"I thought you'd finally changed, but it seems you couldn't help yourself after all… Played the part of the peaceful family man for a few years—now it's finally time to stir things up again."
In the evening at home, Tsunade said this to Haseo.
"Anything I should prepare for you before you go?"
Haseo wanted to go out for a stroll. He figured he should tell his family before heading out.
He hadn't been idle over the years, but his "activities" were limited to being a good older brother. Fighting was out of the question; he simply maintained a life with his wife and child.
"Prepare? No need for that anymore."
Haseo no longer needed to be fully equipped with ninja tools. At most, he might carry a single blade just to show some respect to anyone they met… Frankly speaking, even if he wanted to throw a shuriken from now on, he wouldn't find one no matter how thoroughly he searched.
"Konoha is basically fine as it is now. I'm just going for a walk, a little sightseeing… If I don't go outside, maybe I'll just end up walking around Konoha instead.
As I get older, I tend to become picky, and now I seem to find fault everywhere I look."
Is this really related to aging? Wasn't Haseo already someone who seemed dissatisfied with everything even when he was young?
"That makes sense," Tsunade replied. She thought there was nothing wrong with him getting out for a bit. "Still… Just take it easy. Know your limits and don't cause any major problems."
Some people are like pets—if you don't let them out, they'll tear the house apart.
"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing." Haseo gave an expression saying he had it under control.
In truth, people who talk like that often don't really understand… Tsunade didn't know that Haseo was planning to go outside specifically to capture jinchuriki for fun. Otherwise, she would've realized the premise behind her advice didn't even apply.
"Where's Niyu Haseo?"
"She's running around playing in the village by herself. Everything still feels fresh to her.
It's a bit unreasonable that she hasn't come home yet, but overall, it's a good sign… She's gradually recovering from her earlier mood.
The cat's following her around and keeping an eye on her."
Niyu Haseo had always been used to entertaining herself, so recently, she'd been running around the village playing alone, clearly enjoying herself.
"Let her play. She's just a kid. Back in my day, I used to forget to come home in time for dinner all the time," Haseo said.
Was Haseo like that too? Tsunade felt curious but ultimately didn't ask further. In her mind, Haseo's childhood must've been quite miserable—he rarely talked about those days… What she didn't know was that Haseo was actually referring to events from his previous life.
"There's one more thing I need to mention… Uzumaki Yayoi's condition has gotten worse.
Conservatively speaking, she might not have more than a few years left."
"...Didn't Uzumaki Yayoi have roughly the same actual age as Kushina?"
"Yeah, maybe a year or two older. But the trauma from her early childhood created irreversible consequences… It often feels like I can't do much to help."
"This isn't your fault. Also, ironically, the more skilled a doctor becomes, the more situations they feel helpless in because they see far more complex cases…" Take care of her as best as you can, Tsunade.
After all, it was the dying wish of an old friend. We can't let Uzumaki Shikou's passing so soon be followed by her adopted daughter's death."
"I understand, but... time is still limited. Do you have any other methods?"
"I've got some ideas, but they're not medical techniques anymore. We'll only try them as a last resort."
"..."
Tsunade began to speak, but then held her words back, wearing a look of worry on her face.
Everyone experiences moments of helplessness, and such powerlessness often leads to "overexertion" when similar situations arise again — because Uzumaki Shikou had died, Yayoi absolutely could not be allowed to die too.
The principle was clear enough, but the actual method remained unknown.
Tsunade didn't know.
......
The sooner, the better. By the next day, Haseo had already made preparations for this "mission" and planned to set off immediately.
"You're bringing this many people?"
Haseo had originally intended to go alone, or at most bring Ka-jin along, but hadn't expected so many Uzumaki shinobi to participate in the operation.
"This is already the minimum necessary, Lord Haseo. Actually, it's just one small squad."
Ka-jin only brought a single squad, meaning with himself and Haseo included, there were six participants altogether... which was still excessive. Others usually went after Tailed Beasts in pairs.
Among the Uzumaki ninja who came, aside from Ka-jin, the rest were all young recruits. Kagura, who had just been given the codename Sannai, naturally joined them as well.
Within the Uzumaki clan, the young ninja assigned those codenames were undoubtedly the strongest and most capable shinobi. They were the elite of the clan, clearly well-trained… definitely not foolish enough to attempt killing Haseo with a small kunai knife.
As for the remaining veterans, they stayed behind in Konoha. On one hand, to stabilize internal affairs for the Uzumaki, assist Yayoi in solidifying her position, handle official matters, and protect her safety. On the other hand, it was also to give the younger generation a chance to make themselves known to Haseo.
For twenty continuous years, relations between Haseo and the Uzumaki had fallen into disuse, but that was fine. Broken connections could simply be reestablished.
"Alright then, let's get moving."
"Kagura, I've heard you are the strongest among your generation in the Uzumaki clan. Given our natural advantage against Tailed Beasts, this will be the perfect opportunity to practice. Show me what you're capable of afterward."
"..."
Got a million questions running through your head?
With that, Haseo stepped forward first.
Whether or not they kept those codenames was up to the Uzumaki clan. As far as Haseo was concerned, continuing to use their codenames no longer carried much significance. Therefore, he simply called them by their real names directly.
Although Kagura remained expressionless and emotionless, she couldn't help but catch her breath upon hearing his words. Then, with pure and innocent eyes, she turned to look at Ka-jin... When things get tough, go to the elders. While there were no real parents around here, at least there were senior figures present.
Don't be fooled by her calm, capable, and slightly cool demeanor—truth be told, this girl was still pretty awesome. But the truth is, she had only recently succeeded her mother.
Isn't everyone still a bit of a child at heart?
So she didn't quite grasp the logic here. Kagura could understand assessing strength, and she also understood fighting against a Jinchuriki, but if assessing strength meant fighting a Jinchuriki, then things got confusing... Were Jinchuriki considered the basic benchmark for strength tests among ninja?
That just didn't make sense no matter how you looked at it.
But coming from Haseo, it somehow sounded reasonable enough. After all, his whole life had been unusually connected with Tailed Beasts.
"Don't worry about it. Lord Haseo was just teasing you."
Ka-jin signaled to Kagura not to take it seriously, then quickly followed behind Haseo.
Lord Haseo seemed to be in a particularly good mood. It appeared that bringing Kagura along had indeed been the right decision. Not just because she was Sannai's daughter—though that was certainly a factor—but mainly because… Kagura was beautiful.
As everyone knows, Haseo had always liked pretty girls—not with any ulterior motive, but purely because it brought visual pleasure.
Therefore, if an assassination mission were to be carried out, at the very least, a beautiful female kunoichi should be chosen for the job.
The group left Konoha like that, eventually arriving at the Land of Grass. After sweeping through the Land of Grass for three days, they finally located their "target" deep inside a ruined city.
The oppressive aura emanating from this Jinchuriki still surprised Haseo quite a bit; it was his first time encountering a ninja with such overwhelming power.
"You guys need to understand, this is literally the first time I've met someone fifty centimeters taller than me."
Ah, don't get the wrong idea—Haseo was just surprised by how tall he was.
Haseo stood at 1.8 meters, while the opponent towered at 2.3 meters—an entire half-meter taller.
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