"This should be the place, right?"
The ninja belonging to Konoha's Anbu finally found this hidden town on the border of the Land of Fire.
Perhaps "hidden" wasn't exactly the right word, as the town's location wasn't chosen to be deliberately concealed. Its lack of communication with the outside world wasn't intentional either; it was just something that naturally happened over time.
This town, with a history of less than ten years, was situated in a remote location. All its residents were immigrants from another country who had been living a self-sufficient lifestyle, resulting in a state of deep isolation.
The buildings were ordinary wooden houses, looking no different from those anywhere else in the Land of Fire. Only the attire of the residents walking the streets carried a slight sense of foreignness, a remnant of their original customs.
According to the intelligence Konoha had received, that person had been staying in this very place for the past few months.
After some thought, the Anbu ninja decided to enter the town openly. Whether the intelligence was accurate still required his further observation.
However, since this was a town of ordinary people, acting openly and honestly was better than sneaking around.
Wearing his Konoha headband, his appearance in the villagers' line of sight immediately aroused their vigilance... In a small town where everyone knew everyone else, outsiders were always conspicuous, not to mention someone dressed as a ninja.
To them, ninjas were absolutely in the "unwelcome" category... However, because he was a Konoha ninja, the men in the town only stared at him from a distance, not daring to approach too closely.
Sure enough, outside of the hidden villages, a barrier still existed between ninjas and ordinary people. The Anbu ninja sighed inwardly. Perhaps in the eyes of regular folks, ninjas were all emotionless killing machines hiding in the shadows.
Just as his eyes swept the area searching for clues, a little red-haired girl suddenly appeared in his line of sight. Seemingly unafraid of strangers, she walked straight up to him.
"Are you a ninja from Konoha too?" the girl asked directly, her eyes brimming with intense curiosity.
Four or five years old, female, and with red hair. In that instant, the Anbu ninja connected these traits to a specific identity... Is this that VIP?
This meant the man he was looking for was indeed here.
Although this child was young, her status was extraordinary. Even a veteran Anbu ninja had to use an honorific.
"Yes, I am a Konoha ninja. Excuse me... is Jonin Kamishiro Hagoromo here? I have come to deliver a message under the orders of the Third Hokage," the Anbu ninja said directly to the little girl, his tone quite solemn.
Stating his mission so clearly without thoroughly verifying the other party's identity could, in a sense, be considered a leak of classified information. But... given the little girl's characteristics, further confirmation was hardly necessary, right? Coupled with the intel he had received, this was practically a sure thing.
This little girl was one of the people he was looking for, so telling her wasn't an issue.
As for his question... a child this age should have no problem understanding what he was saying.
"You're looking for Hagoromo? I know where they are!"
Upon hearing the Anbu ninja's words, the little girl's tone immediately became much more cheerful. To her, this person knew Hagoromo, which gave him a sort of "one of us" vibe. Closing the distance with a child was just that simple.
"Follow me!"
Saying that, the little girl took the lead and ran ahead.
A smile appeared beneath the Anbu ninja's mask. As a little girl of her age, she was indeed very cute. But as a young ninja, she was a bit too careless. Although one shouldn't make strict demands on a ninja of this age, a necessary level of vigilance was still required.
It seemed the White Yaksha's education wasn't quite up to par.
Led by the little girl, the Anbu ninja soon arrived outside a relatively isolated house on the other side of town. There, on a flat patch of grass outside, he saw two seven- or eight-year-old boys engaged in a taijutsu spar.
With just one glance, he could tell that the white-haired boy's attacks were sharper and more aggressive, while the long-black-haired boy's style was more conservative and defense-oriented... Regardless, considering their age, this was a highly skilled taijutsu bout.
Then, he also spotted Hagoromo, who was standing to the side offering guidance.
He had found his target, which meant his mission was accomplished. He breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank you very much, Lady Mirai Uzumaki."
He bowed to thank the little girl.
"Mirai?" The little girl made a confused expression. Her tiny brain seemed to process it for a good moment before she replied, "No, Ninja Mister, you've got the wrong person. I'm not Mirai."
Whether he had just been "mister-zoned" or not, one unfortunate fact was certain: the Anbu ninja had indeed mistaken her identity.
Uzumaki clan members certainly all had red hair, but not everyone with red hair was an Uzumaki. In any case, hair color alone could not be considered a sufficient and necessary condition for identity confirmation.
This small town was named "Rouran."
And this little red-haired girl was the daughter of the former Queen of Rouran. So it wasn't her fault she had these traits; it was the fault of genetics.
From the naming convention, one could also see the lineage: if the Queen of Rouran was named Sara, her daughter obviously had to be named "Jevo," completing the pun "Sarajevo."
Although he had merely misidentified a child, for a ninja, this was quite an embarrassing blunder.
Sure enough, looking closer, he saw another red-haired girl walk out of the house carrying something. She raised her arm high and handed a cup of water to the White Yaksha.
"Mirai! There's a Konoha ninja here looking for Hagoromo!"
Seeing the other girl, the girl beside him immediately shouted loudly. Fortunately, she didn't mind being misidentified and ran straight over to play with Mirai.
Hagoromo had already noticed the Anbu ninja. He motioned for Haku and Kimimaro to continue, then walked towards the new arrival.
"Jonin Kamishiro Hagoromo, I carry orders from the Third Hokage."
Perhaps realizing he really wasn't good at building rapport, the Anbu ninja, recovering from his minor embarrassment, decided to get straight to business. He handed the Hokage's letter directly to Hagoromo.
Upon seeing the messenger, Hagoromo's expression didn't change noticeably. He took the letter and immediately unfurled it to read.
After leaving the Fire Capital, he had wandered the Land of Fire with the children for a while, and true to form, found absolutely nothing else of interest.
Considering that Mirai was getting a bit weary of long-term travel, and since they happened to be in the area, Hagoromo remembered he actually had an acquaintance in this town, so he chose to stay here temporarily.
Mirai had also finally found a real playmate. After all, it was her first time meeting someone with the exact same hair color... But regardless, the world of ordinary people and the world of ninjas were ultimately different.
"I understand the Hokage's intentions. Is the matter urgent?" Hagoromo's gaze swept over the two red-haired girls playing together before he asked the Anbu ninja.
"If possible, as soon as possible," the other party replied.
In reality, he should have said "immediately."
"You are... I mean, what's your codename?"
"Me? Captain of the 3rd Squad of the Hokage's Direct Anbu. Codename: Tenzo."
"Alright then, Tenzo. Wait a moment while we pack, and then we can set off." Hagoromo correctly grasped the urgency of the situation. He called out to Mirai, Haku, and Kimimaro, gesturing for them to start packing their things.
Hagoromo inherently hadn't wanted to return to Konoha at this time, as there were certain matters he truly didn't want to get mixed up in. But now, due to a direct "order," he had to go back.
The Third Hokage ordering Konoha Jonin Hagoromo to return to the village—perhaps words like "strict command" and "mandatory" should have been added... because Konoha needed power to suppress the Uchiha.
Therefore, at this specific juncture, the "White Yaksha" had to return to the village.
After a tearful and snot-filled goodbye, Mirai's brief, tiny friendship had to come to an end. The four of them left Rouran and followed Tenzo directly back to Konoha.
Though it couldn't be called surveillance, Tenzo traveling alongside them was indeed a way to urge Hagoromo to move faster.
But was the situation really that critical?
As it turned out, the moment they arrived back in Konoha, before they even had time to get entangled with the Uchiha, Hagoromo stumbled right into another mess.
"Why are there ninjas from another village inside Konoha right now?"
Because they had rushed their journey, it was dead of night when Hagoromo's group returned to Konoha. But precisely because of this, they coincidentally ran smack into a certain incident.
Why would a sneaky ninja from another country be inside Konoha? Konoha's security couldn't possibly be so lax that an intruder could waltz in completely undetected, right?
Tenzo thought for a moment before explaining, "They should be Kumogakure ninjas. We received intelligence earlier that Kumogakure would send envoys to Konoha to discuss signing a peace treaty."
"Is that so?"
Hagoromo looked at the Kumogakure ninja standing off against him in the distance—the man was carrying something over his shoulder and attempting to flee Konoha under the cover of darkness. Hagoromo patted Mirai's head and said, "Mirai, I taught you about this. What should you do in this situation?"
"I know!"
Mirai even gave a quirky, "I got this" look. She then took a deep breath, cupped her hands around her mouth like a megaphone, and screamed with every ounce of strength in her little body:
"Heavens above! Bloody murder! Someone is kidnapping women and children!"
Her eyesight was quite sharp; she could clearly see that the Kumogakure ninja was carrying a little girl about her own age over his shoulder... As mentioned before, kidnapping women and children was Kumogakure's signature move. Furthermore, they were using a peace negotiation as cover to openly enter Konoha. Kumogakure's so-called sincerity for "peace" was all too obvious.
In short, Mirai's scream was the most effective weapon of mass destruction in this scenario. Her childish, piercing voice instantly jolted half of Konoha awake.