"Aoba! Are you alright?"
When Uzuki Yugao and Yuhi Kurenai saw Aoba appear, they both spoke at the same time.
Aoba shook his head and said with a smile, "I'm fine, and I've already investigated the current situation of Kusagakure(Hidden Grass)."
"The mission is successfully completed. We can go back now."
"That's good!"
Getting a definite answer, the two of them couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief.
The mission was temporarily set aside by them.
Then they noticed the two red-haired girls beside him, and their expressions slightly changed.
Red hair was a very rare trait in the ninja world, and in Konoha, red hair most of the time also represented a certain ninja clan.
On their current ninja vests, the symbol of that clan was still printed.
The Uzumaki clan.
Of course, that's most of the time. Whether these two were or not, they still didn't know.
"Aoba, these two are?"
Aoba, upon hearing this, seriously explained to the two of them, "This is Uzumaki Kasui, and this is her daughter Karin. They are both members of the Uzumaki clan. After the destruction of the Land of Whirlpools, they fled to Kusagakure."
"But after arriving at Kusagakure, due to their special constitution, they were placed under house arrest by the village and suffered all kinds of torture every day."
"I couldn't stand it, so I rescued them."
"Kasui greets the two ninja ladies," After Aoba's introduction, Uzumaki Kasui immediately bowed in greeting to the two of them.
Uzumaki Karin also followed her mother's example and bowed to them.
As the saying goes, children from poor families grow up early and those who have been under others' roofs since young also tend to be more observant and perceptive.
'They really are of the Uzumaki clan.'
Uzuki Yugao and Yuhi Kurenai were quite surprised after knowing their identities.
'But…'
'Uzumaki clan? Torture?'
Putting those two words together felt really strange.
Other ninja villages, when facing a rare bloodline like the Uzumaki, even if they didn't go out of their way to offer protection, how could they possibly think about torturing them?
The leader of Kusagakure must have a hole in his head.
But speaking of torture…
The two of them carefully examined the mother and daughter.
Although Uzumaki Kasui was wearing long sleeves and pants, from the gaps that occasionally showed, they could see quite a few shocking bite marks on her arms.
As for little Karin, there was even less to say.
That body, thinner than most children, for a member of the Uzumaki clan to be raised like this, it was clear their life hadn't been good.
However, they still couldn't completely let their guard down.
After all, they didn't have the perspective of a god, and being a ninja was inherently a profession that required caution.
You didn't have to constantly assume the worst of others, but you must stay alert around suddenly appearing strangers.
They just didn't show it outwardly.
"No need to be so formal. I'm Uzuki Yugao, and this is Yuhi Kurenai. Just call us by our names."
"Aunt Kasui, same goes for me. You can just call me Aoba," Aoba added.
He wasn't used to being addressed as "sama."
"This…"
"Then please forgive me for the offense, Aoba, Miss Yugao, and Miss Kurenai."
Kasui once again obediently greeted the three of them.
Although she and her daughter had escaped the hell that was Kusagakure, they were still under others' roof, so they had to remain cautious and respectful.
Uzuki Yugao and Yuhi Kurenai both nodded, and Aoba then looked at Karin, "Karin, you can just call me Aoba from now on too."
Karin held one of Kasui's fingers with one hand, tugged at her clothes with the other, and her cheeks flushed slightly.
"Aoba… Aoba-oniichan!"
"I… can I call you that?"
Aoba was slightly stunned when he heard that. After savoring it, he realized that this title wasn't bad either.
"You can."
Karin immediately beamed with joy.
*Stare—*
Uzuki Yugao and Yuhi Kurenai both furrowed their brows slightly, their gazes becoming a bit sharper.
"Since the mission is complete, let's make haste and return," Uzuki Yugao's voice was cold as she interrupted the gaze exchange between the two.
"Right!"
———
On the way back, since they had to take care of Uzumaki Kasui and Karin, they deliberately slowed their pace a bit.
Also, thanks to Aoba completing the mission in less than half a day, they had enough time to travel leisurely.
But this also gave everyone the chance to get familiar with each other. Especially when Kasui found out that Aoba was the Hokage's disciple, she was so shocked she couldn't even close her mouth.
Karin also relaxed a bit under Aoba's care, and naturally grew closer to him, basically clinging to him at every moment.
This undoubtedly made Uzuki Yugao feel quite unhappy, but she couldn't lose her temper at a little girl who had just escaped a nightmare.
She could only silently increase her speed on the road.
By the time the group returned to Konoha, both Uzumaki Kasui and Karin looked significantly better.
Even though the journey was long and tiring,
Life on the road was already far better than when they were in Kusagakure.
At least they had enough to eat, warm clothes, and didn't live in constant fear.
Aoba would even occasionally sneak a bite to Uzumaki Kasui when Uzuki Yugao and Yuhi Kurenai weren't looking.
Her complexion had naturally improved a lot.
———
[Inside the Hokage Building]
Tsunade even put aside the trio's mission report.
When she saw that long, vivid red hair from her memories, her expression couldn't help but show a hint of daze.
Not to mention Konoha, she herself had a deep connection with the Uzumaki clan.
Because her grandmother, Uzumaki Mito, was a member of the Uzumaki clan.
Which meant she herself carried Uzumaki blood.
And Uzumaki Kushina, also of Uzumaki lineage, the second Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails, had grown up alongside her and was very close to her.
She had thought that after the fall of the Land of Whirlpools and Kushina's death, she would never again see pure-blooded Uzumaki clan members in her life.
She never expected that suddenly, two of them would appear before her.
However, Tsunade didn't blindly believe they were from the Uzumaki clan just based on what she was told.
She still ran a physical examination on both of them.
It wasn't hard to confirm whether a ninja was a pure-blooded Uzumaki.
Besides the distinctive red hair, there was also the chakra that far exceeded ordinary people's.
When she checked Karin, though the girl's body wasn't in great shape, she definitely felt that vast chakra inside her.
In her heart, she had already confirmed their Uzumaki identity.
But when examining Kasui, upon seeing those terrifying bite marks on her arms, Tsunade felt a surge of nameless rage.
She wanted nothing more than to immediately dispatch a ninja army northward and raze the entire Kusagakure.
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