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Chapter 102n
🕑 Added 2025-07-18 15:44:07 +0000 UTCChapter 102n
2-in-1-chapter
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Faced with Rēn’s sharp question, Yagura Karatachi fell silent.
Indeed.
Everyone knew that Yagura Karatachi had started this war. To suddenly claim it was all orchestrated by some unprovable mysterious figure—who would believe that? Especially with only Rēn’s testimony.
Given that he now held the Gunbai and the Nine-Tails Incident all those years ago was under very suspicious circumstances. His age made it so he couldn't have possibly been part of the nine-tailed's attack.
Under those circumstances, people in Konoha might believe Rēn’s testimony. However, Kirigakure shinobi, having experienced Yagura Karatachi's oppressive leadership, would very likely refuse to trust anything he claims.
"By the way, I almost forgot. We extracted some interesting information from the minds of captured Kirigakure shinobi: supposedly, the Fourth Mizukage himself is commanding their front lines."
At this, Yagura Karatachi’s expression changed dramatically.
Another Fourth Mizukage? How could that be?
Was it a puppet pushed forward by the ambitious jōnin of the army? No, that seemed unlikely. Knowing those power-hungry men, once his long disappearance was discovered, Momochi Zabuza and the others would be maneuvering to select a Fifth Mizukage—not trotting out a fraud.
But he didn’t believe Rēn would fabricate such a story just to deceive him. Such deception would only damage their mutual trust and offer no advantage.
A bold hypothesis emerged in his mind.
Could that damned one-eyed man still dare impersonate him and return to Kirigakure?
"And another thing: recently Kirigakure’s attacks have been ferocious, but their commander seems lacking in wits, providing my subordinates with plentiful victories. It’s almost as if that Fourth Mizukage is deliberately delivering merit to my men. Fortunately, I’m not the Hokage, so I don’t have to worry about rewarding them afterward." Rēn added casually, as if worried Yagura Karatachi couldn’t grasp the situation.
This time, Yagura Karatachi finally couldn’t remain seated.
He had underestimated Rēn’s intentions. Konoha still intended to use this war against Kirigakure as a demonstration of power to deter other villages. That meant they would not rush to end it. And now, that mysterious one-eyed man was still stirring chaos inside Kirigakure.
Konoha might be ok with prolonging the war a little, but his village could not withstand further ruin.
He rose and walked to the cell door, meeting Rēn’s gaze through the thick iron bars.
"I accept your terms. The Byakugan from the Hyūga main house will be returned to you. War reparations will be paid at the agreed price. However, Kirigakure’s finances are strained—we will need to pay in installments. And Kirigakure will fully cooperate with Konoha in investigating and dealing with that one-eyed man."
"May I now request to be moved to a different cell? Frankly, the stench here is unbearable." Yagura Karatachi waved his hand under his nose.
"And one more thing, Uchiha clan head: I hope you act quickly. If my title of Mizukage is stripped before this is resolved, my promises will become worthless."
"Thank you for the reminder. We’ll act accordingly." Rēn smiled and nodded.
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Kigetsu Yagura’s residence was relocated from the prison’s depths to a level below the main keep, becoming neighbors with Rēn. After all, he was the Fourth Mizukage. Even though sealing squad specialists had inscribed the most powerful seals they knew upon him, no one could confidently guarantee how much restriction that would actually impose on a Jinchūriki.
Therefore, Nara Suzaku cautiously inquired whether Yagura could be placed on the lower level of the keep. Rēn considered for a moment and nodded in agreement. Though sharing a floor with the Fourth Mizukage felt somewhat strange, he didn’t care much about this new neighbor. If Yagura harbored any inappropriate thoughts, Rēn wouldn’t mind making the Mizukage recall the sensation of being controlled by an Uchiha again.
“Pak!”
The bamboo sword struck the slender wrist.
The precise force made Uchiha Fujika wince from pain but did not truly injure her.
“Fujika, pick up the bamboo sword.”
Uchiha Chihaya, dressed in the Uchiha clan’s traditional black long robe, wooden clogs clacking crisply on the stone floor, held a bamboo sword single-handedly. Her delicate, jade-like face bore a stern expression, exuding an imposing air like a martial deity stepping onto the battlefield.
Rubbing her wrist, already marked by seven or eight red welts, Uchiha Fujika silently picked up the fallen bamboo sword and resumed her stance.
Training continued.
In the past, even if she persevered, tears would have already been falling onto the floor.
But under Chihaya’s guidance, after witnessing the realities of battle, she had grown much stronger.
"That’s your younger sister? Five or six years old?"
"Five."
"At that age and already on the battlefield? Isn’t that too soon?" Under the eaves, Rēn and Yagura sat across from each other. Between them, the black and white stones on the board intersected intricately, appearing as if a fierce battle was underway—but in reality, they were merely playing gomoku.
Among shinobi, the most popular board game was undoubtedly shogi.
However, Rēn had little interest in the long and complex game of shogi. So he had a renowned artisan craft this set of black and white stones, and when training wearied him or he felt irritable, he would invite someone to play gomoku, a game easy to learn and quick to play.
Today, even though it was Yagura’s first time playing, he was already locked in a close contest with Rēn.
"So, Mizukage-sama, may I ask: at what age did you first learn to kill?" Rēn asked casually as he toyed with a jet-black stone, pondering his next move.
"Me?" Yagura froze briefly, then his expression grew complex. "I suppose... it was around five years old. My father took me to kill a gang of bandits terrorizing various parts of the Land of Water. That was my first time cutting a human throat with a kunai. Since then, I’ve lost count of how many I’ve killed."
He looked down at his palm. His fair, clean fingers bore no trace of dirt.
But in Yagura’s eyes, his palm held an endless well of blood, the crimson flowing ceaselessly through his fingers, leaving only the pure white stone untouched.
"I was five years old when I stepped onto the battlefield too. That age isn’t so young. In this wretched world, if you don’t recognize its cruelty early, you’ll be swallowed whole, bones and all." After weighing his options, Rēn finally placed his stone.
"Hearing you say that, our world really does seem utterly hopeless."
Yagura smiled bitterly and sighed.
"Isn’t it? Sending children not even as tall as a sword onto the battlefield... You don’t seriously think this is some kind of happy home, do you? When I entered battle at five, I understood—this world is a pile of dog shit."
Yagura paused, disgusted with Rēn's foul language.
After a long silence, he coughed and changed the subject: "Uchiha clan head, how long until this meaningless war ends?"
"That’s a major issue." Rēn picked up a stone. "It concerns relations between two villages and requires the Hokage’s approval. If I weren’t tied up as frontline commander, Mizukage-sama, you’d probably have to visit Konoha yourself."
"The Fifth Hokage Acting Leader… Let’s hope you move quickly. A broken Kirigakure can’t help you track down that one-eyed bastard."
"Is that so?"
Rēn smiled indifferently as he pressed the stone onto the board with a crisp "pak" sound, forming an unbroken diagonal of four black stones.
The outcome was decided.
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When the downpour blanketed the village, Uzumaki Naruto had yet to return home. He sat alone, hugging his knees atop the narrow platform of the playground slide. The mushroom-shaped canopy overhead blocked the falling rain but not the cold winds and splattering rain from the sides. Nor could it soothe the turmoil and confusion in his heart.
He sat motionless, hugging his knees.
His pale face showed no expression, and his blue eyes stared through the curtain of rain, gazing toward Hokage Rock in the distance, lingering long on the face of the Fourth Hokage.
Recently, he had heard a rumour: That he was the Fourth Hokage’s child.
An absurd, laughable rumour. How could a "Nine-Tail's Jinchūriki" possibly be the child of a "hero"? The gossiping women had scoffed in disgust, repeatedly saying "Impossible." Most villagers treated it as another uninteresting urban legend.
But Naruto didn’t take it as a joke.
His heart trembled, unable to forget it even after sleep. When alone, the thought kept surfacing—especially in that not-so-small but empty and lonely house, where such fantasies grew like weeds nourished by solitude.
If only...
...if only he really was the Fourth Hokage’s child!
If he had a "hero" for a father, maybe everyone wouldn’t shun and hate him anymore?
Such foolish hopes kept surfacing and being forcibly extinguished. After all, they were nothing more than impossible fantasies. If he treated them as truth, the tears would surely fall uncontrollably.
And just at this time, his only friend wasn’t home. There was no one he could confide in.
"Uzumaki Naruto’s abnormal behavior has lasted almost a week?"
Akimichi Torifu tugged at his raincoat. His large frame made even the largest size feel tight and uncomfortable, and he regretted not simply sticking with his old worn straw cloak.
On a nearby rooftop overlooking the park, many figures loomed in the rain.
From here, they had a clear view of the entire park, including the small slide where the Nine-Tail's Jinchūriki, Uzumaki Naruto, sat.
As Konoha’s living weapon, the Nine-Tail's Jinchūriki was under constant 24-hour surveillance and protection by ANBU. His strange behavior over the past week had, of course, not escaped their attention.
ANBU submitted a report, and upon reading it, the Fifth Hokage Acting Leader could not sit still. If anything happened to the Nine-Tail's Jinchūriki at this time, it would be a huge problem—especially with Konoha at war with Kirigakure.
Just eight days ago, a report had arrived from the front:
Rumours were that Uchiha Madara might not be dead, that the war itself may have been instigated by a man claiming to be Madara, that the Fourth Mizukage had been captured, and that attempts were underway to negotiate with him to end the war…
An overwhelming flood of intelligence made Akimichi Torifu feel mentally exhausted. Being Hokage seemed prestigious, but in truth, it was unbelievably taxing.
He really didn’t want any incident involving the Nine-Tail's Jinchūriki now.
So braving the rain, Konoha’s senior leadership, led by the Fifth Hokage Acting Leader himself, gathered here, quietly observing the emotionally unstable Nine-Tail's Jinchūriki.
"At this particular time… Is it confirmed that the rumor is the cause? That Uzumaki Naruto is the Fourth Hokage’s child?" Torifu asked Nara Shikaku, glancing sideways at Uchiha Genshi standing nearby.
With Rēn away at the eastern border leading the war effort, the elder Uchiha Genshi had stepped in to represent the Uchiha clan and the Police Force at village meetings.
As for the former clan head Uchiha Fugaku, no one would ask him to handle such matters anymore. Fugaku’s political career was finished. Even if not Genshi, another clan elder would represent the clan’s interests.
Genshi remained expressionless under the Fifth Hokage Acting Leader’s gaze but inwardly sighed. As he understood it, that rumor had originated from his own grandson. After the Root incident, in front of many witnesses, his grandson had enumerated Sarutobi Hiruzen’s crimes—one being the mistreatment of the Fourth Hokage’s orphan.
That rumor had spread from that moment.
Fortunately, it hadn’t gained much traction.
Most villagers didn’t believe a "Nine-Tail's Jinchūriki" could be the child of a "hero." Even a few clever individuals couldn’t sway public opinion, and with other, more sensational news flooding the village recently, the rumor seemed destined to fade into obscurity.
No one expected that Naruto himself would hear it, nor that it would cause such troubling changes.
"This is ANBU’s conclusion, based on Uzumaki Naruto’s speech and behavior records," Nara Shikaku said louder than usual to compensate for the sound of rain. "Barring surprises, their analysis should be correct."
The ANBU having begun as a special assassination squad. Had become a bloated bureaucracy under the Third Hokage.
To ensure the Nine-Tail's Jinchūriki didn’t go astray, Sarutobi Hiruzen had assembled a research team of psychology experts from all departments to study the boy’s personality and behavior, providing strategies to guide Naruto to love Konoha wholeheartedly.
These experts were truly skilled.
Even Shikaku, after reviewing restricted files he normally couldn’t access, had to admit his respect.
He sighed softly.
He and the Fourth Hokage had been comrades—perhaps not intimate friends, but they had fought alongside each other in battle. Seeing Naruto in this pitiful, lonely state, he couldn’t remain entirely indifferent.
But…he was still a Jinchūriki.
No one could predict if a Jinchūriki might suddenly lose control. No matter how much one sympathized, they couldn’t risk their children or clan.
Moreover, getting too close to a Jinchūriki carried suspicion of ulterior motives.
This was Konoha’s living weapon, not any clan’s private property.
Therefore, keeping their distance was the unspoken consensus among the great clans.
They wouldn’t stoop to bullying a child, but no one expected them to show kindness either. The Third Hokage had his own way of handling things and didn’t need interference.
All these complex factors had shaped the Nine-Tail's Jinchūriki’s situation.
The Konoha left behind by the Third Hokage was full of contradictions and endless troubles.
Among them, the Nine-Tail's Jinchūriki, Uzumaki Naruto, was undoubtedly one of the most difficult.
Now this hot potato was in Akimichi Torifu’s hands. And to be honest, Torifu didn’t know what to do.
Continue the Third Hokage’s cultivation plan?
But he wasn’t Sarutobi Hiruzen, and that plan would take far too long. Torifu didn’t have that kind of patience.
Ignoring it wasn’t an option either.
This was Konoha’s invaluable Nine-Tail's Jinchūriki. If he lost control… Torifu certainly didn’t have the ability to seal the Tailed Beast.
"Prolonged mental instability in a Jinchūriki… this is bad! Shikaku, any ideas? How do we calm that kid down?" Torifu finally asked.
Ideas?
He wasn't a psychologist; what ideas could he have?
Shikaku’s face was as bitter as if he had swallowed an entire bitter melon.
Ever since Torifu became the Fifth Hokage Acting Leader, Shikaku felt like he was losing hair by the handful every day. His poor brain would soon be squeezed dry.
He forced himself to think harder.
At that moment, an ANBU appeared through the rain, knelt before Akimichi Torifu, and presented the latest intelligence from the frontlines.
