Kushina’s Predicament

At night, after Uchiha Tekka finished arranging the guards around Hyuga Mirai, he played a game of shogi with him before taking his leave.

Before leaving, Uchiha Tekka checked the guard arrangements once more. Because of Shisui Uchiha during the day, he worried that stubborn fool would refuse to give up and sneak over at night. Thus, he took the matter of security very seriously.

Yasunori Sakai was an outsider he thought highly of, and he was also an honored guest invited by the clan head. If something happened to Yasunori Sakai within the Uchiha Compound, they would be utterly humiliated.

After Uchiha Tekka left, Hyuga Mirai slowly rubbed his temples.

Uzumaki Ayaka asked curiously, "Lord Mirai, was it painful just now?"

"It was fine. Wasting time with someone so terrible at shogi tempers your cultivation of suppressing anger. Ayaka, leave this sort of thing to you next time. It’s a test."

"Lord Mirai is lying again…"

Afterward, Hyuga Mirai activated his Byakugan to inspect the surroundings. There were four guards in total, which showed they took this quite seriously. But considering that it would also cause trouble for the Uchiha if news of the two of them coming to the Uchiha Compound got out, this level of security was only normal.

After all, several Anbu were stationed outside the Uchiha Compound.

No matter how vigilant the guards were, the Uchiha could not possibly stare at the house where Hyuga Mirai was staying without blinking for an entire night. As long as there was a single opening, Hyuga Mirai had the strength to leave without being noticed.

Especially under the observation of the Byakugan, every movement of the surrounding Uchiha guards was crystal clear to him.

"Let’s go, Ayaka."

Hyuga Mirai had Android 18 turn the Nanoparticles on himself and Uzumaki Ayaka into the appearances of Yasunori Sakai and his guard, leaving them in the room for the Uchiha Clan to verify. Then, he and Uzumaki Ayaka found an opportunity to leave the house.

They did not alert any of the Uchiha guards outside throughout the entire process.

The place Uchiha Tekka had arranged for Hyuga Mirai was rather remote, but that had the advantage of allowing them to circle around the Uchiha Compound and head toward Konoha, avoiding the chance of alerting anyone else.

After leaving the Uchiha Clan, Hyuga Mirai’s movements became a little less restrained.

With one Byakugan and one Mind’s Eye of the Kagura, as long as Hyuga Mirai wanted to avoid the village’s surveillance, no one could possibly notice him.

"Konoha is still the same. It hasn’t changed at all."

Hyuga Mirai sighed after scanning the area with his Byakugan. It had been destroyed by the Nine-Tails once, yet they had not thought to make even the slightest change. After rebuilding, it was still exactly the same as before.

Hyuga Mirai knew the locations of all the Anbu guards throughout Konoha perfectly well even without activating his Byakugan.

"Lord Mirai, I sense Princess Kushina’s chakra. Should we go over now?"

Uzumaki Ayaka spoke to Hyuga Mirai. She had recorded Kushina’s chakra long ago and had now confirmed where she lived. However, Kushina’s chakra felt like a candle flickering in the wind, as though it might go out the next second.

"Yes, let’s take a look."

After learning Uzumaki Kushina’s address, Hyuga Mirai slightly detoured around the village’s Anbu, but he still deliberately left behind some obvious traces for them to investigate. At the very least, those clues would perfectly lead the Anbu to the Uchiha Clan.

Uzumaki Kushina’s current condition was not particularly good. Although the senjutsu of Shikkotsu Forest had given her hope of survival, under the influence of Hyuga Mirai’s Sage Chakra, Kushina had been unable to cultivate Shikkotsu Forest’s Sage Mode.

During the day, when Uchiha Mikoto came to visit Uzumaki Kushina, she noticed something was wrong with her.

To hide it from Naruto, Kushina had even begun wearing makeup. Otherwise, Naruto would definitely notice something was wrong with her pale face and dried-out hair.

The current Naruto was no foolish child without anyone to teach him. After children his age began instinctively excluding him, Naruto started training alongside his mother, Kushina. It was not that he felt lonely; he simply did not understand why the people in the village rejected him. Whether adults or children, they all looked at him with fear in their eyes.

In all of Konoha, only his mother and Aunt Kimura cared about him. Everyone else, even the masked ninja, treated him with utter indifference.

Now, even when Kushina cultivated the senjutsu of Shikkotsu Forest, she had to be careful not to let Naruto find out. Recently, she had increasingly felt that Shikkotsu Forest’s senjutsu was becoming harder and harder to cultivate. Every session of training caused Kushina considerable harm.

If she had not learned Medical Ninjutsu from Tsunade and Kimura, she would have had to make frequent trips to the hospital.

"Cough, cough…"

After another failure at cultivating Shikkotsu Forest’s Sage Mode, blood trickled from the corner of Kushina’s mouth. Still, she kept the sound low, terrified that Naruto might hear it.

"Lady Kushina, you cannot continue cultivating any longer. Recently, every session has left you injured. Your body can no longer bear Shikkotsu Forest’s Sage Chakra. Please stop."

Katsuyu slowly crawled down from Kushina’s body and spoke to her in a gentle voice.

"I can’t stop, Katsuyu." Kushina caught her breath, then used Medical Ninjutsu to treat herself before continuing, "This is my last chance. If I still can’t succeed, then Naruto will…"

At the thought of what would come afterward, the exhaustion in Kushina’s eyes was replaced by determination. No matter what, she had to cultivate Shikkotsu Forest’s Sage Mode.

Katsuyu had wanted to offer a few more words of persuasion, but before it could speak, another person’s voice suddenly sounded in the room the next second.

"This time, you should listen to Katsuyu."

Upon hearing another voice in the room, Kushina immediately prepared to attack. But when she saw the person who entered, she froze in astonishment.

"Ayaka, Hyuga Mirai…"

The place where she lived was one of the most heavily guarded locations in Konoha. How had someone infiltrated it again?

Last time, the two of them had taken half of the Nine-Tails. What had they come to Konoha for this time?

Thinking of this, Kushina could not help worrying about Naruto. But her expression was too easy to read. Not only Hyuga Mirai, even Uzumaki Ayaka could tell what Kushina was thinking.

"Save it, Princess Kushina. Do you think we’d attack a child? He’s an Uzumaki Clan Member, after all."

Uzumaki Ayaka spoke to Kushina irritably. Then she ran to the side and, as though completely at home, brought over a small round table along with cushions before sitting down with Hyuga Mirai.

"There’s no need to be so wary, Lady Kushina. Could you ask that Katsuyu not to spit at me? If we had malicious intentions, you would already be dead."

After sitting down, Hyuga Mirai pointed at Katsuyu, which was ready to attack him at any moment, and smiled at Kushina.

Although Hyuga Mirai’s expression and manner toward others were quite gentle, Kushina would never believe that his actions were as harmless as he appeared.

Someone who killed while smiling—he was probably exactly that kind of person.

"What are you doing? Don’t boil water. You’ll wake Naruto."

Seeing Uzumaki Ayaka about to boil water for tea, Kushina hurriedly stopped her. At the same time, she thought, Do these two really have no sense of timing, or do they have some other motive?

"I was bored, so I came to Konoha for a look. But you should be celebrating that I made this trip to Konoha."

Hyuga Mirai studied Kushina’s complexion. With the Byakugan, the darkness inside the room did not affect him in the slightest.

After roughly discerning something about Uzumaki Kushina’s condition, Hyuga Mirai shook his head and said, "Who suggested that you practice the Sage Art of Shikkotsu Forest, Lady Kushina?"