Yoru received a reporting task, but he was in no hurry.
The chase ahead was extremely complicated.
At the front was Uzumaki Kushina, followed by two Konoha Anbu squads, and at the rear were the Cloud ninja trying to seize Uzumaki Village's Sealing Book.
The Cloud ninja numbered roughly three full squads.
If Yoru moved too fast, he might run straight into the Cloud ninja and die without even knowing how.
Outside the capital of the Land of Whirlpools, Yoru spotted a battlefield.
Countless bodies littered the ground: some Cloud ninja, some Konoha Anbu, and five particularly conspicuous corpses bearing both the Land of Whirlpools' daimyo crest and the Uzumaki clan emblem.
The guardian ninja of the Land of Whirlpools' daimyo had been killed.
These guards were extremely strong. Within tens of meters, there were no other corpses—they had been exhausted and killed by long-range Cloud ninja techniques.
Yoru split off a shadow clone to scavenge the bodies.
Some clones died from traps in the ninja tool pouches.
After some time, Yoru found 300,000 ryo and three explosive tags.
These ninja didn't bother carrying much valuable equipment when they left—stingy with loot.
Continuing onward, Yoru encountered a dozen or so more small battlefields, scavenging another 100,000 ryo.
Now he had a massive fortune of 1.1 million ryo—S-rank mission rewards were only about 1 million ryo.
With this money, he could splurge back in Konoha.
Approaching the Land of Fire's border, Yoru grew increasingly cautious.
Cloud ninja wouldn't enter the Land of Fire lightly; there were many Konoha intelligence teams stationed there.
Climbing a high mountain, Yoru surveyed the area with a telescope.
Found them!
At the base of a distant slope, Cloud ninja had nearly surrounded two Konoha Anbu squads.
Behind the Konoha squads was Danzo Shimura, holding Uzumaki Kushina.
The summons—White Heron, Spear Egret, Giant Eagle, etc.—were gone.
Kushina trembled in Danzo's grasp like a frightened bird.
There wasn't a single Uzumaki ninja or summon nearby.
Despite being surrounded by Cloud ninja, Danzo remained unfazed. His other hand rested on the Sealing Book of Uzumaki Village.
The Sealing Book contained all of the Uzumaki clan's secret and forbidden sealing techniques—a truly enviable treasure.
Even Yoru, viewing the book from afar, felt his heart race.
Danzo's face was dark as iron as he glared at Kushina with resentment—not at her, but at Katō Dan.
With the Sealing Book in hand, Danzo planned to learn the secret sealing techniques first.
However, Katō Dan, using Spirit Transformation, crossed thousands of miles to attach himself to Kushina.
Through her, Katō Dan declared he was monitoring everything here.
Beside him stood Senju Rinboku, head of the Senju clan.
With Katō Dan guarding, Danzo couldn't even read the Sealing Book.
The Senju clan remained strong, pressing down on Konoha's upper echelons.
Numerous elite Senju jōnin existed, and there were exceptional jōnin like Katō Dan who had mastered forbidden techniques.
Katō Dan was also Tsunade's lover and deeply loyal to the Senju clan.
Many of Danzo's previous plans were interrupted by Katō Dan.
Spirit Transformation was absurdly powerful—a single person could monitor vast corners of the ninja world and possess someone thousands of miles away.
Thinking of Katō Dan, Danzo's gaze grew darker and colder.
Yoru hurriedly descended the mountain—not because he wanted to join the Anbu battle, but because a large number of Konoha ninja had appeared in the forest behind!
Konoha reinforcements had arrived!
Uzumaki Village and Konoha were allies. How could Konoha stand idle while the village was in danger?
Yoru quickly leapt down the slope, heading to the battlefield's flank.
From afar, he saw the high-ranking figures in the support force.
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, personally led troops to aid Uzumaki Village.
Besides the Third Hokage, there was Homura Mitokado.
Yoru also spotted many Senju clan members, their clothing marked with the Senju emblem.
Even the Senju clan leader, Rinboku, had arrived.
Rinboku was the son of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, and Tsunade's father.
At this time, Tsunade had not yet earned the title of one of the Legendary Sannin; her reputation was mostly from the Senju clan and as the Third Hokage's disciple.
Next to Rinboku was his favored son-in-law, Katō Dan.
"Uncle!"
Kushina saw Rinboku and became excited, waving her arms to pull her hand from Danzo's grasp.
Danzo glanced at Rinboku and then at Katō Dan.
Rinboku frowned—what was Danzo doing?
Danzo had no choice but to release Kushina, allowing her to run to Rinboku.
Rinboku embraced Kushina's back, gently patting her.
"Uncle! Mist and Cloud ninja ambushed the village! Our clan elders and the Third Mizukage perished! The village has been destroyed!"
"What? The village destroyed?"
"What? The Third Mizukage is dead?"
Rinboku and Mito Monen each exclaimed.
The news was shocking.
Uzumaki Village wasn't a minor village—it had thousands of Uzumaki, many smaller absorbed clans, and trained civilian ninja.
With over 3,000 ninja, it ranked second among the villages beneath the Five Great Shinobi Countries.
Additionally, the Uzumaki clan had large summons and near-unkillable sealing techniques—any village confronting Uzumaki would not dare underestimate them.
Homura Mitokado and Hiruzen exchanged glances, feeling both joy and sorrow.
The joy: Konoha secured its next jinchūriki—Danzo successfully brought back Princess Kushina and the Sealing Book.
The sorrow: the destruction of an allied ninja village was tragic.
Hiruzen signaled the Konoha ninja behind him to charge and eliminate the pursuing Cloud ninja.
He approached Kushina, his tone filled with regret:
"Forgive us, Princess Uzumaki. The Mist and Cloud ninja blocked the intelligence. Konoha deployed 2,000 ninja to aid Uzumaki Village, but it was too late."
What could Kushina say?
Surrounded by countless Konoha ninja, their effort was immense—but too late was still too late; everything was over.
Rinboku's face was pale.
Many Senju relatives were in Uzumaki Village.
Kushina called him "uncle"—and indeed, the clan elder of the Uzumaki was her maternal uncle.
Her mother, Mito Uzumaki, was the Uzumaki clan elder's sister.
There were many nieces and nephews there as well.
Uzumaki Village was not just an ally—it was tied to the Senju by marriage.
Intermarriage among ninja clans ensured pure bloodlines but accumulated hereditary disorders.
The Uzumaki clan was a key marital ally of the Senju; intermarriage preserved bloodline strength and prevented hereditary issues.
Without the Uzumaki clan, what would the Senju do?
With 2,000 Konoha ninja in action, the three Cloud squads had no chance to escape, dying miserably at the border within minutes.
Rinboku looked at Danzo.
"Advisor Danzo, give me the Sealing Book. Kushina is still young—I will safeguard it for her."
Danzo glanced at Kushina. At the critical juncture of the Nine-Tails jinchūriki transition, he didn't want any accidents or resentment to arise.
He handed the Sealing Book to the Senju clan.
Yoru found Captain Yellow Dog to report what Captain Black Chimp's squad had encountered.
After hearing the report, Captain Yellow Dog made no decision, instead taking Yoru to consult Advisor Danzo.
Matters involving the Uzumaki elder were left for Danzo to decide.
Approaching Konoha's upper echelon, Yoru heard heated arguments between Rinboku and Homura Mitokado.