The Land of Hot Water—the moment Kazuki stepped into Yu no Kuni, the system popped up.
[Ding! Based on the host's current situation, three choices are available!]
[Option 1: Secretly take Kushina to the most famous mixed hot spring in Yu no Kuni.Reward: Kushina Favorability +10, S-rank Ninjutsu — Living Corpse Reincarnation]
[Option 2: Secretly take Mikoto Uchiha to the most famous mixed hot spring in Yu no Kuni.Reward: Mikoto Uchiha Favorability +10, S-rank Ninjutsu — One's Own Rebirth]
[Option 3: Openly invite everyone to the most famous mixed hot spring in Yu no Kuni.Rewards: S-rank Summoning Inheritance — Mount Myōboku, Kushina Favorability +10, Mikoto Uchiha Favorability +10]
All were S-rank rewards, but compared to the rest, what Kazuki wanted most was the S-rank summoning inheritance—Mount Myōboku.
Speaking of which, he also already had an S-rank summoning inheritance—Ryūchi Cave.
What would happen if he held inheritances from all three great summoning realms?
Kazuki couldn't help being curious.
By comparison, Living Corpse Reincarnation and One's Own Rebirth didn't interest him much.
Living Corpse Reincarnation was Orochimaru's soul-transfer technique for immortality—Kazuki didn't need it.
One's Own Rebirth was a forbidden technique that used one's life as a medium to overturn death—Kazuki didn't need that either.
So Kazuki led everyone straight to the entrance of the famous mixed hot spring.
A massive sign hung above the door:
MIXED BATH
Kushina blushed and shot Kazuki a glare.
She'd assumed he was joking—yet he really brought her to a mixed bath.
Fine, bringing her was one thing, but why not come secretly?
Why drag everyone here together?
What was Kazuki thinking?!
Mikoto blushed too, sneaking a glance at Kazuki, her mind racing—He's not seriously going to call me in too, right…?
Then an image flashed in Mikoto's head: Kushina, cheeks burning, whispering—
"Mikoto… Kazuki and I are going to soak. Want to come too?"
Mikoto's face got even hotter.
Kushina wouldn't actually ask that… right?
And if she did… should Mikoto say yes? Or say yes?!
Kakashi looked at Kazuki like he'd lost his mind. Kazuki-sensei… what are you doing…?
Rin's cheeks were red too. If Sensei invited her… would she refuse?
Obito, flustered, scratched his face. "Sensei… this isn't a great idea, right?"
As he spoke, he glanced at Rin.
Don't let their age fool you—kids in the shinobi world grew up fast.
The moment they saw "mixed bath," all their brains started sprinting in the wrong direction.
"What's going on in your head right now?" Kazuki said dryly.
Then he turned to Obito with a grin.
"So, Obito—want to go in and take a look?"
Obito twisted awkwardly. "I-I mean… it's not like I can't take a look…"
Kazuki immediately said, "Boss, we'll go in and take a look."
And he paid.
Obito's eyes lit up.
Wait—are we really going in?!
I'm… soaking in a hot spring with Rin?!
Just imagining it was enough to make his heart explode.
But then reality hit.
Kazuki-sensei is here… Minato-sensei is here… Kakashi is here…
Obito's soul nearly left his body.
Ten minutes later, Obito stumbled back out wearing a completely blank expression.
Kazuki smiled. "Obito, tour's over. Let's go to the venue."
Kushina, Mikoto, and Rin immediately burst into laughter.
Kazuki was openly messing with Obito.
Obito looked devastated. My clothes are already off and you're telling me we're leaving?!
"I-I…"
"What 'I-I'?" Kazuki patted his shoulder. "Go study hard with Minato-sensei."
And just like that, Obito was dragged away, full of resentment.
Also quietly resentful was Minato—who acted like a perfect gentleman on the outside, but on the inside felt a tiny stab of envy.
He watched Kazuki bring Kushina and Mikoto into the hot spring area and couldn't help it.
Jealous.
Then, a second later, Minato's brain caught up.
…Hold on.
Why did Mikoto go in too?
And Kazuki was the delegation lead—why wasn't he going to the meeting site?
Why was Minato leading the team instead?
The more Minato thought about it, the more irritated he became.
...
Inside the hot spring, Kushina and Mikoto—one with long red hair, one with long black hair—stepped into view wrapped in towels, cheeks flushed.
Kushina nervously grabbed Mikoto's hand.
Mikoto was nervous too. She genuinely hadn't expected Kushina to actually ask her to bathe together.
To be honest, Kazuki hadn't expected it either.
He only meant to bring Kushina.
But maybe Kushina was too shy—so she pulled Mikoto along.
And just like that, what should've been two people became three.
Happiness showed up uninvited.
Kazuki had the place booked today.
No one else was here—only Kazuki, Kushina, and Mikoto.
Kazuki crouched by the pool and scooped up some water.
It was hot, slightly milky, with a faint sulfur scent.
A perfect hot spring.
No wonder this place was called the Land of Hot Water.
"Come on," Kazuki said. "Soak."
Kushina and Mikoto nodded shyly.
Kazuki felt… this was pretty great too.
...
An hour later, the meeting site between Konoha and Kumogakure was a newly built conference room.
Minato—along with Team 7—was already facing Kumogakure's delegation.
The Hidden Cloud side was led by the young A, son of the Third Raikage, and his sworn brother Killer B.
They also had a female secretary—though not the dark-skinned woman, Mabui.
Looks like A's "secretary habit" started young.
Naturally.
A was furious, glaring at Minato.
What was Konoha trying to pull?
Sending one blond guy and three kids to negotiate?
And that blond guy even said the "main representative" hadn't arrived yet.
Rin shrank a little under A's pressure. The man was terrifying.
Obito, offended, glared right back.
The room's atmosphere turned weird as minutes ticked by.
No one spoke.
Obito whispered, "Minato-sensei… Kazuki-sensei still isn't here?"
Minato replied calmly, "Not time yet."
A sneered.
"Hmph. Kazuki still hasn't shown up. Looks like Konoha doesn't take this meeting seriously at all."
"What's Konoha's game?"
Minato was about to answer—
when the door opened.
A saw Kazuki walk in with Kushina and Mikoto, and his expression froze.
This guy plays harder than I do.
I brought one secretary and he shows up with two?!
Kazuki smiled, let Kushina and Mikoto—still faintly flushed from the hot springs—sit down first, and then said pleasantly:
"We're not late, are we?"
Obito looked at Kazuki, then at Kushina and Mikoto, and a dangerous thought formed in his head.
How nice would it be to have one on each side…
Obito had been a pure, single-minded boy—
and Kazuki quietly bent him crooked.
A sneered. "You're Kazuki, huh."
He'd heard Kazuki was terrifyingly strong.
But looking at him now, he seemed unremarkable.
Maybe Konoha was exaggerating.
Or maybe Kazuki was deliberately hiding it.
Either way, this was perfect.
Because luring out "Konoha's strongest young generation" Kazuki—and the second-ranked Minato—was the whole point.
This meeting was a decoy.
Kumogakure didn't intend to negotiate for the Two-Tails and the Amber Purifying Pot.
They intended to take them by force.
The real killing move was aimed at Konoha itself.
According to their spies, Jiraiya had left Konoha again, chasing some so-called Child of Prophecy.
Orochimaru was holed up in a lab outside the village and hadn't been seen.
Tsunade had hemophobia after the war—she wasn't a serious threat.
And with the recent chaos in Konoha, Hatake Sakumo wasn't there either.
If Kazuki and Minato were dragged away…
Konoha's only top fighter left would be Hiruzen alone.
Meanwhile, on Kumogakure's side, the Third Raikage and the Eight-Tails jinchūriki were already lurking near Konoha.
And they had thousands of Cloud shinobi.
Kumogakure's style was simple: Lightning Release + taijutsu.
Past Raikage bodies could withstand absurd damage—some legends said even space-tear-level impacts.
Their shinobi trained Lightning chakra to stimulate their bodies repeatedly—forcing speed higher and higher.
A thousand Cloud shinobi was enough to break Konoha's defenses and snatch the Two-Tails and the Amber Purifying Pot.
Thinking that far, A smiled.
Then Kazuki tapped the table and looked directly at him.
"You Cloud idiots aren't subtle at all," Kazuki said lightly. "You're trying to hit Konoha while we're away—aren't you?"
A's smile froze.
Killer B's eyes widened.
"—What?!" the Cloud side gasped.
Konoha's side stared at Kazuki too.
Hit Konoha?
—
Not far outside Konoha, deep in the Forest of Death, thousands of Cloud shinobi had gathered.
They'd gotten this close because every patrol and guard post along the way had been silently wiped out.
But here, at the edge of the Forest of Death, the Cloud force ran into someone unexpected.
Kazuki's shadow clone.
Just one person.
Standing in front of thousands.
He looked at the Third Raikage—built like an iron bull—and the Eight-Tails jinchūriki, the man with half-black, half-white hair.
Then he smiled slightly.
"So you really came."
The moment those words fell, Kumogakure's entire force went rigid.
Kazuki standing there alone… scared them more than an army would have.
Because it made them wonder—
Had Konoha known from the beginning?
Was this… bait?
Had they walked straight into a trap on purpose?