Chapter 19
Miles away from Uzushiogakure.
In the heart of Konoha, Hiruzen looked at the report with a deepening frown.
After reading the entire scroll, he sighed and lit his pipe to calm his nerves.
"So, she finally reached their level," Hiruzen murmured to himself.
He stood from his chair and began walking toward the window, smoking his pipe. As he looked out at the evening sun and the bustling village, a memory surfaced. His father once told him that Saki was the second person to ever break Madara's Susanoo, during a clash between Saki and Madara, where Hashirama himself had to stop them.
He hadn't believed it then. But when Saki and the others came to their village for the First Hokage's funeral, Tobirama-sensei had let Saki test her modified storage seals on them—and at the same time, used it as a test for his own students.
That day, not only he, but his teammates as well, truly understood why she was said to be second only to Madara and Hashirama. She dismantled them in less than a minute.
That was the day they learned exactly why the Uzumaki were so feared. He could still remember it clearly: her seal had malfunctioned, and a spear materialized directly inside her hand instead of resting on her palm, piercing clean through.
She had merely blinked. She casually pulled the spear out, applied basic healing, and continued sparring. By the next day, her hand was as good as new. A wound that would have left any normal ninja disabled or bedridden for months was casually healed in a single night.
Pulled from the memory, Hiruzen sighed. He took a long puff of smoke, exhaling it slowly against the glass. His gaze remained on the village, but his mind was already calculating the fallout of the looming war. This failed invasion would postpone the upcoming global conflict by a few years, but it wouldn't stop it entirely.
A sudden knock at the door broke through his deep contemplation. He lowered his pipe.
"Come in."
With a sharp click, the door opened, and Orochimaru stepped into the office.
Hiruzen raised an eyebrow. Orochimaru was the last person he expected to walk through that door right now.
"Sensei, I need to go to Uzushio," Orochimaru said smoothly, getting straight to the point.
Hiruzen rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache coming on.
"Orochimaru, I will tell you the exact same thing I just told Jiraiya." Hiruzen looked at his student, his voice turning serious. "You are not allowed to go to Uzushio. You may have respectable strength for your age, but you are nowhere near ready for a war of that scale."
Orochimaru blinked, his usual composure cracking into genuine confusion.
'What does Jiraiya have to do with this?' Orochimaru thought.
"Jiraiya? Why would he want to go there?" Orochimaru asked.
Now it was Hiruzen's turn to look confused.
"You came here to request deployment to Uzushio as reinforcements, right?" Hiruzen asked.
"No," Orochimaru replied. "I have a delivery to make in Uzushio. I came to request permission to leave the village."
Hiruzen stared at him for a moment before nodding in understanding.
"I see... but the answer is still no."
Orochimaru frowned, but before he could protest, Hiruzen continued.
"Uzushio survived the invasion." Hiruzen tapped the report he had received from Sakumo. "And they are subtly, but firmly, suggesting that they don't want any outsiders in their lands right now."
Noting Orochimaru's thoughtful expression, Hiruzen nodded, satisfied that the message had landed. He lifted his pipe back to his lips, taking a slow, calming drag.
"By the way, what exactly are you delivering? I thought you were busy developing new jutsu."
"The summoning contract for Ryūchi Cave."
Hiruzen inhaled sharply, choking on the smoke, and dropped his pipe.
"What!!"
*******
Across the sea from Uzushiogakure.
In a village completely shrouded in mist, inside the office of the Mizukage.
The Third Mizukage was reading the final report on the invasion. After finishing the scroll, he threw it into the trash bin with an annoyed expression.
"Trash! Even after sending so many, they couldn't destroy a village that isn't even one of the Five Greats."
He took a deep breath, his long black hair swaying with the movement.
"At least now those clan leaders will keep quiet for some time," he smirked. 'Those bastards wanted to send their own clan members into this, thinking it would be a quick and profitable affair.'
"Now is the time to tighten my hold on them, especially since they just presented themselves on a chopping block." He laughed to himself, the sound echoing in the quiet, damp office.
*****
In the Land of Earth.
Surrounded by jagged mountains lay Iwagakure, the village hidden in the stones.
In its center stood a towering building—the tallest structure in the village—with a cone-shaped roof bearing the kanji for "Earth."
The Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, was reading a scroll with a neutral expression.
As he finished, he sighed in exhaustion and spoke to the kneeling ninja.
"You can go now." The ninja stood and was about to leave when Ōnoki's voice rang through the room again. "And be sure nobody knows about this until I say otherwise."
"Hai!" The ninja replied before vanishing from sight.
Ōnoki stood from his chair and, with a contemplative expression, looked out over his village and the setting sun.
He had known the outcome of this invasion from the very moment Kumogakure proposed it.
Heck, he was sure that even if all of the Great Villages combined to attack Uzushio, there wasn't even a slight chance that Uzushio would be destroyed.
'Not as long as she is present there,' he thought inwardly.
Suddenly, Ōnoki felt something behind him. He became instantly alert, ready to blast his Dust Release.
But he controlled himself from showing any outward reaction. He turned slowly. A being clad completely in black was standing in the middle of the office. He was dressed like a black-ops ninja, but with a unique design and far more advanced technology.
Ōnoki sighed inwardly, his racing heartbeat slowly calming. But he still spoke with authority.
"Now, my debt has been paid." He looked at the figure's black mask and continued, "Tell her we are even."
The being nodded. Even now, Ōnoki couldn't sense him, even as he stared right at him.
The being simply dissolved into the surroundings as if he had never been there. Ōnoki stared at the empty spot for a few more seconds before he slowly dropped his guard.
As the sun began to set, the surroundings inside the office darkened.
Ōnoki sighed and sat again in his chair. As he read some scrolls, his mood lightened slightly as he read the shinobi deployed by the other so-called 'allies'.
The most shinobi was deployed by Kumo, followed by Kiri. And Kumo even deployed Two-Tails' jinchuriki.
The least shinobi were sent by Iwa, so he had to add Four-Tails' jinchuriki to appease them.
Well he would still celebrate this small victory, seeing Kumo suffer.
Then his thoughts shifted towards Uzushio, he needed to repair their relationship. But it will take years.
'Should I give them Four-Tails as a compensation?' he mused to himself as light lit up in his office.
*******
In the Land of Whirlpools.
In the dead of night, Uzushio was covered in darkness as the repairs were still ongoing.
Ninja helped the civilians gather their belongings and distribute relief supplies. Meanwhile, most of the powerful shinobi were patrolling the village and the surrounding ruined forest.
Inside the main compound, Kenji was still awake, reading a report from Shōto. His frown deepened as he finished it.
'This situation is getting more and more complicated,' he thought, rubbing his forehead.
After musing on it for a few more seconds, he spoke into the dim room.
"Where is Kushina?"
From the darkness came a voice. "She is resting in her room, Kenji-sama."
Kenji nodded. He stood from his chair and began walking out of the office. As he walked, he thought inwardly, 'This whole situation is a big mess. Everything feels like a chessboard. And we are just the pieces moving in someone else's game.'
The more information they extracted from the prisoners, the more certain he became. Something was not right. But he also had to believe that this was the best outcome, if the fragments of the truth he saw were correct.
Lost in his musings, he arrived in front of his daughter's door.
He knocked. After getting no reply for some time, he opened it and saw Kushina sleeping—but her expression indicated she was having a nightmare. She was sweating profusely, her face scrunched up into a painful frown.
Pain flashed in his eyes when he saw Kushina in that state. Even when she was going through hellish training under Saki, she had never been this traumatized.
With heavy steps, he came closer to her bed, intending to comfort her.
Inside her mind, Kushina was seeing the images of Asuna's death in slow motion. She saw the kunai pierce her friend's throat, followed by the image of her aunt being stabbed by a tantō, blood gushing like a fountain.
Suddenly, she felt a presence nearing her. Her shinobi instincts flared to life in an instant. From below her pillow, she grabbed a kunai and lashed out.
Kenji stopped the blade between his index and middle fingers, mere inches away from his own throat. He saw Kushina's unfocused eyes and heard her ragged breathing. She was hyperventilating. Then, she began to struggle harder, trying to free the kunai to attack again.
Kushina felt like she was back in the middle of the battlefield, surrounded by the bodies of her kin, all of them asking her why they had died while she survived. Just as she struggled more, she felt a sudden, familiar warmth embrace her.
Kenji felt Kushina's ragged breaths slowly calm down. She stopped struggling as he gently caressed her back and whispered,
"It's alright, Kushina. Everything is fine. You are safe now."
After a few minutes of coaxing, her hysteria finally broke.
"I am sorry, Dad… I am sorry… I am sorry… I couldn't save them." She kept murmuring it over and over, hugging him as tightly as she could.
"Hey, it's alright. Why are you apologizing?" Kenji asked in a soft voice. Even though he had some idea what she was apologizing for, he still asked. The sooner she let it out, the better.
And let it out she did. She told him everything that happened in that compound—how she couldn't protect Asuna, how because of her negligence Medori had almost died.
After listening to Kushina pour her heart out, Kenji sat on the bed and rested her head on his lap, gently caressing her red hair.
"It's not your fault, princess," Kenji said sadly, looking down into her violet eyes. "You were not supposed to face this. At least, not this early."
"It was my fault. I failed as a leader to protect my people."
"No… you did not," Kushina replied, looking up at her father's exhausted face, which still managed to smile for her. "I have seen you sacrifice more than anyone for this village. I have seen your hard work, your dedication to keeping this village peaceful."
Then, she said in a fierce, serious voice, "This was not your fault. It's the fault of those people who invaded us."
Kenji smiled and gently nudged her puffy nose with his finger.
"Exactly. It's not your fault, Kushina. This world is… cursed. Or the people living in it are." Kenji sighed, looking out the window toward the half-covered moon.
Then he continued, his voice distant as if remembering something. "I hoped I would never have to say this to you, but again… a cruel world we live in." He looked back down at Kushina, whose violet orbs stared up at him intently. "My mother said this to me when I was in your situation: 'There will be many sacrifices. Lives will be lost for our continued survival. Sometimes it will be some no-name soldier; other times it could be someone you know—your brother, your friends, or even your family. But we have to keep living, even if we don't want to, because someone out there needs you.'"
His expression turned dead serious.
"We may have lost many, but as survivors, we have to keep living and remember those we lost along the way. Not as shackles that drag you down, but as a reminder of what it cost."
After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Kushina asked something that had been on her mind from the moment she saw that translucent figure.
"Dad…"
"Hmm," Kenji replied, looking down at her.
Kushina averted her face to the side and asked in a quiet whisper, "What was Mom like?"
Kenji's eyes widened slightly, and then he chuckled.
It was the first time she had ever asked about her mother.
After a few seconds, he spoke with a touch of melancholy, recalling his fondest memories.
"Your Mom… She was stubborn, hot-headed, and a boisterous woman." Kushina looked up at her father's face with a raised eyebrow, but Kenji continued with a small smile, not minding her stare. "She liked to boss everyone around and was very picky about her food. And she had absolutely no filter."
"Dad, you are just—" Kenji placed a finger over her lips, stopping her from saying more. He looked into her violet eyes, his smile softening.
"But she was one of the kindest women I ever knew. She didn't like sadness, so she always wore a cheerful smile, no matter how much she was hurting on the inside. She loved children.... Her smile could brighten my day. She was the light of my life."
He chuckled again softly. "You know, the first time I met her, she punched me in the face over a misunderstanding…"
Kenji continued telling Kushina stories about her mother, and Kushina quietly listened.
Seconds stretched into minutes, and minutes into half an hour as father and daughter kept talking. Eventually, Kenji noticed Kushina had fallen into a deep sleep on his lap.
Kenji smiled. With one last gentle caress of her hair, he tucked her into the bed.
As he was covering her with the blanket, from the corner of his eye, he spotted the kunai she had dropped near her legs.
Kenji picked it up. After staring at the dark metal for a long moment, he sighed. With a heavy heart, he reached forward and placed it safely back beneath her pillow.
"Good night, princess." With one last kiss on Kushina's forehead, Kenji left the room.
******