Konoha.
"Still no sign of him?"
Kushina's eyes were red, her face full of exhaustion as she looked at Minato Namikaze in front of her.
Minato sighed. "Don't worry. For now, no news is actually the best news."
"But…"
At that, Kushina's lips trembled, and tears began to well up in her wide eyes.
She simply couldn't understand why Akashō had suddenly been taken away without any warning.
Three days earlier, when she went to the Konoha Hospital to bring him breakfast, she discovered that he was no longer in his room.
At first, Kushina thought his injuries had healed and that he could finally get out of bed on his own. She had even felt happy about it.
But as she waited… and waited… until the sun reached its peak in the sky, she realized something was wrong.
After a thorough search of the hospital, she confirmed one thing:
Akashō had disappeared.
Panicking, she immediately went to find the person she relied on most—Minato Namikaze.
At the time, Minato had been discussing with several Konoha jonin about the bodies of Konoha shinobi found dead earlier that morning.
The moment he heard that Akashō might have gone missing during the night, Minato instantly connected the two incidents.
Akashō hadn't disappeared—he had been kidnapped.
But that conclusion only made Kushina even more anxious.
"Why? Akashō's just a kid. He doesn't have enemies. Who would kidnap him?"
She couldn't make sense of it. If someone had infiltrated Konoha to kidnap the Third Hokage, she could at least believe that—but what use was an ordinary child?
Could it be because of his Uzumaki bloodline?
Then wouldn't she, as the Nine-Tails jinchūriki, be far more valuable?
"Jonin Namikaze."
Just as Minato was about to comfort her, a Konoha shinobi suddenly appeared.
"This is the intelligence you requested."
Minato immediately took the scroll. "Thanks."
"No problem."
Under Kushina's puzzled gaze, Minato opened the scroll. After reading it, he fell into thought.
"As expected."
"As expected what? I'm talking about Akashō here—can't you put your work aside for a second?!"
Kushina smacked him in irritation, earning a wry smile from Minato.
"This information is related to Akashō."
"Really? Did you find him? Is he alive?"
Hearing that, Kushina's attention snapped back instantly as she leaned in.
"Kokushibo?"
Her brows furrowed slightly. "Is that the one who took Akashō?"
"Most likely."
Minato stroked his chin. "Actually, on the morning after Akashō disappeared, a squad of Konoha shinobi assigned to patrol duty was found dead in an alley, and the two guards at the village gate were also killed."
"Judging by the wounds, the killer is extremely skilled with a sword. The angles of the cuts also let us estimate their height."
"That reminded me of the Moon Sword Demon who gained some notoriety on the Sand Village battlefield recently. So I had someone send a letter to Jiraiya-sensei. His reply confirmed it."
"Before coming to Konoha, Akashō had contact with Kokushibo."
Kushina felt completely lost, unable to make sense of it.
"Are you saying Akashō might be a spy?"
"No, no."
Minato quickly waved his hands.
"Jiraiya-sensei knew that the connection between Akashō and Kokushibo could be problematic, so he never told anyone else. Right now, only Sensei, Uchiha Fugaku, and the two of us know."
"What I mean is, the relationship between Kokushibo and Akashō is definitely not as simple as Akashō made it seem. That's why Kokushibo would risk entering Konoha to take him. But it also means he wouldn't easily harm him, so you don't need to worry so much."
Minato deliberately skipped over the detailed reasoning, hoping to reassure her.
Besides, it wasn't even certain whether Akashō had been taken by force… or had gone with Kokushibo willingly.
"Oh."
Still, hearing that Akashō was likely not in immediate danger finally eased the tension that had been weighing on Kushina's heart for days.
After calming her down, Minato turned his thoughts to other matters.
There was one thing he hadn't told her: Kokushibo was very likely heading toward the Stone Village battlefield.
Because if he told her, it would mean he'd have to personally lead a team to pursue him. But the Cloud Village front was on the verge of erupting, and as the appointed commander for that battlefield, he could be mobilized at any moment. He couldn't abandon the bigger picture over personal matters.
As for this situation, Minato had already arranged for a message to be sent to Orochimaru, hoping he might uncover something.