The Uzumaki in Peril

Three months passed in a flash.

Ryuto stood beneath the waterfall, water pounding his head as though it cost nothing. The dark gold patches were still attached to his body, imposing tenfold weight, but now he stood like a nail driven into place, not moving an inch.

Ki circulated through his body as though turbocharged, fierce yet steady.

He opened his eyes and walked out of the waterfall without a single drop of water on him.

He had not used a protective barrier. Ki flowed rapidly over his skin, shaking the water straight off. He had worked this trick out himself over the past three months. Convenient, and cool too.

"That should do it."

Ryuto walked to the edge of the deep pool, sat down, and extended his senses.

Before, his perception had covered, at most, a stretch of the surrounding mountains. Now things were different.

His Ki swept outward like a radar wave.

A hundred li, five hundred li, a thousand li...

Within his sensory range, points of chakra shone densely as stars. The weak ones were like fireflies, the strong ones like little light bulbs, and a few especially bright ones resembled searchlights-probably experts from some clan.

Ryuto did not examine them closely. He was searching for a familiar "signal."

He remembered the feel of the Uzumaki Clan's chakra. It was different from that of ordinary ninja, more enduring, more steady.

His senses swept southeast.

Found it.

The chakra lights were closely clustered around the Uzumaki Clan Grounds, usually resembling a gentle campfire.

But now...

Ryuto's brows suddenly knitted tight.

That "campfire" had exploded.

It was no metaphor. It really had exploded. In his perception, chakra fluctuations crackled from the direction of the Uzumaki Clan Grounds as densely as firecrackers at New Year's. Their intensity was frightening, with several "searchlight"-level chakras colliding wildly there.

And that was not all.

Ryuto carefully distinguished the "flavors" of those chakras.

Some were familiar, cold and violent: the Uchiha. And there were plenty of them. Definitely not one or two squads, but an army!

There were even more unfamiliar chakras, their presence particularly savage, full of destructive urges, like crazed wild beasts. He had never sensed chakra like this before.

"Something's gone seriously wrong."

Ryuto sprang to his feet.

This was definitely not a border skirmish or a small-scale conflict. This scale, this intensity-it was a war of extermination!

Two faces immediately flashed through his mind.

Mito Uzumaki handing him the dark gold scroll.

Rena Uzumaki pushing the bulging cloth bundle toward him.

And the words he had spoken when he left.

"If the Uzumaki ever face trouble, I'll help."

Ryuto swore. Trouble really had come.

But he did not hesitate.

He activated the weight patches, and tenfold gravity pressed down on him. He was used to it now, little different from wearing a thick coat.

Then Ki surged toward the soles of his feet.

Boom!

Ki blasted from beneath his feet like a rocket launching, lifting him straight off the ground and into the sky.

The Flight Technique-after three months, he had long since mastered it. Not only could he fly, he could drift through the air, make sharp turns, and even fly backward.

Now was not the time to show off.

Ryuto locked onto the direction of the Uzumaki Clan Grounds and unleashed his Ki.

Whoosh!

He trailed a golden afterimage through the air, moving at least three times faster than he could run on the ground. Wind roared in his ears like thunder.

This was his first long-distance flight using the Flight Technique.

Before, he had only flown circles deep in the mountains and forests. Now he had to cross over a thousand li.

His Ki poured away like water from an open faucet.

But Ryuto was not afraid.

After three months of enduring the waterfall, whatever else he had failed to develop, he had gained two things: plenty of Ki and the ability to take a beating.

As he flew, he focused his senses on the Uzumaki Clan Grounds.

The battle was still going, and growing fiercer.

Those unfamiliar, Frenzied Chakra signatures were assaulting the Uzumaki Clan Grounds' defenses from multiple directions. Uchiha chakra moved along the flanks, coordinating their attacks.

The Uzumaki Clan's chakra lights were dwindling rapidly.

They were not weakening. They were disappearing outright.

Ryuto's heart sank.

Disappearing meant people were gone.

"Faster!"

He increased his Ki output another notch, and his speed soared again.

The mountains and rivers beneath him rushed backward like a film on fast-forward.

He flew for roughly an hour.

In his perception, the scene at the Uzumaki Clan Grounds became clearer.

The barrier around the compound had already been breached, and black smoke rose from several places. Buildings burned, and flashes dotted the ground everywhere as Ninjutsu clashed.

The Uzumaki Clan's chakra had been compressed into the compound's central area. They were still resisting, but the encirclement kept tightening.

Ryuto could now make out those unfamiliar, savage chakras clearly.

They were not human.

Or rather, not entirely.

Those chakras had bizarre shapes. Some resembled gigantic beasts, others twisted monsters. Their chakra reserves were absurdly vast, but chaotic, disordered, and filled with a pure urge to destroy.

"What the fuck are those things?"

Ryuto had never seen anything like them.

The Uchiha were mixed in among those monsters, seemingly commanding them, yet also seemingly using them to batter the Uzumaki defenses.

The golden light of the Uzumaki Clan's Sealing Jutsu flared from time to time, immobilizing or blasting apart the charging monsters. But there were too many. For every one blown apart, two more charged up from behind.

"Rena... Mito..."

Ryuto gritted his teeth and pushed his speed to the limit.

Ki surged through his meridians. With his output so high, faint golden flames of Ki began rising from his body's surface.

Like a golden meteor, he streaked across the sky of the Warring States era, heading straight for that burning compound.

The distance closed rapidly.

Five hundred li, three hundred li, a hundred li...

He could already see black smoke rising along the distant horizon with his naked eyes.

The sounds of battle drifted faintly toward him too: explosions, furious shouts, and the monsters' distinct, inhuman roars.

Ryuto took a deep breath, preparing to charge straight into the battlefield.

But when he was still about fifty li from the Uzumaki Clan Grounds, the edge of his senses suddenly caught another powerful chakra.

This chakra was familiar.

Warm, substantial, and full of vitality.

And it was approaching the Uzumaki Clan Grounds from the northwest at tremendous speed.

"The Senju Clan?"

Ryuto froze for a moment.

The Senju were coming too?

And judging by their speed and the amount of chakra, they had definitely deployed their entire main force.

"That's good."

Ryuto did not stop. He kept flying forward.

One more ally was better than one less.

He looked toward the Uzumaki Clan Grounds, his gaze cold.

"Hold on."

"I'm coming."