The next morning.
Hinata, as always, woke up early.
She stepped out into the courtyard of Yoruha's home, toothbrush and cup in hand, and began washing her face and brushing her teeth.
Not long after, Ino wandered out of her own room, eyes still heavy with sleep.
"Ah… Hinata... Big Brother's not awake yet?" Ino mumbled, rubbing her eyes.
"Mm. Let him sleep a little longer," Hinata replied with a gentle smile.
When she woke up, Yoruha had still been fast asleep, so she didn't disturb him.
Splash—
Ino turned on the faucet, splashed her face, and finally shook off the sleep. She glanced sideways at Hinata with a mischievous smile.
"Hinata, what exactly did you two do last night? I swear, I was this close to being scared to death."
"Uh..."
Hinata froze. Her face instantly turned bright red.
"I… I didn't think I was that loud…"
She lowered her head, clearly flustered.
Even though she'd tried to stay quiet last night—especially since Ino and Shikamaru were also in the house—she hadn't been able to completely hold back.
In fact, the quieter she tried to be, the more seductive her voice became. Hinata didn't realize it herself, but Yoruha certainly did.
Moved by that sound, he'd naturally responded with a certain rhythm of his own.
That was what Ino must have heard.
"We were just... talking about the 180 uses of the tide," Hinata said with a flushed face. "Maybe that's what made the noise... I'm sorry."
"Heh~ It's fine. Don't be embarrassed! We're all girls here, we all understand," Ino said with a knowing wink.
She looked like a seasoned expert in this kind of thing.
In the ninja world, especially in a place like Konoha, girls matured faster than boys. That's why Ino was so casual about it.
"It's still so early..." Shikamaru walked out of his room too, rubbing his dark circles with one hand.
"What the heck was Yoruha doing last night? It was so noisy," he grumbled.
He was someone who already had trouble sleeping in unfamiliar beds. And now, with all those strange noises coming from Yoruha's room…
He couldn't help but wonder if the guy had some… unusual preferences.
"Look at this clueless kid," Ino muttered under her breath to Hinata with a snicker. "Completely in the dark."
Her tone made it clear she had little patience for boys like him.
After freshening up, Yoruha finally emerged from his room.
He washed up quickly under the curious and suspicious eyes of the others.
Then Sam came over with breakfast for everyone.
"Thank you, Sister Sam," Hinata said with a bright smile.
Soon, she'd be able to help Yoruha relieve stress too—just like Sam.
That thought filled her with a quiet happiness.
After breakfast, Yoruha and his team gathered their pre-packed bags.
Their journey to the Land of Iron was about to begin.
The Land of Iron was a small neutral country bordering the Land of Fire.
It had no ninjas, no daimyo, and was entirely governed by samurai.
"I heard the Land of Iron's leader, Mifune, is a sword master," Ino said excitedly, patting the ninja blade strapped to her back. "I have to spar with him at least once!"
For a sword-using shinobi like her, crossing blades with a true master held deep meaning.
Of course, her brother didn't count as a "master."
He was more like… a freak of nature.
So Ino had no desire to spar with him.
"Don't get cocky, Ino," Shikamaru muttered. "We're here to negotiate, not to challenge people to duels. You screw this up, and we could start an actual war."
Their team was… let's say, unconventional.
One or two members might be considered normal, but as a whole?
It was a lot.
Hearing the word war, Ino instantly calmed down.
Even though most of Konoha's current generation had only read about the horrors of war in textbooks, Yoruha had warned them all last year:
War was not a joke.
If it broke out again, many of their friends—people they grew up with—would die.
Maybe their classmates.
Maybe people from their own clans.
Maybe… even themselves.
No one wanted to see the people around them die.
No one wanted to die.
"Sasuke… what the hell was he thinking?" Ino sighed.
While she wasn't as averse to trouble as Shikamaru, anything that might lead to war was on a whole different level of "troublesome."
"To be fair, it's not all on Sasuke," Yoruha said. "The real problem is still the Akatsuki."
He looked out toward the snowy horizon as he continued.
"That's why this summit in the Land of Iron is so important. We'll probably run into them. Be prepared."
Truthfully, Yoruha had already changed a lot of the timeline.
But the overall direction of the world hadn't shifted too much.
Obito's plans were still in motion, unaffected by his interference.
The will of the world had a frighteningly strong inertia.
Yoruha had thought about killing Uchiha Obito and Black Zetsu ahead of schedule, but both of them were experts at hiding.
Obito had Kamui, and could pop in and out of dimensions like a ghost.
Zetsu could use clones and merge into the earth. Tracking either of them was a nightmare.
Even before Obito got the Rinnegan and became the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki, Kamui alone was ridiculously hard to counter.
As long as Obito wanted to disappear, he would.
That technique was practically a cheat code.
"This Akatsuki group is seriously a problem..." Shikamaru said, his voice low. "Their leader's already dead, but they're still out there. Who knows how many more secrets they're hiding…"
Back home, Shikamaru had already discussed the Akatsuki with his father.
The group had once been a simple mercenary organization.
Konoha had even hired them for missions.
But now…
They had nearly all the tailed beasts in their hands.
And judging by their actions, they had no intention of using those beasts recklessly.
They were waiting.
For something.
Which meant…
Once they moved, it would shake the world.
"Alright, enough with the doom and gloom," Yoruha said with a grin. "We've just arrived in the Land of Iron. Might as well relax a bit."
The Iron Country was a lot like the Land of Snow—ice and snow as far as the eye could see.
But it had one unique feature: hot springs.
And there was nothing like soaking in a warm pool surrounded by snowy scenery.
That kind of contrast…
Was a whole experience.