The Third Hokage, accompanied by four ANBU, swiftly apprehended the primary offender Kushina Uzumaki and the accessory to the crime—Kamishiro Hagoromo—and escorted them back to Konoha.
They now faced several serious charges:
Wanton destruction of Konoha's green environment
Severe disruption of ecological balance and the water cycle
And, most gravely of all—damage to Konoha's village barrier
Kushina Uzumaki was, in practical terms, a high-risk organism capable of threatening Konoha's biodiversity.
She had caused trouble before—this wasn't new—but reshaping terrain on this scale was unprecedented.
If these charges were upheld, neither of them would be branded as missing-nin, but they would still face up to three months of confinement.
At this moment, the Third Hokage was temporarily doubling as Konoha's highest judicial authority.
In Konoha, a shinobi had no right to remain silent during an internal hearing—every statement could be entered as evidence.
Hokage's Office
Inside the Hokage's office, Kushina and Hagoromo each sat obediently on a small stool in front of the desk, heads lowered, enduring the Third Hokage's stern gaze.
Kushina understood the gravity of the situation.
During wartime, damaging Konoha's barrier was no trivial matter.
This was easily the biggest disaster she had caused in the past year.
So even the famed Red-Hot Habanero behaved herself and listened.
If enemy shinobi had happened to infiltrate through the damaged section of the barrier, the consequences would have been unthinkable.
This was a major incident.
Of course, what Kushina didn't yet realize was that this record-breaking blunder would be surpassed by her own actions again within a matter of days.
For now, she was focused on one thing:
Give the old man enough face.
Let the Hokage vent his anger properly—then he could raise the punishment high and bring it down lightly.
After all, strictly speaking, this had been an accidental consequence.
From another angle, they were actually the successful developers of a completed S-rank forbidden fūinjutsu.
Naturally, both teacher and student firmly believed they were contributors, not criminals.
No fundamental mistake had been made—just a minor unintended side effect.
That "minor side effect" amounted to:
Complete collapse of the village barrier within a 500-meter radius
Partial damage extending 1,000 to 2,000 meters outward
That was the aftermath of the first live test of the Reverse Four Symbols Seal.
At this very moment, five sealing teams were mobilized, working with disaster-relief urgency to repair the damaged barrier.
After smoking eight full pipes, the Third Hokage finally managed to calm down.
"Explain yourself, Kushina," he said gravely.
"What exactly did you do this time? Why was the terrain altered—and how was the barrier destroyed?"
"The Reconnaissance Division detected no signs of combat at the site," he continued.
"But there was an enormous amount of residual chakra—all of it yours. If not for the fact that—"
He stopped himself mid-sentence.
He had almost mentioned Nine-Tails chakra.
Considering there was still an "ordinary" academy-graduate-aged shinobi present, the Hokage swallowed the rest of his words.
Even he had to be careful.
Information about the Nine-Tails was classified at the highest level—the equivalent of a nuclear launch site.
Locations absolutely could not be exposed.
"Third Hokage-sama," Kushina said with a hint of grievance,
"I admit I mess around sometimes and cause… less-than-ideal results. But this really wasn't intentional. I was conducting a sealing jutsu experiment."
On the surface, the Hokage remained silent.
Internally, he was screaming.
So you know you're usually causing trouble?!
And you think 'less-than-ideal' covers what you've done over the years?!
Kushina snuck a glance at him. Seeing no response, she assumed she should continue.
"We were testing an S-rank sealing jutsu that had just been completed—the Reverse Four Symbols Seal. That's why we chose a deserted area. But since I can't leave Konoha, we conducted the test right next to the barrier…"
"…We didn't expect it to damage the barrier."
The Third Hokage raised a hand, cutting her off.
He paid close attention to the development of S-rank jutsus.
Hearing that this hadn't been deliberate sabotage immediately eased his mood.
What mattered now was the result.
"So," he asked, "you failed?"
From the scale of the destruction, it looked similar to a sealing backlash.
And while the Reverse Four Symbols Seal was derived from the Four Symbols Seal, its function and purpose were completely different.
Developing an S-rank forbidden jutsu wasn't easy.
"It failed?" Kushina blinked.
"No. It succeeded. Completely. It met all design expectations—actually, the effective range was even larger than predicted. The only drawback is the chakra consumption. Ordinary shinobi wouldn't be able to sustain it."
The Hokage nodded reflexively.
"Mm. Failure is fine. As long as you persist, eventually you'll—"
He froze.
"…What did you just say?"
"I said it succeeded."
"…Succeeded?"
"Yes."
The Third Hokage stared at her.
"You developed an S-rank forbidden jutsu on your own? Faster than multiple sealing teams combined? That's impossible."
"Who said I did it alone?" Kushina shot back.
"I worked with my student. I handled the design—he handled the calculations. In terms of efficiency, his computational ability surpasses entire sealing units."
Only then did the Third Hokage's gaze shift to Hagoromo.
Which meant—
Hagoromo's "blend into the background" strategy had officially failed.
From the moment he was "invited" here, he'd been doing his best to fade into the scenery.
He hadn't expected Kushina to sell him out this quickly.
Originally, Hagoromo had wanted to avoid contact with Konoha's upper echelons.
Not because he had secrets.
Not because he distrusted them.
He simply wanted to live freely as a low-profile shinobi.
But the moment he became Kushina Uzumaki's disciple, that dream had already become a luxury.
He just hadn't expected exposure to come this fast.
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