered him now, that would spoil the fun. He wouldn't be able to turn a small incident into a big one, then make that big incident even bigger.
Kusagakure was highly skilled at going whichever way the wind blew. If they were discovered now and word got back, Kusagakure might just deliver the Uzumaki clansperson to the village entrance and wait for Takahashi Yū to collect them.
Of course, the Grass Ninja who had pursued them would definitely turn out to be wandering ninja impersonating Grass Ninja.
Kusagakure really was that shameless.
"Give their positions. Let the Uchiha F3 and Yūma take them out," Takahashi Yū said. Rather than ask him to sneak around, they might as well ask him to wipe out all of Kusagakure.
The latter was at least possible. Forget the former. His reputation as the battlefield's "giant light bulb" wasn't just talk.
The three Uchiha nodded at his words. After conferring with Hyūga Gōshi, they jumped down from the branches and slowly advanced along the ground.
Gekko Yūma was even more direct: [Invisible man.avi].
"Takeshi, keep an eye on them. Once they slit their throats, we move. I want to let off some steam already." Takahashi Yū really was impatient now. At last, he could strike hard at the rotten bullshit the Grass Ninja had stirred up.
"Yūma's already finished on his side. The Uchiha have reached the area around the sentry posts. Don't rush, Captain." Hyūga Gōshi's tone remained as steady as ever.
Nara Yūma's mouth twitched again. He could already imagine how much of an uproar their mission report would cause in the village.
Uzumaki Shui Ling... that name. Please don't let her be related to Lady Mito somehow. Ugh, what a drag.
Nara Yūma scratched his head in distress. It was as though the miserable days awaiting him back in the village were already unfolding before his eyes. The captain won't bother with any of this. Why did my surname have to be Nara? This is too hard!
Completely unaware of Nara Yūma's mental turmoil behind him, Takahashi Yū had an arm around Takeshi's shoulders and his head close to Takeshi's, even aligning their lines of sight, as though that would give him Byakugan vision too.
Suddenly, the crouching Takahashi Yū let go of Hyūga Gōshi, stood up, and leaped toward a large tree ahead.
"Captain! You can actually see them?" Hyūga Gōshi could no longer keep his tone steady as he asked in shock.
"Nope. I just can't wait any longer!" Takahashi Yū's leisurely voice drifted back from ahead. "Keep up."
Hyūga Gōshi and Nara Yūma exchanged a glance, each seeing the dark lines of exasperation on the other's forehead.
With a captain like this, being a Hyūga/Nara sure is rough.
Both quickly rose and leaped forward.
"Coming, coming! Wait for us, Captain!" ×2
Takahashi Yū advanced swiftly and soon met Gekko Yūma, who was waiting in a tree.
After a short wait, the Uchiha trio, the Hyūga, and the Nara arrived as well.
"Act tough when we get there. We're in the right this time, understand?" Takahashi Yū looked at everyone with a deliberately serious expression.
"Put on a show of strength. We get it. You've told us before, Captain." Uchiha Shunji adjusted his collar and put on a serious face too.
Seeing all the team members signal their cooperation, Takahashi Yū nodded. "Good. Let's go smash up their turf!"
Now that they were off the battlefield, it was fine to relax a little. If he could still come to grief in the Land of Grass, then all Takahashi Yū's years of getting by and keeping his head down would have been for nothing.
Takahashi Yū took the lead, with his team members following closely, and soon a village came into view in the distance.
"It's this run-down? How do they have the nerve to call themselves a ninja village?" Takahashi Yū stared, dumbfounded, at the village, where most of the houses were shorter than he was.
"That's perfectly normal, Captain. Most of these small countries are like this. Some are even more primitive," Nara Yūma said, looking at his captain.
Takahashi Yū frowned. Having only been to the Land of Fire, the Land of Wind, and the Land of Earth, he seemed to have thought too highly of the Shinobi World.
"Where's the main gate? Point it out, Takeshi. We're going in through the front." Takahashi Yū pulled himself out of his thoughts. He was here to cause trouble this time.
Following the direction Takeshi indicated, Takahashi Yū jumped down from the tree and began swaggering toward Kusagakure's gate.
A thick red coat was draped over Takahashi Yū's upper body, which had been bare all this time.
?
Takahashi Yū turned to look at Uchiha Delia.
His gaze made Delia feel embarrassed instead. "It gives you more presence, Captain."
Takahashi Yū pulled the thick coat around himself and asked, "Isn't this trying a little too hard?"
"Not at all, Captain. It suits your presence perfectly."
"Good!"
With that, Takahashi Yū sent Kusagakure's shoddily made gate flying with a kick and shouted under the bewildered gazes of the Grass Ninja:
"Looks like you lot don't know what the Konoha underworld is!"
Before you continue