Book One: The Rise of the Blue-Haired Devil.

      It took me a day and a half to arrive at the Long Life Village. I wasted no time in going straight to Ashina's office. I entered his office without knocking, as I was allowed to do so by the standards of decorum here.       - Hello, Sensei. - I said hello to my mentor.       - Mi-kun? You came back quickly. Where are the others? - Uzumaki spoke in response. I even got a twitch from such a question.       - They should have returned to the village 24 hours ago. - I answered him, already starting to get nervous. My fingers involuntarily clenched into fists to the point where my knuckles turned white. A couple of drops even fell to the ground. I didn't even feel the nails digging into my skin, almost to the flesh. I was angry. I wasn't angry. I was furious. I knew I shouldn't have left them alone.       - Go. I'll send reinforcements. - Ashina saw my reaction and said. Although he seemed calm at first glance, the head of the red-haired clan was actually so angry that he was ready to destroy an entire village for the sake of his daughter. This was evident in his eyes, which had turned red from a few burst capillaries. It was creepy, but I didn't care. Without rest or sleep, I moved on my way. It was hard to think and ponder in such a state, but now I needed a cold mind to figure out what to do next. The obvious thing to do was to look for the girls. But where? Where? The image of Madara kept popping up in my mind, but that man couldn't have kidnapped Yumiko. The treaty made it clear that the battles between...but wait...the agreement only applies to me, but the treaty doesn't mention my relatives and my clan. I'm such an idiot. to miscalculate like that, like a little kid, really. Well, I can't go back to the way things were. We have to move on, no matter what. But then again, Yumiko had Mito by her side. Madara couldn't touch her. I certainly don't doubt that he could have taken Yuki out of Uzumaki's hands, but that's just a theory. It's just too weird and suspicious. And it's unlikely that Yumi would give up without a fight, so I need to look for signs of a fight. That's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna follow the path we took last night, looking for signs of a fight.       It was a good plan, I thought. I moved at a good pace for a few days, looking around carefully so as not to miss the battlefield. On the fourth day, I had already reached the place where we had split up. I was very tired. My body was aching from fatigue, and my eyes were sleepy. My body just demanded to go to bed, but I didn't listen to it. I was literally forcing my body to move, which was already refusing to go. I didn't care about myself now. What I saw amazed me. A few days ago there had been a small camp we'd made to rest, and now there was scorched earth and a lot of bones. Yes, bones. My fists clenched involuntarily with such force that blood just rushed out of them. What kind of bastard did this? Bastard... Whoever you are, I will find you and kill you in the most brutal way possible.... There were a lot of bones. It was likely that almost all of the Uzumaki who were not ninja were killed here. A shinobi who attacked civilians was no longer a human being. A scum of society that must be eliminated before it's too late. As my mind was racing with unhappy thoughts, a cold aura so strong that it began to freeze the ground beneath my feet began to emanate from me.       - Calm down, save your hatred for the battle with the enemy. - came a rather demanding female voice in my head.       - I can't control this storm. I just want to destroy everything here. - I answered her aloud with rage in my voice.       - Then remember that Yumi and Mito are most likely alive. They are very valuable hostages. Their deaths don't benefit anyone. You better look around. Maybe you'll find something. - Morgana spoke in a soothing tone. Her voice brought me to my senses.       - You're right. I need to be sober. - I said, closing my eyes to calm myself. My nerves were shot, but at least I was awake now, even though my body ached with fatigue. Someone had done a very good job on the landscape here, trying to hide all traces of what had happened here. It would seem that what could be found in a land covered in ash? Honestly, I didn't know what to look for, however, my eyes were running all over the area, panic-stricken, looking for at least something... at least some kind of clue.... It felt like I had been trotting around this dead earth for ages, but it was worth it. Not far away in the woods I found traces of a body being dragged..... and there were a few golden hairs. Only one person has such bright wheat hair..... it was definitely her... Yumiko, hold on, I'm coming.       After a hundred metres, the drag marks were broken. Calm down, you can't let your emotions get the best of you. Think, head, what could have happened? Maybe she was picked up and knocked out, or maybe she passed out on her own. What would I do if I were this ninja? Are you sure it's a ninja? Yeah, it's definitely a ninja. Don't even think about it. To stop Mito and Yumi, it would take an army of people without chakra, and the scale of the battle wasn't even a hundred metres, which is more of a shinobi battle than a battle with bandits and brigands. And there was a lot of fire, considering everything was burned. Either the place had been burnt down on purpose, or someone had used a powerful fire elemental technique. Probably the latter, because bandits don't cover their tracks like that. They just take everything they can with them. The bushes are too intact. Not a single branch on the bush is broken, which means that the ninja climbed up the tree by moving along the branches, which is reasonable. It's just faster to move around that way. I climbed up the nearest tree branch in one leap to look around again. As I crouched down on one knee, I noticed that the neighbouring branch had sagged very badly. It wasn't quite obvious and I wasn't sure if my enemies had gone that way, however the other branches had a flatter structure horizontally. This was getting interesting. I don't think one ninja could have caused the branch to sag like that. Either there was a whole squad of five to seven men here, or someone was leading me down the trail on purpose, trapping me. I frowned. I didn't like it, but I had no choice, as such. The two princesses had to be rescued. How could I not? I may not be a hero, but I'd tear anyone apart for the people I cared about.       For about an hour I moved along the paved path. It's worth noting that the pass was right on the border between the Fire Country and the Water Country. Now I began to delve deeper into the centre of the Fire Country. I moved carefully and silently, trying to remain unnoticed. My gut was telling me I was being set up, but I didn't think it would be this bad. I stopped at one of the branches when I spotted a wooden fence. There was a small village there, with a clan emblem hanging on the gate. It looked like this: a vertical line, the top of which was enclosed in a small circle, also two arcs were directed somewhere from one fourth of the line in different directions. The one closer to the top was pointing upwards, and the one closer to the bottom was pointing downwards. The ends of each half circle were enclosed in a small circle.       I had long remembered to which clan such an emblem belonged, but my memory at this moment in time refused to provide me with information about it, and Morgana could hardly know such a thing. She could dig into my memories, but it was far from certain that there would be anything like that, and more importantly, it would take a lot of time, and time was a precious resource to me. Is it worth trying to sneak into this place undetected? That's a good question, but I can already see the barrier covering the settlement from here. It's hardly a deterrent. It's more likely to be detectable, which means that it's unlikely that I'll be able to get in undetected. And I don't know how many other traps there are out there. If I had a few days, I could come up with a plan to get in. But as I said earlier, time is too precious right now. Now that's interesting...       While I was pondering the situation, several ninjas approached the entrance. The guards immediately started asking them questions. What they were talking about, I couldn't find out. My hearing is not sharp enough for such observation, but my eyes are another matter. I don't have a dojutsu, but I'm used to using them as binoculars, so I could watch from a hundred metres away as the guards put papers on the visitors. So... these seals look like... but I don't quite understand what they do... they're too crooked, but if you remove the extra scribbles from these two symbols, this seal looks like a chakra blocking seal. But calligraphy is the most important thing when making seals, so this seal would only block chakra for a beginner, or some not-so-gifted adult ninja, but it wouldn't hold me back. For a few more minutes, I considered the possible scenarios, inventing countermeasures for each of them. My gut told me that Yumi and Mito were somewhere out there... inside. But I had to figure out who my enemy was. Let's go in order. Inuzuka? I've been through their territory and even messed with them, so it's possible that it's them. On the other hand, it's unlikely that ninjas who put animal instincts above all else would even try to study seals. The Yamanaka, Nara and Akimichi clans are allies. They live in the same place. Their numbers shouldn't be that small by definition, and all the ninjas I've seen from here inside the settlement have the same appearance. The Aburame clan is also off the table. It's not even a matter of their appearance here, it's just that their bugs would hardly let me this close to their settlement. That leaves only one clan. And there are some very unpleasant rumours about this clan, even though their head is an outstanding ninja, he can't stand on equal footing with Madara or Hashirama. It's not his level, but I don't want to be arrogant. I may have fooled the Shinobi Gods, but that doesn't mean I'm on the same level as them. I realised who my enemy was, but I knew that all the members of this clan were versatile fighters, mostly focusing on ninjutsu, which was good for me, because I wouldn't let them put their technique seals down during the battle.       I jumped down from the tree I'd been sitting in all this time and slowly made my way towards the gate.       - Stay where you are! Who are you?! - The guard shouted, taking the kunai from his pouch and adopting a defensive stance. He didn't notice me until ten metres before the entrance. It's just surprising how blind he is.... or is it me who's become so good at stealth? No, I don't think so... I haven't had much training in that area, though I can perform covert operations too. I'm a good sensor after all, so I can conceal my presence. That won't work against experienced ninjas, though. They rely on their senses in addition to chakra. So they'll be able to find me if I follow them.       - My name is Michiko Yuki. I need to talk to the head of your clan. - I calmly replied to the young boy who was two years older than me, but age doesn't matter in this world. I even put my hands up as a gesture of goodwill and honest motives.       - Wait for him. He will come out to you. - The second guard, who had managed to channel chakra into the seal on the gate, spoke up. The naked eye could see that the barrier vibrated. It's an interesting thing. It's like a signalling system. And this ninja obviously knows more than the first one.       - Were you waiting for me? - I asked a logical question after a minute of silence. I wondered if my hunch was correct or not.       - Yes, Sasuke-dono was expecting you, but much later. - The second ninja answered me dryly. I wanted to ask another question, but I hesitated. I felt a powerful centre of dense chakra approaching me. It was clearly him. I also felt about a dozen chakra points, but smaller. They were all moving at the same speed and in the same direction. After a minute, a cool wind blew and seven ninjas appeared at the entrance to the settlement. I quickly ran my gaze over each of them, after which I focused my attention on two individuals. The first was a man in his early thirties. He had sharp facial features and straight brown hair, creating a lion-like mane on his head. This man reeked of power and chakra. The second was a boy of eight years old. He had brown coloured hair that rose up on his head like a hedgehog. A very good supply of chakra and such an attentive gaze that was studying me right now. Interesting kid, but why did they bring him along? Come on, it just can't be. It's not like this boy is the son of the clan head. This man is so confident in his powers that he is not afraid to take his son with him to show him how to negotiate.....