Four people squeezed into the damp cave.
They were all here to take shelter from the rain.
Their bright red ninja uniforms stood out sharply—anyone familiar with the ninja world would immediately recognize them.
They wore the standard uniform of Iwagakure Village, one of the Five Great Nations. Before ending up here, Naruto had already killed plenty of Cloud ninjas who disguised themselves as Iwagakure shinobi.
That memory was still fresh.
"Captain!"
"What's wrong?"
"Let's stop chasing. I want to go home."
"What kind of nonsense is that, brat? This mission was personally assigned by the Tsuchikage-sama."
"But we've already lost more than ten people..."
"For the village's sake, this is a necessary sacrifice."
"Captain..."
"Enough. When the rain stops, we'll keep chasing. We must catch them before they make it back to Konoha."
"Yes, sir."
The man addressed as captain was burly, his thick arms rippling with muscle. He looked at his dispirited teammate, smiled faintly, and patted him on the shoulder.
"These battles must be fought. Only if we win now will our children live in peace. The resources that Konoha controls far surpass ours."
"If we devour Konoha, we'll have at least a few decades of peace."
Crouched in the deepest part of the cave, Yoshino gritted her teeth in anger. She wanted nothing more than to leap up and fight the Iwagakure ninja right then and there.
"Iwagakure are shameless! They make their plundering sound so righteous!"
"When Konoha was strong, we never tried to swallow them whole."
"So brazen... disgusting!"
Mikoto's expression was grim, but she kept her composure and held Yoshino's wrist tightly with one hand to stop her from acting rashly.
"Yoshino, calm down. Both you and Menma-kun are injured. We can't take on all four of them," Mikoto whispered.
"I know," Yoshino muttered through clenched teeth, her expression sour.
She turned away with a pout.
The three of them were huddled together. Mikoto, being in the best condition, lay on the outer edge, ready to react to any danger.
Yoshino was in the middle.
At the very back, lying completely immobile, was Naruto.
Yes, he'd been moved here by Mikoto and Yoshino. Now Naruto was lying face to face with Yoshino, watching her cheeks puffed up in anger.
She looked quite cute.
If not for his current total paralysis, Naruto's impulsive side might've made him reach out and poke her cheek to see if it would deflate.
Come to think of it—if Yoshino was Shikaku's wife, then she must be Shikamaru's mother.
Why had he never seen her before?
Naruto sighed inwardly. "Shikamaru never treats me like a real brother. He even hides his own family from me."
Time passed quietly. Eventually, Yoshino noticed Naruto staring at her, and strangely, her anger began to fade.
She glanced toward the Iwagakure ninja—about twenty meters away, she estimated.
Safe for now.
Lowering her head slightly, she whispered, "Hey, big brother, why are you staring at me like that? Is my beauty distracting you?"
Naruto blinked, blankly. "No."
Like hell I'd admit that.
Yoshino narrowed her eyes. "What? You won't take responsibility for what you did?"
Naruto replied flatly, "No way. I really didn't do that."
"..."
She glared. "Great. Earlier, before I knew your meridians were shattered, I thought you were a real tough guy. Now you can't even admit to something this small."
"As a man, if you dare to look, then you better dare to own up to it."
Why are you so obsessed with getting me to admit this?!
(…Even if I was looking.)
Naruto muttered, "Sister, let's stick to facts. You need proof."
Yoshino scoffed. "Proof? You're still staring at me—what more proof do I need?!"
"..." Naruto paused. "Sister, I'm paralyzed. I can't move. This is the only angle I've got."
Yoshino felt like she'd just been shot through the heart with a poisoned arrow.
Even Mikoto, who had been stoic and alert, nearly burst into laughter after overhearing their conversation. The soft fat on her hips even trembled a little.
Yoshino pouted and gave Naruto a death glare.
"If you're not looking, then shut your eyes and stop staring."
Naruto, sighing inwardly, thought,
She's my best friend's mom. I should be the bigger person here.
So he closed his eyes and started thinking carefully about the situation.
Now that he had a Peak State Experience Card, Naruto was confident he could kill all four Iwagakure ninjas.
But he only had one card.
And he wasn't going to use it unless absolutely necessary.
It was a trump card meant for the worst case. What if stronger enemies showed up later?
What if Ōnoki himself was leading a team nearby?
In a world ruled by strength, losing his power meant becoming prey.
So he had to save that card—just in case.
"Let's wait and see," Naruto muttered to himself, then began piecing together what he knew about the Third Ninja War.
He wasn't sure how far the war had progressed. Was Uchiha Madara dead from old age by now? Had Obito already been found and manipulated by him?
Come to think of it, the Third War had started in a pretty ridiculous way.
Half the blame lay with Hidden Cloud Village. The other half? With the gossipy citizens of Konoha.
Once upon a time, Konoha had a genius: Hatake Sakumo, the legendary White Fang. But after choosing his comrades over a mission, the villagers condemned him. That pressure drove him to suicide.
His death left Sasori, who had trained for years to avenge his parents, feeling lost. So instead of killing White Fang, he redirected his rage and assassinated the Third Kazekage of Sand Village.
Sasori killed him so cleanly that Sand Village didn't even realize their leader was dead. They assumed he was missing and launched a massive search.
News spread.
Hidden Cloud, ever the opportunists, caught wind of the chaos. The Third Raikage saw a leaderless village and made a wild decision:
"I'll go take over the Sand Village."
Never mind the fact that several countries lay between them.
Still, this pig-headed Raikage sent his army out west—and was completely crushed by Sand's forces.
Humiliated, the Third Raikage tried a different route and attacked Iwagakure next.
They got destroyed again. The Raikage himself was killed.
Any other village would've taken the loss and backed off.
But not the Cloud.
Despite losing their leader, they kept going like they were juiced up on 82 years' worth of stimulants.
Instead of retaliating against Iwagakure, they turned their attention toward Konoha—for no good reason—and launched an attack that confused everyone.
Unsurprisingly, Minato Namikaze sent them packing.
They promised not to cause trouble again.
But that's when Ōnoki, the ambitious Third Tsuchikage, stepped in.
He thought, "You only beat Cloud, but I killed the Raikage. That means I'm number one now."
Naruto guessed that he'd landed in a time when Iwagakure was attacking Konoha aggressively.
Otherwise, there wouldn't be Iwa-nin inside the Land of Fire—and elite kunoichi like Mikoto and Yoshino wouldn't be fleeing for their lives.
The rain had stopped. Clouds parted, and the golden sunlight spilled across the land.
The cave brightened as the warm light crept in.
The Iwagakure captain brushed himself off and walked outside slowly.
The other three followed him in silence.
"The sky's clear. Keep pursuing."
"Try to capture Uchiha Mikoto alive. The Uchiha clan treasures relationships—if we bring her to the front lines, I doubt Fugaku will watch his wife die."
"Yes, sir!"
Their footsteps echoed and gradually faded into the distance.
Yoshino exhaled sharply. "Damn Iwagakure pigs. Trying to use Mikoto as leverage…"
"Shhh!"
Naruto frowned. "Lower your voice. They might not be far yet."
"Tch, you coward."
Yoshino rolled her eyes but lowered her voice. "Don't look at me."
"..." Naruto closed his eyes, exasperated.
Shikamaru's mother really holds grudges, huh? It was such a small thing...
No wonder Shikamaru always says 'Women are so troublesome.' He's probably speaking from daily experience.
"Mikoto, Menma-kun is right. Better safe than sorry," Mikoto said gently, her tone filled with calm maturity.
Yoshino pouted. "Why are you always taking his side?"
"I'm not. He has a point."
Yoshino rolled her eyes. "Alright then, how about you lie in the middle next time so you two can have your little chat?"
Her one sentence left the other two speechless.
"What are you saying? I'm a married woman."
"I'm married too. And I'm the one lying in the middle right now."
Mikoto scowled. "Don't be so inappropriate!"
Yoshino grinned. "I didn't say anything inappropriate. Maybe you misunderstood me?"
"..." Mikoto was so furious, the cotton fabric beneath her vest visibly rose and fell with her chest. She turned away in silence.
Naruto admired Mikoto's self-restraint. Even now, she didn't curse once.
The three fell quiet again.
Time passed. When the angle of the cave's sunlight shifted, Yoshino and Mikoto slowly stood.
Yoshino dusted herself off and kicked Naruto.
When he didn't respond, she remembered—right, he's paralyzed.
So she squatted down and pinched his nose.
"What are you doing?" Naruto wheezed, struggling to breathe.
Yoshino folded her arms proudly. "Tch. Aren't you tired of lying like that? Beg me and I'll turn you over."
Naruto stared. "How should I beg?"
"However you like. Compliment my beauty, and maybe I'll help."
She flipped her hair.
Naruto shut his eyes and stayed silent.
Yoshino pouted. "Hey! What do you mean by that?"
Naruto ignored her.
Yoshino puffed up again and yanked on Mikoto's arm. "Fine! Die here alone, see if I care!"
Little did she know—that's exactly what Naruto wanted.
Staying alone was safest. He was injured, yes, but there was no immediate threat here. Traveling with them would invite more danger.
But he still underestimated their kindness.
Not only had they saved him—they still weren't willing to leave him behind.
Mikoto stopped Yoshino. "Let's take him with us. If we leave him like this... I'll regret it forever."
"???" Naruto blinked.
Yoshino whispered to Mikoto, "Why aren't you playing along? I was just bluffing to scare him."
Mikoto sighed. "Fine, let's go."
"Oh, come on!" Yoshino put her hands on her hips. "Now it looks like I'm the bad guy dragging you away!"
No. Seriously. Just leave me.
Naruto pleaded, "Don't worry about me. I'm paralyzed. Taking me with you will only make you slower."
"Run while you can—I won't blame you."
"Hey!" Yoshino got in his face. "Who do you think you're insulting? We may be women, but we're not cowards. We don't abandon our comrades!"
Mikoto nodded. "Yes. He's still a ninja. Carrying one person is manageable."
Ugh. I knew this would be trouble.
"You two should just go—"
"Go? And leave you to die?"
Before Naruto could argue again—
The four Iwagakure ninjas returned.
"I was worried there might be a trap in here. But it's just two women and a cripple!"
Ding! Passive Selection Triggered!
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