The first to leave was Uzumaki Kushina, carried away by the flying summon, White Heron.
Alongside it were other summons: spear heron, giant eagles, and several others.
Next came the Cloud ninja, chasing after the Uzumaki Village's sealing book.
Behind them were two Konoha Anbu squads.
Danzo followed as well.
Captain Yellow Dog's squad remained in the rear to cover the retreat.
Yoru stood on the wall and looked back at Uzumaki Village.
Mist ninja in the village were still surrounding and intercepting the last female Uzumaki ninja.
There were roughly fifty of these women, desperately trying to break through the Mist ninja blockade.
The entire Uzumaki Village was deathly silent, with only a few scattered skirmishes near the northwest wall.
After jumping down from the wall and slipping into the forest outside the village, the Black Chimp squad leader signaled the squad to stop.
By now, the squad had only five members remaining: Black Chimp, three squad leaders, and one regular ninja.
"Change into Cloud ninja disguises. We have a different mission."
The lone ninja carried a large pack, containing the collected Cloud ninja equipment.
Yoru discarded his damaged Anbu iron vest, scarred from combat, and put on the single-shoulder vest of a Cloud ninja.
He threw away his half-broken ninja sword and picked up a nearly new long sword.
Additionally, he took a blood-stained Cloud ninja forehead protector.
Most importantly, he put on a mask.
Now, a five-member Cloud ninja squad had formed.
Black Chimp glanced at the lone member, deciding there was no need to conceal the mission. He said:
"Our task is to ensure that the remaining Uzumaki clan members do not interfere with the Uzumaki princess reaching Konoha Village."
No explanation was needed; everyone knew what to do.
Any Uzumaki approaching the princess had to be eliminated.
The five Cloud ninja dashed out of the forest.
The remaining Uzumaki had left the village, moving northwest toward Konoha.
The narrow peninsula of the Land of Whirlpools left them little room to maneuver.
Most of the Mist ninja stayed in Uzumaki Village to loot—research notes on sealing techniques, valuables, and information from corpses were their focus.
A small number continued to chase the fleeing Uzumaki.
The Uzumaki survivors split into three-person teams to cover the rear, buying time for the others.
These women kept their eyes fixed northwest; Konoha Village was their only hope.
The five Cloud ninja, each carrying a long sword, stood tall and imposing.
Captain Black Chimp didn't charge recklessly but ran parallel to the fleeing Uzumaki, gradually closing in to pressure them.
Under such pressure, even simple jumps, landings, or sprints became flawed due to psychological stress.
Once an Uzumaki faltered, landing unsteadily, Black Chimp's squad would throw kunai.
Those poor Uzumaki girls died under dozens of thrown kunai.
With Mist ninja in pursuit and Cloud ninja flanking, the survivors grew increasingly desperate.
Yoru frowned.
The situation was risky—desperate enemies shouldn't be pursued too deeply.
The Uzumaki ninja weren't completely defenseless; they had sealing scrolls and secret sealing techniques.
If pushed too hard, they might fight to the death in one-for-one exchanges.
Yoru knew he couldn't resist the Dead Demon Consuming Seal.
He noticed several female Uzumaki, eyes vacant, resigned to die, moving toward him, the Cloud ninja in disguise.
It was the seventh day of the lunar month—not yet a full moon. No resurrection opportunity. Trading blows one-for-one with these desperate enemies wasn't worth it.
Yoru glanced at the Black Chimp squad leader—his mind was solely on the Anbu mission: kill all Uzumaki ninja.
A female Uzumaki charged forward.
Another squad leader intercepted her, but he was quickly ensnared by chains from a sealing scroll.
The female ninja, not wanting to live, detonated an explosive tag at close range, killing both herself and the squad leader instantly.
Yoru grimaced. Tonight, countless Uzumaki had perished—their fathers, brothers, children—all dead.
No, he couldn't fight these madwomen to the death. He had to prevent them from reaching Konoha.
Yoru's gaze fell on Uzumaki Yuka.
Yuka was in the center of the group, protected by other female Uzumaki.
She was lucky—the speed of White Heron had whisked Uzumaki Kushina away from the village.
If Yuka died and her summon contract was broken, Kushina wouldn't escape either.
But how could he contact Yuka?
While thinking, the lone member of the Black Chimp squad was killed.
Now only three remained: Black Chimp, Fox, and Leaf Monkey.
Seeing the remaining Uzumaki still capable of fighting, Black Chimp immediately drew back.
His squad had originally been sixteen, now reduced to two (Fox had been transferred from another squad).
Yoru exhaled. Right—let the remaining Uzumaki fight the Mist ninja; why should the Konoha Anbu get involved?
The pursuit and escape continued.
The Black Chimp squad became observers, no longer intervening—only recording the number of remaining Uzumaki.
At a certain moment, Yoru grabbed a broken wooden clogs sole.
He held a kunai backward, pretending to throw it, but secretly carved a few words onto the wood.
The Uzumaki were dwindling, becoming more reckless, rushing at the enemy as if every one of them carried an explosive tag for mutual destruction.
Seizing the moment when Black Chimp was entangled by an Uzumaki ninja, Yoru threw the wooden board along with the kunai.
Afterward, he looked around—no one had noticed the wooden board.
Yuka saw a kunai flying toward her and dodged.
Beneath the kunai, there was a small wooden board.
It fell to the ground, and there were words on it!
Yuka picked it up, startled, then quickly crushed it.
The board read: "Do not go to the Land of Fire!"
Yuka looked at the Cloud ninja who had thrown the board and froze.
The figure… had changed clothes, tied up their hair, and worn a mask—but… it looked so much like Fox.
She had never associated the Cloud ninja with Fox before; now she realized the resemblance.
Was the board a warning from Fox?
But why wouldn't he let her go to the Land of Fire?
And why disguise himself as a Cloud ninja?
Yuka suddenly remembered Danzo, and wondered why Konoha hadn't sent reinforcements. More importantly, why hadn't Konoha provided intelligence about the Cloud and Mist ninja invasion?
Konoha and Uzumaki Village shared intelligence.
What made this disaster strange was that no one had noticed it in advance—every reconnaissance ninja seemed to have been eliminated tonight.
That was impossible.
During the Ninja World War, the Uzumaki had stationed scouts along the Whirlpool Country coast.
Unless… someone had handed the scouting intel to the enemy!
The enemy would have had to strike all reconnaissance teams simultaneously to ensure Uzumaki Village remained oblivious.
The Uzumaki couldn't have done this themselves—so… was it Konoha?
Konoha shared intelligence with Uzumaki Village and knew its defensive layout.
Yuka felt a chill run through her body.
Could it be?
Could Konoha have participated in the extermination of the Uzumaki clan?