Konoha Village.

Naruto's Home.

The bedroom was simple in design. Dressed in pajamas, little Naruto stood by the window, sneaking glances at the street below..

Dark figures flickered past nonstop.

Chaos and noise, along with the murmurs of settling and comforting by the shinobi, echoed through the night sky of the village.

The invasion had been quickly quelled by Konoha's shinobi, so much so that the village hadn't even needed to evacuate its civilians to the Hokage Rock shelter.

"So… war came… and then left?" Naruto's sky-blue eyes swirled with complex emotions. He pulled the curtains shut and returned to bed.

In his eyes, there were many strong shinobi in Konoha. The village was surely safe.

Staring at the ceiling,

Naruto couldn't shake the feeling that something sudden and overwhelming had disrupted what used to be a cheerful, carefree life.

Even Shikamaru hadn't felt like chatting with him these past few days. Left alone, his mind would wander endlessly.

"Sleep. Just sleep!"

He yanked his black monster-shaped nightcap over his eyes, rolled to his side, and kicked the blanket off haphazardly.

But still—

Was he really happy?

Naruto suddenly opened his eyes and stared into the darkness.

He had no parents.

Only the Third Hokage kept a tenuous bond between him and the village. And even now, the old man hadn't come to see him in a long time.

When he'd looked out the window at the village streets earlier, Naruto felt that even if war came to the village—it had nothing to do with him.

"Sigh… so annoying… Why won't my brain shut up!" Naruto groaned, clutching his blanket and tossing and turning, unable to sleep through the night.

——

Hyūga Clan Compound.

Main House.

Great Hall.

Brightly lit and spotlessly clean, the hall had children from both the Main and Branch families kneeling in neat lines, separated to the left and right.

Each Main family child was accompanied by a personal maid. The Branch family children had only themselves.

Outside, several squads of Branch family shinobi stood guard.

If war truly came—

These Branch jonin would first evacuate the clan's children. Naturally, Main family children had top priority, followed by the Branch family. Women and the elderly ranked after the children, in that same order.

Seated upright was Neji, the top child of the Branch family. He faced the dark night beyond the hall doors with a calm, upright posture.

His features were sharp, his long black hair impeccably groomed, and his white robes pristine and neat.

In the Main family line, young Hinata sat silently with her head lowered, sadness etched across her face. Her younger sister, Hanabi, occasionally sneaked curious glances at Neji.

The sisters were both exceptionally pretty—rosy lips, white teeth—even among all Hyūga children, they were standouts.

The Hyūga Clan had recently lost its head, and a somber gloom still hung over the entire compound.

Beside Hanabi knelt a Hyūga kunoichi in a white maid dress, short-haired, gentle and refined, with a graceful appearance.

Her name was Hyūga Natsu, personal maid of Hanabi, the second daughter of the Main family. She was responsible for the child's daily care.

"You don't need to be afraid, young lady," Hyūga Natsu said gently.

"Mm…"

Little Hanabi gave a soft whimper, her brows slightly furrowed, withdrawing her gaze.

She wasn't truly afraid—just curious as to why her cousin Neji could remain so calm.

Then came the news, passed from mouth to mouth outside, that the village was safe.

——

Neji's pale eyes quivered slightly, a flicker of disgust crossing his face—then quickly disappearing as he returned to his usual calm expression.

"Threat neutralized. Main family, evacuate first. Dismissed!" a Hyūga Branch shinobi announced.

The children in the hall remained silent, still not daring to make noise.

Neji, still kneeling, watched silently as the Main family children were escorted out first by attendants.

"Neji-nii…"

Little Hanabi seemed like she wanted to say something to him—but Hyūga Natsu gently led her away by her chubby hand.

Only once the Main family children had all gone—

Neji stood and left.

A large number of branch family children followed him.

He stepped outside, looked up at the night sky. Beneath the full moon, everything felt like a cage.

He let the children pass by him.

Neji silently pondered:

"Just killing one clan head isn't nearly enough. This disgusting main-house–branch-house system… this disgusting clan… perhaps only war can destroy it."

The death of Hiashi Hyuga was, to Neji, an enormous stroke of fortune.

Unfortunately, it was all within the higher-ups' calculations.

"My age has become the biggest obstacle against defying fate… I'll wait patiently for the right moment."

Neji clenched his fist.

And walked away slowly.

With the shifting power dynamics in the ninja world, he knew his chance to break the caged bird's fate would eventually come.

———

Uchiha compound.

Due to turmoil in the village, Sasuke also felt restless.

Under the full moon.

"Is that it?"

Sasuke's expression was cold.

He stood on the rooftop, gazing down at the darkened village streets, sighing at how the disturbance had been quickly quelled before it could spread to the Uchiha district.

He had thought Yu and his mother would come to pick him up—but alas, they didn't.

———

Outside the Hidden Leaf Village.

Near the Forest of Death.

Training Field No. 41, Orochimaru stood atop a brown summoning serpent, flanked by the two gravedigging subordinates.

"My lord, this is the list of corpses we dug up this time, along with the scrolls sealing the remains."

A Sound ninja in black robes pulled two scrolls from his cloak and held up a torch to illuminate them for Orochimaru.

To help keep track of the reanimations.

The two gravedigging Sound ninjas sealed the corpses into scrolls and recorded the names based on the gravestones.

Orochimaru nodded, opened the scroll casually, and scanned through it. Besides "Sakumo Hatake," two names immediately caught his eye.

Rin Nohara. Kushina Uzumaki.

"Well done."

Orochimaru stashed away the scroll, the faces of Minato's female student and wife flashing through his mind.

If he reanimated these two and gave them to Yu, he would surely be pleased.

After all, rumor had it that Yu liked…

"Heh heh."

Orochimaru smiled faintly, collecting his thoughts.

Strong people tend to have their own eccentric preferences. It was nothing special. Orochimaru himself had his own bizarre tastes—just not for women.

Thinking back to tonight…

The struggle over the Hokage corpses had been far more difficult than expected.

The two Hokage advisors had laid down layer after layer of traps.

The coffins of the three Hokage, along with Danzo's corpse, were reinforced with numerous seals inside and out.

Time was short. Orochimaru only had time to undo the outer seal of one coffin. After some deliberation, he chose the one Yu had designated—the Fourth Hokage.

The coffin currently inside the summoning snake's mouth contained none other than Minato Namikaze.

"Minato, Kushina, Rin… what a coincidence. It's nearly the whole family."

Orochimaru sighed with emotion.

Once they were all reanimated, Minato would owe him a big thank-you. After all, it was thanks to him that this family had a chance to reunite.

Next, he had to go to the Uzumaki clan's Namiendō and undo the Shinigami's seal on Minato's soul.

Suddenly, Orochimaru sensed a strange fluctuation in his consciousness. From his sleeve, a small white snake spat out two intelligence scrolls.

He opened one and read carefully.

Orochimaru's eyes lit up. It detailed Yu's actions in the Mist Village.

He thought to himself:

"Just as I suspected—every village Yu arrives at ends up in ruins."

"Heh… the Six-Tails incident. Mist took heavy losses."

"Now that Yu is on his way back, he's probably headed for the Land of Rice Fields, to the Hidden Sound Village. My base might not survive this."

With a wry shake of his head, Orochimaru opened the other scroll—and his pupils shrank.

This one came from an informant he'd planted in the Leaf.

The one who broke into the Hokage Building's forbidden jutsu chamber tonight was none other than Shinnō, the Sky Ninja leader who had once taught him some regeneration technique!

"Tell our agents stationed on the Fire Country's eastern border to try and make contact with Yu. Relay the message: Shinnō is in the Leaf!"

Orochimaru's expression turned serious as he gave the order.

"Yes, sir—"

The two Sound ninjas melted into the darkness.

°°°

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