'This damn thief!'
"You should blame Konoha's Hokage. How could he let so many ninja from other villages in as kidnappers?", Uchiha Kage was shoved back a step by the angry girl.
"What does this have to do with the Hokage…"
'But indeed, how did so many Kumogakure ninja manage to infiltrate Konoha Village?'
Although Kushina really wanted to refute the other party's sophistry, she couldn't help but have doubts in her heart.
"Anyway, there's no one at your home, so why not come out and bask in the moonlight together? Isn't that nice?", Uchiha Kage looked up at the empty sky.
'Tonight's moonlight is quite beautiful…'
"You… don't you know where these people are going to take us, and what they're going to do to us?"
'Bask in the moonlight? This guy still has the leisure to say such nonsense under these circumstances?'
'But…'
In the moonlight, Kushina finally saw the thief's face clearly for the first time.
He actually looked even more handsome than the blonde guy in class…
'Why choose to be a thief, and on top of that, with such a timid personality?'
'He surrendered to these Kumogakure villains before even putting up a fight…:
"What will happen to us?"
Uchiha Kage glanced around.
He didn't even need the Byakugan; he already sensed several ninja trailing them.
And one little blonde on the way.
As expected, there's no way the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki Kushina would be taken away so easily.
In this scene, Uchiha Kage immediately thought of the time Naruto carried the forbidden scroll and played hide-and-seek with Mizuki and Iruka in the Forest of Death…
No need to guess, what happened today was most likely another script deliberately arranged by that old man Sarutobi Hiruzen.
And the purpose was probably to strengthen Kushina's sense of belonging to Konoha as the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, and… to tie the bond between the little blonde and Kushina.
Uchiha Kage had already interrupted one such "scene." He didn't mind interrupting it again now.
"You really don't know? Kumogakure's human traffickers have long been notorious in the ninja world. They'll take us to a Kumogakure hideout, and there's a group of dark-skinned strong men there… Granny said no girls come out of there unscathed!"
Kushina spoke while imagining scenes from an R18 scenario in her head, secretly trying to break free from the bindings on her hands.
But unfortunately, these Kumogakure ninja were experienced in kidnapping; the rope on her was tied so tightly she had no chance of escape.
She could only try to send out a distress signal.
Maybe some Konoha ninja would come rescue them?
Although she thought the chances were slim, the thought of such a pretty girl like herself being violated by a bunch of dark-skinned brutes made Kushina want to bite her tongue and kill herself.
'Better to die now than endure that.'
'Wait, maybe I can pull out some hair… Other than me, I don't think anyone else in Konoha has this distinctive red hair.'
'Someone observant might notice!'
"Is that so… But I'm a man. Maybe waiting for me in Kumogakure is a fair-skinned, blonde beauty," Uchiha Kage noticed Kushina's little action, then deliberately stopped walking, causing Kushina, who was still pulling her hair while walking, to bump into his back.
"Also, your hair is pretty. Why pull it out?"
"I…"
Kushina had just pulled out a few strands and hadn't thrown them to the ground yet, when she saw all the Kumogakure ninja nearby, including the boy tied to the same rope as her, staring at her.
"This little girl is being sneaky."
"She's planning to use her hair as a signal to attract Konoha ninja, isn't she?"
"Damn it! Tie her hands tighter!"
Noticing her small movements, the Kumogakure ninja quickly surrounded her.
"This is all your fault! Why did you suddenly stop?"
'This damn thief, is he actually in league with these guys?'
Kushina stomped her foot in despair.
'Now our only hope for rescue is gone…'
'No one will come save us now.'
"Why stop? Because everyone's here," Before Uchiha Kage finished his sentence, masked Konoha ANBU ninja had already appeared swiftly in front of them.
They were already at Konoha's border.
Any further and the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Kushina's personal safety would be in jeopardy.
'So, Sarutobi Hiruzen's men finally couldn't hold back?'
"Everyone's here… What are you talking about…"
'Huh?'
Kushina was just about to crouch down and cover her head to brace for the Kumogakure ninja's rage when she suddenly heard the thud-thud-thud of people falling all around her.
'Why are these Kumogakure guys suddenly collapsing?'
"My rope is gone too, and also…"
A new group of strange people had appeared in front of them?
'What the heck is going on?'
"Kushina, by the order of Lord Hokage, we're here to rescue you."
The leading ANBU ninja used Body Flicker to appear in front of Kushina and Uchiha Kage and unsheathed the ninja sword on his back without hesitation.
"Now, step away from that strange boy and come back to the village with us," The other ANBU surrounded them from all sides, just like the Kumogakure ninja had done earlier.
"Reinforcements?", Hearing what these masked men said, Kushina relaxed a little, but upon seeing the gleaming long swords, she wasn't so sure.
'These guys don't seem like good people either…'
'And also…'
The girl couldn't help but curiously glance at the boy beside her.
'This damn thief seemed to have known someone was nearby from the start?'
'But why don't these supposed reinforcements from Konoha recognize him either?'
'Also, thinking carefully, this guy has been strange from the beginning.'
'Whether caught or surrounded, his face had never shown any surprise or fear.'
'As if he didn't care about anything…'
'Who the heck is he?'
———
The Kumogakure people were vile, but Uchiha Kage also loathed Sarutobi Hiruzen's methods.
'Always trying to manipulate others like puppets…'
'As expected from someone taught by that white-haired guy.'
'Truly cut from the same cloth.'
Thinking of what Senju Tobirama had done to him, Uchiha Kage suddenly lost interest.
But considering how he forced these Konoha ANBU to appear today and completely disrupted the "script's" ending, he had already planted a seed in Kushina's heart.
With her intelligence, she would definitely understand the current state of Konoha and the Hokage one day.
"Let's go. Take me to your boss."
BUZZ!
The scarlet three-tomoe Sharingan lit up in Uchiha Kage's eyes.
At the same time, one of the Kumogakure ninja who had been knocked down by the Konoha ANBU staggered to his feet.
It was the leader of the group that had kidnapped him and Kushina.
Now that Kushina had seen it, it was time for him to explore this solo instance properly.
"Sharingan? You're an Uchiha!", Seeing the Sharingan in the boy's eyes, the surrounding Konoha ANBU became even more alert.
'Uchiha… Nine-Tails.'
Although Uchiha Madara's incident was decades ago, as ANBU, they understood well how dangerous these two names combined were.
And for this young Uchiha to already have a fully matured three-tomoe Sharingan…
Moreover, to control someone with the Sharingan so directly, this was rare.
'Isn't the Uchiha clan already declining? How is there such a monstrously talented youth?'
Ever since Uchiha Kagami died, the Uchiha had no more standouts.
But Konoha too…
Other than the recently rising White Fang, Hatake Sakumo, there didn't seem to be any notable people.
The Sannin had just started to show promise and still weren't fully developed.
On the contrary, Kumogakure was thriving under the Third Raikage, and their strength may have already surpassed Konoha's.
Otherwise, they wouldn't dare be so bold and steal people from Konoha.
"There's a war on the front lines. Why are you still in the village?", After confirming the boy's Uchiha identity, one ANBU ninja couldn't help but speak out.
'With strength like his, hiding in the rear?'
The other Uchiha were all risking their lives on the battlefield.
"You guys know there's a war?"
Uchiha Kage hadn't planned to respond, but these ANBU… seemed too used to bullying the Uchiha?
They weren't afraid of the Sharingan and even dared to lecture him.
Typical… only brave within their own walls.
Then again, subordinates reflect their superiors.
"Princess Tsunade is still on the front lines, and yet you can't wait to harm her only remaining relative?"
"Relative? Me?", Kushina pointed to herself in confusion.
Though it seemed she did have some blood relation to Sister Tsunade, it wasn't much…
How did it suddenly become "only remaining relative" from his mouth?
"Nonsense! We're under orders from the Hokage to protect—"
"If Tsunade returns to the village and finds out that you guys played this kind of childish conspiracy game with her junior while she was away, what do you think she'll do?"
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